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“Are you hungry?”
I just shook my head in response. I didn"t turn my eyes to look at him, so I didn"t know if he was staring at me when he asked. My eyes were locked on the window of the car.
“Tsk, are you now feeling sick, Vanessa? You"ve been acting like that since yesterday. What, are you not going to talk to me?”
I turned my eyes to look at him after I heard his irate voice. He also s.h.i.+fted his eyes to look at me quickly, but moved them back to the road and focused his attention to driving.
I sighed and moved my eyes back to the window. “I"m not sick. I"m fine." I lied, because in reality, I"m really not.
At lot of things have been running around my head and I feel like there"s too much on my plate right now. I"m only a housewife, but why does it seem like I need to worry about so many things compared to those who work in the corporate or for a business firm? I"m not sure how I am supposed to feel, but one thing"s for sure - I"ve had enough and I"m not happy anymore.
Firstly, my husband has not reasonably explained to me yet what happened in Spain even if he"s already feeling better. Secondly, I can"t get that email message which I read from his cellphone yesterday out of my mind. I"m getting really lost to myself being bothered by that.
Last night, as we made love to each other, I couldn"t help but think about that. Hence, I wasn"t able to feel the warmth of his Allen"s love. Even if I missed him so much, I didn"t feel much excitement while we were doing that. I also wasn"t able to sleep very well even if my body was exhausted. Even now that I feel sleepy during our trip, I still can"t take a nap - my mind can"t stop overthinking.
With all the thoughts that"s running around my head, I do not even know if I could still think about crying. I"m bearing the brunt because I couldn"t get them all out. Maybe one day, I"ll just blow a fuse.
The sender of the email called him ‘Travis". Then I thought, that person must be personally close to my husband to call him on his second name. I"m not aware of anyone calling him ‘Travis". As far as I know, he didn"t like to be called by that name, but I"m not sure why.
His business partners address him ‘Allen", even Zian, who has been his friend for years, his younger sister, Ellie, and his parents. That is why I am really bothered about who sent him that email, calling him Travis.
I didn"t see the sender, though, so I wouldn"t know if the message came from a girl or not. I"m hoping that it wasn"t from a girl, because I don"t know, I think I"ll feel like being knocked sideways. Please, just now, I want to prove Leila that she"s wrong about his accusations against my husband.
Aside from not having any signature on the email message, I wasn"t able to see the sender after Allen caught me - yes, he suddenly woke up that time. Of course, he held forth a lecture on me, telling me not to read his messages as they"re personal.
True enough, I know that it"s a mistake to invade his privacy when I checked on his phone, but why is he being one-sided? He"s going through the messages on my phone, too. He even gets mad at me if he sees something he won"t like, especially if it came from Zian. It"s unfair! I"m just letting those things pa.s.s. I"m only not being vocal because I don"t want him to know that I browsed his email and read something.
I"m trying to just ignore and forget about the email. Maybe it"s nothing and I"m just overthinking. Maybe I"m just being paranoid that is why so many things are bothering me. Though, I don"t want to come up to a conclusion immediately. But I don"t know, I really can"t get it off my mind. I feel so bothered. I have so many questions.
Believe it when I say I don"t want to have any doubts at him, but I can"t help it. Those scenarios of him not coming back home after a week, not calling me, suddenly going to Madrid, giving me play-safe answers, and the email that I read - they all leave me open to suspicions.
I"m weighing things out, and I know that there is something wrong. I"m not dumb and fool not to feel that my husband is hiding something from me. That"s actually what makes me feel sad right now – I can feel that he"s lying and it hurts me so much.
“Vanessa…”
I regained myself and looked at Allen. He was looking into my eyes straight - he seems in a bad mood again.
I frowned, “Why?”
“Don"t you wanna get off the car?”
I frowned even harder. I don"t know if he"s being sarcastic. Why will I? Then, I looked around. Sh*t. I softly touched my forehead with my hand in dismay. I didn"t notice that we"re already in front of our house. As I was lost in my deep thoughts, I didn"t know that we arrived home. Well, that was fast.
I unbuckled my seatbelt. I was about to get off the car when my husband called me. I looked at him, but I didn"t speak.
“You didn"t speak the whole trip.” Allen said while buckling off his seatbelt. The tone of his voice sounded serious, like if I would answer him dismissively, for sure he"ll get p.i.s.sed off.
“Are you mad at me?” He added, looking at me straight in the eyes. I just leaned back on the car seat and looked blankly in front of me. I didn"t turn my eyes on him.
“I said sorry, didn"t I?” He continued. “I told you I had to take care of some things. And about your question last night… Yes, I went to Madrid. Emergency. I needed to finish something…
I"m sorry I wasn"t able to tell you firsthand, I was really planning to come back home right after it"s done…
What else do you want to know? My wrist.w.a.tch? Call me stupid, but I really don"t know where it is. Maybe I left it in the hotel where I stayed. I… I don"t know.”
I meant not to say a word. I only sighed and I know he heard that.
“Tsk…Vanessa! You"re getting into my nerves. Talk to me! Sh*t!” He smacked the steering wheel hard.
I shut my eyes hard in reaction to what he did – there he goes, being so mad and frustrated. He"s talking to me in a loud voice and high pitch as I"ve already driven him up the wall.
I was just really not in the mood to speak and talk to him. There"s a lot of things inside my head and I"m not convinced by his explanations. I deem to be looking for a different answer… I don"t know.
I only sighed very deeply again. “I"m okay. Let"s go.” I called him.
He didn"t speak, but I can hear him whispering something. Then he sternly closed the door of the car when he got off. Well, he"s in a black mood.
“VANESSA? WHAT"S TAKING YOU SO LONG? OPEN THIS DOOR."
While putting on my earrings, I turned my head to look at the door after hearing a blaring knocking from my husband. “Wait! I"m almost done.” I answered in a loud voice.
He really hates it when I lock the bedroom door. He"s telling me "what"s the point?" as there"s only the two of us under this roof. Well, I"m not yet done preparing right now. I don"t think I"m comfortable with this dress – I"m wearing a peach-colored lace dress which is four inches above the knees - yes, kinda short. It is also very skintight, revealing the curves of my body. It will surely knock someone"s socks off.
This is what Allen bought me from Madrid. It looks so beautiful and elegant, and its color suits my skin tone, too. The bead works on the shoulders also look very sophisticated. I love the fabric used as it feels as comfortable as an old shoe unlike some other lace dresses - this one should be quite expensive.
However though, it"s kind of… A bit too s.e.xy! It is very close-fitting that my chest, waist, and hips areas would get much attention to my body"s curves. Also, as it is too short, just a little bending forward would expose me already. I"m really not sure what my husband was thinking when he bought this. The last time I checked, he didn"t like me wearing revealing clothes. But I admit – I love this dress. My husband got a taste when it comes to fas.h.i.+on.
Actually, this is the first time that he bought me something. Before, if he has out of the country trips, he won"t buy anything for me, not even a simple keychain with the name of the country he went to in it.
Then, I looked at myself in the mirror and fixed the necklace that he gave me before I finally got out of the bedroom bringing my bag. I"m sure that I"m already boring my husband"s pants off for getting dressed behindhand.
Yes, we"re going out.
He invited me to have a dinner out. He told me that he also wanted to buy himself a new wrist.w.a.tch and that I should pick one for him. Actually, I don"t really like to go out as we have just arrived home and I still feel a bit exhausted from the trip. And now, we"re going out again.
Well yes, I ended up going out with him anyway. When it"s my husband whom I"m dealing with, I couldn"t answer with anything but "yes". If I try to reject him for no good reason at all, I should already be prepared to what"s going to happen next. But honestly, I also just chose to come with him, hoping that he might find time to tell me everything about Spain tonight.
I found him watching the TV on the living room. He looks all bored with one hand on his chin while shaking his legs.
I purposely planned to stamp my feet loud on the stairs to get his attention. He immediately switched the TV off when he saw me downstairs and ready to go. He stood up and came close to me. I caught him half smirk while looking at my chest area because I"m wearing a really skintight dress – Oh, my husband"s being too coquettish.
“Don"t you think this is too revealing?” I asked him shyly. He didn"t show any reaction right away. He first looked at me from head to toe, then I felt more conscious.
“No. I think it looks perfect on you. Why? Didn"t you like it?” I saw him frown.
“Of course, I did.” The only words that came out of my mouth.
“Good. Now, let"s go. It might get late. You took so long to prepare.”
Well, there he goes again with his whining. I just rolled my eyes on him. It"s a good thing that he didn"t see it, though, as he has already turned around.
We decided to go to Bonifacio High Street. Initially, he wanted to go to Ayala Triangle as it is a bit nearer, but I disagreed.
I don"t like it there; I have a bad memory in that place - that is where Zian and I last talked. I don"t want to remember, so we went to High Street instead, even if it looks like we just wasted the gasoline as we were here in Taguig earlier, and then we headed on to here again. It"s Allen"s fault, though. He should"ve told me that he wanted to have dinner out, so that we should"ve just come here earlier instead of going home first. I get exhausted being on a trip, going here and there.
We were about to enter one famous Italian restaurant when Allen suddenly stopped walking. I was compelled to stop walking, too, as he was holding my hand.
I looked at him – his eyes were on stalks, as if he saw a ghost. Obviously, I got curious with his stunned face so I followed his eyes" direction. I saw two girls walking out of the restaurant we were supposed to get in.
The one is wearing a loose pink top and a bandage skirt, while the other one is wearing a simple white dress paired with a thin, gold belt. Strangely enough, these two also stopped as their eyes fell upon us.
“Oh… My… G.o.d…” The girl in white dress exclaimed in surprise. “Travis?”
Travis – that felt like a bolt from the blue.
I narrowed my eyes to have a better vision of the lady who screamed. Of course, I didn"t let her past my heedful examination. Are there a lot of people calling my husband ‘Travis"? Is that the name my husband is using now? I"m not even aware. It looks like I am not informed. Hmm. I smell something fishy.
“WOW!”
I was checking out the lady overall when she suddenly cried out again. Then, I brought my eyes back to her face.
“I didn"t expect we would see each other again this soon! So how was your flight?” She added as she walked closer towards us.
Her voice sounded very friendly. She seems to be good at getting along with people.
Then, I looked at Allen once again. I"m trying to use my instinct if he"s going to answer or not. He tried to peep at me, but he turned his gaze right away after seeing that I was looking at him. He then cleared his throat. “Uhm, fine. So… You"re here.”
“Yes! Fresh from Madrid!” The lady openly answered while laughing demurely.
Madrid. My hand turned into a fist. It feels like I wanted to laugh with the thought that entered into my mind. Come on, Allen. Don"t tell me…
“And what brought you here?” My husband casually asked.
I turned my eyes to the lady my husband was talking to. I look like a fool s.h.i.+fting my gaze between the two of them. It feels off, too, that my husband didn"t even introduce me.
“Hmm… To visit you?” The lady answered in banter.
I shut my eyes being cheesed off. I"m trying not too sigh very deeply, but I just can"t help it! It feels like I"m having a high blood right now. To visit him, huh? Wow. Does she even know that the man in front of her is married?
“Just fooling around, Travis.” The lady said to avert.
I could already feel my palms sweating. This is how I am when tensed. I feel very irate. Who"s this girl! She keeps calling my husband ‘Travis" while I call him "Allen". What"s with them?! The way she talks to my husband, they seemed so close to each other!
“Well, I just needed to go to a set design studio based in QC.” she continued. “And to get some time off, too. And oh wait, have you received my email?”
I was surprised and opened my eyes from being shut. I frowned at her, but she didn"t notice, because obviously, her full attention was in my husband.
“Email? What email?” Allen asked in confusion.
Oh, that email. Go ahead. I also want to know what that email is all about. If I prove my instinct to be right, I don"t know, but I might slap someone in the face.
“I knew it! Maybe I wasn"t able to send t.” She said in dismay. “Well anyway… I said you left your wrist.w.a.tch in the bathroom of my unit. I"ll just return it to you some other time. I didn"t bring it now as I left it in the hotel.”
My hands are trembling. I want to slap her, SH*T but I can"t move! Frustration grew my sensation. I want to curse them! It feels heavy right now, I can"t breathe.
I turned my head to Allen and made a look at him, but he can"t even turn his eyes on me.
Hmm, he told me he didn"t know where he left it. Well then, now he knows! He left it with this girl. d.a.m.n it! I don"t wanna think badly about it, but SH*T! What did my husband do in her unit!
“Oh… Wait… Is it her?”
My senses got me to swallow in when the lady turned her eyes on me. Even if I feel like crying for feeling so down in the dumps, I still tried to show her I"m fine.
I saw amus.e.m.e.nt in her face when he looked at me, she seemed to be delighted to have met me. But earlier, it"s as if I did not exist.
“Is she your wife?” She asked Allen again without s.h.i.+fting her gaze away from me.
“Y-yes. She"s Vanessa.”
“Wow! So it"s true! You really are beautiful!” She complimented. “No wonder Travis fell head over heels. Right, Travis?” She even winked at my husband. Cut it out, girl!
She extended her left hand on me, so I just opted to just shake hands with her and bluntly smiled, so that she couldn"t say anything against me on our first meeting. “It"s nice to finally meet you, Vanessa…”
“By the way, I"m Lauren.”
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