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Several days have already pa.s.sed, but until now, I can still feel Allen holding me tightly in his arms. I shut my eyes tight and reminisced all the details of what I call ‘the happiest moment in my married life‘.
I can still feel the s.h.i.+ver and the warmth of my husband"s embrace. We"ve been married for almost two years, but he never did that before. I can still remember, I literally stiffened that moment. I even thought that I was only dreaming, but the spark that I felt – like a bolt of electricity – when Allen"s lips brushed my neck, told me that I"m not. I tend to bite my lips whenever it flashes back into my memory - his warm breath on my neck and his oppressive grip as he squeezed me tightly on the curve of my waist. Ah, s.h.i.+t! I was supposed to act cold starting that day, but my plans were all tranced.
It felt like I was in cloud nine at that moment! I was like a teenager as happy as Larry because at last, my crush finally noticed me. How I wish that day won"t come to an end. I want us to be like that forever – him longing to hug me tightly, as if he"s an innocent child.
“Vanessa, let"s go.”
I came to my senses and opened my eyes when Allen called me. I glanced at my wrist watch and it"s already 10:30AM. We"re almost late, so I immediately got up from the sofa and reached over for my hand bag placed on the center table.
I headed straight to our car parked just outside the house. I was about to go inside the Jaguar sports car, but I suddenly stopped when my eyes were caught by my husband who"s doing something.
“Seriously, for how many days are we staying there?”
I admit it, my question came in with sarcasm when I saw him putting a big luggage bag inside the compartment of the car. It keeps me wondering, though, as he said we will only be staying there for three days, but why does it seem like the things that he brought are good for a week?
Yes, I granted his wish to spend my birthday with him. Why will I reject it when it"s all I"ve been waiting for - for him to ask me out. Moreover, after what he did that day, after he kept hold of me inside his arms, can I still say no?
He didn"t respond. I"m not sure if he didn"t hear me or if he"s not in the mood to talk. I just chose not to mind and got inside the car. I opened the car window and looked at him on the side mirror – he was busy putting up the things in the compartment. I find it weird, though, as he seems to be bustling today. Usually, he asks me to do this kind of stuff. Earlier, I offered him some help, but apparently, he didn"t want me to.
He seems to be distressed of what he"s doing. I"m not sure on what could be going on inside his mind. He"s been answering several calls on his cellphone, too. I don"t know who he"s talking to or what they"re talking about, but most likely, it is work. That"s how it always is.
I sighed in dismay. Even up to this day, he"s still doing work. He hasn"t even greeted me yet. I"ve been waiting since this morning, but to no favorable result. He just walks past me; he would just ask for something sometimes, and then will keep silent after. It"s impossible for him to forget that it"s my birthday today as he planned for all this.
“Put your seat belt on.” He ordered when he got inside the car.
“Could Ellie come?” I asked while I buckled my seat belt on.
“I don"t know. That girl has a tight schedule.” He immediately responded, and then started the car engine.
I"m talking about his younger sister, Ellie. I want to see her later, so I"m hoping that she could come. I"ve scheduled an intimate lunch together with my family and Allen"s in our residence. This is what Allen and I have agreed on – I will only go out with him for a 3-day vacation to celebrate my birthday if he would allow me to spend half of my special day with my family.
Well, it was a big surprise that he actually granted my wish. I didn"t expect that, and it really made me happy. That"s the best gift he could ever give me.
The traffic in EDSA is light as today is a Sat.u.r.day. It didn"t even take us an hour before we reach Fort Bonifacio.
I would occasionally peek at Allen. As usual, he won"t talk to me while we were on the trip. He would only be seriously driving - switching looks between the side mirrors as he tightly held on the stirring wheel.
“What are you staring at?” He asked, not s.h.i.+fting his eyes on me.
Oh, it turns out that he knows that I"m looking at him. I just avoided his question and moved my eyes to outside the car window. There he goes on being in a huff. It"s my birthday today and he acts like he got up on the wrong side of the bed. I only sighed.
I was stunned when he placed his hand on my thigh. I felt a bit of a tingling sensation as the dress I"m wearing is sort of short, so I can openly feel the warmth of his touch. Then I turned my gaze back at him - his eyes are locked on the road.
“Vannie…” He called. I didn"t respond, but I also didn"t remove my eyes on him. Then he immediately proceeded, “Have you seen my wedding ring?”
It took long before I could give him an answer as I seem to have thought of something else, “N-no. Why, you lost it?” I asked, trying to catch him red-handed.
I saw his forehead wrinkle. “I…I"m not sure. I placed it on… Tsk…” Then suddenly, he sighed. “Never mind. I"ll just look for it.” He said, taking back his hand from my thigh.
Then I turned my eyes back to outside the car window. I thought he wouldn"t notice that his wedding ring is not with him. The truth is, it"s with me. It"s been with me for quite a long time already, but he looked for it only now. Maybe he"s worried that Mom might observe he"s not wearing it and he might get himself into a serious inquisition.
After thirty minutes, we have already arrived in our house - in the residence of the Perez. I didn"t get off the car right away. I took the compact mirror from my bag first and checked how I look like.
I only get to see my parents now after our wedding, so I have to look nice and presentable. I don"t like Mom to notice that I lost weight and looked stressed, because she"ll be worried for sure; she might even lecture me on my birthday.
I put on a bit of liquid foundation on my face and wore some lip gloss, but I stopped when I saw Allen watching me. Then I asked, “Why?”
He only shook his head. “Make that fast. They"re waiting.” He said.
I hurriedly finished freshening up and returned my make-up inside my bag. We were about to get off the car when suddenly, I remembered something.
“Allen, wait.” I called to stop him.
He annoyingly got himself back the car seat, “What?!”
I got his wedding ring inside my bag and handed it to him, “Please wear this.”
His eyes were on stalks. After a while, he took the wedding ring from me and wore it, “I thought you didn"t know? It"s actually with you and you didn"t tell me.” He discoursed before getting off the car.
Then, I followed him.
My eyes wandered around the neighborhood. G.o.d, how I missed this place! It feels so great to come back home - the place where I grew up and built the dreams of my own.
Many things have changed. Mom"s garden has grown more richly and abundantly - she really has a green thumb. There are quite a number of different flowers now. However, the porch swing which I placed beside the medium-sized pool is gone, maybe they decided to transfer it somewhere else since I left, because no one used it aside from me.
“Mom, they"re here!”
We haven"t even reached the main door, but I can already hear Ellie"s voice. I am happy that she managed to come, even if I know that she has a lot on her plate, especially as she"s in college. She came out of the house with a paper bag on her hand, enthusiastically running towards me. I find it funny, though, that she ran past her brother as if she didn"t see him.
She welcomed me with a warm embrace and handed me the paper bag, “Happy Birthday, Ate Vannie!” She greeted.
“Thanks!” I responded, receiving the gift.
Ellie and I are in good vibrations. We were together in Business School back then, but only for a year before she decided to s.h.i.+ft into a different course. She wanted to be in the Med School instead. I"m only one year older than her, but I don"t know why she still calls me "Ate". [— Ate is a Filipino term for an elder sister. —] Ellie is a kind girl. She has a jolly personality and a lot of stories to tell. She is very much unlike her brother.
“Good thing you made it. You have no school today?” I asked her.
“Actually, I do. But I decided to skip cla.s.ses today to attend to your lunch party.”
“H-huh?” I felt some egg on my face. “You didn"t have to do that, Ellie. It might cost you too much.”
She hit me lightly on my arm and said, “Joke, Ate! I didn"t skip cla.s.ses.” Then she suddenly came closer to my ears and whispered, “The truth is, Kuya asked me several times to come.”
[— Kuya is a Filipino term for an elder brother. —]I was stunned to what she said. I s.h.i.+fted my eyes to where Allen was previously standing, but he"s not there anymore; maybe he already went inside.
He told me that he wasn"t sure if his sister could come today, but it turns out that he bugged her several times to attend. Now I"m not sure if I would believe what Ellie said because it seems impossible. Maybe she"s just fooling around because she knows that it will make me happy.
“Vannie! My darling!”
I turned around to look at my Mom who"s gracefully walking towards me; after her are my Dad and the parents of Allen and Ellie.
I walked towards her and embraced her tightly. She stroked me on my back and said, “Happy Birthday, my child. It"s so good to see you again.” The she held me even tighter.
“Thank you, Ma. G.o.d, I missed you so much!” I was teary-eyed when I said that. I really missed her! It"s been almost two years since I last saw them.
They have been very busy with our business, too, that is why most of the time, it is Allen they spend so much time with. Our Hotel & Casino business already merged with the Airlines business of Allen"s family since we got married – as planned. However, I didn"t get the chance to handle our business; they had Allen do my part.
I released myself from Mom"s embrace and went to Dad and kissed him on the cheek. “Hi, Pa.” I greeted him. He then smiled sweetly at me and said, “Happy Birthday, Vanessa.”
“Thanks.” I directly responded.
Then I went to Allen"s parents and kissed them on the cheeks. I am not very close to them, but they treat me very well, especially Mrs. Fajardo. Sometimes she would send me perfumes from France because she knows I"m fond of those things.
They just asked me shortly how things have been and then we all went inside as the food might cool off. We headed straight to the long table with ten seats, then we started eating after everyone has taken their places. Allen took the seat in front of me; I"m not sure why he didn"t sit beside me.
My Mom prepared a sumptuous lunch for us. She also didn"t forget to cook my favorite dish, Kare-Kare. I missed that. It was a perfect lunch – having good food and expressive conversations. I"m not very articulate, though, as I don"t have much to tell, mostly it"s Ellie who talks. She really doesn"t run out of stories.
Before, it was Leila who appeared to be the most excessively communicative during family gatherings. I suddenly missed that lady. I didn"t invite her today because I already knew she couldn"t come. Because until now, she still doesn"t show herself to her family. She still has to go into hiding. She just called earlier to greet me. She wanted us to meet somewhere, but I told her we"re going to a vacation. That crazy woman even teased me - that I gave in to Allen so easily.
“By the way, how are you Vanessa? How are you and Allen?” I was stunned to Dad"s question.
I swallowed in the food inside my mouth first and took in some water before I responded, “W-we"re okay.”
“Good. He doesn"t hurt or make you cry, does he?”
I was dazed for a moment. I peeked at Allen and he was also looking at me, but he immediately moved his eyes down. I cleared my throat and closed my eyes for a while, “Uhm… N-no.”
I looked at my husband again and I saw him frowning. I"m not sure, but I can sense sorrow in his eyes. I turned my eyes down on his plate - he"s munching on the salad with his fork. He doesn"t eat.
Our families have no idea that Allen and I have a huge problem.
I owe Allen so much nonetheless. He didn"t lay me in ruins to both of our parents. He kept silent and didn"t give a bad press about my unfaithfulness and secret relations.h.i.+p with another man.
If Mom and Dad would know about that, I really don"t know what could happen to me. That is why I am still very thankful to Allen, because he still thinks and cares about me even if I have hurt him so much. I know deep inside him, he"s a good man - that is why I love him.
We only stayed for a couple of hours in the residence of the Perez and we already bid them goodbye.
At first, Mom won"t allow us to leave as she wanted us to stay for a bit longer, but Allen told them that we already have to go as we still have to travel a long way to somewhere. They couldn"t do anything because I have also told them that my husband has all of my time and attention after lunch.
“Where are we really going?” I asked Allen as my eyes witnessed the beautiful scenic views along the way. Up to now, I still do not know where we"ll be staying for vacation.
“Just stay still. Stop asking too much questions.” Of course, he"s annoyed so quickly again. He really has a short temper, but he immediately added to his previous statement, “Sleep first. We are still far away from our destination.”
I leaned my head on the car seat. It seems like I"m feeling dozed off because I ate quite a lot earlier. I am so full.
“Allen, did you see Ellie"s gift? Can I wear that?” I asked. I"m just not sure if he looked at me because my eyes are closed.
Just after a while, he answered, “Up to you.”
“Would that fit me? I already lost weight. Ellie might not know my size.”
“I don"t know. Just try it on when we get there.” His voice sounded serious.
“Allen…” I called him again.
“Tsk! What?!”
“Thank you.” I whispered. My voice was so low, just enough for him to hear.
I slightly opened my eyes and peeked at my husband. He was looking at me, eyes full of confusion. It"s a good thing that it was a full stop, or else we might have been in an accident.
I closed my eyes again. “Thank you because you didn"t tell them about what I did. Dad will kill me if he would know.”
It took him a while before he responded. “You don"t have to say thanks. Of course, I won"t put you on ice. You"re my wife.” My lips drew a smile. He really cares.
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