I'm Guilty, My Beauty

He woke before noon and saw Sheila"s note on the side table stating she would be back with his food. A smile danced on Hugh"s face, his exhaustion was partly washed away after reading. He got up and found his way to the kitchen. His cousins saw him and his tired face. They whispered and laughed, seeing his haggard look. Hugh understood what they were thinking.

Then a naughty young cousin spoke mindlessly. "What happened last night? ..." Before he could continue, Hugh reprimanded. "Don"t you dare think of her as an easy woman. Nothing happened. She slept and I revisited the toilet six times. Anything more to say?" His exhaustion was evident but his voice was firm, telling them not to cross him.

On the other hand, Sheila was the opposite because of Hugh"s kisses. She felt renewed. Reawakened. Alive. Her brilliant smile was contagious, every person she met across the street had no way but to smile back at her. She was so happy.

Sheila went to her house and cooked a hearty porridge for Hugh, something he can eat in his condition She prepared one with no meat but full of garlic, onion, and ginger. Her voice filled the kitchen as she sang a famous song and her happiness accompanied it. Bernard came, standing by the kitchen door, looking at her tasting the porridge.

"Sis, did something good happened last night? Or your date kissed you?"

Sheila got choked by the words kissed and coughed a little. Bernard guffawed.

"Hahaha, I hit the mark. Your date kissed you."

Her face turned blus.h.i.+ng pink but she denied and evaded his taunting. "What nonsense are you talking about? Who told you I had a date last night?"

"Come on, Sis. Don"t deny it. By the way you look, I can tell you"re in love."

"How can you tell?" Her face went red. She avoided him and went back to her boiling porridge. Bernard noted her flus.h.i.+ng cheeks.

"Sis, you"re really blooming today and girls in love are like that. So tell me, who"s the guy?"

Sheila indirectly avoided his questions. "Where"s the pepper and garlic oil?"

"You"re avoiding me I can tell."

She faced him, her hands on her hips. "What makes you say that?"

"Because you"re blus.h.i.+ng and acting foolishly. A woman in love is like that.

She picked a towel and threw it to her brother. "No, I"m not. I feel hot cooking. I"m not acting foolish."

Bernard dodged, the towel fell on the table. "No, you"re blus.h.i.+ng because I guessed right."

"Not"

"You are."

"Not"

Until their mother came. "Ma, where"s the garlic oil?" Sheila brushed Bernard to the side, who was blocking her way.

"Are you cooking porridge?" Her mother asked.

"Yes, Ma."

Bernard came in between the conversation. "Ma, tell her, you know it."

The sentence alerted Sheila and looked at her mother. "What do you know that Bernard is saying?"

"I called Clarence and he told me your date last night had diarrhea and you"re taking care of him. What"s his name? I forgot the name Clarence mentioned."

Sheila narrowed her eyes at Bernard. "So, you were lying to me. You knew it all along." Sheila picked a broom, lifted it to strike her brother. "Ma, help." Bernard ran behind his mother. "It was Mama who told me after she called Clarence." He moved to his left as Sheila shoved the broom at his right. "Ma, stop her."

"Stop! Both of you. You"re old now and you"re still acting like little children." Their mother said as she moved away, exposing Bernard. The latter ran out of the kitchen. Sheila huffed. "You!"

"Sheila, don"t avoid me, too." The mother"s words stopped Sheila from running after Bernard.

Sheila positioned to face her mother. "Huh? Ah, uhm, Ma, he"s one of Clarence"s cousin. I let you meet him someday but, please, not now." She timidly replied, her head bowed, her hands holding the broom. She was not sure what kind of relations.h.i.+p they had for he had not confessed to her yet so she didn"t want her parents to expect something exploding, like marriage, for now.

Sheila looked up the ceiling, her arms crossed on her chest. "With us kissing and holding hands together, will that pa.s.s up as lovers? Only lovers do that, so we"re now in a relations.h.i.+p, as lovers."

She didn"t see her mother"s reaction after what she said. Her mother"s face glowed, excited to hear she already had a boyfriend. The mother grasped her daughter"s hands. "What"s his name?"

"Lucien."

"That"s a foreigner"s name. Is he handsome?"

"Of course, Ma. I chose him so he should be handsome."

"Is he good to you?"

"Yes, Ma. Very very good."

"Really?" Her mother"s spirit buoyed. Tears starting to flow. "This has nothing to do with Clarence, right?"

"What makes you think of that? Of course, it has nothing to do with Clarence. Why are you crying?" She got worried; she held her mother"s shoulders.

"I"m just happy, happy for you. I"m happy that you"ve moved on from Clarence." Her mother said in a hushed tone as Sheila wiped off the tears from her mother"s face with the hand towel.

Sheila lovingly embraced her mother. "Clarence is history, Ma. We"re friends now. Sorry for making you worry." The mother and daughter had their bonding time while she cooked. After cooking, Sheila left with her porridge in a container.

An hour later, he arrived at Clarence condominium. She took off her shoes and wore a furry slipper. She saw the other cousins engrossed on watching a movie on Netflix on a wide screen. They didn"t notice her coming. She didn"t make a stir and went to the kitchen and prepared a bowl of porridge. As she stepped into Hugh"s room, she heard him talking on his phone. He was facing the window so he didn"t see her coming.

"Adele, are you sure you"re pregnant?" He listened for a while. "Of course, I won"t leave you. I"ll be at your side the whole time."

Hugh continued to talk while Sheila stood there unmoved. She could not hear the rest of what he said to the other line because only the words she heard earlier echoed in her mind. "Pregnant, pregnant. Won"t leave you. Won"t leave you." She wanted to cry or ask him but no tears or words came out. She only stood there stunned.

Her mind spoke the inevitable. It ended before it began.

Her hands quaked but she didn"t want to spill the porridge. So she walked back step by step. It was slow but her feet found its way to the kitchen. Bowl placed on the table. She pulled her bag from the chair and walked out of the house, fazed. No one noticed her coming and going.