"HEY! Where's my kiss?!" - Jeva shouted at her husband who hurriedly went to their room.
Agad naman itong tumakbo pabalik sa kanya and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. Nagmamadaling umalis si Champ. He waved his hand while Jeva do the same and mouthed 'I love you' to him but sadly, Jeva again, doesn't get any response.
"It's okay. Don't over think. It's just nothing." - she to herself trying to be calm. She used her thumb to wipe her tears away. Why am I so emotional? She unconsciously touched the pendant of her necklace that Champ gave her after their sleepless night on the island. It's a white gold necklace with a pendant champ and has a tiny diamond on each letter. Champ said that it wasn't just his name but it was also her, she is the champion in his heart. The necklace serves as Champ's anniversary gift to her.
It's been almost a month since they got back from the island. They were happy and didn't have problems on their first week from vacation. They cuddle each other before sleeping and before getting up from the bed, at ang nangyari sa island ay nasundan pa ng maraming beses.
But, Champ suddenly became so moody. He easily gets irritated at her and Jeva hates herself because she doesn't know what's wrong and her husband doesn't want to tell her. She became so emotional and that is so not her. Bigla-bigla na lang siyang naiiyak sa 'di malamang dahilan.
It was a question to Jeva why her husband often came home so late at night and sometimes got home early in the morning, just like right now, kakauwi lang ng lalaki.
Were you hiding something from me? A sharp pang hit her heart. She wanted her husband to tell her everything. She knew she would understand. All she wanted is him to be honest to her.
Champ entered the kitchen and saw her wife spacing out. He sighed and walked towards her then, hugged her from behind. He heard her sniffs.
"Sweetheart, what's wrong?" - alo niya rito.
Pumihit ito paharap sa lalaki. "Do you still love me?" - she asked her straight to his eyes.
"Of course, I love you. What makes you ask me that question?" - nakakunot ang noo nito.
She shrugged nonchalantly. "Nothing. Pumasok lang sa isip ko." - she tried to move away from him but he stopped her.
"Look at me." - he said as he cupped her face. "Please, don't question my love for you. This," - he pointed to his chest where his heart was located. "This will only beat for you, remember that." - he said and gave her a passionate kiss.
"Tell me if there's something wrong. I'll try to understand. We will face each problem together." - she said.
"Of course. We will." - he kissed her temple. "I won't let anything break us apart."
She smiled at him. "Nothing will break us apart."
They kissed and then right after, something happened AGAIN in the kitchen.
AFTER exhausting themselves by making love to each other for a whole day, they found themselves sitting on the pebbles near the pool while their feet were playing with the water.
The place is quiet and relaxing as the early night breeze touches their skin but, as usual, a quiet place will never be a quiet place if there's Jeva. Talking lots of nonsense and of course, nasty stuff was not excluded.
"Seriously, I never thought that you are still virgin when the first time we did it on the island." - hindi mapakaniwalang sabi ni Champ sa asawa. For a first timer, Jeva was really wild. Well, always wild. Not to mention her mouth dahil sa mga salitang lumalabas sa bibig niya hindi mo akalaing virgin pa siya.
"Ang sabihin mo judgemental ka lang." - Jeva playfully rolled her eyes and laughed. "You know, that was also one of the people's problems. They easily judge other people on how they talked, dressed or whatsoever. They didn't look in the inner self of that one person. Malay mo may pinagdaanan lang kaya naging ganyan." - she explained.
Napatango-tango naman si Champ. She is actually right. People tend to judge other people without knowing both sides.
"Bakit? May pinagdaanan ka ba?" - he asked curiously.
Jeva laughed. "Actually, ako, I'm exempted." - she laughed again. "Wala kasi akong pinagdaanan. Siguro nakuha ko ito kay Mari." Sorry bells. Ngumisi siya sa ginagawang pagdamay sa pangalan ng kaibigan. Which is half true.
"Yes, I think so. Maybe." - pagsang-ayon naman ni Champ sa asawa. Which made them both laugh.
Jeva knew that her best friend and her husband once encountered each other. Iyon yung time na nilagnat sya ng sobrang taas.
Mari also has an unfiltered mouth, she is most of the time worse than Jeva. Kahit ganun ay hindi dito nakuha ni Jeva ang ganoong ugali dahil ang ugaling yan ang isa sa mga rason kung bakit sila naging magkaibigan.
Jeva stopped laughed when she heard some clicks. She saw her husband taking pictures of her using his phone so, she positioned herself and smiled at the camera. Ilang shots pa ang kinuha ni Champ sa kanya, may naka-peace sign, nakapout at iba't ibang style.
"Let's take a picture together." - Champ said.
"Ay wow ha? Kung ako ang magyaya ayaw mo. Gusto mo ikaw lang ang magyaya dahil alam mong gogors lang ako." - maktol niya.
Champ laughed at her as he put his arms around her shoulder and pulled her to give her a kiss on her cheeks. "Mali naman kasi ang tanong mo. Hindi dapat first picture together ang sinabi mo dahil hindi naman yun ang unang picture natin."
Jeva furrowed her brows. "Paanong mali? At anong hindi iyon ang unang picture? Nababaliw ka na ba? Wala akong maalalang nagpicture na tayo so, hindi yun mali."
Champ chuckled as he scrolled something on his phone and handed it to her. "Here, look at this." - he immediately wrapped his other hand around his wife's waist and buried his face on her neck. "Now, tell me, am I wrong? Or you are?"
Nanlaki ang mga mata ni Jeva sa kanyang nakita. There were three pictures of them together. The first one is, Champ is smiling at the camera giving a peace sign while she was sleeping and half of her face was covered by a blanket. It was their first time sleeping together. The second one is she washing the dishes while Champ's arm wrapped around her waist and his chin was on her shoulder with his eyes closed while pouting his lips. Likod niya lang ang nakikita pero kitang-kita and mukha ng asawa niya. It was the second time that she scolded him because he broke the plates again when he tried washing them. The third one, was she sitting on his lap with her hands wrapped around his neck as she buried her face on his shoulder. The scenery was on their beach house' balcony.
Bukas-sara ang kanyang bibig dahil hindi siya makapaniwala for, all of those three pictures were posted on his personal instagram account.
"W-why?" - Jeva is literally shaking. Her heart jumps with joy. Hindi inakalang magagawa ito ng asawa.
Champ shrugged nonchalantly. "I told you I love you, right? And, I also respect your privacy. I wanted the world to know that I am really in love with someone at the same time without ruining your privacy." - he smiled at her.
Jeva smiled back and hugged him tightly. "You are my dream that I really wanted to have and I am so thankful that those dreams came into reality."
Bumitaw si Champ sa pagkakayakap nilang dalawa. He reached his hand on his face and caressed it using his thumb. "I may be your dream but you are my reality. I don't want to lose you. Don't leave me, okay? Please, trust in me. I don't know how to face the world if I'll lose you."
"I won't leave you." - she smiled trying to hide the fear that she is feeling right now. May laman ang bawat salitang sinasabi ng lalaki at alam niya may nangyari na hindi niya alam, at iyon ang nagbibigay ng takot sa kanyang puso.
"Promise?"
"Promise."
"We should seal that promise then." - Champ said grinning at her with that they had another round of making love to each other on the side of the pool.
KINABUKASAN.
Habang nagliligpit si Jeva ng kanilang pinagkainan ay narinig niya ang asawa niya na may sinisigawan. She immediately rushed towards the living room and she saw him there talking to someone on the phone.
"Don't dare meddle with this issue. You know what I can do, so don't try me." - mariin ang pagkakahawak nito sa kanyang cellphone. His eyes went dark and sharp. What the heck happened?
"Shut up! You knew nothing! You are just my manager, I can live without you just don't touch my wife, dimwit!" - Manager? Sinong manager ito? Is this company related or what? Maybe it's company stuff, alam naman kasi ni Jeva na may mga tanong ayaw sa kanya sa loob ng kumpanya, especially the board, sino ba naman kasi ang mag-aakala na isang walang experience sa pagpapatakbo ng kumpanya ay ang naging bagong CEO nila? Lalo na si Melody, siya ang may pinakamalaking pagkadisgusto sa kanya. That woman belittled her. She is not Shylane to let things passed but also not Kyza na wala talagang pinapalampas. Ayaw na ayaw lang talaga ni Jeva na minamaliit siya lalo na sa mga taong wala naman alam tungkol sa kanya.
"I don't care, I already told you what you need to do! Stop what you are planning, I'll do something in my way. Wag kang makialam kung ayaw mong mawalan ng trabaho!" - Jeva gasped and flinced in horror when Champ threw his phone on the wall.
Napansin ni Champ ang presensya ng asawa kaya naman, malalaki ang hakbang nito papunta sa asawa. His hand held her head and the other one was on her waist which drew her near to him and gave her a very tight hugged as he sniffs on her neck trying to calm himself.
Jeva shushed him and gave him soft pats on his back. "It's okay. Everything will be okay."
Champ pushed her a little to face her. "Whatever that will happen, just trust in me, okay?"
She smiled sweetly. "I will always trust in you." - after saying those words she initiated the kiss.
Right after that moment, Champ asked Mang Kanor to send Jeva at the company because he have something to settle which the latter completely understand because she knew that it was something serious. Kung hindi naman busy kasi ito busy ay siya naman ang naghahatid-sundo sa asawa.
She doesn't have class today so, she decided to go to the office to work. Kaya nga siya nilipat ng asawa niya sa company dahil ayaw nito sa marami niyang trabaho dahil mai-stress lang siya pero mali naman ang lalaki kasi kahit iisa lang ang trabaho niya ngayon mas stressful naman ito kaysa sa mga part-time job niya.
Wala sa sariling pumasok si Jeva sa kompanya. There are lots of questions in her mind, she wanted to clear all her thoughts, she wanted to ask her husband about it but she doesn't want to meddle and she also knew that her husband is not yet ready to tell her the things that bothers him.
Isinubsob ni Jeva ang kanyang sarili sa trabaho habang kumakain ng biscuit fillings strawberry flavored. She asked Mang Kanor awhile ago to gather all kinds of biscuit with strawberry flavor pero yung palaman lang naman ang kinakain niya yung biscuit ay itinatabi niya.
"Come in." - she said when she heard someone knock on the door of her and her husband's office.
Yes! Iisa lang ang kanilang opisina dahil sa isang corny na rason. And that is, Champ wants to see her at work.
Then, Teresa came in. She is their secretary. Hindi niya alam kung nalulugi na ba ang kompanya ng asawa o kung ano dahil ayaw nitong maghire ng ibang secretary para sa kanya.
Teresa told her the meetings she needed to attend the whole afternoon and report some stuff about the company at tango lang ang sagot ni Jeva sa mga sinasabi nito. The moment Teresa stops reporting she notices her boss touching unconsciously on her necklace's pendant.
"Ay wow! Gift po ba yan ni sir sa inyo ma'am?" - agad namang napabitaw sa kanyang kwintas si Jeva at ngumiti ng matamis sa sekretarya. She just gave her a meaningful smile, she can't give her the exact answer dahil hindi pa naman nila napag-usapan ang tungkol sa kanilang relasyon kung pwede na bang ipagpaalam sa iba.
"Bakit po palaman lang yung kinakain niyo, ma'am?" Tanong nito ng mapansing hindi niya kinakain ang biscuit pero hindi pa siya nakakasagot ay nagtanong ulit ito. "Naglilihi po ba kayo, ma'am? Buntis po ba kayo?" - nabilaukan naman si Jeva sa tanong nito kaya naman dali-daling tumakbo Teresa at kumuha ng tubig para sa babaeng boss.
"Sa totoo lang ma'am, mas bagay kayo ni Sir kaysa sa girlfriend niya." - agad namang nawalan ng kulay ang mukha ni Jeva dahil sa kanyang narinig.
"What did you say? G-girlfriend?"
Mabilis na tumango ang sekretarya. "Ibinalita po kasi kani-kanila lang na sinundo ni Sir ang girlfriend niyang si Suella sa Airport. Galing kasi itong Canada." - she paused. "Kung hindi lang po ibinalita na may girlfriend si sir ay iisipin ko po talagang may relasyon kayo. Kakaiba po kasi ang treatment sa inyo ni sir. Tsaka, ayaw ko dun sa babae. Mabait daw yun pero mukha namang higad. Hindi mapagkakatiwalaan ang mukha niya. Artista din po yun, siya yung unang naging leading lady ni Boss."
Sa haba na sinabi ng kanilang sekretarya pero sa unang pangungusap pa lang na sinabi nito ay lumipad na sa ibang mundo ang kanyang utak.
No. That's not true. There must be something. She said trying to convince herself that there's nothing wrong and that her husband doesn't have another girl, he won't cheat on her. Hindi yun pwede.
"Cancel all my meetings this afternoon. I have something important to do." - she said to Teresa and stormed out of the office.
Napatampal naman sa noo si Teresa. Patay! Mariin siyang napapikit. She think she did something wrong. She just hope that it wasn't something serious. Tinampal din niya ang kanyang bibig. Kung ano-ano kasi ang sinasabi pero iyon lang naman ang narinig niya sa balita kanina. Nanlaki ang kanyang mga mata nang may napansin siya.
"Hindi kaya may relasyon talaga ang mga boss ko?" - ginulo niya ang kanyang buhok habang pinapadyak ang mga paa. "Patay talaga ako nito." - she sobs. Mahal ko po ang trabaho ko, wag sana akong masesante.
NANG makalabas ng opisina si Jeva ay tinawagan niya ang kanyang kaibigang si Mari.
"Where are you?" - tanong niya sa kaibigan nang masagot na nito ang kanyang tawag.
"Office." - after that she ended the call and told the driver to send her to the publishing company where her friend is working.
Her phone beeps. It was Mari.
Meet me on the café. Sa baba ng building.
Ilang minuto lang ay nakarating na si Jeva sa kanyang paroroonan. Malayo-layo pa siya ay nakita niya ang kanyang kaibigan na nakatayo sa labas ng café. Patakbong lumapit si Jeva sa kaibigan at agad na niyakap ito.
She was suppressing her tears while she was on the taxi dahil baka mapagkamalan siya ng driver na nababaliw na..
"Shhh. It's okay. It's okay." - Mari hushed her and let latter cry on her shoulder. She pushed her a little to face her friend. Mari wiped her tears away. "Pasok muna tayo, baka mapagkamalan tayong magjowa na lesbi dito na nagdadramahan." - bahagyang natawa ang dalawa at pumasok sa café.
Since Mari is a VIP customer of the café kaya naman pinapasok sila sa isang VIP room.
"I know what's bothering you." - agad na sabi ni Mari ng makapasok sila sa VIP room. Of course, may makakawala ba sa babaeng ito? Mari is not just a novel writer, she also covers issues of celebrities and their lives. "Don't tell me that you concluded already?"
Mabilis namang umiling si Jeva. "I trust my man. I believe in him and I promised to trust him and to believe in him hindi ako maniniwala kung hindi ito manggagaling sa mismong bibig nya."
"Good akala ko kasi maniniwala ka kaagad diyan sa balita."
"Pero--"
"Siguro nga na ibinalita ito na girlfriend nga ng asawa mo ang Suella na iyon para tumaas ang rating nila sa kanilang bagong movie. Since it was reported that Suella and your husband will be having a new project together. May be that's the reason. Alam mo naman na hindi ko field niya mga chika-minute thing na yan." - tango lang ang sagot niya sa naging explanasyon ng kaibigan.
"Bels, I wanted to know who that Suella is. Do you know something about her?"
Mari leaned her back on the couch and crossed her arms on her chest. "I just know that that woman is a famous actress, her full name is Suella Velez. She was the previous drama-queen before she left the country. She is close to your husband and to Pietro. Her mom is half-Spanish while her father is pure Spanish. Actually, I don't know much about her. Konti lang yung infos na lumabasa tungkol sa kanya."
Napatango-tango naman si Jeva sa mga sinabi nito. She is sure that one of the reasons why that woman is close to her husband is that she is famous.
"I don't feel good about her."
"Why?" - she asked but honestly, she also doesn't like the woman, there's something in her that wanted to hate that woman.
Mari shrugged. "I don't know. I just feel it in my guts." - pabiro nitong saad. "I-search nga natin ang babaeng yun."
Habang nagreresearch si Mari ay palukot ng palukot ang kanyang mukha. Hanggang sa nagdilim na nga ang mukha nito.
"Why? What did you see?"
Mabigat ang bawat paghinga ni Mari bago itinapat ang kanyang cellphone sa kaibigan.
"What the hell?!" - bulaslas ni Jeva.
Suella was the rumored first girlfriend of her husband. There are lots of pictures and articles about her and Champ and other new articles halos lahat tungkol sa pagsundo umano ng kanyang asawa sa babae doon sa airport, some also says that they got back together.
Now, she starts questioning herself. Who would she trusts? These articles and pictures or the words of her husband? Naguguluhan na siya kung ano ang totoo. Her husband told her that he doesn't have girlfriends before and he was inexperienced when it comes to sex. Pero sa mga ito nagtatanong na siya sa kanyang sarili. Totoo nga ba na sa pornsites niya lang nakukuha ang kanyang kaalaman sa sex? Totoo nga ba ang kwento nito na siya lang ang tanging minahal ng lalaki?
Ginulo niya ang kanyang buhok sa sobrang inis dahil hindi niya alam kung saan siya kukuha ng mga sagot sa kanyang mga katanungan. Hanggang sa sinabunutan na niya ang sarili.
"Putanginang giliw!" - bulalas ni Mari kaya naman napatingin siya sa kaibigan.
Habang naghahanap pala ito ng kung ano-anong tungkol sa babae ay may nakita siyang isang video ng babae kasama ni Pietro at umagaw sa kanyang pansin ang pamagat nito.
She clenched her jaw. Taas-baba ang kanyang dibdib sa sobrang galit.
"So, this is the reason why in my guts I loathe this woman." - Mari said between her gritted teeth.
The video title is "Suella and Pietro confirmed their relationship as boyfriend-girlfriend." And the date was months before Shylane got an accident.
"Bakit hindi ko nasagap ang balitang ito?" - Mari askes angrily to nobody. "Could be that they're trying to suppress it para hindi makarating sa atin?"
Mabilis na umiling si Jeva. "I don't know... could she be--" she can't point to the exact word but she is asking herself why would they confirm something like this when most of the people knew that the man in the video is her friend's husband.
"Why did this ha--" hindi na naman natuloy ang sasabihin ni Jeva nang bigla itong nahimatay.
Nataranta naman si Mari at nanginginig ang kanyang kamay habang tumatawag ng ambulance.
"Hoy bels! Gumising ka diyan kundi sisipain talaga kita. Hoy! Bakit ba dito ka pa nahimatay na kasama ako? Hindi ka keri ng powers ko. Huhu. Wala akong kasalanan dito, hindi kita pinatay. Huhu. Lord, tulungan mo po ako." - napakamot siya kanyang ulo dahil hindi niya alam kung saan hahawakan ang kaibigan.
Ilang sandali lang ay dumating na ang mga rescuer.
"Ma'am, ano po ang nangyari?" - tanong nag-isang rescuer bago binuhat si Jeva at ipinahiga sa stretcher.
"Nasa bayag ba ang utak mo?! Kaya nga ako tumawag ng tulong dahil hindi ko alam kung bakit biglang nahimatay ang kaibigan ko! Kaloka ka naman! Tanga mo." - she scolded the rescuer habang patakbong sumunod sa mga nagtutulak sa stretcher ng kaibigan.
Nang makarating sila sa ospital ay ilang beses nang tinawagan ni Mari ang asawa ng kaibigan pero ni isang tawag niya ay hindi nito sinagot.
The same thing happened to Shylane before. Hindi matawagan o sumasagot ang mga dipshit na mga lalaking yan sa oras na kinakailangan sila ng mga asawa nila.
Ikinuyom niya ang kanyang mga palad. "I already warned you, Mr. Quiroz. Mali sana ang iniisip ko tungkol sayo."