Chapter 09

"I gotta give it to you—you did the impossible," Aspen said as he stood beside me. We were having a thanksgiving dinner. Kakatapos lang ng thanksgiving mass. If I were being honest, hindi naman talaga ako religious na tao. I didn't even like going to mass dahil mas madalas na hindi ako sangayon sa sinasabi ng pari. More often than not, they're not even preaching the word of God—it's just their own ego talking. But I still go to the church dahil sabi nga ni Abuela—it's good optics. Afterall, Philippines is still a Catholic country. You can get away with a lot of things just by pretending that you've found your way back to the Lord.

"It wasn't impossible," I replied as I smiled at Archie who was being congratulated by everyone. He soon needed to learn na hindi lahat ng tao na kaibigan ay kaibigan talaga. Karamihan sa kanila ay may kailangan lang. It's a skill that he needed to learn.

"It was," sabi niya. "I really thought he wouldn't win."

Lumingon ako sa kanya. "You doubted my choice?"

Aspen shrugged. "I mean, his father was the suspect in a rape and subsequent kidnap and murder of a college girl. Can you blame me?"

"Innocent until proven guilty," I replied.

Aspen laughed. "You sound like Abuela," he said and that made me give him a disapproving look. "But you do know that the court of public opinion always wins."

"I know," I said. "But the sin of the father is not the sin of the son."

"The apple does not fall far from the tree."

I shrugged. "It can," I replied, "If I throw that apple far away."

Tumawa siya. "Whatever," he said. "So, you're the mayor now."

"Archie's the mayor."

"Sure," he said. "Just like Abuelo's the president," he added. "What's next now?"

I watched as Archie interacted with the people. He's better now as compared to before where he used to struggle. He's a nice person, I can say as much, but in the world of politics, being nice is going to be your downfall. Believing that people are nice just because will also cost you something. It's most about 'what can you do for me?' and I hope Archie can get onboard with that soon.

"Be the best mayor this town has ever seen," I said as I excused myself and made my way to my fiancé.

* * *

"That was tiring," Archie said as I was pouring myself a glass of wine. Naglakad siya palapit sa akin at saka niyakap ako mula sa likuran. I felt him kissing the side of my neck. "Let's go to sleep."

"I need to take a shower first," I replied.

"Okay, after we take a shower together," he said while tracing a pattern on my waist.

"Just shower," I said, "I'm tired."

He chuckled. "I know," sabi niya. "I'm tired as well."

We just stood there habang umiinom ako at nakayakap siya sa akin. We had been together for months now. Hindi na kami ganoon kadalas nagtatalo. Sure, sometimes, he'd get annoyed at me, but he's getting better at handling it (or maybe better at hiding it). Either way, it's getting easier for us to get along.

"We have a meeting tomorrow, right?" tanong niya.

"Yes," I replied.

We wanted to get married before he assumes office. Gusto ko na kapag nagstart na iyong term niya ay focused siya sa pagiging mayor. I mean, I really did mean it when I said na he'll be the best mayor this town has ever seen. Sure, he's got a pretty complicated family background, but all that will be a thing of the past once na mapatunayan niya na iba siya sa tatay niya at kaya niyang maging magaling na mayor.

This is one thing I adore about Filipinos—they're very forgiving.

"My friends are already planning for the stag party," sabi niya. "Will you have a bachelorette?"

I nodded. "Just a dinner with some of my friends."

"Okay," he replied. "They'll invite some strippers, for sure, but if you don't want to, I can tell them I don't want strippers."

"It's fine. Have fun," I said. "Just no photos or videos."

Hanggang sa maubos ko iyong wine ay wala akong narinig mula sa kanya. I placed the glass on the counter.

"Let's take a bath?" I asked.

Lumuwag ang pagkakayakap niya sa akin. Bahagya siyang umiling at ngumiti. "No, I have to make some calls first," he said before he walked to the room.

What's his problem?

Hanggang sa matapos ako sa pagligo ay hindi siya sumunod sa akin. I was already done preparing for bed. Hanggang sa makatulog ako ay hindi ko naramdaman iyong pagtabi niya sa akin.

When I woke up, he was already gone.

'Where are you?' I messaged him.

'Went home to grab some things. Will see you later at the appointment.'

'Okay,' I replied although I wanted to know if I said something again because this was how he acted kapag may nasabi ako na hindi niya gusto. I wished he'd be more transparent with me. I try my best not to step on his ego, but I wished he wasn't so sensitive. I felt like I was walking on egg shell most of the time.

I decided not to dwell on that anymore. Naghanda na lang ako para pumunta sa opisina. I busied myself the entire day until it was time to meet with the wedding planner. I wanted a fairytale kind of wedding, but also one that's intimate. People love fairytale like happy endings. I needed to find that balance that's why I hired the best planner in town.

Pagdating ko roon ay wala pa si Archie kaya naman pinakita muna sa akin ng planner iyong portfolio niya. After a while ay dumating na si Archie.

"Hi," he said as he kissed my cheek. "Hi," bati niya sa planner.

"Did you get what you needed?" tanong ko. He's already staying at my condo habang wala pa kaming bahay. He told me that he's planning on selling his condo, but I haven't heard about him finding a broker. Maybe I should help him with that.

"Yeah," he replied curtly.

I wanted to ask more about that, but the meeting began. Tinanong lang kami tungkol sa general theme na gusto naming mangyari. Archie was quiet for the most part. I wanted to think more about it, but he did tell me that he'll let me decide dahil ako daw iyong bride. But I knew him better kaya alam ko na may dahilan iyong pagiging tahimik niya.

When you spend enough time with someone, alam mo kapag kakaiba iyong katahimikan na binibigay nila.

"Archie," pagtawag ko sa kanya nang umalis na iyong planner. He didn't even wait and stood up quickly.

"Yeah?" he said habang kinukuha iyong cellphone niya mula sa bulsa niya at may binabasa doon. Ni hindi man lang siya nakatingin sa akin.

"Are we okay?" I asked.

"Yeah."

"Alright. If you say so," I replied.

Tumingin siya sa akin. "Yeah, we're fine."

Nakatingin ako sa kanya. He probably felt the weight of my stare kaya naman tumingin din siya sa akin. "We're fine," he repeated. "Nadia, we're fine."

"Why do you feel the need to repeat yourself as if you're trying to convince someone?"

I saw him taking a deep breath.

Bumalik siya sa pagkakaupo.

"Fine," he said as he clasped his hands together. Tumingin siya sa akin. He looked serious. "I'm just... a bit confused."

"About what?"

"Before... you did tell me that we'll try to fall in love," he said and he sounded a bit annoyed. "I mean, at least you tried to tell me that you'll try to like me."

Tumango ako. "I did tell you that."

"Okay," he said. "It's been months."

"I know."

"You still don't like me."

"I do like you," I said.

"You do?"

"I do," I said. "I'm still here, right?"

Sandali siyang natahimik. "I don't know... I feel like you want the presidency bad enough to stick around kahit ayaw mo naman sa akin," he said.

I remained silent because he's right. I can tolerate most things to get what I want. That's how I was raised. I was told that sometimes, you have to sacrifice something to get that one thing. Hindi ako pinalaki sa fairytale where everything will all fall in their right place soon.

"That's true," I told him because I knew that there's no point lying dahil kilala niya naman na ako. "But I am being honest when I tell you that I do like you, Archie."

He was staring at me like he was trying to read my soul. "Just... like?"

"For now, yes."

"Romantically like?"

"Maybe."

"Why aren't you jealous?"

"Jealous about what?"

"The strippers," he said.

Kumunot ang noo ko. "Is that why you've been grumpy all day? Because I told you that you can have strippers in your stag party?" Sumandal siya sa upuan niya at pinagkrus ang mga braso. Bahagya akong natawa. "Do you want me to get jealous?"

He huffed. "No."

"Okay."

"I mean, it won't hurt to be a bit jealous."

Muli akong bahagyang natawa. "Do you want me to tell you that you can't have strippers?"

"No."

"Okay because your friends will dislike me if I say no to strippers," sabi ko sa kanya. I know some of his friends. I know that one way or another, they'll sneak in strippers. It's just wasting energy kung sasabihin ko na ayoko.

"I don't care about what they say," he said like a stubborn child. Tumingin siya sa akin at saka inabot ang mga kamay ko na nakapatong sa lamesa at hinawakan iyon. I was taken aback at how he was looking me in the eyes. He felt so... serious.

"Nadia," he called my name.

"What?" I said. I hated that I was uncomfortable with the intensity of his stares.

"I do like you."

Bahagyang napaawang ang labi ko.

"And I know that you're trying your best to like me and that's fine with me. That's enough for me... at least for now," he continued. "But... I really do like you. And once we get married, I want to start a family with you. I don't want any mistress like what you suggested before. I want you. I want us. I want a baby with you. Am I making any sense? I'm sorry. You do make me nervous all the time."

Hindi ako nakapagsalita agad.

He was trembling a bit.

"Come on... Say something," he said.

"Oh..." sabi ko dahil nakalimutan ko na kailangan kong magsalita. "Okay," I continued.

"Okay what?"

"Okay to what you said," I replied.

"To everything?"

"Yes."

"So, we'll get married for real?"

"We will get married 'for real,'" I replied. "It's a real wedding, Archie. Did you think it's gonna be fake?"

"No, no, I mean, I wanna be husband and wife. Real wedding. Real marriage. You know what I mean."

Huminga ako nang malalim. I held his hand back.

"Okay," I said. "We'll have a real marriage."

He finally gave me a smile. "I promise I'll give you the presidency," he said as he played with my knuckles. "Whatever you want, I will do my best to give it to you."

I looked at him and smiled.

God, he's fallen in love. 

**

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