PMS1: President's Forgotten Wife

CHAPTER 25

CHAPTER 25: TO BE BACK MEANS ESCAPING REALITY.

AS SOON AS the bus stops, where Jade rode to get home parked into the bus station, an adrenaline rush started to run on her veins, making her want to get out of the bus as possible.

Passengers prepared their things as they took them out from the bag compartment above the seats, while others seemed to be unbothered by the slow movement caused by the bus that was ready to park.

When Jade got out of the bus, with a heavy baggage to carry, she made a sudden stop on a shaded area as she rested intensely before intently closing her eyes and taking in the new air of the surrounding. Fresh air, calm surroundings, everything about her hometown made her realize how lengthy Jade endured to not long for this—for this familiar scenery.

"There's no other place like home," Jade whispered to herself as she stretched out her hands, moving her finger and wrist in a circular motion and doing minor exercises while letting the sunlight trickle against her exposed skin. Lucky for her, morning sunlight was good for the skin, and she's delighted to catch some.

The bus was supposed to arrive in her hometown around or not later than 8 in the morning. However, as soon as Jade checked her wristwatch, It was 7 AM, and she was pleased to know that she arrived an hour earlier.

Remembering that she missed the midday trip the other day due to unexpected events at the coffee shop made Jade lose her jubilant. But not until the bus arrived in her hometown and making her comfortable at the familiar home she grew up in. Because up until now, Alicia's words became a hunter on her dreams, turning her into a prey inside her nightmare that prohibited her from sleeping.

Jade was grateful that Xylon was there to help her. He saved her from the pain to prolong. Xylon lent her clothes that surprisingly fit her perfectly without getting any judgment from the gentleman. Jade wanted to hide her face from Xylon because she knew that the man has many questions bugging his mind, but he decided to smile at her and offered her help.

At first, Jade was hesitant and was on the verge of declining Xylon's offer to help. Still, because she had no one else to open up to and Xylon was the only person who had seen and heard her conversation with Alicia, Jade ended up telling Xylon what she felt.

Because of the "long talk" she had with Xylon, the idea of her going back home slipped out of her mind, making her unable to catch the bus on time. Xylon was so good that the gentleman even offered him three hours to drive Jade home, but that is what Jade cannot accept, so she respectfully declined the offer.

Besides, she dragged Xylon on her mess, which she should've stopped from happening. Jade cannot afford to involve Xylon in her situation even longer because the man was innocent, too good to be involved in a scandal she was trying to avoid.

"Jade, aaahh! My gorgeous sister is finally here, people! Hear her roar! Rawr!" Jade snapped back into reality when she heard a familiar, slightly matured voice calling out her name. She immediately looked around as she gave attention to the songster who was singing out her name until her eyes sheltered into a four-door jeep wrangler with a juniper shade of color.

A smile crept on Jade's face as soon as her eyes rested on the kid—no, a man waving his hand like a beauty queen in her direction. Janni.

Jade's face immediately painted an extensive smile as she pulled her suitcase in her right hand while her free hand hauled another baggage like she has been abroad for a long time. The excitement she felt was priceless as her eyes diverted to the driver of the wrangler. Compared to Janni, Janus was looking more mature with a growing mustache.

Both of them went out of the car as they met Jade halfway, with wide grins on their faces. They looked happy. They seemed to miss her too much.

"Hey, beauty queen! You've grown taller and more beautiful, I see! I bet you're hitting the runway shows now?" Jade exclaimed excitedly, praising her brother before finally letting her things down, running the remaining distance between her and her brothers, and gave Janni a long bear hug!

In exchange, Janni almost got squeezed like a pulp, not until he started mouthing that he can barely breathe. Jade nearly tears up when she let her arms tightly held onto Janni's shoulder as her life depends on it. It has been so long since she saw them, and they were just young when she left. But now, in only two years, Jade didn't know that her brothers could grow so much in just short notice.

"Runways are not for someone like me because my qualities don't fit on their job application search. But disregarding that, of course, sister, I'm gorgeous each passing day, so you should be proud! I didn't even expect that between the three of us, I'm the glamorous one! Besides, when the only daughter can't be a beauty queen, then someone has to continue the bloodline!" Janni proudly answered before flipping his nonexistent hair, and Jade has to act like her brother's hair just got into her before searching for comfort in Janni's cheeks.

"Well, Janus just left the group because he can't relate to his sisters' fashion talk!" Janus smiled like it was his greatest possession. By the looks of it, Jade knew that her brother is one hell of a charmer.

"Oh, please, Janus, spare us the drama already! We're not here to wallow on your incompetent way of relating to people, so give us a break, stop wasting our time, and carry the bags so we can go home!" Janni unsolicitedly teased Janus as he faked checked his grown painted nails like Janni is in a movie, and he is the antagonist.

Janus smiled in his direction before acting like a mad man in front of Jade, "Stop talking! This is not your moment to shine. Besides, the spotlight was not given to you yet since you haven't dethroned our elegant sister here. By the way, it's good that you got home well. We missed you, most especially mom, who was still clueless about your arrival. By the way, sister, welcome back."

Janni playfully wiped his outfit like Janu's words smeared his dress. Jade couldn't stop herself from chuckling at how close her brothers has gotten and how adorable they make a severe conversation into something light and admirable. They may be just wearing a simple white shirt paired with a knee-length short and a slipper, but that didn't bother Jade because she's delighted to see them grow into a mature and intelligent individual.

"Come here, you! I missed hugging you like a teddy bear!" Jade threw herself at Janus and gave her brother a thrilling hug. Janus did the same as Jade tried herself not to tear up in front of her brothers.

Because once she let her emotions take over and break out in front of Janus and Janni, they'll know that she's crying not because she's home but because of something, or someone, else.

"I missed you too, sis. It's just that, if seeing you means killing me, then I'm out!" Janus complained without exaggerating his tone like how Janni complained earlier, but that was Jade's cue that she needed to let go of the hug and avoid murdering her brother just because she missed them so much.

"I know, right? She's not really home to see us but murder us in broad daylight! OMG! I just got an idea here!" After letting her brother go, the three of them went back to haul her things up and drag them inside the jeep wrangler. However, Janni was busy thinking and typing on his phone like something snapped out to take him away from his reverie.

"Don't worry too much about her, sis. Janni occasionally turns brain mode when he had an idea on what to write."

"You mean Janni write stories?" And Janus nodded his head in response. And Jade took another glance at Janni, who was still on brain mode, before looking at Janus and chuckle.

When they got inside the vehicle and settled on their respective seats, Jaus on the driver seat, Jade on the passenger seat, and Janni on the back seat, Jade immediately asked her brothers a question that kept on bugging her the moment she saw them.

"As far as I can remember, we don't have a neighbor who acquires an expensive car like this. So, who owns it? Please don't tell me that you've been both naughty and stole someone else's car?"

"Come on, sis! You really hurt us too damn much." Janus answered as he dragged his hand towards his chest like he's been stab.

"Yeah. How could you possibly accuse us of such acts?" Janni followed, closing his circular pink mirror and popping his head out in between her and Janus.

Hearing them with such pity, Jade raised her hand in defeat as she laughed to her heart's content because of their priceless reaction. "It's not my fault you came here to fetch me using a car worth 30,000 dollars?!"

Jade knew that her salary wasn't enough for her family to buy such an expensive car when they can buy a bicycle since the school where her brothers are enrolled is a few blocks away from their house.

"You'll be surprised once we get home. So, put your seatbelt on, and let us get going, people!" Janus exclaimed with excitement as he revs the engine.

"By the way, mom had finally released her inner demons. Her plants started to grow sharp teeth, and the house became haunted. She thought that you're not coming home, so the house turned into something dreadful. She even grew suspicious of us when Janus and I asked permission to leave. Well, can you blame her if it's Friday and we're supposed to go to school?" Janni sounded sad and concerned when he said those words, and Jade already imagined how that felt. Her conversation with her mom a few days earlier came back to her mind and ruined her peace again.

But that wasn't the only concern that's been bugging her. Because after taking all Janni's words in, her brother said the word 'Friday,' which only means that they should be in school by now!

"Wait, you're not going to school? You're supposed to be in school, right?!" Education is vital, and Jade gave prestige to it when she was still the same age as her brothers. That is why she's not the type of woman to tolerate her younger sibling skipping classes when their mom was doing everything she could to provide money from their learnings.

"It just so happened that we don't have classes today because our teachers are going somewhere. To make our plan work, we went outside the house wearing our uniforms and carried our bags. Lucky enough, someone lent us this car beforehand." Janus shortly followed after noticing Jade's sudden rise of voice. And that explains why Jade saw uniforms and backpacks scattered beside Janni.

"Besides, it's a good thing that Janni and I were the ones you immediately called as soon as you're almost home. Mom was morose when she told us that you couldn't attend her birthday because you're too busy with work and decided to forget about her. If you could've seen her reaction, I swear to God I would upload it on social media and caption it with, 'the most adorable mom in the world after getting dumped by her only daughter.' Sounds incredible, right?"

Jade wanted to laugh at how Janni made a turn of tone on the topic to make it more comfortable, but she can't help but feel sad for not telling her mother sooner. Jade wanted to ask further, but Janni was already occupied by his world and taking a selfie using Jade's phone.

"But don't worry, sis. Mom will be so delighted to see you home. You're her only daughter, so she had no intention of kicking you out of the family. So, stop worrying and chill out for a bit! You're home, and that's what matters. Okay?" Janus assured her before Janni extended her hand in front of the three of them and stole a picture.

"Oohhh! You both looked good in here! I can use this as an inspiration for the story I'm currently writing!" Jade felt a sudden throbbing at her temple. With that, it discreetly allowed her to rub the spot in counterclockwise movement, trying to coax the incoming headache away.

She had no energy to point out Janni's action, so instead of making an issue out of it, Jade closed her eyes and spoke.

"I hope so. But for now, I think it's time that we go home. I feel exhausted from the trip that I wanted to close my eyes for a moment. But before we reach home, I want us to drop by your school so I can check if you're making an excuse to skip classes or you're telling me the truth." It's not that Jade doesn't trust her brothers but because she just wanted to make sure that after two years of being away, her brothers were still the same individuals when she left them.

"Don't worry, sis, well, wake you up as soon as we arrive," they promised at the same time, and Jade decided to close her eyes for a while because she was too sleepy and she wanted to take a nap.

He did not want to think of Eisen, Alicia, or anyone else. What she needed to focus on is her mom and siblings because there is nothing more important in her life right now but to be with her family in a community where she feels she belonged.

__________

IT TOOK THEM an hour ride from the bus station to the province where they live. Jade was able to visit the school and confirm that her brothers weren't lying at all. The school was closed, and nobody's around.

After that, they made a few stops at places Jade could recall. The sites were still the same. However, the mayor might've made sudden changes to make the environment more appealing and welcoming for tourists and turned it into a public place. And what Jade could recall was that those places were a hiding spot for her when she's still young.

"Wake up, sleeping beauty. We're here." Janni calmly patted her shoulders to wake her up, so Jade immediately opened her eyes, and the airy environment was exposed before her. All the trees are visible while the birds are floating like a kite freely in the open space. The sky was clear, and the surrounding was beautiful; nothing has changed a bit. Home is still home.

The vehicle stopped in front of an old two-story wooden house with intricate designs to welcome whoever enters and visits the place. The structure of the house gives an 1800s vibes, and everything around the niche was like antiques entirely made to blend in into the area. There were slight changes in the house's exterior, but it made the house look more natural and appealing.

The house was gorgeous as ever. What it looked like when Jade left still looked the same when she returned. The period when the construction workers built the house has been decades-long gone, but it seems better as the places aged.

"Jade is in the house, everyone! Make way for the unica hija!" Janni happily danced on the back seat and instantly got out of the car as soon as Janus parked the jeep. Janni immediately went inside the house while Janus, on the other hand, helped to carry her things before following her brothers towards the house.

"Mom! You have a visitor!" Janni shouted as his voice became a disturbance inside the peaceful home.

Jade thought she would see their mother peeking from the second floor of the house. But she immediately frowned when Janni darted out of the window instead and signaled that their dearest mother was not home.

But not long after, an idea popped out of Jade's theory, suggesting her a place to visit where she could find her mother; in the backyard where she kept her poisons—her garden of flowers.

Jade immediately excuses herself, as her brothers managed to settle her things, and went straight to the backyard where she could find the secret garden-like of their home.

As Jade made her way to the garden, she reminisces about the past where she and her mom would hang out in the backyard and plant and take good care of the flowers until they blossom. It became a traditional pastime for the both of them because Jade grew up without using any gadgets to keep her busy.

The garden did not only became a garden for their past time, but it also happened to be a witness to her mother's struggles and achievements in life. Her mom would always go to that place whenever she felt emotional and let her emotions slip out of her control. Her mother would also use the area to clear her head and think about things.

And witnessing such actions, just like her mother, so does Jade.

So Jade missed their house so much because that house did nothing but erase all the sadness she was feeling. The garden became her comfort zone, an escape to her reality. And Jade was happy that she was finally home.

She's finally back to the place where she can escape reality.