PMS1: President's Forgotten Wife

CHAPTER 24 [II]

CHAPTER 24, part II: THE HAND HE DEALS

WHEN SOMEONE offered you a free meal, would you let the opportunity go?

For Jade, it was her first time having lunch with someone she didn't know. But Xylon is bound to help her choose gifts, and she'll be assisting the man in which directions he wanted to go. Jade might have been in a hurry to leave, but enjoying a bit of her moment with a "not a total stranger" is finally making her distance herself from work.

That's okay; after all, he seems to be more expert in gift shopping than she is.

They went from one rack to another, still looking for an outfit to match the dress Jade picked up earlier. As they do this, Jade and Xylon alternately asked and answer questions regarding Xylon's stay outside the country and how much change happened in the Philippines while he was gone.

Jade even suggested where Xylon could go for a walk. Beaches, hotels, tourist spots. It was as if they were dating because of how close they got together in just a brief moment.

"You know, I'm inquisitive about you," Jade began another topic as they visited a shop for a mug to personalize. Fortunately, there are a variety of options to choose from.

Xylon turned around and frowned as he stared at her.

"And why is that?" He asked while grabbing another mug a few steps away to where Jade is standing. "This mug is beautiful," he raised an elongated white cup in front of Jade, making them smile at how perfectly they made the mug.

"All right. Let's take that," Jade answered at once before carrying the mug toward the man sitting at the counter. The man asked what they wanted to be written in their mugs, and after finalizing it, Jade turned her attention back to Xylon and smiled at him.

"Since the moment we went out of the store earlier, every girl we passed by is staring at you! And you don't seem bothered. Is it part of handsome men's nature to get used to attention?" Xylon picked his cup and handed it to the artist. Before giving the word he wanted to be printed onto the mug, Xylon smiled at Jade before answering her question.

"Hmm. Let me think about it," Xylon jokingly massaged his chin like he had any mustache to play with, "To answer your question, I didn't notice that 'every girl was staring at me as you claimed it."

"Really?"

"Really!" Xylon defended before leaning against the counter without breaking eye contact with Jade. "It's because I have my full attention on you, and I don't need a distraction! I don't want to miss every story you were telling me!"

Jade cleared her throat before diverting her attention away from Xylon. It's not that her heart was fluttering in joy or her stomach is twitching in delight, but because Xylon's words made her feel that she deserve to be heard by others.

Instead of paying attention too much to Xylon's words, Jade ended up voicing out her thoughts again, "You looked handsome and fit, but I'm not quite sure why your voice sounded like that, and your body shape looked like a woman's curves. That's why I remarked you as a 'miss' earlier. My feelings were telling me that you're a woman and-" she said at the same time— Xylon in front of her, allowing her to speak out her mind freely.

"I voiced them out too loud again, didn't I?"

Amusement was evident on Xylon's face. When Jade noticed that he was looking at her weirdly, Jade consciously smacked her face with her palm and covered her face with it out of embarrassment.

Only then did Jade realize what she was saying, and she immediately bowed in front of it.

"Oh my! I'm sorry for what I said. Like seriously, I wasn't acting myself lately. Please consider my words as a joke, and Don't overthink about it, please?" Jade beseeched while waiting for Xylon to respond.

"How could you possibly say that you have a hunch that I'm a woman? Enlighten me, please. I want to know your thoughts because some are thinking the same way as yours. And I never got the chance to ask them," The man asked as if asking him that became a regular, a habit of answering it every single day.

"Women instinct, I guess. It's like this instinct was showing us, women, a hint of what may come in the future. But nevermind," Jade directly answered. She can think of no other reason other than women's instinct.

Before Xylon could raise further questions, the artist already placed the mugs inside their designated boxes for packaging after finishing putting on their respective designs. The both of them waved their hand at the owner before finally leaving the place.

They have already bought clothes, sandals, flower pots, pieces of jewelry, and mugs. But Jade felt like is still something missing, something she needed to buy before going home.

As they walked around, Xylon suddenly grabbed her attention. Jade almost forgot that she was with someone. Fortunately, the companion next to her knew how to start a conversation after an awkward moment of silence together.

"So, this is what you meant earlier about people staring at us? Or am I paying too much attention, which made me too much aware of our surroundings that people are looking to where we are?" Xylon frowned and looked around without inhibiting himself from almost showing off how irritated he was.

Jade then noticed that some women were looking in their direction, and their faces seemed annoyed as they looked at her from head to toe and back.

That only means one thing for Jade. The women they passed by are jealous because she is next to a handsome creature with a charming magnet. Well, Jade can't blame people for liking others based on what they look like. Besides, isn't that the standard of human beings now?

"Thank God you finally noticed! But that doesn't matter now because I'm sure as hell that you're used to the attention they're giving you." Jade replied, still bothered by how they checked her over. Their stares made her uncomfortable.

"I'm used to it because I once had a friend who grabs too much attention even just by sitting or eating or anything he does. We were in high school back then, and you can't imagine how much I have suffered to dodge all the love letters; his fangirls were trying to impress him." Xylon sounded happy and delighted, but at the same time, his tone turned ragged as he reminisces the past.

Something changed, but Jade assured Xylon despite her not getting too much attention, it won't affect her or their friendship at all. As long as everybody does nothing wrong, then she's confident that their judgemental stares haven't affected her.

"By the way, we've been walking for hours now, and I bet you are already hungry?" Jade asked her companion as her hand felt numb after carrying too many paper bags from different stores. They've been walking around for a while, and Jade is sure that Xylon is hungry.

"Just as I promised earlier, I'll pay for whatever you wanted to eat for lunch; after all, you lent me your time and accompanied me to buy things and go for a walk. I wasted your time, to be exact. And a businessman like you should be working in a company by now."

"No. A man would never let a woman pay for their meal. So, why don't you choose a place where to go, and I'll take care of whatever we eat?"

__________

AT THE END of their conversation, Xylon wanted to drink coffee since it's been so long since he had one, so Jade took Xylon to Starblocks. Because Starblocks is close to where they stand and where she will be meeting with the driver that Lewis has assigned to her, they went straight to Starblocks and walked through the door like two ordinary people going to buy a coffee.

People kept on gazing in their direction, but Jade is not bothered and slumped onto a chair with grace before taking a long deep breath. Xylon lightly chuckled before he followed, settling his things on a corner. As soon as they both plunged on an empty table, Jade immediately lined up at the cashier to order.

He could hear the whispers of the women in front of him and behind her as she lined up. They were all looking at him, Xylon, secretly, admiring him from a distance. They were so excited, and Jade just rolled her eyes in disbelief.

As soon as it was already her turn, she immediately said her order and Xylon's. It didn't take her long to order when a man looked happy and inspired prepared for their coffees.

Regardless, Jade didn't immediately leave as she waited for their coffees to be ready. As she waited, customers piled up and waited for their turns until a woman from behind spoke.

"Jade Ardante Guevara, 25 years of age. Working as a caregiver blah blah blah." Her feet froze onto the ground as her hands lightly tremble as her back still facing the woman behind her.

She's not sure if it's the right thing to do to face the person who spoke or not because it was too weird to hear someone out of nowhere memorize your whole resume and call you out in public.

But out of astonishment, she turned to the person behind her and came face-to-face with a sophisticated woman wearing a carmine shade of a big bowknot floppy cun hat as her hat perfectly matched her black shades, enough to hide her eyes. Her dress is as red as her lips, and she is a dazzling piece wearing her 7-inches silver high heels that glow when hit by light.

Everything about the woman that stood before her shouted wealth, fashion, beauty, and everything that comes along with it. But Jade won't deny it that behind all the good traits she described the woman, she knew that she's cunning and evil on the very core.

The woman's eyebrows rose as her gaze hovered over the whole of Jade, stopping on every part as if trying to memorize his whole appearance. Jade wanted to call the woman out to stop looking at her like she's a piece of dirt on the floor, but because Jade was not as good as the girl in front of her, she just smiled at her.

A shocking smile.

"Okay, miss, but I'm not sure who you are because I'm sure we haven't met each other before. And broadcasting what my resume says was a bit weird given that we haven't met before. Or if we had, I'm sorry I wasn't able to recognize you. So, why did you do a background check on me? Are you my stalker? Is this the moment that someone is about to grab me and drag me out and kidnap me?"

A small chuckle rose on the woman's throat as she threatened Jade using her stare, scanning her exclusive feature again.

One more time, and Jade will eventually let her anger slide away from her control.

Her gaze raking on her was sarcastic, and Jade was annoyed because the look on the woman's face was judgemental and a little bit irritating in some matter. Jade knew from the moment she looked the woman in the eyes that she does not like this kind of person. They think that they became high and mighty just because of wearing high heels with fake diamonds attached to their leaves and wearing glasses to add to their confidence.

"Oh, please, darling. Spare me the drama and start working your butt out to know who I am. What a disappointment seeing you make a fool out of yourself and a waste of my golden time seeing you in person, ma réplique."

__________

SINCE NOBODY required Eisen to speak the whole afternoon, he stayed silent in the comfort of his wheelchair while starting outside the window of his room, taking in all the freshness of the air inside his lungs. Eisen did not want to talk to anyone, especially now that his walls started to crumble and threaten to crush him down.

He can't even face his parents earlier when they had breakfast. Instead of stuffing himself, Eisen ended up playing with his food like what do people usually do when overthinking.

"Eisen, son, are you alright? You've been staying inside your room since yesterday and didn't bother to join us for a meal. Did something bad happen? Did you remem-" his mother tried to reach for his forehead to check out Eisen's temperature to know his health condition if he has a fever. Still, Eisen immediately shook the lady's hand away, and without hesitation, he turned his back away from his mother and started to walk outside the room. But before that, Eisen performed a sideways glance before answering the question to fulfill someone else's dreams.

"I wish I get severe conditions that no one will be able to cure. You know why, mom?" because the pain that he felt in his heart and the mind is the one that no medicine can cure.

"Because only then will it help you realize that one day, you'll let me stumble away from you again."

That at the end of the day, it's either Eisen will still become their son, or he'll turn out to be someone they will never be able to forget.

He wanted to add that to what his mother had said. But he could not say another word because of the pain that seethes inside. He doesn't want to be heard as a weak individual that needs to be controlled by someone who can undeniably do things. It is not because he was scared of pain and agony, but because he was tired of letting them know how hard he was trying to explain himself as someone who can't remember anything at all.

He's tired of explaining his part. It was already time for him to understand himself better.

He pressed the remote of his wheelchair and left the front of the table.

Tears wanted to escape from Eisen's eyes, but he didn't let a single drop touch his cheeks. He was born to be strong. He was born not to give up just because of what he had discovered.

After a week, the cast on his foot will finally be removed. Eisen will be free to move again. Time passed by so fast that nobody could recognize that it was time for him to be free once again; he's been through a lot. His parents were tired, and his brother was a prick. But that doesn't mean that he doesn't give a s**t about it.

And this time, Eisen would never let anyone hurt him. Not his mom, not his dad, not his brother. Not even his wife.

When he got out of the house, Eisen found himself inside the cottage where he always hangs out with Jade. It was a peaceful place, an excellent location to relax and indulge in the air's freshness along with the beauty that his eyes lie within.

Eisen blankly stared as she took a deep breath. His heart was beating fast again as his hand trembled with the pain he was holding back.

He closed his eyes as he calmed himself.

And when Eisen opened his eyes, the beautiful calm ocean greeted him. The surroundings were beautiful, and that was enough to calm Eisen down a bit. He felt the pain that had formed in his mind, and his heart quickly disappeared.

But when his eyes moved to his hand, he saw an uneven skin tone around his ring finger.

A ring sheltered there before and still expecting to see it. Proof that he is married to the woman he promised to give the world and the galaxy.

He made small circular movements, tracing the uneven color of his skin where a ring harbored before it as he admiringly stares at the vast ocean.

What his family talked about did not escape his mind. Their words still linger in the back of his head, making Eisen a little bit sick. He felt like he's been drinking too much and wanted to throw up to ease his feeling. Eisen wanted to sober up. He tried to feel okay. But nothing is working.

And now that he knows they just planned everything, he will allow their plans to succeed behind this situation that Eisen didn't think will eventually happen in his life.

He will rashly tie the people who hurt him with a rope to pin them among the wall. The people who hurt him, they will all pay for the pain that they had caused Jade.

The pain he thought he would never feel again gradually returned to knock him out. But he would not let it.