Programmed Wife

Chapter 42

"Carrots are supposed to be hard, why do you keep on picking these soft, floppy ones?" Leyla picked up the bundle of carrots from their huge cart to put them back on Rui's hands. "Go, pick the good ones!" utos niya pa rito.

She had a good laugh as she watched Rui scratch his head. He's having a hard time following her instructions on picking up the produce. Mabuti nalang at hindi masyadong marami ang mga tao sa loob ng grocery store. Rui can even roam around on his own without worrying about nothing. Even the store cashier are men, nothing posses harm to him as of the moment and Leyla's for sure abusing it.

From making him pick up the chips on the other side of the store to forcing him to walk around to get the things she wanted to, he couldn't do anything but follow her obediently. She's trying to make him feel confident, to make him go places like this while he still can. Simple things that can hopefully give Rui courage to at least try and do this again one day.

"Are these okay?" Rui got back with his meticulously picked carrots and a bag of grapes on one hand.

"Wow, sa wakas nakapili ka na ng maayos na carrots. Pati ubas ha?" pang aasar na sabi ni Leyla. Kunwari pa itong pumalakpak ng bahagya para lalong mamula ang mga pisngi ng nobyo.

Rui looked away, "Stop making fun of me. I thought softer carrots would be easier for you to cut! Why are you being so mean?"

She squinted whole smirking. Admiring how cute this man can be at times, "Okay, okay, stop whining over there, come here."Leyla tapped him by the shoulder. Instead of him walking beside her, he reached out his left hand behind him to reach for hers as he pulled the cart so that he can push it in front of them.

"What are you waiting for?" he asked, feeling that after she held his hand, Leyla did not move. But he's well aware of the noticeable blush in his face that he did not dare to look back.

"Wait, don't move. I have to do this, I have no choice."

"What? Exactly what do you have to do?" Rui asked. Right when he looked back, Leyla put down her phone and hid it deep in her bag. "We're you talking a photo of me?" Rui grinned.

"Well-Ye-nope, no. No I'm not!" it's now her turn to turn as red as the tomatoes on the isle beside her.

"Little liar," Rui whispered in a deep voice. "It's fine if you do it. I wont stop you, ust tell me if you want to take a picture... I can do it anytime," he said. Pinisil- pisil niya pa ang malambot na kamay ng dalaga.

"I- I did take one picture,to post on my i********: account. It's what I promised Roca," she shyly confessed.

"You promised her to post a picture of me? Can I see it?" bago pa makasagot si Leyla ay nakapasok na kaagad ang kamay nito para dukutin ang telepono ng kusa.

"No, she made me promise to post cute pictures of my outfits and..."

"And?"

"And moments that makes me happy."

Rui failed to keep the intense eye contact. He held her phone and swiped to check the photo of him on it hiding the huge smirk on his face. He subtly raised his brow looking at the aesthetically pleasing picture of his back as he's holding her hand. With his side profile wearing the hood and a face mask, it doesn't even look like him.

"You can't even see my face in this one, do you want to take a different picture?" he asked with a straight monotone voice to hide his excitement.

"No, it's okay. I can't really post a picture which they could easily tell you know?"

Rui looked up at her, savagely pulling the hood of his top off, "Are you saying that you can't let your friends see me on your social media- you're ashamed of me?" lalong nanlaki ang mga mata niya na puno ng katanungan nang malakas na napahalakhak si Leyla.

"Of course I'm not," she said once she recovered from all the laughing. "It's just that, if I ever post your picture, it will for sure blow up. Pagpipiyestahan ka ng mga tao panigurado. We can't do that you know?"

Rui sighed. Parang malalim ang iniisip niya habang hinahawakan ang kan'yang baba, "You're right. We can't tell anyone yet," said Rui and Leyla smiled nodding. "Not until we tell my mom."

"Who now?"

"My mom, we need to tell her."

"O-Oh? When would that-"

"Soon. Maybe before the week ends?"

"What?!"

Emotionless,Rui shrugged, "Why are you acting so surprised? " he held out the phone to give it back. "Go on, post it."

Still feeling the loud uncontrollable beating of her heart, she absentmindedly went on and posted the photo on her i********: account. She felt his warm hand grab her and pull her towards the cashier to pay.

"What are those sounds?" his deep voice which she heard almost inside her ear woke her up. Turns out he's been lowering his head to whisper in her ear and ask that.

"What sound-oh!" she pulled out her phone and gave it to him, not thinking, "The notifications?"

Rui checked it, "You have a following?" he was amused to say, seeing the number of her followers and the number of likes and comments she got after posting it a minute ago, "Two hundred and fourteen likes? Two thousand followers? And you only follow one person- wait who are you following?"

"Roca," she answered quickly.

"How did you have this much followers by posting only seven photos?" he can't help but stare at her posts in awe. They average over two and a half thousand likes. Him knowing a whole lot about this because of his work, it even made him more surprised, "You do know we have a lot of signed personalities that have interaction lower than yours right?"

"I- I don't really know."

"You know what, if you tried to apply as an artist, you have a chance on hitting it big."

"So... you don't want me to be your secretary anymore?"

"F*ck no, you stay with me you dummy!"

"Hihi," the two of them stopped in the middle of bantering when the middle aged man on the counter started giggling.

"Ang cute niyo namang mag-asawa. Gan'yan na gan'yan kami no'ng Misis ko. Panigurado, magtatagal kayo."

"Po?"

"Thank you po, medyo makulit nga lang po itong isa," naguguluhan pa si Leyla pero mabilis na nakabawi si Rui. They even talked over how early stages of the marriage are difficult, as he payed everything.

"What was that?"she asked when they sat inside the car.

"What? Oh- I don't know how to tell him that we're not married yet. He seemed so excited talking about it-" he was in the middle of explaining his side when Leyla's phone started to ring.

"Oh no!"

"Who's calling?"

Leyla's face turned pale holding out her phone, "It's Roca," she whispered.

"Why do you look so scared? Answer the call maybe she has something important to tell you."

Rui removed his face mask and started to drive back to the condominium. He watched Leyla take five deep breaths after the Roca ended the call.

"Oh thank God! Akala ko- sh*t!" tumatawag na naman ang matalik niyang kaibigan.

"Give me that," Rui snatched the phone away so fast and answered the call to put it on speaker.

"Hoy gag*! May jowa ka?! Sino 'yong matangkad na malaki 'yong katawan?!" muntik nang matawa ng malakas si Rui sa narinig niyang tili ni Roca sa kabilang linya.

"Hi Roca," she nervously greeted.

"You have a boyfriend and you did not tell me? Send me a picture now! Mukhang pogi ha?" Leyla was too shy to look at Rui. She tried to get her phone back but he calmly put it on the dashboard and smirk at her.

"Roca, please let's talk about this another time-"

"Woah? No! We are talking about this now. Paano nalang si Sir Rui?"

Rui almost reacted with that one, mabuti nalang at mabilis ang pagtakip ni Leyla sa kan'yang bibig. He's dying of laughter because of what he's hearing right now.

"Roca please, it's not really the right time-ouch! Why did you bite me?"

"I did not bite you-huh? What bit you?"

"Ahahahahaha!"

"Shut up!"

"Sino 'yon? Wait- Sino 'yong tumawa? Ang laki ng boses! Omy- boyfriend mo?!"

"You did not hear anything Roca, that was nobody," Leyla had to threaten Rui with her eyes.

"Was that your boyfriend laughing?"

"Ye-yeah, that's my boyfriend Roca. Can I call you back later?"

"OMG! May boyfriend ka na nga?" sumisinghot pa si Roca. "Sira na talaga ang imagination ko na magkakatuluyan kayo ni Sir Rui."

"Roca, good bye!" she ended the call so fast and then she covered her face with both of her palms. "Please don't ask about it, don't talk about it, please." pagmamakaawa niya pa sa lalaki sa tabi niya na natawa na namang muli dahil sa pamumula niya.

"I did not know that Roca is that invested in your dating life. She wanted us to date huh? She's even sobbing-Hahaha!"

"I don't know why but she really wants to see us together since the first day we met. And if she ever find out about us, she's gonna flip. Baka nga hindi niya pa ako mapatawad kasi hindi ko sinabi sa kan'ya kaagad."

"You can tell her, I don't mind."

"No-nope, no. Bad idea!" mabilis pa itong umiling- iling, "She will scream my ear off I swear!"

"Wow, kinahihiya mo talaga ako?"

"Oh shut up, you know what I mean!"

The whole ride back home was filled with so much banter that their jaws became so sore for laughing too much. Leyla did not realize how funny this straight cut and workaholic guy really is. They did nothing but enjoy the whole night chilling and laughing to themselves about the dumbest conversations ever.

"You can sleep comfortably? Are you sure?" Leyla asked for the nth time just to make sure that Rui can sleep in his own room tonight. Before she even walk back to her unit, she just wanted to leave him comfortable in his own unit. Ayaw niyang maiwan ang lalaki na mag-isa tapos baka doon pa siya atakihin ng mga masasamang ala-ala.

"If I couldn't, do I have any other choices?" he softly asked as Leyla pulled out the fresh blanket from his closet.

"Of course, I can stay here to check on you."

Rui froze. He looked at his king sized bed and turned to look at Leyla then back at the bed once more.

"You want to-"

"I can clearly see the nasty thought on your mind right now, just looking at your face."

She tapped him by the shoulder while laughing hysterically. "I'm gonna go get my things, I'll sleep in your guest bed room."