Of Yellow Hearts and Fluffs

Valentine's Day

Ian was trying to suppress his deep sighs since his wife came out of her own office inside their house. He watched her get a glass of water, but before she went back to her office, he stood up and approached her, blocking her way. "Love, ilang linggo ka ng nagtatampo. Pwede bang tigilan na natin?"

Lea raised her brow at him. "Why? Are you getting tired of making suyo?"

Ian sighed. "No. But I miss you already. Magkatabi nga tayo sa kama pero hindi ako makatulog dahil ayaw mo akong pansinin."

Lea wanted to smile at what he said, but she's still annoyed. It wouldn't reach this far if only he asked her opinion first. This was not like him and it pissed her off.

"Well, suffer the consequences, Ian. It's your fault anyway!"

"And I admitted that already. So please, Love..."

She crossed her arms. "I told you months ago that Gerard and I are planning a valentine's concert and then to my surprise, you'll tell me that you accepted a gig on the same night?"

Ian sighed. "I'm sorry, Love. Nawala nga kasi sa isip ko. I already apologized and I told you that we'll go on a date or out of the country trip after the concert so I can make it up to you."

"That's not the point, Veneracion! You have never missed any of my concerts since we started dating! And what's annoying is that you signed the contract without telling me! You always consult me with these things so that one of us can support each other during our concerts or gigs!"

Lea's voice echoed throughout the whole house. The message was  loud and clear. She's still angry.

Ian sighed once again.. He doesn't know how to apologize anymore because he doesn't want to add fuel to the fire that had been burning for weeks.

"I'm really sorry, Love." He apologized for the nth time.

Lea shook her head. "There's nothing we can do about it. I'm going to rest. I still have rehearsals tomorrow."

Ian watched his wife walk away, climbed the stairs and entered their bedroom, still angry at him.

Valentine's Day came and Lea woke up and found herself alone in bed. She looked around hoping that her husband was just inside the bathroom, but there's no sound of any running water. She went down to eat some breakfast, hoping that maybe he prepared something that was part of his panunuyo, but to her surprise the whole house was empty. She dragged herself back to their room and noticed the post-it that was stuck on her vanity mirror.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Love! Sorry if I left early, I need to be at rehearsals. Good luck at your concert! I'll see you tonight. I love you!"

Instead of feeling better, it made everything worse for her. Ian would usually be the one to drive her to the venue, made sure that she eats well, supply everything that she needed, and he would even go to the extreme by double checking the teleprompter to make sure the lyrics were correct, and lastly, he would always take out the jitters before she hits the stage by having their alone time for five minutes, giving her a good luck kiss partnered with encouraging words before the whole show began. He was her everything.

But at that moment, she didn't like the feeling that she was about to have a major concert that they planned for weeks without her constant supporter to send her off.

Lea arrived at the concert hall, still feeling down and blue. She went through the final rehearsal easily, but deep inside she knew it's going to be different once the program started.. Her glam team noticed her sad atmosphere, and she brushed it off by saying that she was just nervous. They kept asking where her husband was but she didn't know what to answer so she would avoid it by asking for things that she didn't really need.