I'm The Substitute Wife [COMPLETED]

Kabanata 36

ROUGE pulls her girlfriend out of her mother's office. They left her mother there unable to accept what he had done. Na paulit-ulit nitong sinasabi na hindi niya magagawa ang bagay na iyon. Do they think of him as a saint? Before they judge others for him, they should first know his side. Nakakahiya ang mga ito.

Walang imikan na pinasakay ni Rouge ang nobya sa kanyang kotse. Binalingan niya ito nang marinig muli ang mahinang impit na pag-iyak. Tinakpan nito ang mukha para hindi niya makita, pero naririnig naman niya. Naikuyom ni Rouge ang kamao. Pakiramdam niya, pinipiga ang puso niya sa bawat impit at hikbi nito.

Hindi nakapagpigil, hinampas ni Rouge ang manibela ng paulit-ulit upang doon ilabas ang galit sa kanyang pamilya. Nagagalit siya sa kakitiran ng isip ng mga 'to, sa patuloy na paninisi kay Imari.

"Why didn't you tell me?" maya-maya'y tanong nito.

"Baby," aniya, kita ang mga bagong luha na tumulo sa mga mata nito. Hahawakan sana ni Rouge ang mukha ng minamahal nang tabigin nito ang kanyang kamay.

"Why didn't you tell me that you were going to get married at that Kiva?" she said bitterly.

"You heard what I said earlier, didn't you? She's not the woman I want to marry, baby-"

"You didn't answer my question, Rouge. Why didn't you tell me?!"

"Because that's not important, Imari. She's nothing to me, so why bother to tell you."

"Am I not important to you too, Rouge?"

"Of course not-"

"That thing is important to me, Rouge, because I'm your girlfriend. I am the one who will get affected if by chance your parents force her on you! Maybe it's my right to know that, right?"

"I'm sorry, baby. I didn't mean that way. I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to worry and think badly of us, which there shouldn't be." He held her hand and kissed it. He didn't want to hurt her anymore.

"Ano ba siya para sayo, Rouge? Kailan siya ipinagkasundo sa'yo ng mga magulang mo?" Pinahiran niya ang marka ng mga luha nito sa mukha.

Rouge sighed as he saw in his girlfriend's eyes that she was hurt. "Kiva's family are friends of my parents and she is Reagan's best friend. She was arranged to marry me when she had just finished medicine, she was twenty-seven years old at that time and I was thirty-one. Kiva didn't agree to that because she said she wasn't ready yet and she still wanted to reach more as a doctor. Habang ako nang mga panahon na iyon ay ayos lang sa akin. Kiva is not bad after all. I have dated many women before, but nothing serious. In short, I only had plain sex with them. Kaya nang ipinagkasundo siya sa akin, hindi ako tumutol. May sariling negosyo na rin naman na ako at kaya kong bumuhay ng pamilya, pero siya pa rin ang iniisip ko dahil ayaw kong mamilit, na siyang hindi ko nagawa sayo. Kiva wants us to get married when she finishes her specialty as a Neurosurgeon. Pumayag naman pareho ang mga magulang namin. Habang hindi pa kami kasal, malaya kami sa gusto naming gawin, iyon ang sabi niya sa akin.

"As the years passed, we were busy with our respective jobs, me with my businesses and her as a doctor. We don't even communicate, everything seems normal to us, as if we didn't agree to get married that is our routine. Until one day, I saw you here. I never thought I would fall in love with the woman at first sight. You know, that's not my thing, and that's what I thought. That in my thirty-six years of existence and despite my life experiences, I will experience what they call 'love at first sight'. Damn!" Hinalikan niya muli ang mga kamay nito habang mariin na nakikinig sa kanya, kaya nagpatuloy siya.

"Just last year, after I woke up in the hospital where Kiva works, she told me she was ready. But, I refused because I felt like there was a big part of my heart that I had forgotten. She understood me and said she would wait. I returned to the Philippines and at the same time I returned to my old self. Until, I saw you here again when I came back. Sa tuwing ipinipilit sa akin ng aking ama ang pagpapakasal kay Kiva, ikaw agad ang naiisip ko. Sa pagkakataong iyon, naguguluhan ako, kaya pilit ako tumatanggi. Hanggang sa naalala kita at napagtanto ang lahat kung bakit ganun na lamang ang pagmamadali ng aking ama na maipakasal sa akin si Kiva. And now I know that she is not the woman I will marry, but you, Imari."