Alejandro's Hombre

Ch. 19: gut feelings, denials and realizations

Xander immediately get out of Gabe's room and look long at the name on his smartphone's screen. it's a request for an overseas video call from his fiancé... and for the first time, he hesitated to tap the answer button. He felt guilty for what he let Gabriel do just now. He shook his head and just tap the button. His fiancé's worried face showed up.

|Hi, sweetie. did I disturbed you? I was worried something happened, you didn't answered right away. uhm, are you busy?|

"h-huh? n-no, I'm not. I just... I just came out of my patient's room, actually. I... I just did my rounds after uhm, my surgery." He said, trying to sound calm. He's not really good at hiding his emotions when he feels guilty about something, so he's doing his best for Amethyst not to no notice anything unusual in him. "by the way, are you home now, sweetie? have you eaten already?"

Amethyst giggled, she's really beautiful. It's like a left and right truth slap on his face---he has a beautiful woman, his fiancé to pay attention with. He's bound to marry her someday. it's like a great realization on his part, reminding him of what he truly is. that he's a man, and this woman is his future wife. that he must not allow himself to be distracted by Gabriel, or even doubt himself and the strange feelings he felt whenever he's around him.

|yup, I'ved already had my brunch with my dorm mates here. they're really fun, sweetie. we're a mix of Eurasian people here at the dorm, and we all just clicked. by the way---|

He's not sure but he kinda heard a queer voice on the background, calling his fiancé's name. nakita rin nya sa screen na dali-daling tumayo si Amy at may pinuntahan, for about five minutes. He seemed to see a silhouette of a person rushing out of his fiancé's room. kita nya ito dahil nahagip ng camera ang naturang bulto ng tao na agad din namang nawala. then, Amy came back.

|I'm so sorry sweetie, it's just one of my silly dorm mates here. He's been---|

"he?"

|Oh. I meant she, sweetie. I'm sorry. I mean, she's been really silly these days, she's uhm, one of my very close friends here since she's half Asian, like me.|

"ah,okay. I'm glad that you're hanging out with friends even more, sweetie. at least you won't be so bummed with medschool life. don't worry, I'll visit you there---"

|No! I, I mean... n-not now, sweetie. a-at least not this year. we're kinda busy with our dissertations, more lab works and internships. I'll have you informed when you can come over, okay?|

Xander felt something weird but he chose to shrug it off. he knows how hectic medschool can be, so he understands his fiancé's reasons. He nodded and smiled at her.

"it's okay. I understand, no worries. Just don't forget to rest and still have fun, okay? you deserve it for studying hard. Love you."

Amethyst didn't responded immediately, she just stared at the screen. Xander is befuddled with his fiancé's reaction when normally, she would respond to him right away.

|Amy, sweetie? anything wrong?|

She kind of jolted from her seat and looked startled at first, then smiled awkwardly. hindi tuloy maiwasang magulohan ni Xander dito.

|oh, uhm... I'm fine, sweetie. I'm okay. uhm, I'll have to end this video call now, I forgot that I have to review for my case presentation tomorrow. I'll be going, sweetie. I just called to check on you. love ya! bye!|

Xander stared at his blank screen for a good while after the video call. His gut feeling tells him that there's something weird that's happening, but he chose to ignore it. He trust Amethyst, his fiancé. She's a dignified woman and they'd been loyal to each other, that's why they lasted this long. sya itong dapat umayos, dahil lang sa mga kakatwang bagay na nararamdaman nya para kay Gabriel---na hindi nya dapat maramdaman in the first place. so he decided on one thing.