Separated

Chapter 6

                 

Maine falls asleep from crying. Since Alden didn't know where she lived, he took her to their home.

"Baby, wake up na. We're here." Alden coos, but she doesn't stir. He carries her up and in spite of the effort it took, he smiled.  He waited for a long time for her to be back here and he would cherish this, no matter how temporary it will be.

He puts her down on their bed. "Hungry? Hindi pa tayo nagdinner. I'll prepare lang."

"Dito ka lang please. We'll eat later. Rest muna tayo."

He joins her and they spoon, Maine snuggling close.  "Please don't leave me anymore." He whispers to her sleeping form before he joins in her slumber.

Hours later, he wakes up to find her gone.

"Maine!" He gets up and puts on his shoes, gets his cellphone and calls his assistant. "Mama Ten, pakihanap ang contact details ni Meng –"

"Hi! You up for pasta?" Maine asked from the dining room.

"Okay na, Ma. Tawagan kita later." He rushed to her. "I thought you left."

"No, sabi ko naman sayo we'll talk, di ba?" She said, caressing his face. "Pero tulog na tulog ka pa kanina so I thought to prepare dinner nalang. You're really too thin na now. Sit na, I'll get lang the food."

Instead of taking the head of the table, he moved his plate so that they were seated side-by-side. When she sat, she put food on both their plates and ordered him to eat, but he was busy staring at her and playing with her hair. "Later na. I'm too happy that you're here."

"You can be happy and eat." She joked.

"Namamaga pa eyes mo. Iyak kasi ng iyak kanina eh. I told you naman we could stop." He said, now caressing her eyebrows. "I hate seeing you cry like that."

"It's still so painful kasi when I think about our baby. I'm sorry –"

"Shhh. I told you naman stop saying sorry. Walang may kasalanan okay? Ako yung dapat magsorry kasi yung way ko to deal with my grief made you feel neglected. I just wish you didn't leave."

Maine sighed. "I was so lost also, I didn't know how to reach out to you, so when it got to be too much, I just packed up and left. I'm sorry I hurt you."

"What have you been doing? I always check your accounts but wala ka naman update."

Maine explained that she focused on their businesses and investments – those that were out of the public eye. "You never visited those so I figured medyo safe ako magtago dun. The businesses are doing well pala – our partners try to update you pero ayaw mo daw makipagmeet."

"Busy kasi ako mag-mukmok." Alden said, which earned him a pinch in the cheek.

"Baby, ang ganda nung bago mong movie!"

"What?"

"Ang ganda nung bago mong movie." She gushed. "I'm so proud of you."

Alden smiled and thanked her, but he was beaming over the fact that she called him "Baby."

As soon as dinner was over, he insisted that they turn in. Exhaustion was evident in Maine's face. "But I didn't bring anything with me."

"You still have stuff here and I always buy your toiletries."

"Why?" She asked, genuinely confused.

"Obvious naman siguro na I was hoping uuwi ka."

"I have a question. Pero wag ka magagalit ha?" Maine started. When Alden agreed, she continued. "Have you... I mean, I'd understand naman if you did... Nagkaron ba ng iba while I... Sabi kasi sa news..."

"Maine, spit it out."

"May iba ka na bang mahal?"

He chuckled. "Sinong papatol sa kin? Yung phone ko ikaw pa din ang wallpaper; everything here sa house has your mark pa din; yung tweets ko mostly are still about us... I still wear my wedding ring. Ikaw lang, Maine. Ikaw lang."

"But I'm not strong enough for you."

"Kaya nga dapat magkasama tayo. Meng, ikaw? May iba na ba? Is that why you filed for the annulment?"

Maine sighed and hugged him. "Di ba, I said nga no? I just thought... No, Rj. There's no one else."

Once they were ready for bed, they settled in and cuddled again. "I'm not rushing you into anything, I just want you to know, you're always welcome to come home when you're ready."

And for the first time in over a year, Alden didn't have to leave the porch light on.