He Married the Stripper.

Filial Love.

 ---NARRATOR---

People say love is ingrained in any and every human being. Filial love or the love of a child to his or her parents is the very first form of love or affection a person feels. Emily's filial love is strong. She was blessed with the most loving parents, parents who helped her grow up to such a resilient and kind lady. Her filial love was nurtured well and it blossomed to a love so enormous she would do anything and everything for her parents if only they we're still living. However Alex' love for his parents was not nurtured nor was it ingrained in him. He was brought up in a different environment than Emily. In a situation so different that he didn't even know how to feel 'love' towards the parent he grew up with.      

---ALEX---

I read the e-mail my Dad sent me and I can't help but shake my head. I closed the tab and reviewed some documents and answered other e-mails before his. When I finished all of my work, I went back to his e-mail. Re-read it and proceeded to type a reply. I was in the middle of writing a sentence when Emily called me from the other side of the door. 

"Kailangan ko lang lumabas, pwede bang bantayan mo yung niluluto ko?" She asked me, I looked at my laptop and back to her. I stood up, anything is better than answering his e-mails.

I've never cooked my whole life, if you ask me to get a certain pan or any cooking utensils, you'd be damn sure I'd ask you countless of times as to which one it is but I consider myself as resourceful and innovative.

"Mabilis lang naman ako, maybe you wouldn't have to do anything. Just in case lang."

She told me to watch the pot and make sure to stir it when it starts boiling. I watched the pot and after a few minutes I saw the water bubbling from the glass cover. I looked around the counter for anything to stir it with and I saw what looked to be bear claws with handles next to some cooked meat so I took that. A few seconds into my mission and I dropped the pot's cover when it burned my left hand, out of reflex I let go of what I was holding on my right and as I realized that it was gonna fall I proceeded to grab it with my good hand again and I stabbed myself with it.

"F*ck!" I yelled as the cover clattered to the ground, my left hand burned and the right one bleeding.

"Alex?..." I heard Emily say as she came in. She went straight to the kitchen and saw the state I was in. 

"Oh my god." 

My wound wasn't deep so we didn't go to the hospital to get stitches, instead she was the one who patched it up and my hand wasn't burned that badly either so she tended to that too. 

"Ano bang nagyari? Bakit nagaka-ganito ka? Hinawakan mo ba yung lid nang walang sapin yung kamay mo?" She asked as she put some ointment on my left hand. Hindi ako sumagot, I mean, that's exactly what happened, why does she feel the need to ask?

"And how did you even get your hands on the meat shredder?" She asked again, I looked at the bear claw looking contraption that wounded my right hand, so that's what it was, and that was why they were sharp. Hindi parin ako sumagot, tiningnan nya ako at tinaasan ng kilay. I looked away, she's not gonna get an answer from me. I heard her sigh. 

"Remind me not to let you cook ever again." She said as she lifted my hand and started blowing on it.

"Anong ginagawa mo?"

"Hinihipan ko yung sugat mo."

"I can see that what I wanna know is why." She looked at me in puzzlement.

"Hindi ka ba nasusugatan nung bata ka?"

"Do I look like Superman to you?" 

"Sabi ng mga matatanda nababawasan daw sakit kapag hinihipan yung sugat." Sabi niya as she finished treating me and started cleaning up her first aid kit. I looked at my hands. My left hand was wrapped nicely in gauze while two of my fingers on the right was bandaged. I tried moving them a little bit but it stings a little bit but otherwise it felt fine. Oo nga pala, nag-aral nga pala sya ng nursing years ago. She knows how to do these things.

 I shook my head. I'm gonna have to postpone a few things today, I guess. 

"Okay ka lang?" She asked again.

"Yea. It's just a little inconvenient. That's all." 

"Ay, nagta-trabaho ka nga pala sa taas kanina..."

"It's fine. I'm almost done anyway. I can continue later." 

---EMILY---

Alex tried to refuse when I told him I was gonna help him with work. Pero dahil nagi-guilty ako sa nangyari sa kamay niya, nag-insist ako hanggang sa pumayag din siya. We went up to his room, he sat behind me while I sat in front of his laptop. He had me type up answers to some business e-mails. Which was very easy to do since in-aral ko to four years ago, when I decided to get secretarial jobs na hindi naman natuloy dahil sa Club ako pinag-trabaho ni Tita Aura.

"I know how to spell it. Champion Speller ako nung highschool." Sabi ko sa kanya when he tried to dictate a word to me. 

"Ganito ba talaga mga businessman? Kahit day off nagta-trabaho parin?" Tanong ko sa kanya after I finished the fourth e-mail.

"It's a multi-million corporation, rest isn't really an option."

"Ayun na nga e, multi-million meaning marami kayong employees na pwedeng gumawa ng mga to. Hindi naman siguro kayo malulugi nang ganun-ganun na lang kung magde-day off ka." Hindi niya ko pinansin. So I stopped asking questions, after a few minutes and after some curt e-mail replies from him, he told me he was done and that I can go. 

"Teka, eto pa isa o? Hindi mo ba bubuksan?" Tanong ko as I scrolled up to the top of his unread e-mails.

"Leave it."

"Ha? Bakit, sabi urgent o. From Alexander Altamerana... II..." Tumingin ako sa kanya.

"Tsk, it's just my Dad, he can wait." Tumayo siya.

"Sabi sakin ni Gina gusto daw akong makilala ng Tatay mo."

"Of course he does. Para saan? He's gonna judge you so if I were you. I'd decline."

"Pero tatay mo siya..."

"That doesn't really mean anything to me or even to him."

I don't know much about his family life and with the little that I know, mga narinig ko lang sa mga kwento ni Lolo Al, Gina, John at ni Anthony.  Everything were second hand accounts never anything that came from him at kung meron man siyang mabanggit it was never anything good. As someone who lost her family early, hindi ko maintindihan kung bakit siya ganito ka-pabaya sa sarili niyang pamilya. Kung bakit nagagawa niyang baliwalain yung mga ginagawa nina Lolo Al para sa kanya, yung pagre-reach out ng Tatay niya sa kanya. Kung paano niya natitiis na hindi man lang sila kausapin for months. How he treats them like nothing.

"You know you should be thankful you still have a family. That they still take care of you." Sabi ko sa kanya as I stood up.

"You think they care for me? Don't make me laugh. I wouldn't really call this caring." Sabi niya, napatigil ako sa pintuan. Bakit ba siya masyadong ma-pride? I know Lolo Al, he was nice to me and all this time he was the one who helped him and he doesn't think he cares? 

"If you don't see it as caring then ungrateful ka. Sila nagpa-laki at nagpa-aral sayo. Sila dahilan kung  bakit ka naririto ngayon. Kung ano man issues mo sa kanila hindi ba pwedeng isantabi mo ma lang yun? Or better yet just forgive them? Mag-pasalamat ka na may pamilya ka coz not everyone's as lucky as you." As soon as I opened the door he slammed it shut. His hand trapping me, his face inches from mine and I can tell he didn't like what I said.

"You want me to forgive them? Nagpa-patawa ka ba? Tama ka, they are the reason I'm here today, they are the reason I am who I am today but that doesn't necessarily mean that I have to be grateful to them. You think I'm lucky? You have no idea what I've been through with this stupid family. You were LUCKY enough that you were loved by your parents and your grandpa because I wasn't. I never felt love from them, that old man took me in out of convenience just like how he made me marry you for his own gain. we have different circumstances so I'd appreciate it if you'd stop comparing your family life to mine."

---NARRATOR---

Filial love is ingrained, it can grow if nurtured and it can prosper and be passed on even with the people whose hearts are hidden behind walls; Only if someone is willing to break them down and if the person behind it will find a way to meet them halfway.