Secretly Married (English)

Chapter 22

Phoebe did consider telling Jhone where she was going. That's why she had the old car parked near their house. But at the last minute, she decided against it because she knew that Jhone was going to try to persuade her to talk things out with Kent.

So she took a cab to a bus terminal with buses heading to Baguio, where her mother and Kent's grew up and became friends and where they went to with each other's families up until that day when the two women went on a quick trip and died. Ever since then, Phoebe had not gone back to Baguio. It was simply too painful for her to revisit.

But if anything, this was as far away as she could go. Her Tita Linda was her last remaining relative on her mother's side, and though they'd kept in touch via phone and Facebook, they haven't seen each other for years.

Tita Linda welcomed her with open arms and hugged her for a long, long time. Phoebe started crying, and soon, the story spilled out.

"I'm sure Kent did not mean that," she said. "I knew him as a kid, and he was never mean."

"People change" was all Phoebe could say.

"I know what will comfort you!" She bundled up Phoebe with a scarf, and together, they went to Café Batirol, which was their favorite place to go before.

"I wish Mama were here," Phoebe said as she sipped on a hot cup of cacao.

Her auntie went back to the souvenir shop that she managed shortly after, so Phoebe had to go back to their place alone. When she got there, though, she thought she saw Kent standing by the doorway of her aunt's house.

As she neared, her heart stopped. Her footsteps must have made a sound because the figure turned around.

"Kent." She stopped on her tracks.

Kent walked toward her, his head bowed. "Phoebe . . ." There was something tentative about his voice but also a trace of harshness.

Phoebe tried to compose herself and walked toward the door. As she opened it, she heard him follow her inside. Her aunt was a spinster and lived alone.

Kent's voice echoed in the large, empty hallway as he said, "Can we talk?"

Phoebe turned to face him, trying to appear calm, yet she was anything but. Does he want a divorce? she thought.

Whatever it was, Phoebe wasn't ready yet. She went inside her aunt's guest room, saying, "I'm really tired, Kent. Can we talk some other time?"

She was about to close the door, but Kent blocked the door with his whole body.

"No, Phoebe. Please."

He then wrapped her up in his arms so tightly that she couldn't breathe.

"Kent?"

"Phoebe, be mine."

Kent started kissing Phoebe and then closed the door behind him. Phoebe didn't know what to do by then. She simply responded to his kisses as they even- tually fell on to bed. Somehow it all felt right—this with Kent, right at this moment.

Kent awkwardly tried to remove her shirt, but her head got caught in it in the process. He said sorry as he tried to remove it again. It was one awkward move after another—a few seconds trying to figure out how to work the bra clasp, another more trying to kiss her simultaneously as he removed his pants. Right in the throes of passion, they were soon laughing as they tried to go about the motions of lovemaking while trying to figure out how to go about the steps smoothly.

Phoebe then realized that Kent, for all his playboy antics and bravado, had been faithful to her all along, which made her feel even guiltier about what she thought she'd done.

As Kent started kissing her neck and trying to position himself on top of her, she closed her eyes, tears streaming down her cheeks. Kent saw this, and he started kissing the tears off her face.

"It's okay, Phoebe, it's going to be okay. We're going to be okay."

Phoebe tried to recall what it may have felt like with Harley, but she couldn't recall a single sensation, unlike in this moment where she was at both present and lost in the moment. And so as Kent began to enter her, she felt that deep inexplicable pain seethe through.

"Kent, please, don't," she muttered.

Kent wiped her forehead with his hand and started kissing it. He saw how much pain Phoebe was going through. It was then that he realized that Phoebe couldn't have been with anyone else if she felt that much pain.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," he said. "I love you." "I love you so much, Kent," she uttered.

Exhausted, the two lay side by side right after, but neither could fall asleep.

"Do you really love me, Phoebe?" Kent asked.

"Yes," Phoebe said in a small voice. She took a peek at Kent. She laughed at how big his smile was.

"Since when?"

"What kind of question is that?"

"Just answer me, you idiot."

"I don't know ... I just do."

"What kind of answer is that?"

"Well, what about you?"

"What about me?"

"Do you love . . . me?"

"Didn't you hear me earlier?"

"Just rehashing, you know."

"Okay, you want to hear me say everything?

Okay. Here goes. I love you, Phoebe. Even if you're kind of an idiot—"

"What?"

"Let me finish . . . I'm sorry I said what I did. I was just really drunk then, and I was so jealous I felt like I would die. But really, I think the anger wasn't toward you. It was toward me because I couldn't accept the fact that I gave you enough reason to seek someone else."

Kent looked at her and found her crying. He shook her. "Hey, why are you crying? Are you sad because you now realize that you're going to be stuck with me forever?" he joked.

Phoebe tried to laugh as she wiped her tears. "I don't know . . . just that I'm sorry for what happened. I'm sorry for dragging you out here . . . I don't even know how you even thought I would be here . . ."

"It was the only place I could think of that could comfort you."

They fell asleep shortly thereafter when they heard a knock. Phoebe sat up and realized that she was just wearing a shirt and nothing else and Kent was even less clothed.

"Phoebe? You want to grab some dinner?" she heard her aunt outside the room.

She shook Kent awake and proceeded to grab her undies and her pants. She then threw Kent his clothes on the bed and would not look at him.

"Just get dressed already," she said.

"Why are you turning your back on me?"

"Just get dressed!"

"Well, fix your hair."

"Are you dressed?"

"Yes."

"That was quick."

But when Phoebe turned around, Kent was just in his underwear, standing on the bed. She turned her back again, turning red.

"Get dressed!"

"Why are you acting like we haven't seen each other naked before?"

"Shut up and get dressed. Tita Linda's here."

After Kent got dressed, they went out of the room, hand in hand. Needless to say, Tita Linda was shocked.

*later*