Chapter 4 Big Boss

THERA sighed. No matter how she surveyed the people in front of her, she could not see anything that would lift her bored spirit.

She had no idea how she agreed with the three to join in their group dinner. The three women sitting with her at the table for four in that restaurant were her batchmates in college. The bar was loud, and the smell of smoke, beer, and food inside the narrow place mixed in the air. She had been struggling with irritation and boredom for fifteen minutes already while the three kept staring and praising her. The reason could be either they were happy for her, they’re jealous, or finding the perfect timing to loan some money.

Their minds could be easily read. They were no different from the people she knew who stuck with her because of the favor they can ask from her.

When she was still untidy, and her naturally curly hair was stiff, they could not even bother to glance at her. But now, they auto-liked even her Facebook rants.

Thera yawned when Lorraine spoke.

“You’re lucky, Thera, you have no children and exasperations. That’s why you’re so pretty. You don’t look like you’re turning thirty. While I did end up with my first love, I’m still troubled because I have too many kids to look after.”

Thera rolled her eyes. “Who told you to obey the priest’s sermon to go and multiply?"

“You’re lucky, my friend,” Rheng agreed, ignoring her remarks.

Friend? Since when did they become close? Should she hit her in the gums to remind her how she used to snub her before?

“You’ve married a handsome and rich man. You have no stress in life. While look at us, we always worry about our children’s allowances and tuition fees. You have your money to count and places to shop from.”

Thera’s eyebrow arched. Her lips turned into a lopsided smile. “So, you think that the money in my bank account, my car, and my jewelry were all because I married a wealthy, handsome husband and I was so lucky?”

The two looked taken aback.

“Do you think I just act cute in front of Sean and poof! He’d sent me lots of money and gifts right away?”

They looked away. Jiera cleared her throat. She could not remember her being her enemy, but she could not recall they were close, either.

“I don’t think that’s what they meant, Thera. It was heaven’s will and not luck—”

Thera scoffed. Heaven’s will. Thirteen years ago, she used to tell that to herself. That one day, everything she desired will be granted by heaven. Money, a nice house, a beautiful life. And Sean.

And yes, she had those things and Sean all at the same time. But if she had only known that she married a devil incarnate, she would never wish to cross paths with him on the street.

Almost ten years. If these three only knew that she had regretted from the first night she got married to the person they thought brought her luck.

THERA put the glass on the table. She had decided to let another minute pass by and leave the three.

“Do you know that Kisses came back from the States?” Jiera said. It looked like she was estimating her reaction.

She lifted her gaze. She picked up the glass again and brought it to her lips.

“Ah. My bad, I forgot that you were best friends. You could be the first person she called and not her family.”

“I’m not interested to know. If it was not an interesting or important person, I do not waste my time,” she replied sternly and put her beer down.

Silence followed. Thera knew they were exchanging meaningful stares. After a while, the three bid their good-byes. Finally, they realized that she was not really in the mood.

“Aren’t you going to walk us to the jeepney stop, Thera?” Rheng asked with a sweet smile. She was expecting that their connection would deepen.

“A trip to the terminal is only thirty pesos. You can chip in ten pesos each,” she said nonchalantly.

“That’s right, Rheng. We should just take a tricycle home,” Jiera said, smiling.

Thera stood up minutes after the three left. She put a five-hundred-peso bill on the table. She went straight to the bar’s exit door. She stopped when she found them still standing outside. She glanced at her watch. It was past ten in the evening. She was not sure if a tricycle would still pick up passengers at this hour.

She took a deep breath. It would not take her an hour if to drop them at their houses. She fished her cellphone from her bag to call Ringgo.

“The witch is so cold. I hate her. I could not even bring up about helping Robert get a job at The Palace,” she heard Rheng said in disappointment.

Thera stopped dialing. She shot them a look.

“The tale is real. She really is a devil without a single drop of human blood in her.” Jiera shook her head.

Thera’s smile was sarcastic. People kept saying they liked her, but behind her back. Well, what should those impoverished ones expect with the color of her blood? Pink? While it was them who look like extra-terrestrial beings.

She gritted her teeth as she folded her arms across her chest. They were no different from The Palace’s employees. Cowards. Backfighters.

“Well, people change when they have money.” Lorraine sighed.

“Not in Thera’s case. According to Kisses, she was already ill-mannered even when she was still poor.”

Thera’s grin disappeared. Kisses. She was that one person she thought would never betray her. But just like everyone else, she did.

THERA staggered on her way out of the bar. Shit. The street is wobbly. She got drunk from the two bottles of beer when the three award-winning actresses left. She dialed Ringgo’s number. But before she could even take her phone out, it slipped from her hand and fell on the concrete. She was about to pick it up when someone took it.

Thera stood straight. The man who picked up her phone slowly lifted his gaze on her. She sighed in boredom when he smiled sweetly at her.

“Give me back my phone. We’re not shooting in a romantic drama to stare at each other.”

His smile broadened. Amused, he returned her phone and put his hands inside his pocket. “Why didn’t you join your three friends a while ago?” he asked as if they were used to talking like that. Yes, he was good-looking. But she did not trust his type.

“They’re not my friends,” she replied in a murmur.

She was about to dial Ringgo’s number when she realized something. She returned her gaze at the man and creased her forehead. She eyed him suspiciously.

“How did you know I have company? Were you following me?”

She did not saw him at the narrow bar a while ago. And she doubted it if he had ever gone to a bar at all.

“Well, I saw you a while ago. Eavesdropping to your friends,” he said and smiled again.

Thera smirked. Was there a loose muscle in his jaw? He looked like an idiot, smiling the whole time.

“If you really saw my reaction while eavesdropping to those three rotten eggs, could you still say that they were really my friends?” she said sarcastically.

He shrugged and stared at her. “I was not listening to their conversation. I was looking at you. You had a sad look in your face,” he said quietly.

She laughed aloud.

“You saw wrong. That was ‘I’m-gonna-kill-these-bitches’ look.” After saying that, she walked out on him. But he followed her, his hands still in his pocket. She saw his shadow.

“Don’t accompany me. If you know me, you know that I have a driver,” she said in a loud voice, but very swiftly, she almost tripped when she avoided the protruding stone on the road.

The man went closer and aided her. She opened her mouth in protest, but they heard a loud honk from a car behind them. It stopped right where they stood. Thera’s forehead knotted. It was a black pickup. The window of the backseat pulled down. She took a peek, not pulling her hand away from the man who was still holding her elbow. She did not hide the glare from her eyes when she recognized the man sitting in the backseat.

“Get in,” the man from the pickup said without even looking at her.

She stood straight. What was Judas doing here? “I have a driver.”

“I told him to go home.”

Thera’s eyebrows furrowed. She took a deep breath, trying to keep her cool. “And who do you think you are to…”

Her words were interrupted when he turned to her. His red, supple lips were tightly pressed. His gaze went down to her elbow, held by the man beside her. The latter got conscious and let go.

With a blank expression on his face, the jerk lifted his left hand. Thera’s gaze followed it. The ring in his finger sparkled.

He gave her a half-hearted smile. “I am Sean De Marco, your husband.”

THERA closed the pickup’s door gruffly as soon as it parked at the façade of Sean and Tan’s. Of all places, why did Sean bring her to the Tea Caf? Supposedly, the coffee shop should be closed, but the lights inside were still up. She had no idea the Tea Caf extended its working hours. It had been a long time she had set foot in that place.

As far as Thera could remember, female and gay customers were really after Sean. Not the ‘instagrammable’ café or the cozy ambiance, the famous blended coconut coffee, the mouth-watering milk tea or cakes, and the pastries displayed by the counter.

The Tea Caf had gone viral a couple of times during the first quarter of 2009. No, it was Sean who really trended, not the Tea Caf itself.

A student from DM University secretly took a video of Sean entering the café and uploaded it on FB. The video reached hundred of thousands of views in less than three days. Thera was one of those who kept hitting the replay button as she beamed. She even liked it and secretly downloaded the video on her phone.

Then a customer secretly took a photo of him when he was leaning against his car. Those might be stolen shots, but it shook the social media.

Sean was the type of guy who got noticed easily without trying. He could make the people around swoon without needing to smile. Running a hand through his dark hair or pulling the sleeves of his shirt was already attractive.

Thera heard Tea Caf was doing well. Additional menus were offered aside from the famous tea, coffee, and pastries.

Sean got down from the car. He sauntered to the gate and opened it. Thera’s forehead knotted. That only meant no one was inside. Had the man been there before he went to the bar? She got a bad feeling about him meeting her. If she remembered it right, that was the third time since they got married.

If he had an intention for reconciliation, he should forget about it. May it be friendship or no relationship, if there were such a thing, she would not offer it to him. For the past nine years, he did not bother to meet her. There were times when they were supposed to see each other in the States—where he stayed after he escaped from the first night of their wedding. But Sean was good at avoiding. He would not attend if he knew she was coming.

Even when he was supposed to be talking to her about the annulment case he filed, his lawyer showed up instead, except for the times when Sean was forced to come home to the Philippines.

She only often sees him in magazines if she was not mad enough to tear and crumple the innocent glossy page because of her anger. Yumi could provide information about Sean, but she stressed about not mentioning his name in front of her when it was not necessary.

If others could say, ‘Thank you, Lord, I’m alive,’ it was different in Thera’s case. She was contented with cursing and bashing her husband secretly every day of her life. Call her bitter or what, she did not care.

Sean went inside ahead of her as soon as he opened the door.

“Now, what do you want?” she asked irritably as she got inside.

He stopped in the middle of the four corners of the room and turned to her. Thera folded her arms across her chest. If Thera was transparent, Sean’s expression, on the other hand, was hard to read.

“Is this how a married woman should behave? You party and get drunk as if you’re nineteen,” he said in a flat tone. She did not know if he was insulting her or what.

“Should I get my act together to please you for old time’s sake, Mr. De Marco?” She smirked.

Tan did not answer back. He picked up an envelope on the small table and handed it to her.

“What’s this?”

“Annulment papers.”

Thera’s eyes narrowed in an instant. So, he was still pushing with the annulment. She shot him a sharp, furious look. He was the only person in the world who was asking for an annulment wearing his wedding ring.

She had long hidden her ring in a jewelry box. If only she did not feel sorry for the price, she had thrown it into the water a long time ago.

“Surely, you’re the only person who can stun me in utter disbelief, Mr. De Marco,” she said in disgust. “If your dumb lawyer did not tell you clearly, I’ll repeat it in front of you. I will never let you marry someone else after everything that you’ve done to me. I will never ever sign that stupid paper! Suffer being married to me!”

Fuming, Thera dashed to the door. Indeed, the rotten bastard always had the nerve to talk to her about annulling their marriage.

He wanted to be free, so he could be happy with another woman while she would remain pathetic? Thera was crossing the street when a car appeared from the other side, targeting her direction. She had no time to react in shock as she felt her body hitting the bumper.

“Thera!”