Chapter 36

"It's been a week, Laine."

Her brows met and she looked around, hoping to see the Professor named Gideon. After that incident, he no longer entered the class. She did not see the man even in the administration building or in the agriculture building. It was as if he had disappeared like a bubble. She could not understand why.

"Laine."

Her head snapped back to Jasmine and sighed. "Sorry? What is it again?"

"You're not listening, eh. Who are you looking for?"

She averted her eyes and sighed again. "Gideon."

"Gideon?" Jasmine's forehead creased. "Well, there are many Gideons in the country. But I know one. Professor Gideon. Is he the one you're looking for, Laine?"

She blinked, grinning and smiling. "Yes. Where is he now?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. He resigned three days later after you were rushed to the hospital. He didn't say goodbye to us so I can't tell you the reason."

"Resigned?" she blurted out. Jasmine nodded. Jewel swallowed. "That's why he wasn't in class earlier?"

Jasmine nodded immediately. "Partly yes. There's a new Professor to replace him. Professor Isagani at BSABE. I don't know who's in the other department."

"But why same room?"

"Prof Isagani said that the position left by Prof Gideon was vacant so he chose it."

Jewel looked down and sighed again. Jasmine then laughed. "Hey, you're serious. That's a few sighs ah." She smiled meaningfully. "Do you miss Prof Gideon?"

"Who wouldn't?"

Jasmine took a deep breath and patted her shoulder. "Same feeling. He's probably the only handsome Professor I've ever met."

She sniffed and toyed with the straw of mango juice. It's not just his beauty that she's looking for. She is truly looking for her husband. The feeling is strange when he is not around.

SHE WAS still holding the phone but she didn't have the courage to call. Sh did not know why she was looking for him and she had no excuse to call her husband.

Jewel sighed and decided to just enter the classroom. The whole class was there and rejoicing because everyone passed the midterm exam last week.

She is probably the only one who can't relate because she was absent during the examination week. Then, she has to go to the Admin building to take a special test. She presented her Medical Certificate to the Dean of Engineering so she was allowed to take the exam as an alternative.

She smiled and she remembered Gideon's words that she needed to find a way to solve her problem. So she asked Don Sebastian to get her a Medical Certificate as an evidence and reason why she was absent last week.

Hey, only now did she understand why Gideon said that. Admittedly, not at all times that someone will share her problem. Not at all times that someone will fix the mess she made.

Of course, she has nothing to hold on to now because she is under the authority of her parents. They are strict and always stressed that she must be perfect. Okay. She will be patient now. When she returns to Gideon's house, she will no longer be captured by those high class rules.

Her husband was her only hope of getting out of the cage. Gideon was really the only person she can always ask for help. And she's confident that he will never let her down. She knew it.

Jewel just need a good reason. One reason that she could use to visit him... her eyes squinted when she remembered something. Her lips parted and she screamed happily. "I knew it!"

"Jewel Laine? Are you okay?"

Her head snapped happily to her blockmates and nodded. "I'm okay. More than okay!"

Then looked down at her wristwatch. There's one more hour before class dismissal. When the bell rang, she hurried out of the classroom and went to the restroom.

Looking around, she saw no students. She entered the last cubicle and pulled out the phone, searched the contacts for Gideon's name and was about to press the call button but she hesitated.

After awhile, she closed her eyes and bit her lip.

'You must be brave,' she thought.

She then pressed the call button with her eyes closed. She opened her eyes when someone answered from the other line.

"Jewel," Gideon whispered on the phone.

Jewel's body went stiff. "H-hi?"

"How are you?"

"I-I'm good." She nodded even though he couldn't see her. "How about y-you?"

"You're stuttering. Are you sure you're okay?"

"Y-Yes. Of c-course." How could she not stutter when her uneven breathe could not keep up with her fast heart beat?

Jewel took two deep breaths. "I'm fine... really."

"Good. Why have you called? Do you need anything?"

Gradually, she squinted her eyes. "What's with that tone?" she asked. "You're talking as if nothing happened." Gideon did not speak again. Jewel gritted her teeth. “Talk to me,” she said.

"I'm sorry for what happened, wife." She heard him sigh. "I can't take care of you, Jewel."

"What are you s-saying?"

"Let's live in separate ---"

"Stop." She sighed, clenching her other fist hard. "I want to talk with you... in person"

There was another silence from the other line and it's making her irritated. Jewel snorted and hummed. "I'll dine in your house late and I'll take my seed project."

"Are you sure you want to visit?"

"What? Got a problem with that?" she huffed.

"I'm not in Cansanit today," Gideon reasoned after a few seconds.

Jewel frowned. "Is that a problem? Then just go home for dinner tonight!"

She heard Gideon's chuckling. "I'm currently in Oslob. Just... visit tomorrow?"

She squinted her eyes again while staring at the cubicle's door. "Don't you dare, Hernandez. I'm going to visit your house later. No more excuses. Or I'll secretly sneak tonight and travel to Oslob by myself to find you. I'm sure you don't want that."

"Oh. The last time you travelled past the city, you almost couldn't get up due to extreme dizziness. Then, shall I wait for you here in Oslob?"

She could almost imagine Gideon's smirk on his lips. Jewel hissed, but her heart started to beat fast again as a sweet pang covered it. Talking to Gideon with this atmosphere helped her anxiety to calm down. She thought that Gideon wanted to cut ties with her but she's wrong.

"Just come back home. I want to see you again," she whispered over the phone.

"Alright. I'm coming home, wife."

A soft smile tugged the corner of her lips but she laughed when she remembered that Oslob was in south Cebu and travelling to Medellin at the farthest north of the province would take almost four hours. How could Gideon travel so fast when heavy traffic is expected in the city?

Jewel put her phone back on her pocket and walked out of the cubicle. There, she saw three girls having retouch of their make-ups. They simultaneously looked at her when and the three of them chuckled.

"Girls, someone must be having sweet call with her husband, right?" one of them asked the other two.

"I see. So sweet..." commented the second girl and the three of them chuckled again, certainly ridiculing Jewel.

Jewel immediately walked out of the bathroom and she felt a handful of hostile stares thrown at her direction. She even heard a few whispers.

After her parents visited the campus, the gossip about her had calmed down but it didn't mean that she'll be completely free from discrimination and ridicule of other students, specially those girls who were secretly having crushes on both Simoen and Joseph.

But Jewel decided to ignore it all.

Since it was almost four in the afternoon, she went directly into the parking lot where her family driver was waiting.

The ride was just quiet. She folded her arms and looked outside the window and pouted. She suddenly missed the smell of Gideon's car.

"Maam, too much traffic. We might take a long time," the driver said suddenly.

"It's alright. By the way, take a turn to Cansanit --"

"Maam, it's my job to take you to Don Sebastian's Mansion."

Her eyes narrowed in annoyance and quickly grabbed her phone out of her pocket to call her father.

"Pa," she greeted. [A/n: Pa, short term for 'Papa']

"Jewel? Isn't the driver there to fetch you?"

"Yes. He's here but I'm going to Cansanit."

"Why all of the sudden you want to visit your incompetent husband?"

Jewel was speechless for a moment. Until now, her father held resentment towards Gideon because of what happened to her. Maybe it was the reason why her father insisted to bring her back. She sighed. "I'm going to get a project at Gideon's house. I have to submit it this week. I really need it now."

"Is that so? All right. But before half past six, you must be here at the Mansion. Are we clear?"

Looking at her wristwatch, she nodded and said yes before ending the call.

"Maam, which part of the Cansanit?" the driver asked. It seemed like he understood that Don Sebastian gave his permission.

A smile tugged the corner of her lips as she looked outside the window, and onto the setting sun. "On the Peninsula... near Don Virgilio."