Chapter 19

Chapter 19: Ring

I woke up at around 7 am the next morning. Our flight back to Spain is at 3 pm.

Hughie was not beside me anymore when I woke up. I went to the comfort room and faced myself on the mirror. I noticed that my eyes were a bit swollen. And it is because I cried last night due to the annulment papers that Mew sent yesterday.

Even if it was against my will, I signed them. Because I had to.

I chose to be with Hughie, so I understand if he wants annulment.

I closed my eyes and heaved out a deep sigh.

"Hooo! You can get through all of these, Gulf," I told myself.

After brushing my teeth, I went downstairs carrying the brown envelope. My mother was in the kitchen. I went to her and kissed her on her cheeks.

"How was your sleep?" she asked.

"It was fine. Where is Hughie?" I frowned when I couldn't see him anywhere.

"He left early and told me that he has some errands to run. He'll be back shortly."

"Hmm. Okay. Did he tell you where he's going?"

"Nope. He did not. He just told me that he won't be gone for long."

I nodded as a response. It was his first time to leave the house without me.

Where did he go? Tsk tsk. He did not even tell me where he's going.

I called a house helper.

"Can you please mail this? Here is the address." I handed her the brown envelope and a piece of paper containing Mew's name and address.

She nodded politely and then left.

"What was inside the envelope, hijo?" my mother asked curiously.

I am not sure if I should tell her the truth. In the end, I decided to keep it from her for the meantime.

"Just some papers about the company. It's about the COO position I will assume next month," I lied.

Mew is the current CEO and I will be the new COO. My mother nodded and after that, she sat with me at the table to eat breakfast. She told me that Hughie prepared the breakfast. It was obvious though. Because he prepared all of my favorites like pancakes, bacon, and fried rice.

Yes. I eat a lot. That explains my baby fats on my tummy.

I have finished eating but Hughie is not back yet so I decided to just prepare and pack our clothes. After an hour of doing so, he still was not home. I decided to call him.

"The number you have dialed is either unattended or out of coverage area. Please try your call later."

Where is that guy? I shrugged my shoulders and called Kuya Dominic instead to check on him.

Hughie arrived at 9 AM and had this sad smile on his face.

"Where have you been?" I asked when he entered our room. I was on the bed watching my favorite movie Call Me By Your Name on Netflix.

"Had to fix something."

"And what did you have to fix?" I frowned. "You've been acting weird since yesterday. Do you have a problem?"

"Hey. I don't have a problem, okay? You're being paranoid," he answered before he hopped into the bed and went to my back to give me a back hug. He smelled my neck.

"Stoo it, Hughie. I haven't bathe yet," I complained, trying to focusing my attention on the TV screen.

I am already at the scene where Elio and Oliver are at the train station and are saying goodbye to each other. This is the scene where they part because Oliver has to return to America while Elio has to stay in Italy. Gosh. This scene still breaks my heart!

But I couldn't focus because this person behind me is very active.

"Stop it. I'm watching." What I dislike the most is when someone is disturbing me while I watch.

But he did not stop and kept smelling my neck. I started to become really annoyed.

"Damn it, Hughie! I said stop! Can't you see that I'm watching!?" My voice raised.

He's disturbing me so I couldn't help myself but shout. I am also feeling sad about the annulment papers that Mew sent yesterday.

He was shocked by my reaction and distanced himself from me.

"I'm sorry."

That was the first time I shouted at him. Because I was carried away by anger.

"I'm sorry too," I said feeling guilty. "Just stop moving, okay?"

"Okay. It was my fault anyway," he smiled weakly.

I hugged him as an apology. And then we resumed watching the film after that short drama.

We left the house and headed to the airport at 12:30 after eating lunch. My mother reminded me to make sure to be back after a month and I promised her that I will. I just have to finish all my unfinished contracts. Hell, I don't want to go to jail.

And speaking of work, I haven't spoken to Hughie about me planning to stop on my modeling career in Spain. Will he be willing to leave his job and live with me in the Philippines for good?

We arrived at the airport at 1 pm. Hughie was silent the whole time we were inside the car, which again was very unusual because he's always talkative when he's with me - always trying to keep me entertained. But he's been silent since lunch.

After checking in, we waited for our flight at the waiting area. It's almost 2:45 and our plane will allow us to board soon. My mother wanted us to use our private plane but I find it very expensive to use so I decided that we just fly in business class.

The airport was busy, but Hughie and I were both silent. He was just holding my hand as we wait.

While waiting, he broke the silence.

"We need to talk." His voice was serious. Dead serious.

"Right now?" I frowned.

"I'm breaking up with you, Gulf."

My face crumpled. What the hell?

"What the hell are you talking about?" My voice raised.

"I know that you still love Mew. And I know that I am the only one stopping you." His sad voice was shaking. He smiled weakly before continuing to speak. "I don't want to be the person who would stop you from choosing the person you truly love."

"I am not breaking up with you! Stop this bullshit!"

After my sacrifice of choosing him over Mew, he would do this to me? And fifteen minutes before our flight? Is he crazy? We were fine earlier!

"Listen, Gulf. I know that somehow you are happy with me. Because you are trying. But I also know that you feel a different kind of happiness whenever you are with Mew." His voice broke. "This is hard for me. But I know that if we continue to do this, we will both just end up hurting. If we continue pretending that we love each other, we will just hurt each other. Sooner or later, we will break up. Why would we prolong it, right?"

"But..."

"I understand, Gulf. I know that in the three years that you were with me, you never forgot about Mew. I am not angry at you. I don't blame you. That is why I don't want to be in the way of your love. Because I know thay it will always be Mew."

I shook my head because of everything he said, even if I knew that they were all true. My tears started to stream down my cheeks.

I can see it on his face that he is hurting. But he is trying to be strong.

"I want you to know that I fully understand. I am tired of pretending, Gulf. I am tired seeing you pretend. For once, I want you to be truly happy. And I know that I am not capable of giving you that happiness." He gave me a weak smile. "I want you to do this for yourself. I want you to reconcile with Mew."

"But what about you?" I cried.

"I am happy and content that I was able to give you comfort in the last three years. I truly love you, Gulf. That is why I'm setting you free. You deserve to be happy. You deserve all the happiness in the world. Don't worry about me. I will be fine." He wiped the tears from my eyes.

Liar!

"No. I won't let you do this," I shook my head. "I chose you! I chose you over Mew. I promise that I'll try my best to forget about him."

"No, you can't do that. Because you'll just fail. You tried for three years, yet you failed. No matter how many years you try, you will just waste your time, becauae you will never forget about him." He chuckled even if tears were scrolling down his cheeks. "Destiny only wanted us to meet. But you were destined for Mew. So please do yourself a favor. This is for the best."

"Hughie, please don't do this." I continued to cry.

"Shhh. Stop crying, my angel. You know that it hurts me so much when I see you cry. I will be fine. And I know that I will move on from you. Maybe not today, but someday it will come. I will meet that person who is destined for me. But I know I will have a hard time finding the right one," he laughed. "Damn, you raised my standards so high. No one will be able to surpass it."

"Passengers of Flight 3521 bound to Barcelona, your plane is now ready for boarding." That was our flight being mentioned by the announcer on the speakers.

"I will now leave you to Mew. I hope he takes good care of you." He kissed my forehead. "I will always love you, my baby. Please take care of yourself. If Mew ever hurts you, tell me, okay?"

I am still not sure about everything he just told me. This is all sudden. I have not prepared myself for this!

"But Mew already sent me our annulment papers. Months from now, we will attend court hearings and we will be legally separated. Please don't leave me. I want you to be there during those hearings."

"Shhh. Stop crying. I talked to Mew earlier. We talked nicely and he said that he won't push through with the annulment. If he hurts you, or try to hurt you again, I will definitely fly back here and take you from him," he chuckled. "Don't he ever try or he'll see!"

"You talked to him earlier?" I am confused.

"Yes. That's why I left early in the morning."

"Mic test. Mic test. Calling the attention of Gulf Chandler Gibson-Fletcher, my husband. Please come to the check-in area."

It was Mew's voice over the speakers.

"Speaking of the devil." Hughie wiped the remaining tears under his eyes. "What are you waiting for? Go to your husband now."

It made me cry harder. Is he really letting me go now? For real?

"Let me hug you one last time," he spoke before embracing me for a very tight hug. I hugged him back.

"I am so sorry, Hughie. And thank you for everything. You are a good person. I hope one day you'll find the person who will truly love you." I was still crying.

"Passengers of Flight 3521 bound to Barcelona, your plane is now ready for boarding. Gates will close in five minutes."

"I guess that's my plane." He broke away from the hug and stood up. He once again wiped his tears and smiled weakly. "I'm sure we'll meet again, Gulf. And when that happens, I hope you're truly happy." He winked at me.

He then started to walk towards the boarding gate, leaving me crying as I watched him. He waved for the last time before finally disappearing from my sight.

I was left crying. I am sad for Hughie. But he's right. For the last three years, I have been lying to myself. I think it's time to be brave and face the truth.

"Gulf Chandler, where the hell are you?" Mew's impatient voice was heard from the speakers.

I wiped my tears before finally deciding to stand up. I felt the sudden racing of my heartbeat.

• now playing Sorry by Justin Bieber •

Mew started singing over the speakers which can be heard inside the whole airport.

I walked around the airport and arrived at the check-in area. I saw Mew on a stage which was obviosuly set up for his gimmick. He's wearing a pink floral polo paired with faded jeans and brown combat boots. He's oozing with sex appeal.

I might be crazy because I'm laughing while crying. A lot of people were surrounding the stage and were taking videos. Mew was looking for someone from the sea of people. Some of them were screaming in romance because of his beautiful and charming voice.

He continued to sing while searching for me.

After that verse, his eyes finally found me. He pointed at me and all the people looked towards my direction.

He winked at me and continued singing. He gave me a finger-heart sign and began to dance to the groove of the song.

I walked slowly towards the stage even if I was drowning in my own tears. He was smiling from ear to ear as he looked me in the eyes. It was as if he can only see me. The people moved to the side to give way and let me pass.

The song ended and the people screamed, finding everything sweet.

"I love you, Gulf. Will you please come back to me?" he asked. He walked down the stage to pick me up.

I did not want to go up there but I couldn't do anything when he lifted me up to the stage.

The people screamed in awe.

"How romantic!" a gay shouted.

The crowd immediately laughed at their joke.

My face was so red when Mew put me down. We were now on the stage in front of the many people.

Almost everyone at the airport was staring. Even the newcomers stopped just to witness Mew's romantic gesture.

"Gulf Chandler Gibson, I know I've hurt you a lot of times in the past. But please know that I still love you very much." His voice was serious but the ghost of a smile was visible on his lips.

He knelt to the ground. The crowd gasped. He took a box from his pocket and opened it.

I couldn't help myself but cry again when I saw a ring inside the box. It was a gold ring with a simple yet elegant design. It looked very expensive.

"Gulf, I love you. I only love you. Please marry me again."