Chapter 10

"Hey..." sabi ni Archie nang sagutin niya iyong tawag ko.

"Hi," I replied. "How's the first day?"

The previous mayor tried to question the result of the election, but I wasn't worried about that. Hindi kami nandaya. I mean, if there's a need for that, I would not be totally opposed to rigging the election. But rigging the election meant spending money... And I was preparing for a bigger battle.

People really just voted for Archie. The sooner he accepted that, the better it would be for him. He just looked pathetic. Ayaw na rin naman ng mga tao sa kanya rito. His family's been in power for decades at walang pagbabago na nangyayari sa lugar na 'to. People wanted change—and that's why I chose Archie. He's young and full of promise. He just needed the right person beside him to make it all work.

And it worked.

He's the mayor now.

"It's going well," he replied.

"That's good to hear," sabi ko sa kanya.

I wanted to be with him today. First day in office? That's exhilarating. Mas gusto ko na maging mayor muna siya para alam niya kung paano iyong executive. Presidency is an executive work, so being a mayor should be a nice training ground. Sa susunod ay congress na dahil kailangan na mas marami ang makakilala sa kanya. Right now, the goal is to collect cookie points. There's no room for error—not when I know that in the future, si Maven ang possible na makalaban namin. I mean, hopefully not. Hindi naman malabo. Maven's as unpredictable as one could get. It would only take one name for him to flip his world around.

"Did you receive the flowers?" he asked.

"What—" I said and then paused when I remembered. "Oh, right. Thank you for that."

Sandali siyang natahimik.

"Did you do any work today?" I asked because I wanted to know what happened today. I could ask him later, but I wanted to hear it from him now. I would rather be there with him, but I still had a business to run. I just needed to finalize some details, but I would be passing the management to someone else. Ako na lang ang magbibigay ng final approval, pero iba na ang magpapalakad. I was more interested in politics, anyways. This business' just a way to keep me busy. Being idle will drive me insane.

"Not any real work," he replied.

"So, what did you do?"

"Mostly people introducing themselves to me," he said. "I'd known some of these people for years."

"Be careful. Most of them just wants something from you."

"I know," he replied. "Did you not like the flowers?"

"I did," I said. "So, just meet and greet today?"

"Yes," sabi niya. "I still needed to decide who I will replace or retain, apparently."

"Right... We need to be think about that carefully. We don't want the wrong people in certain positions."

I remember hearing my Abuela tell me that the key to a successful administration is having the right people by your side. She said that she didn't have to like these people, but if they're the right person for the job, then personal feelings have to be set aside. It's just work, she'd always say.

But at the same time, you have to make sure that these people know where their loyalty is.

One mistake and they're out—that's the rule. So that they know how to always stay in line.

"Right..." he replied.

"We can discuss that over dinner later," I told him.

"Okay."

I heard knocking on my door. "Okay," I said. "I will see you later?"

"Sure," he replied before I ended the call para asikasuhin iyong trabaho ko. I seriously would rather be in the municipal hall than in this place.

* * *

I was excited to go home.

For the first time in forever, I was excited to go home.

I did a little research about some of the people that we'll work with. I planned to retain some of them in the office since obviously, sila iyong tao na loyal sa kung sinuman nag nakaupo sa pwesto. May iba sa kanila na loyal pa rin sa dating mayor. I just know that they'd just cause divide. They needed to be replaced dahil may iba naman na kaya ring gawin ang trabaho nila. They're not irreplaceable.

This administration needed to go along perfectly.

I wanted to have a nice dinner with Archie kaya naman dumaan muna ako sa paborito niyang restaurant para kunin iyong inorder ko na pagkain. I prepared everything and waited for him to come home. He should be here anytime now.

"Where have you been?" I asked nang makauwi siya ng 8PM. Hanggang 5PM lang naman iyong trabaho niya.

"Dinner," he replied.

"You had dinner already?"

He nodded as he put on his things on the table. "I got invited to a dinner and we talked business."

My lips were pressed into a thin line. "You discussed business with who?"

"Some people."

"Who are these people?"

Tumingin siya sa akin. He ran his fingers through his hair. "My head's aching. Can we talk about this tomorrow? I'm beat. I want to sleep already," sabi niya at saka napatingin siya sa lamesa. Nandon lahat ng paborito niyang pagkain. Nakita ko kung paano napaawang iyong labi niya. "You cooked this?" he asked, sounding guilty.

"Of course not," I replied, still looking at him with my lips pressed into a thin line. "Do I look like I have the time to cook? But I got them because I thought we agreed that we'd have dinner together. Apparently you have other plans," I continued before I got the plates and then just began to shove them inside the ref.

"Nadia—"

"It's fine," I replied.

"I didn't know..." he said. "I thought you just wanted to talk about work..."

"So what if I wanted to talk about work?"

"It's fine... but I also want to talk about other things," he said. "I want to talk about your day."

"I just worked the entire day," I told him. "You want to hear about the plans that I approved?"

He nodded. "I do. I really do."

Nakatingin ako sa kanya at bahagyang nakakunot ang noo. Lumapit siya sa akin at hinawakan iyong kamay ko.

"I'm sorry... I know you're pissed at me because I discussed business without you," he said while he was tracing patterns on my hand.

"You know I'd be pissed but you still did it anyway?"

He nodded. "I'm an asshole, I know."

Nanatili akong tahimik.

"I promised them nothing," he continued. "They just wanted to tell me about the agreement with the previous mayor and to tell me that it shall continue."

"What agreement?"

"Gambling, mostly."

"What did you tell them?"

"No business talk when I'm drunk," he replied. Lumapit siya at niyakap ako. He rested his head on top of mine. "I will never make any decision without your input. We're a team."

I remained silent.

"Are you mad?" he asked and when I said nothing, he began raining down kisses on my face. He kissed my forehead, my cheeks, my nose, my chin. And then he held my face by my chin, forcing me to look at him. "I'm sorry, love... Don't be mad..."

I looked at him.

"You can choose who we'll replace in the office," he said.

I arched my brow. "Whoever I want?"

He nodded. "Whoever you want."

"Okay."

He chuckled and kissed my lips. "Okay, now let's have dinner."

"You already ate."

"And I'll eat with you again. And then will eat you later," he said and then tapped my ass that made my eyes widen. Napahalakhak siya na parang tuwang-tuwa siya sa reaksyon ko.

* * *

Archie and I discussed first the pertinent positions. Of course we needed to put people who will be loyal to us. Archie's been working there before kaya naman tinanong ko siya kung may mga tao ba na mapagkakatiwalaan niya. He mentioned a few names.

"I mean, I know those people... but I can't guarantee they're loyalty," he said as we were in bed and he was tracing patterns on the skin on my arm.

"It's easy to buy people's loyalty."

"How?"

"You buy."

"Like with money?"

I nodded. "Money makes the world go round."

"Does it, really?"

"It does," I said. "And to think otherwise makes you look naive."

"It's one way to make the world go round," he replied.

"Are you one of those people who don't think that money can buy happiness?" I asked.

He shrugged as he pulled me close. "I know money can buy happiness... but surely money isn't everything," he said and then I remained silent. It's astounding how based on principles, we're two completely different individuals. "You think money is everything?" he asked.

"No," I replied. "Money and power."

"Aren't they the same?"

"Not at all," I said.

"I mean, if you have money, you always have power, right?"

"No," I replied. "My family's probably the most powerful at the moment, but we don't have the most money..."

He arched his brow. "Don't you?" he asked. "I mean... I heard stories..."

Bahagya akong natawa. "Stories about what?"

"Swiss accounts."

"What about that?"

"So, they exist?"

I shrugged. "Neither confirm nor deny."

"I thought we're family already?"

Bahagya akong natawang muli. "We are married."

"See? So, can't I know the family secret?"

"It's not a family secret," I said.

"But do the accounts exist?"

"Yes," I said, "But I don't have access to it."

"Who does?"

I shrugged.

We're married, sure, but he's still not family. We could make a family, but he's still not a part of my other family. But I'd never tell him that knowing how sensitive he could get.

"Don't worry, we'll have our own Swiss accounts," I told him instead.

"So, is that the plan? Take the presidency and then... steal money?" he asked. "Is that why you want the presidency? For money?"

"Yes," I replied because that's the easier answer to explain.

But I wanted power.

I wanted respect.

I wanted everything that was not given to me growing up.

"I hope I can give you everything that you want," he whispered in my ears.

I held his hands. "You can and you will," I replied. "And I'll give you want you want."

I knew he wanted love and if there's anything I learned in life, you can fake anything if you want it bad enough. 

**

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