Chapter 25

"What?" Archie asked when he caught me staring at him.

I slightly shook my head. "Nothing," I said.

"Black tie, right?" he asked.

"What?"

"Dress code," he replied. "For today's event," he continued nang hindi ako makasagot agad.

"Right," sabi ko. Tumango ako. "Yes," I continued.

"Okay," he said while slightly shaking his head and fixing his tie.

"I'll go and prepare," sabi ko na lang dahil hindi ko alam kung ano ang sasabihin ko sa kanya. I was not used to him being home this early. He usually goes as late as he possibly could go. Siya na yata lagi ang huling umuuwi. Did he feel bad for his staff dahil hindi rin sila makakauwi hanggang nasa trabaho pa rin siya?

"Okay," he said. "Take your time. Maaga pa naman."

"Right..." I just replied and then I headed straight to the room.

I tried to ignore his presence and just focused on preparing. I'd be meeting a lot of people tonight—Maven and Abby included. I needed to be relaxed and get my head straight.

I took a half bath and then started to prepare. I decided that I would straighten my hair since I would be wearing a tube red floor length dress.

I grabbed my clutch nang matapos ako sa paglalagay ng makeup. Lumabas ako at agad na nakatingin si Archie sa gawi ko na para bang nakaabang siya sa pagbukas ng pinto.

"Let's go," I said when a few seconds passed and he said nothing but stared at me. I stood there, waiting for him to say something pero nanatili lang siya na nakatingin sa akin. "What?" I asked when a full minute passed with him doing nothing but to stare at me.

Instead of saying something, tumayo siya.

"You look good," he managed to say.

"Thanks," I replied. "Let's go."

He did not give any indication that he's ready to leave.

"Do you have something to do? Or somewhere to go?" I asked dahil baka nagbago ang isip niya. It's fine. Sanay naman ako na pumunta sa event mag-isa. And it's not like the people around me weren't privy to my private affairs. I knew they know. Didn't matter—business is business.

"Wait here," sabi niya.

If I didn't know any better, I'd tell him that we needed to leave already. Instead, I stood there and waited hanggang sa makabalik siya. When he came back, he was holding something on his hand. That was the least of my concern. Gusto ko na lang makapunta sa venue. We had lots of people we needed to talk to.

"Can we leave now?" I asked.

"Just one second," he told me as he walked until he stopped right in front of me. He gently pulled the box open and a diamond necklace appeared right in front of me.

My forehead creased as my eyes went from looking at the necklace. Was that a diamond necklace? I wanted to tell myself that there's no way Archie could afford that kind of necklace with his measly salary, but the sparkle could not be denied.

"Can I?" he asked, indicating that he wanted to put on the necklace around my neck.

I looked at him. "Where did you get that?" I asked with my forehead creased.

"What do you mean where did I get this? I bought this," he replied.

"With what money?" tanong ko. By the looks of that necklace, it's at least a million.

Kumunot na ang noo niya. "My money," he said. "Can you just please let me do a nice thing?" he asked again, this time, the irritation in his tone was very palpable.

"Fine," I said.

Archie uttered something under his breath that I was thankful that I did not hear. I did not want to be annoyed, too. We could not be annoyed at the same time. I realized that in this... relationship, I always have to be the neutral one. If not, we'd always argue. And it's tiring.

He got the necklace and then placed the box on the table. He walked and stood behind me. I hated that the hair on my nape stood on their end just by the mere fact that he was so close to me.

It's embarrassing.

"Your hair," he said in a low tone.

I did not want to engage in a conversation. Hinawi ko iyong buhok ko papunta sa balikat ko. I did not even notice that I was holding my breath as he put on the necklace on me until I needed to catch air.

And when he was done, he walked around until he was standing in front of me.

"That's what was missing," he said.

I wanted to touch the necklace, but I told myself not to. Instead, tumingin ako sa kanya. "Can we now leave?"

He nodded. "Yes."

Sabay kaming naglakad palabas. I felt him staring at me, but I chose to ignore it. This was not the night to argue. I was pretty sure that we'd see Maven and Abby and if there's any night that I needed us to get along, this was the night. Sure, those two knew that it's not all rainbow and sunshine over here, but they did not need a demonstration.

"I was supposed to give that to you on our wedding anniversary," he said.

I did not reply.

Just for this night, I did not want to fight.

"I actually wanted to give that on our first anniversary, but diamond's expensive," he continued. "Had to save for it."

I briefly closed my eyes. "Thank you, but you didn't need to," I told him.

"I know, but I wanted to," he replied. "I did not steal it."

"I know. You're the last person I'd expect to commit a diamond heist," I said.

His lips slightly parted. "Is that an insult?"

I shrugged. "Take it as you will."

Bahagya siyang natawa. Sumandal siya at pinagkrus iyong mga binti niya. "I mean, in this day and age, why bother with committing a diamond heist?" he said, his tone much lighter this time. What happened today? He seemed to be in such a good mood.

"I don't know," I replied. "For the thrill."

"Of what? Not getting caught?"

I shrugged. "Maybe. I don't know. I've never tried to steal anything."

"Really? You? Never? Even when you were younger?"

Tumango ako. "Why would I? I grew up with everything handed to me. Why would I ever feel the need to steal?"

He shrugged. "As you said—for the thrill."

"That's what my cousins are for," I replied. "I lived vicariously through them," I continued. If he really knew me, he knew that I would never. Bata pa lang ako, alam ko na kung saan ako papunta. I would not risk that just to commit some petty theft—probably the reason why I was always in Psalm's ear telling him to go do stupid things. Better him to get in trouble than me.

Thankfully, nakarating na kami sa venue. I drew a deep breath as we pulled over.

"Everything okay?" he asked. "You look... unusually nervous."

"I'm not," I replied as I looked at him.

"Is it because of Maven?" My lips parted against my will. He reached for my hand, but instinctively, I pulled away. Napaawang din ang labi niya sa gulat sa ginawa ko. I just flinched against his touch. "I'm sorry," he said.

I shook my head. "It's fine," I replied. "Just... let's go talk to some people."

Tumango siya. "Alright."

While we were walking, agad kong nakita si Jack. I briefly closed my eyes because I knew that he would be approaching me. And I also knew that this would not turn out well.

This was the last thing that I needed tonight.

"Hey," he said as he kissed my cheek upon approaching. Kahit hindi ako tumingin kay Archie ay nararamdaman ko iyong sama ng tingin niya.

"Archie, this is Jack," I introduced. "Jack, this is my husband, Atty. Archibald Gallego," I said, hoping that this would diffuse the one-sided tension that was forming on Archie's end.

"Of course," Jack said, smiling and offering his hand. "Nice to finally meet you, Mayor."

Tumingin ako kay Archie. I saw him smiling. I knew that smile all too well.

"Nice to finally meet you," Archie said as he took Jack's hand.

Tumingin sa akin si Jack. "I see," he said. "You finally decided to wear my gift. About damn time."

Agad akong napahawak sa kwintas habang nakatingin kay Archie. Kitang kita ko iyong pagkunot ng noo niya. Hindi pa ako nakakasagot nang biglang magpaalam si Jack dahil may nakita siyang kakilala niya.

And then we were left there.

Huminga ako nang malalim.

"We'll talk about this later," I said, as I left him and began to mingle because that was what we went here for.

* * *

I tried my best to ignore Archie's personal feelings and just focused on the goal. I was glad that he also tried his best to act professional. He improved a lot. He's now more... in control. He could now talk to people without disdain on his face being so obvious.

He's finally learning.

"We still needed to talk to a few more people," I said. Wala pa rito sila Abby. It wasn't that surprising. She really was not known for her punctuality. Everyone knew that she's busy with her side hustle.

"So, that guy gave you a diamond necklace?"

"Not now," I told him.

"What? Just making a conversation," he said.

Tumingin ako sa kanya. "Conversation or trying to pick a fight?"

Umiling siya. "Conversation."

"Fine," I said because I knew that he would not drop it. "Yes, he did give me. No, I did not know that it's identical. I never really looked at it and I doubt that he remembers what it looks like."

"Why did he give you a diamond necklace?"

"I don't know," I said. "I just accepted it and said thanks."

"That's it?"

"That's it," I replied. "What? Did you think I had to do something in return?"

Hindi siya nagsalita.

His face softened.

"No," he said. "I'm sorry," he continued as he reached for my hand. Hindi ako gumalaw. I saw as his thumb started to caress my hand. I tried to pull it away, but he held on to me tighter. "I'm sorry," he said once more. I knew that he was pertaining to something else, but I just did not want to get into it this time.

"Not now," I told him.

Tumingin siya sa akin habang tumatango. His phone began to vibrate. Sabay kaming napatingin doon. My mood immediately did a 180 when I saw Rosie's name there. Kung gaano ko kabilis nabasa iyon ay ganoon din kabilis niya pinatay iyong tawag. He put his phone back in his pocket.

"Let's go," he said with a forced smile on his face. "Lots of people to talk to," he continued as he began to walk like he was trying to get away from me as soon as possible.

Did something happen between him and Rosie? 

**

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