CHAPTER 2: Husband

CHAPTER 2: Husband

Ciandrei could only watch from a distance. She was looking at her 'husband' who was with another woman. He let out a deep breath. She already expected it! Also, this isn't something new for her.

'Great! What a life!'

"Guess what? Some men are really trash!" she whispered to herself and rolled her eyes.

She also did not expect that the man would treat her as a wife. Well, that's exactly what he said last night. It isn't a surprise to see him with another woman or maybe women. Ciandrei rolled her eyes again. Being stuck with him is pure bullshit for her!

"I hope the paparazzi will see you. Then, you will be trending as a well-known bachelor mayor turns into a cheater husband. What a headline!" she laughed to herself. But she couldn't understand why he suddenly cared about the man. It should be gone. She should have just let him go with his stupidity. But all of a sudden, she found herself sounding bitter. "Geez!"

She went back to the hotel where they checked in. She planned to just read a book or browse the internet while her husband was so busy with another woman. Well, she doesn’t care! 

“He can go to hell for all I care,” she said to herself while marching back to the hotel.

Like what she planned, she went back to their hotel room and just went back to bed. The room has various random books, so she just picked a book that caught her attention. 

Damian reappeared after only around 10 minutes, she wasn’t expecting him to come back. She was unable to enjoy her alone time. When she saw him, her brow furrowed, and he appeared hurried. When their gazes unexpectedly collided, Ciandrei's eyes shrunk. The man gave her a serious look.

"Why are you looking at me?" she said and rolled her eyes.

Damian slowly walked towards her. It stopped at the foot of the bed.

"We have to cancel our honeymoon..." he said and inserted his hand in the pocket of his jeans. "...for now."

"Why? What happened?"

"Emergency."

He smirked. “Well. Thank God! I don't want us to go on a honeymoon either." She cleared her throat. "You can have your time with your women."

His eyes darkened. "I'm just trying to piss you off last night. I don't have any plans to cheat. I am very committed to the things I do.” He sighed deeply, "I honored my words."

She didn't expect those words to come out of his mouth. For her, he seemed so arrogant and dominant. He didn't expect anything good from this man. For Ciandrei, he seemed pretty decent.

“Oh… that’s why you’re enjoying another girl’s company a while ago, because you honored your words. Great!” she spat out those words with a sarcastic tone. She faced him while the corner of her lips were raised. “Right, my dear asshole husband?”

He smirked. “You are just jealous.”

“You wished!”

She heard him chuckling. “That was an old friend. She was my classmate in college, she is with her husband.” He looked at her, giving her a teasing grin. “You can now breathe and sleep peacefully because your husband has no other woman.”

“Heh…”

“What?”

"Whatever you say," she replied and then shrugged. 

This guy is a pain in her ass. She felt like they would never be a good match or even a good friend. She wondered how she’ll gonna survive their marriage.

She saw him hurriedly get the luggage that caught her attention, and then he started to fold some clothes. He didn't bother to fold some clothes and just put them inside. She frowned at what she saw. "What's the sudden emergency? You seemed in a hurry.”

"A lot of residents in Sitio Kayak were rushed to the hospital. It was said that it's because of dirty and contaminated water," he said. She saw him sighing heavily. "I thought I already fucking solved it before. But it turned out that this problem will be a pain in my ass again!” he ranted.

Ciandrei also stood up to arrange her things. She could understand his situation. He is the mayor of Claveria and his people need him. She didn’t say anything and just packed her clothes. She doesn’t want to be the reason for his delay, it was inhumane of her if she will cause a huge trouble just because of her irritation towards him and her fuss.

“Hurry up, let’s go now…”

Ciandrei just watched Damian as he drove their car back to his house near Boracay. She sat next to him. He would leave the car at his home and they would take a taxi to the airport to return to Claveria. She noticed that he was restless while organizing things even until now that he’s driving.

The expression on his face was serious as he looked at the road. Ciandrei didn't say a word either and pretended to be sleeping.

"I'll leave the car here, Mang Isidro."

Mang Isidro is the name of the man in charge of her house. The man nodded and thanked Damian for trusting him and his family.

They're here in front of his house near Boracay. They didn't bother to go in anymore. Damian immediately called a taxi and it arrived after a couple of minutes. They immediately got inside the taxi.

"Hey," Damian called to Ciandrei's attention.

Ciandrei turned to him with a frown. "What?"

"Go inside and wear your seatbelt properly."

"Okay."

"Are you tired?" Damian asked. Ciandrei looked at the man confused. He didn't know if he was worried about him or what. But there was a hint of concern in his voice. "We still have a long way to go. I'm sorry for the inconvenience. I’ll make it up to you."

Ciandrei raised an eyebrow and tried to avoid his gaze. “Don’t mind it.”

'Did I just hear him say sorry?' That's the question inside Ciandrei's head while staring at him, confused and in denial.

From her first impression of the man and even her anger towards his father, she doesn't see that he will apologize to her, he doesn’t look like a person who will apologize and be responsible for their mistake. That was odd and far from what she expected from him. Maybe she judged him too badly.

"I'm fine," Ciandrei replied succinctly to the man.

"I'm glad that you are doing fine," he said in a flat tone.

Her husband let her into the back seat. He put their luggage in the back of the car. Then he sat down next to her.

During their whole trip, nothing happened. No one between them talked.  She just watched from the window of the car.

"Hello? How are the patients?" Ciandrei turned her head and looked at him. She saw him on his phone, talking to someone. "Alright, that's good to hear. Update me on the current situation there."

She saw him glance at her, it was also him who took away his eyes. She heard him sigh deeply.

"Alright. I'll meet you in Claveria."

After uttering those words, he brought back his phone in his pocket. He leaned back as if he was very tired. Ciandrei didn't understand the man, and he didn't intend to care or try to understand them. She accepted that she’s out of this situation. But… she’s curioused.

She looked back at the window, ignoring Damian. Damian also just faced the window, and seriously watched the scenery outside from the window.

They have arrived at the airport but they still have no words said between the two of them. But while they were waiting, someone called Damian… again. The man looked stressed and was pacing back and forth. Ciandrei just watched her husband, every time his lips opened and closed. Even in every expression of his face.

She saw him frown. His eyebrows meet and are about to knot. "What? That still hasn't been resolved? That's why the people have been using the polluted lake?!"

Ciandrei could not understand what her husband was talking about. Her husband turned to her, his eyebrows raised.

He took a deep breath and ruffled his hair. "I'll resolve it. Just wait until I return. Please assure that the situation is still under control. We can't afford more casualties."

Ciandrei frowned. "Casualties?" she whispered to herself.

"Alright. Bye!"

Damian sat next to Ciandrei. They are currently waiting for their flight.

"What's the matter now?" she questioned. Ciandrei couldn't help but inquire about the man. He raised an eyebrow at her and glanced at her. Damian was astonished since she unexpectedly had a concern. "I am curious. You seemed occupied. You're losing your cool image," she said and smirked.

Damian just shook his head at Ciandrei's remarks. "I am not trying to act cool, my bratty wife. It's my nature."

She was caught off-guard by hearing him say the word “wife.” 

“Whatever you say, Damian!” Ciandrei's eyes rolled. She crossed her arms on her chest. “You haven't answered my question yet.”

"Hmm?"

Ciandrei's eyes narrowed. "What?"

"Feel so odd. You suddenly became curious."

They both stared at each other for a moment. Damia's eyes looked all over Ciandrei's face as if examining the woman's face. Ciandrei felt a little embarrassed. She was the one who looked away first and waved his hand, saying ‘nevermind’ what she just said.

"If you don't want to answer, that's fine—"

"This is a dire emergency," he began. Ciandrei examined his solemn expression and the tiny droplets of sweat on his temple. "There are fifteen patients from Sitio Kayak who were transported today to the center of the town of Claveria where the main hospital of the province was located. Their stomachs ached and they were dehydrated. It's because of the lack of clean water in the region."

"Oh? So, they don't receive clean water? Why?" she asked.

"We already communicate with Manila Water for clean water for the said area. We put water stations for them and made sure it was accessible and it's free. I put a huge amount of money in this project because I know to myself that it was a huge issue to be addressed."

"Then... why? Why did it happen?" she asked, confused and curious.

He leaned back in the chair and scratched his head. "Well, it seemed like someone was behind these things. Someone is ruining the project and planning to sabotage it," he stopped for a bit, "but I still don't have evidence so I can't just pinpoint," his eyes darkened and gritted his teeth. He turned into something similar to a wild beast.

Ciandrei thought. For her, what he said wasn't impossible. Knowing how dirty politics is. She couldn't believe that she was involved in this kind of world now. 

"The residents have no other choice but to use the water in Kayak Lake. The lake was filled with dirty water and trash from Kayak people and waste from other provinces nearby, so it was expected that it can't be used." His large palms caught his face. "But the people became desperate. They even used it as their drinks and baths. And here's the result..."

Ciandrei saw the frustration and irritation in Damian's facial expression. His face was as expressive as his eyes. So, it was very difficult for him to hide his emotions.

"We conducted lectures and seminars for their awareness but still... This is what happened. I am so disappointed with myself—this is all my fault."

"Hey!"

Damian turned to Ciandrei. The woman patted him on the shoulder making his eyes fly to her.

"I can see that you are doing your best. Stop sulking and let's just continue to make plans," she said and gave him a small smile. "I mean, it's not yet late. We can still do a lot of things to fix this."

Damian was slightly stunned by what he heard. His ears perked up. "Did you just say... 'we'?"

A corner of Ciandrei's lips lifted. "Maybe you're not deaf, right?"

Even Ciandrei was surprised. She has no plans to act as his wife or anything. But for her it seemed like a huge problem and this guy beside her needed support—physically, mentally, and emotionally. It seemed like he needed some push and motivation.

She shrugged. “I see… I really am dragged to this kind of world.”

“As you can see…”

Damian knew what she’s talking about. His world was sort of different from her world. It’s not easy to get used to his world, it’s too broad, complicated… and dangerous.

“This marriage drags you in this world.” He looked at her intently. “Sorry.”

She shook her head. “As if we can do something in this kind of situation.”

All Ciandrei can think of now is to even be a decent wife and for them to at least be casual to each other. She can no longer pull herself out of their marriage. Even in Damian's world, the world of politics. Now, she realized that it was better not to burden her husband. He was under a lot of pressure at his job.

Time flew so fast, they’re now inside the plane. Damian seemed exhausted and he fell asleep. She just tried to distract herself all the way to their flight. After their flight, Damian was picked up by his bodyguards and his driver. 

Ciandrei was astounded by the splendor of the Enriquez home. It was the ideal marriage of antique and modern design. It's no surprise that their home is huge, but it's much more impressive in person. There was a line of servants and guards, and everyone was cleaning and preparing something. They all stopped to greet us.

“Please prepare the master bedroom. My wife wanted to rest.” He looked at one maid. “Phila, please serve my wife. Follow all her orders and requests. You'll be her personal servant starting today. Do you understand?”

“Yes, sir!”

“Listen, everyone.” His voice was so full and loud but it was calmed. All of the guards and maids' attention are on him. “All orders and requests of my wife will be followed. She is also your boss starting today onwards. Treat her with respect.”

“Yes, sir!”

Ciandrei was taken aback since they all shouted at the same moment; she almost jumped as a result. The atmosphere of the man has changed while they were now in Claveria. He appeared more assured and dominating. In her eyes, he appeared to be the commander-in-chief of a battalion.

His arm was wrapped over her shoulder. He touched and massaged his arm softly. She raised her eyes to his... She had no idea why he had suddenly become lovely and tender to him. She couldn’t understand where these sweet gestures were coming from.

“You should rest for now. Phila will guide you,” he said.

“Where are you going?”

She asked to confirm, she already had an idea. He sighed, “To my office… I have to solve a lot of problems.”

She didn't speak, she turned her head down slightly. She couldn't understand himself and felt a little sad.

“Don't worry. I’ll be back later.”

“Alright.” She looked at his charcoal eyes. “See you…”

Damian turned away and is currently walking away. Phila, the woman, instructed her to go upstairs to clean up and change her clothing. She followed with a nod. But, before she left completely, she took a look behind her, glancing at him.

She now completely realizes… That the man she married was not just an ordinary guy.

Her husband is a mayor, a man with a huge obligation to his people.