CHAPTER 1
1932 Words
GARRIE
“INANG, where would I put this?” I asked Inang Mercy, the owner of the Flower and Pottery shop where I was working.
“Just put it beside the sunflowers,” she said.
I smiled at her and walked towards where the line of potted sunflowers were located. I put down the pots that I was carrying beside the sunflowers. These were the pots that I just made from the Pottery Shop.
After the annulment, I went back to my hometown in Iguig, Cagayan. I didn’t know where to start back then. I was lost. I didn’t have any family to run to and no place to go. I decided to go back where my parents met and had me. I’ve been astray for a couple of days when I arrived here in Cagayan, with just a couple of bills in my pocket. I tried to look for a job while looking for a place to stay and to my luck, I met Inang Mercy. She owned a flower and pottery shop and she took me in, and let me work for her even though I didn’t have any related work experience.
Since then, she started to train me how to make pots out of clay. It was close to sculpting, that’s why I started to love the job even more. It took me months before I could finally make a perfect pot. Inang Mercy also let me experiment in different shapes and design of the pots. Slowly, her shop became famous in Iguig for having a one of a kind pot. No pots coming from their shops were the same. She always made it a point that every pot she made would be unique. That’s one of the reasons why most of their clients choose to buy pots from them.
I hadn’t heard from Lucas since the annulment. It’s been three years since then. All I know was that, he’s company started to grow big internationally. There were several times that I saw him in a magazine but I didn’t bother to read what it said. I didn’t care about him anymore.
Inang Mercy managed the shop alone but she had a couple of staff including me. There’s Kuya Berto, 35 years old middle-aged man, who drove the delivery truck and the one who managed the delivery of our products. There’s also Rey, the same age as me, who made all the regular pots while I was the one responsible for all the customized and special pots. We also have Elsa, who served as our cashier. All of them went home to their respective houses after their shifts. I was the only one left with Inang Mercy.
Inang Mercy had two children and both of them were now living in Canada and work there as nurses. They were both married now and had their family of their own and all of them were currently staying in Canada. They were hesitant when they found out that Inang Mercy was letting me stay at her house. Who wouldn’t be? I was a stranger to them and they had all the right to doubt me. According to her, she felt something different towards me that’s why she didn’t hesitate to take me in and let me stayed with her. Since then, I always pour my heart out in all the work that she’d give. Later on, her children finally agreed in letting me stay with Inang Mercy. Soon enough her children felt comfortable with the idea of me living with their mother. It was actually a convenience since there would be someone to look after their mother. Inang was not getting any younger, that’s why her children wanted her to close the shop so she could go to Canada and stay with them. But Inang Mercy didn’t want to leave the shop. This was the only thing that reminded her of her late husband.
“Aren’t you tired, Garrie? That was a heavy lifting you did back there,” Inang said referring to the pots that I carried out from the workshop.
“Inang, that was nothing. I’m stronger than I look like,” I said to her jokingly.
“They say that it may be difficult for you to bear a child if you always lift heavy objects,” Inang said. It was one of the urban myths that people from the province used to believe.
“Inang, why would I think about having a child when I don’t even have a boyfriend?”
“Speaking of boyfriend, Arnaldo is asking about you the last time. Why don’t I give him your number, huh?” she said while her eyebrows were wiggling and she’s smiling, clearly enjoying teasing me. Arnaldo was the son of our Mayor here in Iguig. He used to pick up the pots and flowers that his mother ordered from us.
He’ was good looking and clearly came from a well-off family, but I already had enough of dating a rich man. I even married one and look how it turned out.
“Inang, I don’t have time for boys. Who knows if Arnaldo already has a girlfriend? Besides, he’s not my type, Inang,” I told her while I continued watering the plants that were displayed in our shop.
“Then what’s your type?” said the familiar baritone voice coming from my behind. Maybe it’s my mind playing a trick on me.I couldn’t be hearing his voice. I froze at my spot. I couldn’t even turn my body to put a face on the familiar voice that I heard. I was afraid of what I might see when I turn my face around.
“Oh my! What a handsome man you are. Are you here to pick a flower for your wife?” I heard Inang Mercy talking to the man behind me. I still wasn’t making any move.
“No, ma’am. I’m here to talk to my ex-wife,” he answered.
“Ex-wife? I think you got the wrong place,” InangMecry told him.
“I’m not, ma’am. Right, Margarette?”
I closed my eyes for a while and took a deep breath before turning my head. I almost gasped for air when I finally saw his handsome face. His face didn’t even change a bit. His thick perfectly shaped eyebrows and dark green eyes could still set my body on fire. Flashes of memories came rushing down my mind: how he touched me in every part of my body, and how his kisses trailed down to every inch of my being.
Stop the nonsense, Garrie! Get a grip!
“What are you doing here?” I asked him coldly when I finally faced him.
“We need to talk,” he said coldly.
“I think we have nothing to talk about. You may take your leave,” I rolled my eyes at him and tried to walk past him when he suddenly grabbed my arm.
“Ahmm, what’s happening here?” Inang Mercy asked with a wrinkle in her forehead.
“I’ll take care of this, Inang. Don’t worry,” I assured her before grabbing Lucas’ hand and dragging him to the corner, away from the questioning eyes of Inang Mercy and other staff.
“What the f*ck are you doing here?” I snapped at him when we finally reached the corner of the shop, meters away from them.
“I need you to go back to my house,” he said without even blinking.
Are you f*cking kidding me?!
“Yeah, and I will gladly obey you just becauseyou said so?” I said sarcastically.
“Right,” he proudly answered.
“And here I thought you’re the smartest man I ever met,” I gave him a fake smile.
I saw how his face started to get dark. I knew he’s not used to not getting what he wanted. I maintained my fake smile to agitated him even more.
“Stop that or I will reap that fake smile out of your face,” he said while gritting his teeth.
I just rolled my eyes at him and removed my fake smile. “I think we’re done talking. You can leave now,” I told him, maintaining my straight face.
“I don’t think you fully understand what I came here for,” he said coldly before grabbing my hand and started pulling me towards his car. I tried to snatch back my arms from his grip, but he’s too strong for me.
“Where are you taking me?!” I shouted at him.
“Somewhere private,” he said blandly.
“I don’t want to go with you.” I shouted back at him while I tried to remove my arms from his grip. We were close to his car when Kuya Berto and Rey started to come in between.
“I think the woman clearly says she doesn’t want to come with you,” Kuya Berto said.
“I don’t think I need to explain to anyone of you,” he said arrogantly. He then continued to walk towards his car while he was still holding my arm.
“We won’t let you take her away. We don’t even sure if Garrie really knows you or if you are what you are claiming to be,” Rey insisted.
“Garrie is my wife and this is a family matter.”
“I’m not your wife!” I said, still trying to put a distance between us.
“Oh, really?” He let go of my arms for a while to pick up something from his pocket.
I used that moment to get away from him. I quickly hide behind Kuya Berto and Rey hoping that they could protect me from Lucas.
I didn’t know what suddenly got to him and why he wanted to talk to me. He didn’t even bother to call or text me after the annulment and now, he would come to me and announced that I needed to go back to his house? Never!
He finally got what he was looking for in his pocket. He fetched a little piece of paper from his wallet and showed it to Kuya Berto and Rey. My eyes widened when I saw what it was. It was a wallet size picture of our wedding photo.
Why does he even have our wedding photo in his wallet?
“Are we okay now? Can I talk to Garrie now?” he said calmly.
Kuya Berto and Rey looked at each other for a while contemplating what to do next. They both gave a quick glance towards me before looking at Lucas.
“You may be her husband but Garrie said she doesn’t want to come with you.” Then they position themselves as if they were ready to fight. Lucas was clearly losing his patience and now frustrated by the situation. I was quite glad that these two men were ready to fight for me. I looked at Lucas and he was staring directly at me before saying something.
“You really want me to do this, Garrie?” he warned. He then started to remove his suit and loosen his tie.
Oh, crap! Lucas was a black-belter in Karate. Kuya Berto and Rey were no match for him.
“I’m coming with you!” I screamed after jumping in the middle of them. The two men looked confusedly at him having no idea of what’s about to happen. I shifted my gaze at him and I rolled my eyes at him when I saw him smirking.
“Are you sure, Garrie?” Inang Mercy worriedly asked.
“Yes, Inang. Don’t worry about me. I’ll explain later when I get back.” I gave her a quick hug before walking towards Lucas’ car, opened the door abruptly, and slammed the door after I got in.
Lucas bid his goodbye to Inang before walking around the car, went to the driver seat, and getting in.
“Now, where’s my kiss?”
- Writer
