June remained frozen in her seat, long after the story was aired and they moved on to other topics.
She could feel Rafael’s gaze upon her but she couldn’t bring herself to face him. “You are divorced.” He stated more than asked.
“Thank you for your hospitality. I have to leave.” She said, getting up on her feet.
She needed to get to the Lontoc household and find out what bullshit they were spewing, see if they could say it to her face.
Rafael shook his head. “You are not to leave this house until you are well rested.”
“Well rested?” June spoke in disbelief. “That cheating ex-husband of mine just slandered my name on national TV and you expect me to rest? To act like he didn’t just destroy my image and flaunt his cheating partner to the world like some darned saint? I think not!”
By now, she was up on her feet, ready to leave when Rafael held her back.
“So what if he is lying? What could you possibly do to show that you are innocent? As it is, you will only endanger yourself going out there.” He rasped.
“And your big idea is to let me sit back while the whole world thinks of me as a villain in their love story?” She stepped in his face. “He fucking got my sister pregnant, Rafael!” She yelled. “I can take my family trying to murder me, I can take my sister sleeping with my husband and daring to have a child by him, but I can’t and would not take that bastard soiling my name after everything they did to me!”
Silence stretched between them, the atmosphere sizzling with heightened emotions gone wild. One moment, they were standing before each other, eyes raging with anger and unspoken words.
The next moment, they were pressed against each other passionately kissing as they pushed back to the table, breathing harshly and groping each other as they discarded their outfits.
“Rafeal.” June breathed when his lips descended on the nape of her neck, sucking hard and eliciting a moan from her lips. “What are you doing?” She breathed, and at that moment, it seemed like Rafael was possessed by something animalistic.
Upon hearing her question him, it seemed like some sense was knocked into him and like one burned, he jolted away from her. Flinging himself to the far end of the wall.
Bereft of her body heat, he suddenly felt cold and when he looked at the picture hung by the side of his office, he felt a wave of nausea hit him. What the hell was wrong with him?
“Leave.” He uttered, breathing heavily, while June felt disoriented.
“What?”
“Go to Luis’ room! We will discuss this in the morning. Just leave.” He ordered and though she had a lot of thoughts in her head, she picked up her top, wore it and almost ran out of the place in shame.
It didn’t help that when June stepped out of Rafael’s office, she met Luis who was about to enter the darned place. “Auntie! I was looking for you.” He said in a small tone, sleep still evident in his eyes.
She didn’t know if she should laugh or cry.
If she hadn’t stopped kissing his father and this child happened to walk in then, she wouldn’t forgive herself.
“Are you alright, auntie? Did my father hurt you?” All traces of sleep were gone from the little child’s eye at the sight of June looking so distraught.
“Eh, of course not! I was only worried about how I’d find my way back to your room. Thank goodness you are here!” She said in a faux excited tone, then yawned. “I think I need to catch some sleep too.”
Although Luis didn’t buy any of her explanation, he nodded his head and took her by his little arms, leading her back to his bed. Tomorrow, he was going to have a word with his father about why his auntie seemed flustered after leaving his office.
That night, Rafael and June struggled to sleep. Each one tried to make sense of what had happened between them and why it did. By the time morning came, June looked like she barely had any sleep and Rafael was out early for a morning jog.
“Was the bed not comfortable, Auntie? Should I order my father to get me a bigger bed for us both?” The seriousness on the little one’s face made her heart leap.
Was this what it felt like to have a child? The constant care, love and attention? Her hands unconsciously went to her stomach and the news from the night before returned with a vengeance.
“Auntie?” Luis called when she didn’t speak.
“Of course not. I love your bed. it’s better than lying on the hard floor.” She said in a small voice.
Although Luis nodded, he placed it at the back of his mind to get a better bed. The last thing he wanted was for his father to get an edge over him because his bed was too small for his auntie to sleep comfortably.
That morning, June freshened up and walked downstairs with Luis in tow. The moment her eyes connected with Rafael who stood by the staircase, she felt uneasy.
“Good morning, Father,” Luis said when he got to his father. “Stop taking Auntie away from my room at night and making her flustered!” His words were clear and cutthroat.
Both adults shared a look, shocked at his sudden outburst. Rafael cleared his throat before speaking to his son. “Why are you not dressed for school?” He asked.
Luis huffed, placing his little hands in his pockets as he spoke. “I already told you my grade teachers are dumb. I need to be placed in an advanced class!”
June and Rafael. “!!!”
“Besides, Auntie is here. I need to be with her. In fact, I want to be homeschooled. I am better off learning here than in that place anyway!”
The little boy spoke with such confidence and clarity that June couldn’t help but wonder if he was an old man wearing a kid’s skin.
“Your exams are coming up,” Rafael said after some seconds. “Go upstairs and get dressed in your uniforms.”
Luis made to grumble but his father was a step ahead. “One word and this would be the last you see of her.” He warned, staring down his son who was having a hard time deciding if he was going to push it with his father or let it go.
Thankfully, the little one decided against it after some thought. He knew his father would stop at nothing to hog Auntie to himself. He would go to school and personally ask to be placed in the home-schooling program he once attended when they lived with his grandma.
June watched Luis walk up the stairs with a frown, and return back after some minutes, dressed and ready to leave, to which Rafael handed him over to the housekeeper who fed him his breakfast and they left for school.
Soon enough, June was seated for a late breakfast with Rafael.
“About yesterday.” Both of them said in unison, eyes meeting for the first time as Rafael gestured for her to speak.
Suddenly she felt like words deserted her. What could she possibly say about it. They’d kissed. So what? It wasn’t like she was going to automatically declare her love for him, and neither was he.
It was just a heated moment handled terribly.
When Rafael saw that she couldn’t speak, he cleared his throat. “I will not apologize for last night.”
“You were spiralling and I needed to shut you up in the most effective way. You are welcome.” He said and her jaws dropped in shock.
“What?”
“However, I thought about your case all through the night and came up with an idea for how to go about your dilemma.”
He dropped a file on the table.
“This is a mutually beneficial agreement. Since I was unable to get some sleep, I decided to do my research on your life. Found a few things on the way. Nevertheless, it helped me understand why this is all so upsetting to you.”
“This deal between us will give you a head start at getting your name cleared, and perhaps getting revenge too. Whatever floats your boat.”
June was hooked. “What is it?”
Rafael fought the urge to tell her she could flip through the documents and find out but he spoke instead.
“Marry me.”