When the Rain Pours (Fortalejo Series #1)

Bonus Chapter 1

Yovin Ephraim Fortalejo

With my arms crossed and brows furrowed, I stared grimly at the wine glass in front of me. Wala akong balak uminom at mas lalong wala akong balak na magtagal dito sa Casa.

"What's with your face? Pansin kong kanina ka pa busangot, ah?" Ate Sophia asked beside me. Napatingin din tuloy sa akin ang asawa niya pero umiling lang ako. I sighed as I begun to count in my head. The moment I'd reach the count of 100, no matter what, I'm fucking done here.

Ipinatawag kami ni Abuelo dahil may mahalaga raw itong sasabihin pero kanina pa walang pumapasok sa utak ko. Kahit anong pilit kong makinig at magbigay ng sariling opinyon, hindi ko magawa. Ang gusto ko lang ay umuwi na.

"I'm sorry but, I need to go home now." Napaangat ako ng tingin at nakita ang pagtayo ni Kyer. I shifted on my seat. Tumigil si Abuelo sa pagsasalita at tiningnan ito. I gritted my teeth in annoyance. Naunahan pa ako ni Kyer! Paano ako titiyempo nito ngayon?

"My pregnant wife wants me to cook something for her, Abuelo-"

"Alright," puno ng pag-iintinding pagpayag ni Abuelo. I again shifted on my seat. I was about to say that my wife wants me home now, too, when I saw Jeremy's wide grin for me. Na para bang sinasabing huwag ko nang subukan pa dahil alam niya ang totoo.

Fuck him.

"Do you want to say something, Yovin?" Tanong sa akin ni Abuelo. Nabaling ang atensiyon nilang lahat sa akin pero ang mga mata ko ay nakasunod na sa papaalis na si Kyer. I then looked at Jeremy again when the former vanished from my sight, and then to my curious sister beside me, Ate Sophia.

"Nothing." I breathed.

Tumango si Abuelo at muling nagpatuloy. I said earlier that I don't want to drink, but when I remembered the thing that was bothering me since yesterday, I just found myself bringing the wine glass near my lips and taking a sip.

Damn it.

My wife. My beautiful wife has been ignoring me since yesterday. At hindi ko alam kung bakit. She will only talk to me when our daughter is around and proceeds to be cold when Mina is busy with her toys and stuff. I tried to talk to her and ask what was wrong that same night before we sleep but she just turned her back on me, and before I knew it, she's already fucking snoring, sleeping soundly like a baby.

Samantalang inabot ako ng madaling araw sa kakaisip kung anong nagawa ko!

At kaninang umaga, hindi man lang ako sinabayang kumain ng agahan. Her fucking reason? She will wait for Mina to wake up at sabay silang kakain. Trying my best to understand and indulge her, I didn't force her to eat with me. Instead, I only told her to just at least sit with me while I'm eating so that we can have time to talk before I get off to work but even that, she heartlessly refused.

It was past eight in the evening when the meeting ended. At isa yata ako sa mga naunang lumabas ng mansiyon. May sinasabi pa si Ate Sophia pero wala na talaga ako sa mood na makinig pa ng kahit isang segundo. And the moment I entered my car, I opened my phone to see if my wife had already sent a reply for my text earlier.

Meron naman. Gusto kong matuwa kaso... ito yata ang unang beses na ganito kaikli ang reply niya. It looked cold... and fucking uninterested.

Ako:

Babe, baka late na ako makauwi mamaya. Abuelo wants to have a meeting at the Casa. Ipinatawag kaming magpipinsan. I love you.

My wife:

Okay.

Mariin akong napapikit bago ibinalik sa bulsa ang cellphone. At nang magdilat ay kaagad na pinasibad ang sasakyan paalis. Maaga pa naman, di'ba? Sana ay hindi pa siya tulog pagkauwi ko. I need her to tell me what's up. Or what did I do wrong for her to be this cold to me. I want us to be okay as soon as possible. Dahil baka masiraan na ako ng bait kapag nagtagal pa 'to.