Broken Promises (COMPLETED)

Chapter 18 - Sacrifices

Photo Credit:  @MAINEnatics_MNL post - Divinaursula Snapchat screengrab 

Hi readers, this chapter now goes back to that moment in Chapter 2 when Richard snapped at Dei over the phone, when he was looking for his hard drive. If you don't remember what transpired, I suggest that you please go back to Chapter 2 to refresh your memory. Our story will now progress from that point.

This chapter has SPG scenes, so for 18 and below, you know the drill. And for the rest of you, I hope you feel the conflicting emotions that Richard and Dei feel as you read this. Never before is it more evident that Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus, we process things differently in hearts and minds.

Hope I don't spoil your weekends with this my dears. I won't delay you any further, please read and like always, let me know how you feel and think about this development. this chapter is a really good topic to debate on.

Shoutout to all those who greeted me yesterday for National Writers Day, thank you so much!  

May 2015

He was finally home. Richard parked the car by the driveway and keyed in the security code to enter the gate of their home. He tried calling Dei to open the gate for him but her phone must be on silent mode again. She normally puts her phone on silent mode while trying to beat Pat's deadlines for her. It seems that even with her freelance arrangement with Pat, she was still in-demand for writing and conceptualizing websites for Brand Solutions clients.

He turned the key in the door lock and opened the door to a dark and quiet house. He was hungry but lost his appetite driving through horrible traffic on a payday Friday. The food Dei left on the table was cold anyway, as cold as their current relationship.

Damn, self-pity was not going to do him good.

Ever since he left his job to partner with Daniel to set up Design Asia, his relationship with Dei went downhill. She didn't like Daniel, and it was the first time she ever spoke strongly of her dislike of somebody. It was uncharacteristic of Dei to argue with him, but he put his foot down and went on with the partnership. It was true, Daniel had a strong personality that might turn some people off, but it was his strong personality that also won projects for them.

Daniel was a risk-taker, a visionary who defied odds to get to where he was now. He worked his way through college, was already accepting clients of his own even before he was a board passer. He was on the top five of the board passers of his batch, and already had an impressive mix of projects in his portfolio by the time he got his license.

He had one characteristic that Richard lacked. Hunger. Daniel was always in search of something to conquer, and would do everything in his power to fulfill whatever he set his mind on, to the point of being ruthless at times.

Maybe Dei saw the negative side of Daniel's personality, not realizing that it was a perfect complement to Richard's safe and sure approach to his career. Richard considered Daniel his alter ego, and they played the "good cop, bad cop" game in presenting proposals to their clients, successfully winning contracts for design and build projects. Their partnership created buzz in the industry, their designs were raved at during construction exhibits.

But while his career flourished, his personal life suffered. He missed going home early to have dinner with Dei, or spend weekends with her out of town. His time was spent building their firm name as a brand, meeting as many contacts as he could, to stabilize the firm and support their small group of employees.

But he justified that he was doing all of this for her. He was working his butt off to give her a better life, and to prepare for the family they will have. There were sacrifices along the way but it wouldn't always be like this.