Accrued Interest

Chapter 11

BE HONEST. No matter what.

"I met her nine years ago in a hospital," Aga smiled at their fondest memory. "Her name is... Sandy. She's a nurse and I was a patient."

He glanced at Lea to see her reaction but it's way too dark inside the car. It's better this way, he thought. He doesn't want Lea to see his face while recalling all the bittersweet memories with his ex-wife.

"I was a former racer, it's not a secret. I was rushed to the hospital when I got into an accident at one of my races. The first time I saw her, I fell hard. I was so sure it was love at first sight. I was head over heels in love. She was so beautiful, kind, and caring. How could I not notice her? I was nervous at that time, I thought I really died after seeing an angel beside me. "

Aga can still remember how he used to fake his pain just to get her attention. He was a bad actor but there's no space for embarrassment for the girl you like.  Every time he's making a fool of himself doing that, she'll just give him her sweetest smile. Because of his injury, he was forced to stay in the hospital for a few days.

"Before being discharged, I made sure I got her number. I asked her out when I was fully recovered. She said yes and the rest was history."

Aga felt Lea's movement. He looked at her and saw that she's nodding her head, staring into space.

"Wow", she breathed. "That was... cute." She nods her head even stronger this time. What's on her mind? Aga badly wants to know how Lea is taking everything in. He's just at the beginning. The deeper he gets, the uglier the story will be.

He released a sigh. "We got along so well and decided to get married right away. Our marriage only lasted for three years."

Aga can still remember the agonizing days when Sandy would confront him about his first love, racing. "She hated my job. She hated it so much that she couldn't even tolerate it anymore and asked me to quit a year after being married." He was still young back then and at the peak of his career. His heart sank just thinking about it.

"She was always paranoid about my safety. She's a nurse and it was weird seeing her gushing so much about how I could die whenever I'm racing. I just... I couldn't quit. Racing held a very important place in my life and I just can't let it go at that time so I gave her the best bargain I could offer. Sinabi ko sa kanya na I'll only retire from racing if we decided to have our own child. At that moment, I was ready to give everything up and leave racing behind for a baby but I was knocked sideways when she refused." Aga stole another glance at Lea to see how she's faring. He is silently wishing that she'll finally understand his disposition on having a baby.

"She told me she's not yet ready for a baby. One year of marriage and she was still not ready. She didn't bother me anymore about retiring after that conversation pero ako naman ang nagsimulang mangulit. I wanted that baby so bad and racing became less and less important to me. She keeps on refusing and told me to wait for the right time. I tried my best to be understanding. One day, she asked me to send my semen sample to a sperm bank so that if I ever got incapable of reproduction or if something happened to me while racing, she could still have my baby, but of course, at the right time."

Aga believed Sandy back then. He didn't think too much about it and just agreed. He spent more than two years of their marriage cajoling her into having kids but they always argue at the end. He decided then that there's no choice for him but to quit car racing completely.

"On our third anniversary, I planned on surprising her about the news that I left racing entirely. I was so decided and excited that I even bought baby items in advance as my anniversary gift. Naisip ko na kapag nalaman at nakita niya na iniwan ko na talaga ang pagkakarera eh papayag na siyang magkaanak kami.