Chapter II

Instead of sleeping, Rossie used her time googling up the name of the man she married. There was nothing online; no information about the name on the paper! How is she supposed to find him now to file a divorce?

There were so many questions in her head. How did it even become real? How was she going to divorce this guy? Is that why he appeared so suddenly last night and called her wife? Did his letter come faster than hers? She massages her temples from all of her unanswered questions.

For a day, she let it go and decided to keep it cool for her sister’s birthday. Smiling and entertaining relatives and guests were a must to her but her mind couldn’t help but take her back to her marriage certificate whenever she sees rings.

When finally the party was over, she calls her best friend Ellisa. The girl was eating her lunch at work, giving her that weird look that says, “look at you in bed all comfy” which made Rossi roll her eyes.

“What are you calling about? Shouldn’t you be sleeping or enjoying your sister’s party?” Ellisa asked, stuffing a spoonful of ground meat, and munching.

“I’m on the edge of a cliff right now,” she sighs which made Ellisa raise a brow at her. “I am married, Ell! I don’t know how it happened but the marriage certificate arrived today and I am fucking married!”

Like Rossie’s reaction earlier, Ellisa’s eyes were wide and she almost choked on her food. She had to drink lots of water, blinking widely at Rossie on the phone.

“How did it happen? Nobody registered the marriage! Everyone was--” Ellisa froze for a moment, “unless your groom decided to turn the papers to the registry or one of the people there did.”

“It could be,” she agrees.

Now the problem is that she doesn’t know most of the people that were there. It was Ellisa and some of their friends at work but the others, she doesn’t know. Who the hell would register a marriage after being drunk? Ugh! It’s her fault for signing the papers!

“You should reconnect with your husband and file a divorce. I’m sure none of you wanted this,” Ellisa advise her.

“I tried looking his name up but nothing came up. I think I married someone out of this world!”

“Dang that’s hard.”

“That’s why I need your help in finding him! You know everyone there that night. They must have some kind of information about the guy!”

“You mean your husband?”

Immediately, Rossie gave her best friend a death stare at which Ellisa just laughed. Her situation isn’t funny at all. If Jake or her parents finds out about this, there will be another book of insult that will pile up on her shelf. This is one hell of an embarrassment and she doesn’t know where to start to fix it.

“I’ll ask the guys about your husband and may--”

“He’s not my husband!” she yells.

“So, you’re saying that piece of paper lied?” Ellisa rolled her eyes, cracking up a little.

“It was obviously an accident! Who would even turn this thing over?”

“Could be either one of you.”

“Well, it’s not me. We left together.”

Once more Rossie breathes out heavily, feeling defeated and unable to find the identity of the mysterious man. Jake can’t know about this. I made a huge mistake, she thought to herself.

“You’re coming to work later, right?” Ellisa questions. She almost forgot that she was still on a call with her best friend.

“Yes,” she muttered.

There was a bunch to talk about but Ellisa had to go back to the production floor or she’ll be given the mandatory overtime. Something they always try to avoid. They had to end the call.

Just after they did, Rossie’s heart dropped when she saw her screen flashing Jake’s name on the screen. The guilt immediately creep into her and she had to swallow that hard lump before swiping to answer.

“Hey, love!” Jake greeted her with a wide charming smile. It made her pale as a ghost but of course, he wouldn’t notice that. “How’s the party?”

“Hi, love!” She flashes a fake smile. On the inside, she was bawling but she hides it by pressing her lips together in a thin-like smile before opening her mouth. “It’s great! It seems like everyone enjoyed the party very much. Prim is also showing her whisker grin. You’ll see when she uploads later.”

“That’s good, love. Listen I’m just taking a five minutes break so I’ll have to head back.” It’s a relief to Rossie. “I’ll see you in about three days, love. I’ll be going home for a short break of two or four days. I have some records to take.”

It was the word “home” that rings inside her. Jake will be home in about three days?! It’s a short visit but he shouldn’t know anything!

“What’s wrong, love? You seemed occupied.” Jake noticed. When she gazes at him, it pinches her chest. He looked so worried so she sobs a false laugh.

“I’m fine, love. I am just a bit surprised and excited that you’re coming home! Unprecedented!”

“Of course, love.” He smiles genuinely, his eyes sparkling like he’s been waiting all his life to come back home to her. “I love you. We’ll be together soon.”

“I love you too,” she answers, her mouth curved up in a lonely smile.

Rossie blows him a kiss before they end the call and when it did, her facial expression dropped. She wants to scream so badly that she grabs a pillow beside her and screamed from the top of her lungs, tossing and turning.

Once she was done, she let go of the pillow, her chest up and down as she breathes heavily. She stares at her ceiling and realized she fucked up really bad. She better hides the marriage certificate safely from everyone.

Just as she sits up on her bed, her phone started ringing. A frown was on her forehead as she reaches for her phone. The screen says an unknown number and she hesitated to answer. It could be from the marriage registration office or that mysterious guy she married, so she swiped to the right, putting her phone over her ear.

“Hello?”