Chapter V

“Are you serious?” Ellisa asked so loudly that Rossie had to cover her best friend's mouth. They were at the pantry having lunch. And when her best friend slapped her arm she let go. “Bitch you rode with him?”

“I had to! You know I could be damn dead if my parents saw me!”

“No, you could’ve said that he is another friend!”

“As if they’d let it go that fast!”

Yeah, she remembers the last time when one of their guy co-workers gave her a ride. It took them months to get over it. The questions were ridiculous! It was like she was being interrogated for murdering 50 people.

“Hell, I’d go through that again!” she exclaims at Ellisa.

“But bitch, tell me what he looks like? I don’t remember!” There was excitement in Ellisa’s voice that made Rossie twitch up her upper lip in disappointment.

“He looks normal to me. He’s cocky and a jerk.”

Ellisa looks up, thinking about what her friend has spoken out of her mouth. She puts a hand over her chin. “If he’s cocky and a jerk… that means he is hella gorgeous, huh?”

“What? Didn’t you hear me?” Rossie shakes her head.

“Oh, I heard you fine. Whenever you say the guy is a jerk or just normal, that man is gorgeous! That's exactly your definition of gorgeous! You just don’t admit it.”

She can’t even argue with Ellisa so she let it slide, stuffing food in her mouth. Because she was hyper in filing a divorce earlier she had completely forgotten to ask for information. She can’t recall if she ever asked him if he had submitted those papers to legalize their marriage.

What’s crazy is that none of the witnesses were people she knew. It was all people they didn’t know or at least for her. She should probably meet up with that guy to talk about this more. Or maybe… she glances at where Lucas is, they know each other.

Her best friend seems to notice where she was looking so Ellisa did the same. They were low-key checking out Lucas and his team members, laughing so carefree.

“Lucas seems to be avoiding the topic about your husband,” Ellisa whispers. She had to shift back her gaze to her friend. “Ya know, men are so loyal to their friends. Lucas won’t throw your husband off the bus.”

“I agree with you.” There is something that tells Rossie that this marriage, that man knows about this. He could’ve been the one to do the trick. “Hey, Ell, do you perhaps know how divorcing someone works?”

“Uhm…” The long silence tells Rossie the answer. “It looks easy in movies I watch.”

“Nevermind.”

Rossie took out her phone and began searches. Of course, it’s different from country to country. There are even places that don’t have divorce as an option, only annulment. Luckily in Yukiha, divorce is permitted. It looks easy but until the other partner signs the paper, it will be hard.

“Shit! That man is stubborn,” she muttered.

“What was that?” Ellisa was also busy with her phone. “You said something?” she asked raising a brow.

“I’m really in trouble. I can’t let Jake find out about this,” Rossie sighs heavily. She puts down her phone and rakes her hair, gripping some strands. She’s really going crazy. “What’s worse is that Jake will be coming home soon.”

“Really?” Ellisa's eyes widened for a moment and then that evil laugh came. “You are dead meat, Rossie. You better work fast on this. Also, warn your husband not to get near you on those days. Your BOYFRIEND is a messy guy.”

“Jake is good to me!”

“Okay,” Ellisa shrugs. “Good when he slapped you five years ago?”

“It was my fault! Can we not talk about this?” she fires a look at Ellisa which made her best friend roll her eyes and mouth, ‘fine’.

It’s true Jake slapped her once but he didn’t mean it. He was just drunk then and she made a really bad mistake then. What more could it be now if Jake finds out she’s married? No, he can’t know and she’ll make sure of that.

After their shift, Rossie tried to get a hold of Lucas but when she went to his bay, he was already gone which is suspicious. That guy knows something. Since he is gone, Ellisa and her decided to just let it slide.

They were talking about their irate calls as they were riding the elevator. It’s a routine for them, to get their feelings out and talk bad about how stupid one customer is.

“He told me no offense and I had helped him but he still wanted to talk to a supervisor!” Ellisa exclaimed freely. “They’re wasting time! As if a supervisor can help them when we have the same damn tool!”

They both laugh about it. It’s common in their account. Customers call them with loud voices and are already frustrated. They understand that but at least some customers should know they also dealt with annoying ones every twelve minutes.

“Ohlala! There’s one jerk I see right now!” Ellisa squeals when they’re out of the glass door. Rossie looks at where she is looking and her eyes grew wide. “I can tell that’s your husband. He’s got coffee in his hand.”

Rossie ignored what Ellisa commented and marched down the mini stair and to the man holding coffees in his hand. Her best friend had to follow from behind.

“Must be a troublesome night to have your brows drawing together.” He smiles and looks at Ellisa. “Good morning. I’m sorry I had to steal my wife from you last night. We had to be introduced.”

“Oh, it’s no problem!” Ellisa was quick to be a bandwagon, making Rossie scoff.

“Coffee for you too,” Jared states, giving Ellisa a coffee which she gladly took. Then he took another one and faced her ever-glaring wife. “Of course, one for my wife.”

Hesitant but she took it from him and utter a small thanks before asking why he was there. Ellisa seemed to have guessed the tension between the married couple so she put her hands in mid-air.

“Ya know… I think I have to go stop by somewhere,” she obviously lied. “Would you mind, giving your wife a ride…”

“Jared. My name is Jared.” He extended his hand which Ellisa took. “A pleasure to meet my wife’s best friend.”

“Now that’s a husband for you,” Ellisa whispered to Rossie before leaving. “Tea later!” she added.

As soon as her best friend was gone, her face turned uninterested as ever. It’s good that he is here so they can talk about their marriage and how to end it.

“I’ve looked up how we can get out of this marriage quickly,” she started. “I just need you to sign the papers I will file as soon as I get a lawyer.”

Jared didn’t say anything but instead opened the door for her. She’s never used to someone opening up the door for her so she frowns.

“Get in,” he commands. She was just staring at it for a couple of seconds. "Do you really want to talk about this in public?"

"Fine!" 

Rossie had no choice and got inside the passenger's seat. He closes it softly and she watches as Jared moved to the other side and gets in the car. His mood seemed to change so quickly and now she is sitting still and nervous inside his car. She has not even taken a sip of her coffee and her heart is beating crazy. She clears her throat, getting his attention.

"So, what's your plan?"

“Listen,” he spoke calmly, softer than last night, “I want to stay married.”