Chapter Ten: Tainted

Tainted. That was mean. But Elaine does not want to argue with Tan. Nevertheless, they had already tied the knot. Tan was her husband again. And since it was the first day of their second marriage, the last thing Elaine wanted to do was to fight with him.

If Tan was waiting to see the pain and disappointment in her eyes, she had to prove him wrong. It was a happy and special day for her. Regardless of how it was carried through. Still, it was held successfully.

"I'll be alright wherever then. It does not matter," she smiled at him.

Tan's jaw jerked as if he didn't believe her.

"Uh, are you staying for breakfast?" she asked.

"How about dinner tonight?" she added when she heard no response on the first question.

"I could drop by in the hospital later on or we could just meet at the nearest restaurant whenever you are free," she told him as she followed him towards the door. Tan stopped on his tracks.

"For what?" asked he, glancing over his shoulder to look at her with a raised eyebrow.

Elaine was stunned for a moment. "Celebration..."

Tan's smile was smug. "You've gotta be kidding me," he said before he walked towards the door and left.

Elaine slumped on the sofa as soon as the motion sensor died down. She just heard the click on the door, indicating that the man had already left. Her eyes scanned around. Her smile was bitter. She didn't know that Tan was capable of hurting her feelings. It caught her off guard. He was consistent since the day they've met after three years.

Everything was done on purpose. He had planned the wedding right before the sunrise. He knew that she was wasted last night. He knew he would catch her in that chaotic state. That she'd look like a mess in the morning and what she'd possibly be wearing after that nasty encounter last night.

Tan once said she looked prettiest in the morning. She did not believe him. But she wished she was. Elaine wanted to look good in their wedding photo. She had not kept any single photos on their first wedding. Perhaps, Tan had burned all of them. Even on his social media, all of her photos were deleted. Everything about her was removed.

For sure, she would look like a groggy monster in their new wedding photo. Nonetheless, she wanted to see it and saved it in her gallery.

She dialed Atty. Ramas's number in her phone. After the call, within a second, her messenger chimed. Excited, she opened the chat box.

Instead of flowers, what served as the foreground and background of their wedding photo was the empty cans and bottles of beer scattered behind them. Her lips curled a bitter smile. Then her eyes darted towards her face and her husband's.

She was smiling in there. Aside from that, there's a slight smile etching on Tan's lips. His hand on her waist. Tan looked like he was holding her like he was telling the world she was his. Again. Elaine smiled at the thought. Not caring where her hope would take her. It doesn't matter. As long as she was with him.

There were so many articles about second marriages that she had come across. According to it, second marriages are more likely to fail. But remarrying the same spouse tells a different story. Somehow, Elaine was holding on to that.

A smile of joy lit up her face. It was as though she stepped on cloud nine like Son Goku that she started picking up the empty bottles around her. With a smile, she began doing chores not minding what time it really was at the moment.

SPEECHLESS, Drew almost choked on her food.

"Seriously? You got married just like that?" she yelled in utter confusion. "Nor did you exchange wedding vows?"

Elaine stabbed the steamed broccoli with her fork before putting it into her mouth. After their gym session, they headed directly to the vegetarian restaurant, which had been a ritual for her every twice a week, at least. Anne was too competent in the Boutique she could hardly do anything in there at all

"I wasn't even able to rinse my mouth, let alone exchange wedding vows,"

Drew was silent for a moment, throwing Elaine a worried gaze.

"A penny for your thoughts?"

"I don't know. I was just worried,"

"About what?"

"Beats me. Ever since you've mentioned that marriage whatsoever, I could not feel any more bothered. What if he's planning for revenge? What if he wanted you to suffer? What are you going to do about it?"

Elaine looked away from her. She wanted to say "Same thoughts" but she didn't want her friend to worry even more. The fact that she was already worried about Mr. Chito's reaction once he'd receive the news sooner or later, Elaine didn't want to add more to her stress.

"We'd been together under the same roof for at least a year. I knew him. I can't see what harm he could do to me,"  she assured her friend, placing a slice of vegetable in her mouth and bit firmly.

"Just to remind you, your situation had already changed. Sure, he used to love you so much, but that was a long time ago. Admit it or not, I knew he had not forgiven you yet,"

Elaine smiled. "Don't worry about it. I got this,"

"Your wedding had an expiration date. What if he won't fall in love with you again after six months? What will happen next?"

"According to the book I've read, love does not fade right away. He probably just forgot that he's madly in love with me. I just need to remind him about it,"

Drew shook her head. Just when her appetite started to kick back, she noticed that Drew was still staring at her deeply. Elaine clicked her tongue and slightly slouched her shoulder.

"What now?"

"Why not just tell him about the truth? If he really loves you, he would understand for sure,"

She paused midway, her fork hung in the air for a second. Then she pouted her lips.

"As I've said, I got this. And please, Miss, the food is about to get cold. Eat up first before you preach, geez!"

Elaine poured her attention on the food. Meanwhile, Drew kept giving her glances and shaking head. Elaine preferred to flash her positive aura, trying to hide her worries from Drew.

Elaine believed it was not the right time. Her current state seemed to withhold the truth from Tan. But how long does she have to remain silent? Elaine inwardly shook her thoughts away and turned to her plate instead.