Thirty-Six

MANY attested that since he’d been with her, he smiled more and was more approachable.
That there was no doubt that he was in love with her, they said, because of the change in his behavior.
He had never looked so cheerful and he was always laughing.
Even though she could detect surprise at this development from the hacienda staff telling her about this, she could see that Eric also had them convinced.
But there were praises that were veiled envy.
The condescension at being told she would eventually give in to the easy life Señorito Enrique was offering irritated her.
But the first and only time someone mentioned this while her mother could hear received a tongue lashing from her usually mild-mannered parent.
“Have you ever seen us asking for or accepting anything we couldn’t get our own way? Have we complained while we lived alone and my children worked like horses so we could eat decently all those years since my husband died? Did you think my daughter fell in love with the señorito to have an easy life?” she exclaimed angrily, her hand clutching her bosom.
And everyone panicked while she went to her mother and hugged her. “Mama… calm down. Please…”
“It doesn’t matter if I die, my daughter, as long as I defend you from this insult. No one here went through what you and your brother had to go through without complaint to take care of me and each other. I will not have anyone insult you out of envy. There is a reason the señorito liked you and not any other young women here in the hacienda or anyone else he met in Manila. I will not accept this insult.”
“Sienna… Sienna… calm down and drink this water. Come on, don’t mind Eliza. She can be tactless sometimes.” It was Aling Bigne who brought a glass of water for her mother.
Aling Eliza looked scared and sweaty as she came over. “Sienna… forgive me. I didn’t mean to imply that your daughter is materialistic… far from it. Of course, I am envious… my goodness, who will not be? But I am also happy that she has a chance to have an easy life after everything your family went through. Okay? Alright? I honestly am happy for her and you and Tommy, and I am jealous, I admit it. But I am also happy, alright?”
Her mother had drunk half of the glass of water while she listened, then she shook her head. “Eliza… you angered me.”
“I know! I’m sorry for my tactlessness. Don’t have a heart attack, please! That was thoughtless of me.”
Her mother didn’t have a heart attack and after that, if there was anyone who ever thought malice of her relationship with Eric, none of them ever said in anywhere near her and her family.
Little did her mother know…
Yna was worried about when the other shoe would drop.
She still worried about the secret she, Tommy, and Eric kept.
And Brad, and Madame Venus… and the others in the bar.
She was still scared about being discovered.
It had been a month since her mother was released from the hospital, which meant it had been that long, too, that she and Eric were pretending.
Ironically, now that they act in love in front of other people, they hadn’t had a chance to be alone.
Not in her mother’s house, nor anywhere else.
She was busy with cooking during the day, and on weekends, she and her mother would tend their new garden at the back of the house.
Eric also started travelling back and forth here and the city because of his businesses.
But whenever he was here in the hacienda, he found time to visit.
He ate lunchbreak with the workers at her house, and stayed longer to be with her, talk to her in the garden or take a walk with her holding hands once work was done in the house or him in the hacienda.
She balked at going out with him to town on a date because, she reasoned, they only needed to pretend in front of her mother. She didn’t need to be seen with him by his family friends outside of the hacienda, because they were going to be wealthy people, and there was no way there wasn’t going to be talk about how foolish he was.
He seemed to understand her. In fact, he said he wanted to hide her as much as he could because he already knew how poisonous gossip could be.
He didn’t want anyone telling his mother about her. It wasn’t the first time he exhibited dislike towards his mother. But she felt awkward asking about it.
“When your mother is used to us being like this, I can maybe invite you and your family to a trip somewhere far from here. We can enjoy the time without worrying about gossip.”
“Why do we have to?” she asked. “We’re not really—”
“C’mon, baby. Do you think your mother or Tommy would not wonder why we’re not going out? So they understand you don’t want to and they themselves are wary of gossip. But they’ll expect me to try harder.”
“And that… calling me baby… you don’t have to do it when there’s no one else here.”
They were in the garden then, and the others were in the house or at the front, presumably giving them privacy. Although there was no doubt some of them were spying behind the windows, they couldn’t hear them from here.
He smiled. “I want to. I know you like me calling you baby.”
She had slapped him on his arm before she could catch herself. Then she was touching her lips, stunned. “Oh, I’m sorry! But you’re wrong!”
He remained grinning. “You’re lying, baby.”
She closed her eyes, her face hotter than the sunlight falling on both of them. Of course, the more she denied it, the more he—
She felt his arm around her shoulders and the other one around her waist as he suddenly pulled her to him. “You’re so cute when you’re protesting too much.”
And then he kissed her.
And of course, even as her hands tried to push him away, her lips were already kissing him back. She was aware they were being watched because she could hear snickers from the house. But he only laughed a little between their lips and just kissed her deeper, taking his own time.
When he relented, Yna face-planted her face on his vibrating chest, for he was still laughing, happy about something she would not dare try to understand, as his arms secured their hold on her.
“I’ll ask your mother if I can have you for a picnic date this weekend,” he was telling her softly near one heated ear. “I don’t care about appearances. I need to be alone with you.”
“Eric…”
He kissed her temple. Then he took a deep breath. “Please, don’t say no. It hurts not touching you. I need you.”
She gulped at the emotions in his voice. Her eyes remained closed as she tried to think.
But her body was screaming its need, too. And even as it would just get her more stressed about the future, she couldn’t fight her desire to be with him, too.
“O-Okay.”
He kissed her again on the same spot before releasing her, but then holding her hand as they started to walk back to the house…