CHAPTER 23

**Nadine’s First Life: Rejection**
Marcus was too stunned to speak but he forced himself to accept her decision. He was willing to wait until she would love him again. “Alright, I'm ready to wait ... when you can love me again.”
“Go to sleep,” she ordered the man.
“Let's go,” Marcus pulled the comforter wrapped around Nadine's body and forced her to get up.
“Where?” she asked the man.
“Jogging, of course. We need to exercise so we don't gain weight,” Marcus added.
“So, you mean, I'm fat, right?” Suddenly she lost sleep when she heard what the man said.
“Did I say you're fat? You just misinterpreted my statement. I said-”
“Shut up,” Nadine said and suddenly stood up to pick up an outfit in her closet. She chose to wear the light blue hooded jogging suit with short pant. After she changed clothes, she put on her running shoes that matched her jogging suit.
When they get out of the gate, she immediately started running slowly. Marcus did the same. She knew he also listened to music while running because he was also wearing headphones.
The cold air perched on her skin as she kept jogging. As she ran, she also looked around.
Nadine stopped for a few minutes to smell the sea breeze and stared at the boat passing by. She's confident that the view would be even more spectacular during sunrise. She was about to run again when someone has bumped into her. She swayed at the impact, but Marcus came immediately to her rescue.
“Gabby, fancy meeting you here,” Marcus said.
“Hi, Marcus, nice meeting you too. So, you're still with Nadine?” Gabby looked at the woman who had been her rival to Marcus from head to toe.
Nadine arched her eyebrows upon hearing Gabby's voice. They had a score to settle and she's about to lose her control. She tightened her grip on Marcus's hand then gave Gabby a fake smile. “Yeah, we're still together. I believe we are meant to be together. Don't you think?” she artistically replied to the woman.
“I think you're right. Hmmm, Nadine, I'm really sorry,” Gabby apologized.
Nadine studied the woman's face, but she wasn’t sincere. As she ran, herchest throbbed with anger and annoyance.
When she turned around, she noticed that Marcus had not followed her.
“Nadine! Nadine, wait for me,” she heard the man's voice call her name but she didn't turn around.
Nadine gasped hard at what she had done before she realized she shouldn’t have done that. She acted like a child! So what if they meet Gabby? She shouldn’t have been too affected by that scene because she was with Marcus.
“Oh, why are you alone, where's Gabby?” She asked him.
“She's with her husband. Wait, are you mad?” Marcus noticed something strange in the tone of Nadine's speech. Calm but arrogant.
“You mean, you're having an affair with a married woman? My God Marcus, can't you control your libido?” Her voice rose.
“You made a mistake. It was the first time I saw her again since the night you had an accident!” Marcus tried to explain but Nadine's ears were already closed. She formed her own judgment already.
“Shhhh, you don't have to explain. I understand,” she lied.
“Thank you, sweetheart.” He hugged the woman, regardless of their sweaty bodies.
When they got home, Nadine never touched Marcus again. She went straight to her room to change her clothes.
Marcus was surprised by Nadine's behavior when they came home from jogging. “What’s wrong?” He asked.
“What's wrong with your face,” Nadine replied with a question.
Marcus's forehead furrowed even more when Nadine spoke as if angry at him.
She was worried when Marcus didn't come home for dinner. He was gone from two o'clock in the afternoon and it's almost ten in the evening already. She wanted to call the man but she forgot to pick up his number.
“Why, you've become a denial queen now? It's obvious that you're waiting for Marcus.” Diana teased her.
“Excuse me, why should I wait for him?”
Nadine was alone in the living room and pretended to watch a cooking show but the truth is, Marcus was the stuff of her brain. Did it go to Gabby? Or maybe it was an accident on the way? He looked at his cellphone. By the way, she did not give the man her mobile number.
He wondered why the man had not yet entered the vehicle he was carrying. He came out. When he got close to the car, he knocked on its window. Instead of opening the window, the man just waved like a fool. Wait, is it drunk? Apparently not. Maybe he just drank. It prompted him to get into the car. And he who had been worried about the man immediately entered.
“What are you doing?” she commented to the man when he suddenly started the car.