CHAPTER 24

“You're drunk,” Nadine said.
“Just drank but not drunk,” Marcus replied.
When they arrived at the cafe, the two were amazed at the crowd. Visitors are not sanctioned, whether on weekdays or weekends. Marcus scratched his head so hard. She expected the set-up of their date to be romantic because of the beautiful scenery that can be seen while drinking coffee. He was slightly disappointed.
But if Marcus was disappointed, it wasn’t obvious on his female companion’s face. Her expressions lit up upon seeing the large crowd who were busy taking their photos and selfies. “I'm sorry, I didn't think it was like this here. The blog didn't mention that the cafe is crowded at night.” He always apologized to his wife.
“It's okay. We're here, eh.” Nadine replied.
Marcus simply held one of Nadine's hands as they walked into the cafe to order coffee. “Wait, why don't we take our photo like the other couple?”
He didn't drag her but she agreed to Marcus's suggestion that they take a selfie in front of the cafe. What could it have eaten and suddenly the habit became a teenager? “Okay, here it is. Say cheese!” said Marcus before pressing the camera button of his cellphone.
Then, Nadine immediately looked at their shot, and she laughed. I think they did too much posing, eh, they didn't get their faces. “I'll take our picture.” As he lifted his cellphone to get a nice angle of the background, he felt one of Marcus's hands grip his waist.
“Where did you go?” He asked the man.
“To my friend. Did you miss me?” Marcus jokingly asked the woman.
“Of course not. I was just worried that you had an accident on the way, “Nadine replied seriously but Marcus didn't like it.
Marcus's tongue burned in the hot coffee because of the wife's question. “I already told you, there will be no annulment. You're mine, just mine!” Marcus declared.
“I don't know if it's right to give you a second chance. I'm afraid the past might just repeat itself and I'll be hurt again. I can't stand it just in case,” he admitted to Marcus.
Marcus put down the coffee cup he was holding and held the woman's two hands. “Promise, I will pour you all the love I can give. I feel sorry for you Nadine, forget about the annulment of our marriage.”
“Well see,” she said here. She was actually scared because it wasn't a joke what she went through when she lost the man. Yes, and Marcus was still the one her heart cried out for, but she also couldn't ignore the fact that he was deceived once. Isn't there a saying that once a cheater would always be a cheater.
“I can see there's something bothering you,” Marcus commented to Nadine when she suddenly calmed down and looked away.
“Hmmm, about Diana's Dad.” Nadine thought it was time for Marcus to find out the truth about Diana.
Marcus was nervous when Nadine mentioned about Diana's father and he hesitated to tell the woman that he already knew the truth. “I see, what about that bastard?”
“Well, that bastard is you.” Nadine said before she drank the leftover coffee from her cup.
“I don't understand you, I thought, you were shot that night?” Marcus asked the woman.
“You just thought that. I didn't know what I was going to do at that time. I was scared,” he said.
“I'm sorry, Nadine. I was also angry before when I found out what you did,” Marcus explained. “Maybe if you didn't hurry everything,” Marcus said.
“If I hadn't done that, you and Betting would have gotten married.” Nadine replied.
“Sabagay,” Marcus admitted that even though he didn't want to marry anyone before, it would be hard for him to reject his grandmother. “It's embarrassing what I did before to hurt you,” Marcus added.
“It's okay. I've moved on. So, going back to Diana's daddy, what can you say?” Nadine doubted Marcus's behavior when he mentioned about her son's father. Previously when they talked about the child's mysterious father, he was overwhelmed and always frowned.
“I'm still processing the idea that I'm his real father. Recently, I was jealous of that person. I thought that once in your life, you had met a man better than me,” he said with utmost sincerity because it's the truth.
“Did you really expect me to jump from one man to another? Ah, I know, because that's your job, eh. We're still together but you took your woman to the hacienda right away.” He didn't complain, he just told men what happened and why their marriage failed.
Marcus was dazzled by Nadine's frankness. “I'm sorry about Gabby. I don't know why I was able to hurt you. Believe me or not, I love you Nadine. And that love hasn't disappeared in recent years,” she said.
“Char,” Nadine said because she didn't believe what the man said.
“Everything I said is true, is it hard for me to believe?” Marcus was slightly offended by what Nadine said.
“Quite. But that's right, I might still be bored here, embarrassing to people. Are you done with coffee?” Nadine changed the subject because she was afraid of being emotional if Marcus continued with what she was saying.
“Why, are we leaving?” He didn't want to leave but if Nadine really wanted to go home, there was nothing he could do.
“Nope. I'm hungry, isn't there a restaurant near this cafe?” He hadn't eaten well before because he was worried about Marcus.
“Yes, but it's a seafood restaurant. Seafood is forbidden at night,” Marcus reminded his wife. If they are really hungry, they can order pizza or pasta at the cafe.
“Sus, you're really old Marcus. What the hell are you saying there?
Nadine's two cheeks suddenly blushed at Marcus's remark. So by the way, the smile given by the waiter earlier when Marcus added it to their order was different. An aphrodisiac was a substance that increased the sexual libidos when consumed.
Nadine simply placed her one hand over Marcus's thigh and squeezed hard as if he was shivering. “Hmmm, I think that's just chismis really,” he said in a low voice so they wouldn't be heard by other diners.
“What are you doing?” Marcus commented to the wife when she felt his hand crawling on her thigh.
“Oops, sorry. I thought you spilled sauce on your thigh, eh.” He lied.