Chapter 14

Stacia and Jordan spent their afternoon lunch in a restaurant cabana near their hotel place. At this moment, it hadn't got into her mind to check in with Brian. She was occupied by the little things she did with Jordan. This weekend getaway was truly a vacation she needed the most.

"What do you think we should do tonight?" Jordan asked, grinning as if Stacia knew what that meant.

She giggled. "I don't know. . . Maybe there are some clubs or bars nearby? We should check them out. To be honest, I haven't been to those places since I gave birth to Thamara. That has been a long time, and forgotten how to have fun and mingle in the clubs."

"How long has that been? Eighteen years?"

She chuckled, shaking her head. "No, Thamara's twenty-two now, so that was just the same thing I haven't been going out."

"I kept forgetting about Thamara," he said, shaking his head. "Well, it's about time for you to have some little fun, isn't it?"

"I think so. . . Have you been going to clubs and bars often?"

He smirked, nodding his head. "Very much often when there's nothing else to do. I got out with my friends and then from that moment, we would get to meet some women who would sit with us and have fun. Make-outs usually happened but never went down to sleeping with just random girls. I, maybe single, but I don't always put myself in that kind of situation. I still reserved myself for someone else."

"And would that be?"

"Could be you?" he answered in a questioning manner. "Well, if you're someone who wanted me to be a part of your life, I'm all yours."

"I would. . ." she said. "I would like you to be part of my life, Jord, but I don't know if you want all the problems I came along with if you did."

"Nah, problems could be resolved," he reasoned. "If someone like you who I could be with then we'll face all those problems together. I don't want to see you face them all alone. I don't want to see you hurting. I don't want to see you crying. They said, everything happens for a reason and maybe what you were going through was what you needed to see the truth."

"Maybe you're right. . ." she smiled.

"See? I really like when you smile. I think your beauty comes out naturally. I don't know why Brian doesn't see that. . ." Napatikom naman ng bibig ang babae sa sinabi nito at napansin naman kaagad iyon ni Jordan. "My bad. I don't mean to say that."

"No, that's okay. . . I also don't understand why would Brian look for someone else when we have been together for a decade of our lives. Sometimes, it doesn't make sense to me. And now, he got someone pregnant who was a few years younger than him. I guess, he was just looking for something fresh as he knew I was getting old."

Napangisi naman si Jordan sa sinabi nito. "Didn't he know that wines taste better when they grew older?"

Natawa naman si Stacia sa sinabi nito. "I think so. . . We're I believe forty is already old enough, but I really don't want to get old. But life happened. . ."

"Life will always have its way to come to us. We just have to deal with it and get on with it. . ."

As soon as they finished their lunch, they decided to go to a nearby stall where someone who knew Stacia was. They were both surprised to see each other in a place they didn't expect to be at. Napatingin na lamang si Jordan sa kanilang dalawa hangga't sa ipakilala ni Stacia ito sa kanyang lalaking kaibigan.

"I'm Jordan. Nice to meet you, man."

Tinanggap naman ng lalaki ang pakikipagkamay ni Jordan. "Nice to know you. Again, I'm Max. . . How long have you guys been with each other?"

"Oh, we're not together," mabilis na sagot ni Jordan. Nilingon pa niya si Stacia na siyang tumango rin upang pagsang-ayunan ang sinabi nito. "Well, we're just hanging out together."

"Yeah, yeah, right. . ." Pagtango-tango pa ni Max. "I see that. . . But how long has this been happening? I know you and Brian had a divorce, right?"

Tumango naman si Stacia sa kaibigan. "Yup, we did. . . But we're okay now."

"Good to hear that," he said. "I really thought both of you would end up forever, but I guess, not all things aren't meant forever. Not to offend you, Stas, alright?"

Ngumiti ang babae at saka umiling kahit na medyo hindi na siya komportable sa takbo ng usapan. "No, it's fine. . . Ikaw anong ginagawa mo rito ngayon? It doesn't seemed like you're the type of person who would go out alone. Sinong kasama mo, ha?"

Napangisi naman si Max. "Well, I've met someone a month ago. She was nice and beautiful. We're actually in an open relationship."

"What does that mean?" she asked, squinting her eyes.

"Well, we've come to an agreement where she could sleep with anyone she wants. We're together, but we get to sleep with anyone else. If that wasn't clear enough, I don't know how to explain it further."

Napatango na lang din naman si Stacia. "Oh, I see. . . That does really worked?"

Tumango naman sa kanya si Max. "Yup. I don't find it something that would be a reason for our relationship to be broken. The only thing that we agreed that we could do while we slept with someone else, I would use a condom and her hook-up would do the same thing, but. . ." He leaned forward close to her ears just to whisper it to her. "Sometimes, I removed the condom as it felt good when I did bare. Don't tell her, okay?"

Hindi naman nakasagot si Stacia at napalunok na lamang ito ng laway. While she doesn't understand what he was talking about, tumango na lang din naman ito sa request niya.

"Hey, Maxi!" Napalingon naman sila sa babaeng tumawag sa atensyon ng lalaki. "Come here!"

"Well, I'm being called now. I'm going to see you around, Stas. . ."

"Sure. . . It was nice to see you again."

"You, too. . . And you, man," anito at itinapik ang balikat ni Jordan.

Bakas naman sa mukha ni Stacia ang pagtataka at gulat sa ikinuwento ni Max sa kanya. Kinuha ni Jordan ang kamay ng babae habang natatawa ito nang alalahanin ang mga sinabi ni Max sa kanila. Naglakad naman ang dalawa pabalik sa kanilang hotel room. 

"What do you think about Max said?"

"Hm?" he hummed. "What was he talking about again?"

Stacia chuckled. "Well, him being in an open relationship. . . Do you think that would work out? Do you think that. . . I don't know. Unloyal?"

Napakibit balikat naman ito. "Well, I think that's how it works. I don't think there's loyalty lies in an open relationship. Do you get to fuck someone else while being in a relationship with someone you thought you love? That's just some bullshit. I think Max was just finding a way to sleep with someone else, but that's how he wanted to do it. It looked like he was happy with what he was having there. . . Why do you ask though? Are you thinking of having an open relationship?"

Mabilis namang umiling si Stacia. "No. I wouldn't ever do that. I just don't think that was me. I wouldn't ever do that with someone else. Would you?"

Hindi agad sumagot si Jordan kaya naman nagtaka si Stacia.

"Hey. . ."

He chuckled. "No. . . I don't think so. I don't ever see myself being in an open relationship. I may have slept with a lot of women in the past years, but it was just all about fun and pleasure. I don't want to put someone else in that position where they would always think if our relationship worked or not. If our sex was good enough or was the one I was sleeping with do even better."

"You're right. . . I don't want that to happen to me."

"That won't happen. . ." Jordan said, kissing her on her head.

As soon as they reached their hotel room, they walked inside and found themselves lying down on the bed together. They just opened the TV and watched a movie while Stacia's head rested on his arm. 

If there was one thing she would want to do all over again and again was to be happy and in peace with someone she knew wouldn't hurt her. She believed that Jordan came at the perfect time to be someone who would be there for her. If it wasn't Jordan, who would it be? She doesn't think anyone could do what he was making her feel in and out.

She hoped that whatever came out between her and Jordan, it would be something nice, and wouldn't become like what Brian had done to her.