You’re Still My Man – English

GINA

“I can’t believe you even managed to run today.” She said, after Ace picked her up from school.

“What’s wrong, I’m not sick.” He mumbled in response.

“Is that so?”

“I don’t get sick.”

She put a thermometer on Ace armpit so he had nothing to do. Then after a few minutes. “It’s registered here that your temperature will never lie, Zorro.” She showed him the 37. 8 degree celsius temperature.

“Don’t call me Zorro. That’s worse than calling me honey pie. And one more thing, I never get sick.”

“What’s not? The flu is rampant nowadays.”

“Well, I can stand it.”

She didn’t say anything, she just stared at Ace’s face, and then she immediately avoided looking at him as if he was irritated. “You’re just afraid of getting sick because you can’t wander outside these few nights.” Then she slashed a Z in the air with an imaginary sword. “Or because your operation will stop without you?”

She stepped a little closer to Ace. At that time, she also wanted them to talk about their marriage, and the connection with the story he made about the princess and the frog when she had a fever. But deep inside, she wasn’t buying it. The princess not being able to survive her life in the pond seemed a flimsy excuse. “Just wait, I’ll just get you some water and medicine, and then I’ll let sir Matt know that we can’t tender a duty today because you’re sick.”

“What’s wrong? I’m going to work tonight.” And he turned his back on her but… he almost fell.

“Are you dizzy?” She said softly.

His eyes closed and he nodded reluctantly.

She knelt down to take off Ace shoes. “Would you like help getting dressed?” She asked, but he shook his head. “Okay, I’ll get you water and medicine first.”

ACE

His gazes followed Gina until she entered the kitchen. He now entered his room, immediately took off his sweaty clothes and changed. He climbed into his bed and covered himself with a blanket. In truth, he really doesn’t want that she will take care of him, so he doesn’t want to get sick. He needed to call his boss and let him know what was going on. The discovery that Brando Nicolas was afraid of his father-in-law had led to some surprising revelations, but the most important is, they have proven that Brando Nicolas is one of the international big time arms and drug dealers in the country. The knowledge gave them an advantage they’d never had before, even as it presented a new problem – how they could trap Brando Nicolas because they knew that man was cunning.

He dialed his boss’s number again and again because it was not attended. Just as he was about to run out of patience, his boss answered. “Sir, I’ve got a flu.” he said without a preface.

“Too bad.”

“And If not because of Gina, maybe I’ll be totally knocked down.”

“Did you have a meeting scheduled tonight?” His boss asked.

“Tentatively. Let’s just play this by ear. It’s not a good idea sir, to show any weakness.”

“All right. Just stay in touch.”

“Yes, sir.”

Fortunately, he had already put down his cell phone when Gina entered his room.

“Sir Matt has allowed us to take leave tonight.” Gina said, handing him water and medicine. “I heard you talking to someone on the cell phone. Who is that?”

“My Dad.”

“Ahh… it’s Zorro the senior. Do you have a mysterious race?”

He immediately took the medicine. Then he lay down and covered himself with a blanket, ignoring her as he could.

“Do you want me to wipe you a wet towel?”

“I want to sleep, Gina.”

“So you’re just going to throw me away, then?” She asked cheerfully.

He opened his eyes.”Thank you, Gina. You’ve been very helpful.”

“You know Ace, I’m just repaying you back when you take care of me when I get sick. I wish you’d let me take care of you.”

“I’m not as sick as you, Gina.”

“Uh-uh… okay, go to sleep. Just call me if you need anything.”

“I will.”

—–

GINA

She hopes she knows how to interpret Spanish. She would have known what Ace was saying while he was talking in his sleep. She just stared at what he was saying… What is this fool saying? Her curiosity got the best of her, just in time she saw a mini recorder under the pillow where he was lying. She taped his one-sided conversation until his eyes suddenly opened. He grabbed her by the shirt, pulling her closer to his face.

“My life is complicated.”

“Shhh… It’s all right Ace, it’s all right.”

“Sabes lo que el hubiera hecho contigo?”

Even though she tried to understand it, she still couldn’t understand what Ace was telling her. Ace’s face looks angry while talking in his sleep, his tone also sounds arrogant. She then thought that she didn’t really know the man she was married to. She also thought that she needed to wake him up because he might continue to have nightmares.

“Ace, Ace! Wake up. Here, take the medicine.” She said, but instead he pushed her. The water splashed on the floor, then he grabbed her shirt again while he was still talking in his sleep.” Usted hacer de mi trabajo mucho mas dificil. No deberia hacer sido de esta manera, Gina. Ojala nunca te conoci.”

After Ace said that, he fell on the bed, his mouth twisted in anguish. She then put a wet towel on his forehead. Then she also wiped his neck and arms with a wet cloth.

“Gina.”

Ace woke up. As she looked at his face, she saw signs of awareness. Then she refilled a glass of water and passed it to him, then she quickly hid the mini recorder in her pocket. While Ace was drinking, his eyes were looking at her as if examining her, then he looked down at her clothes.

He put his drinking glass aside and looked at her again. “Did I hurt you?” he asked weakly.

“Not at all.” She answered.

Ace held her hands.”Did I say something to offend you?”

She quickly took back her hands that Ace was holding. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. You’re good at Spanish. Let me leave you alone for now.”

By the time she returned he was asleep again, resting calmly this time, his breathing slow and even. Then she touched Ace’s forehead. His fever has subsided. When she remembered the mini recorder she immediately took it out of her pocket. She feels guilty for secretly taking it and recording it while Ace talks in his sleep, but she has a hunch that she will discover something through that recorder. If she discovers something about Ace personality, so be it. At least now she would know what she was fighting for.

—–

She really couldn’t believe that her hunch about Ace was true, that he was actually working with Brando Nicolas. Just now, Ace was late to pick her up. She also learned the translation of what he said in Spanish through a linguist friend. From it, she’d learned that Ace was working for Brando Nicolas and he’s not just working, but he’s involved in illegal activities involving huge sums of money. Mind-boggling sums. God, not just a large amount but millions.

Her blood boils at what she knows. She was right to suspect Ace. Although she still does not want to believe that Ace is involved in illegal activities. Maybe he was just forced because of the threat of Brando Nicolas.

“I wish I never met you.” That was the phrase that repeatedly entered her mind because it was also the last thing Ace said in a Spanish dialect, when he was sleep talking. His final words in his delirium twisted the knot inside her stomach. There was no doubt he meant it. He wished he’d never met her. How can she live with what she knows? Especially since he regretted their acquaintance. Could this be the sign that she should set him free? Maybe they should stop pretending to be a couple. She thought she could do everything for Ace. But… give him up? She didn’t know if she was strong enough to let him go.

“Gina?”

Ace was there, standing before her, looking curious, and concerned and… tender.

She dropped the books she was holding on the ground, and hugged Ace tightly.

Ace wrapped his hands around her waist. She felt warmth and strength and safekeeping.

“What happened to you, Gina?” he asked close to her ear, while one of his hands stroked her hair.

I love you. Why can’t she tell this to Ace? That’s because of what he said when he was talking in his sleep in a spanish dialect. First, (“Mi vida es complicada”) he said she made his life complicated. Second, (“Usted hacer de mi trabajo mucho mas dificil”) he said she made his job more difficult. And third, (“Ojala nunca te conoci”) he wished they had never met.

She just stopped herself from crying because she didn’t want Ace to see it. In her heart, she really couldn’t let go of Ace. Absolutely not. “I wasn’t wrong in my suspicion of you.” She said to Ace as she pulled away from his embrace.

“About what?”

She held Ace’s hands, squeezing them tighter. “Let’s go far away here, Ace. We’ll go to a place where we can start a new life.”

ACE

“What?” He looked at Gina eye to eye. Because he does not understand what she had said. He had been looking at Gina in the distance as if she was anxious and restless. Maybe that’s the reason why she didn’t pay attention to him, the fact that he came to the parking lot earlier. She might also have deep thoughts.

Gina grabbed his elbow and pulled him to walk. “Maybe we can easily find another place to live. Do you agree with my plan, Ace? That we both go far away?”

He touched Gina’s forehead because he suddenly thought that her fever might return because of what she had said.

“I don’t have a fever. We just need to talk. And this time around, you’re not going to ignore my questions. Because this is the time I want to know the truth. No matter how painful it is.”

“All right.” he replied weakly. “Let’s go home first.” He closed the door of his car when Gina entered it, then he walked around to the driver’s side. He put the key in the ignition and started the car. But suddenly two men rode behind them. The man behind him held a gun and aimed the weapon to his neck. The steel barrel of a revolver pressed icily against his neck. When he looked at Gina, she was stunned as she was also pointed by a gun at the man behind her. He glanced at the rearview mirror so he could catch a glimpse of the faces of the men pointing guns at them.

“Go ahead and drive,” ordered the man behind him.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

“Where?”

“Let’s get out of here in this parking lot before I tell you where.”

He is driving voluntarily at the command of these scumbags. When he looked at Gina again, she was still dumbfounded as her eyes stared at him. The talkative Gina was suddenly silent. What is playing in her mind right now?

He gave Gina an encouraging smile.

She also reciprocated with a forced smile.

He nodded in return. He just hoped that she wouldn’t panic.

*****