CHRISTMAS WITH MY CHEATER EX-HUSBAND (A Holiday Novella)

CHAPTER ONE

CHRISTMAS OVER TIME
CHAPTER ONE | FIVE YEARS AGO

JAIMEE

​Nakangiti ako habang nakatingin sa singsing na nakasuot sa daliri ko. Hanggang ngayon hindi pa rin ako makapaniwala na may-asawa na ako. Everything happened so fast. I met Rhett last month in our company party that we celebrated in bar. We immediately hit it off. Rhett was handsome. Cool. Smart and I was immediately swept off my feet when he smiled at me. Tell me about love at first sight. That was what happened to me and he told me he felt the same. The next thing I knew, we were going out. The following week we were a couple and he wanted to move in with me. After another week, he proposed and now I was Mrs. Jaimee Chelsea Ardolini.

​Marami ang nagsasabi na masyado daw mabilis ang pangyayari sa amin ni Rhett. Hindi ko pa daw masyadong kilala si Rhett. Weeks of being together then we were married, it really raised the eyebrow of many. But I didn't mind them. I knew Rhett was the perfect guy for me. We were both foreigners in San Francisco. We were both living away from our families and we were both trying to have our own lives in a foreign country. Siguro kasi pareho kami ng pinagdaaanan ni Rhett kaya kami nag-click. Pareho kaming galing sa hindi buong pamilya. He never knew his mom since he was a kid. His mom left and it was just his father who took care of him. Me, I grew up with both parents but when I was seven, my dad left us. I couldn't understand why my mother cried every night and tried so hard to explain to me that my father was not coming back. I was so young to understand what was going on. My father didn't look back. He didn't visit me. It was like he totally erased me and my mom and after a few months, my mother told me their marriage was already annulled and my father was marrying someone else which I later found out my mother's best friend.

​I saw how my mother coped with her heartbreak for years. It was so hard for her and after her failed marriage, it was just us. She didn't entertain any other men who wanted to be with her. She said he didn't need any man in her life and the two of us could live without anyone else. And we were okay. I finished my studies, had my job and it was still us. Until I got an offer to work in San Francisco as a Brand Manager from a well-known pharmaceutical company. It was an offer that I cannot resist. The pay was high plus the benefits and I was going to be promoted and luckily my mom understands and totally gave me freedom to do whatever I wanted in my life. That was also the time she started to entertain suitors and eventually she started to count new boyfriends.

​I was doing well and I couldn't ask for more. I was a newly grad and got a job from a good company. I was promoted and in just two years I got a good position. I was a boss at the age of twenty-three and now, I got a husband who loved me and supported me in everything. What more could I ask for?

​"I still can't believe that you are married with Rhett Ardolini."

​Maasim akong ngumiti at tinapunan ng tingin ang office mate kong si Korina. Naupo pa siya sa harap ng mesa ko. Pareho kami ng posisyon dito sa company. Kaka-promote lang niya as a brand manager din last month.

​"Believe it now," kahit hindi ko feel ang vibes niya, hindi ko naman siya pinapakitaan ng hindi maganda. Alam ko naman kasi kung gaano niya kagusto si Rhett. Nang araw ng company party namin, alam ko kung paano siya nag-flirt kay Rhett. Sorry siya, ako ang napansin. Sa akin nabaliw, sa akin nagpakasal.

​"But, hindi ba masyadong mabilis?" Ang asim din ng ngiti sa akin ni Korina. "Actually, iyan ang usap-usapan sa paligid. In just one-month nagpakasal na kayong dalawa? Gaano n'yo na kakilala ang isa't-isa?" Pumangalumbaba pa siya sa harap ko at talagang hinihintay ang sagot ko.

​Inayos-ayos ko ang mga folders na nasa harap ko bago tumingin sa kanya. "If it's true love, there's no need to wait for so long. We both felt that we belong together and we intend to keep it that way for the rest our lives."
​Pasimpleng napaikot ang mata niya at pilit na pilit ang ngiti sa akin. Wala akong pakialam kung cheesy para sa kanya ang sinabi ko. Basta alam ko, nagmamahalan kami ni Rhett at hinding-hindi kami magkakahiwalay.