Published By: Julianne Rose M. Laureano
Date Published: March 10, 2022
Time Published: 1:20 pm
THEME: Romance, Affair
SYNOPSIS: A writer, who was experiencing writer’s block, decided to take a vacation in a province, and a married woman fell in love with her knowing that it was a CLANDESTINE LOVE AFFAIR.
‘ROXANNE’
I filled my lungs with fresh air as I was reading my novel. This was the first novel that I wrote and made me proud of myself, but everything changed the moment I realized I couldn’t write anymore. It was like my world had shattered as my passion for writing vanished. “You’re here,” said the voice of a woman in front of me. I looked up and saw Jennifer smiling brightly at me. She was the first person to welcome me here. Since I met her here, she had helped me a lot and I could feel warmth every moment we spent together.
She sat beside me and leaned on my shoulder. Her scent was intoxicating. I closed my eyes to reminisce about this moment. If we could just stay like this forever. “Have you eaten? I prepared breakfast for you,” she said. “I haven’t eaten yet,” I replied. “Then we should eat breakfast. I haven’t eaten either.”
We walked to their house. She then prepared the table. And then I asked her, “So, Where’s your husband?”
“He’s off to work,” she replied and motioned me to sit on the chair in front of her. “This early?” I asked once again. “ Yes, he said it’s urgent. Let’s eat,” she answered, as we started eating.
While doing so, we had a chat and talked about a lot of things. She shared some other fondest childhood memories like how she fell off of an apple tree because it was the neighbors’ tree and so much more. We were laughing when someone knocked. I stood up to see who it was. It was Aunt Mabel. Without hesitation, she entered the house and bluntly said “ I’d like to talk to your husband.” I was astonished by her downrightness.
She didn’t even greet her first. “Oh, I’m sorry. He left early today because something urgent came up. But I can tell him that you came here and you wanted to talk to him about something. That is urgent,” she replied calmly. One of the things that I loved about her. I never saw her get mad at anyone in any given situation. She always had that smile plastered every time.
“Her smile.” The thought of it made me smirk and she looked at me suspiciously. And as a response, I just shrugged. She just smiled. “Would you like some tea while we chat for a while?” Jennifer asked the old lady politely and she gladly accepted the offer. I took that as an excuse to leave and Jennifer nodded.
I decided to sit under a tree near a river where you could hear the birds chirping and the water rushing. I continued reading my novel.
I got so lost in what I was reading that I didn’t notice her resting beside me. “That was quick,” I said, still reading. “No, It wasn’t. It was a long conversation. So long that my butt hurts sitting there. But it’s a good thing I managed to end the conversation. You didn’t notice it because you’re too busy reading,” she said. “What was that she wanted to tell your husband that she forgot her manners?” I asked and she laughed. “Why? Why are you laughing?” I asked her once again. “Nothing. I couldn’t tell you the reason why she acted like that earlier. Cause it’s kinda personal and I called Eric about it. He told me that he will talk to her about that after work,” she said casually. Then she stood up.
“Let’s take a dip. The water’s clear and shallow,” she said and started undressing until she was left only wearing her undergarments. Jennifer then swam in the river. “Don’t be a spoilsport. Come! The water’s not that cold,” she shouted while motioning me to join her. “Please. And besides, you should enjoy your vacation and not just sit anywhere and read. This is for you to unwind and relax. Come on,” she said once again.
She wouldn't stop bugging me to join her so I started undressing. Leaving my undergarments on and walked to where she was standing. She then starts splashing water on me. We had fun and such. Then, she moved closer and clung her arms around my neck. I looked at her. I didn’t know what she was doing right now. She was confusing me. Her head moved closer and in a second I found myself responding to her kiss. My heart was pounding loud in my chest as my knees got weaker. I could only focus on how soft she felt against my mouth. Heat rose from my stomach to my chest.
At this very moment, I could only focus on the sensation of the kiss she was giving me. But the kiss broke when we heard a noise. We looked at each other and she turned away. It was an awkward moment of silence between us. She immediately picked up her clothes and ran. Leaving me, stunned.
The next day, I could feel everyone was eyeing me. Giving me that judging look. While walking, Aunt Mabel came out of nowhere and said, “You’re a homosexual. I knew there was something off with you.” Like I was the creepiest person she'd ever met. And then, I remembered Jennifer. “What if she heard about us being caught yesterday?”
“What if she’s not happy about this?” I ran to her house as fast as I could only to witness her crying in front of the door. I immediately hugged her and she burst out crying. “I can hear them…” she stated. “Someone saw us yesterday and now we’re the talk of the town. I was out early to go to the market and they were looking at me with a disgusted look.
Cynthia told me that I was committing infidelity with a woman and everyone in town knows about it. If Eric would hear about this he would be mad at me,” she said while sobbing. She looked at me teary-eyed. “What do I do?” she asked. Actually, I didn't know. I didn’t know how to deal with this situation. I just stared at her then she stood up, walking inside their house. It was the first time I saw her cry. I didn’t like seeing someone I love crying because of me. That was when I decided to leave.
I was packing my things when Jennifer came to my rented cottage and said, “I want to run away with you. I don’t want to live here with these judgemental people surrounding me. Please let me be with you.”
I was taken aback by what she just said. “But what about your husband? I know he wouldn’t agree to this.’ I asked. “He never cared. You know about how we ended up together, right? My parents thought that I would be an old maid so they decided to marry me off to someone I don’t even know and I don’t feel any romantic emotion. I want to experience that thing they called “love”.
With you, I felt that. Life without you is like existing but not living. Anne, let me stay with you until the last page of our story," she said, holding my hand and looking at me longingly. We shared a soft kiss and left the small town to start a new chapter of our love story. “Loving her is like a war, easy to begin but very hard to stop.”
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