"How the hell do you do this thing?" Cassandra asked, looking at the paper through the light the back porch offered. Her exhibit had been a success but she was more than happy and eager to go back home with Philip who said they could locate the star with a telescope. And that was what they were doing now, and she was having trouble with the coordinates.
"Let me do that," Philip snatched the paper from her. "For someone who loves stars, you should know this," he added.
Cassandra rolled her eyes. "I don't have to learn that thing when I was looking at all the stars randomly. This coordinate thing is killing me."
"Uh-huh," Philip was already working on the telescope and did not hear her. "I think I found it," he said a while later.
"You think?"
He turned his head and looked at her. "Let me rephrase that. I believe I found it."
"Pretty much the same thing," she nudged him aside. "Let me see."
With a chuckle, he stepped aside and let her peek through the telescope. Cassandra smiled when she saw it. Well, what do she expect? It still looked like a star, but knowing it was named after her was awesome. And the fact it was the International Astronomical Union itself that did it was a plus.
"I hope you're happy," Philip uttered. "You have a star of your own."
"I still can't believe you actually did this," she said, straightening up. "It really blew me away, you know."
He kissed her and said, "I was hoping that would be the effect."
"Thank you," she said with feeling. Her heart was swelling with so many emotions that she couldn't help but hug him tight. "It was not just about Beth."
He sighed. "I know."
They stood there like that for a long time, both silent and both having a silent conversation.
"Will you ever get to the point of telling me why we are married?" she suddenly blurted out. "I am not asking you to tell me about the deadly secret you and my father are keeping. You married me to help him with something and maybe save yourself from whatever trouble it is, I get that. But you're a businessman. You won't do such a thing to someone you barely know and since you are not someone who has a great personal attachment to everyone around him, I am certain you married me because you get something out of it as well. I know your family wants you to get settled and all, but that's just not reason enough. And don't tell me it is because I know there's a real reason."
He was silent for a long time and she almost could not believe it that he did not dare interrupt her monologue a few seconds ago. She waited patiently for his answer. He sighed and asked, "Are you familiar with Astor Industries?"
She frowned. "The food enterprise?"
He nodded. "I've been trying to buy stocks years ago but they won't budge. You know why?"
Cassandra snorted. "Don't tell me they want someone with a wife."
"Pretty close to that, yes," he chuckled. "They pride themselves as a family-oriented enterprise and Mr. Astor wants his board members to be family-oriented. They are among the very few corporate people I know who are treated as celebrities, you know. Everything they do is being watched."
Cassandra's mouth fell open. She pushed away from him to look at his face to see if he was joking. "You're not joking."
He shook his head. "I'm serious. Mr. Astor has a son. Are you familiar with Zachary Astor?"
"I think I saw him on TV, yes."
"Exactly. He's not an actor or an artist. He was just born into a famous, wealthy family and all eyes are on him. And he doesn't make a lot of effort to please his father. And though the man has wanted to hand everything to him, he just wouldn't budge. His priorities are on different matters entirely. I think Mr. Astor knows how it is when people in his board are... let's just say bachelors. All eyes are on them and if things get ugly, the public will know and their products will suffer. In a weird way, consumer minds work like that. There was actually an article written why Astor Industries is adamant on its members being family oriented. It's crazy as hell, I know, but then, there are other companies with a lot of weird rules. At first, I rejected the idea of having a family until I found out my board members are trying to think about voting me out."
"They can't do that, can they? You're the owner of the company!"
"I own pretty much of the company, but I'm not the sole owner," he pointed out. "The company's having trouble with competitors like Astor Industries and merging the business with them will solve it."
"So you were forced to find a wife."
He smiled. "No, not really, but I did not refuse it when it was presented to me. Your father offered me the solution because of this thing we stumbled upon together. My family, unknowingly to them, kind of made me even more desperate. It's a win-win for me and your father."
"And you've been planning it a long time ago," she sighed. "Philip Strindberg style," she shook her head. "So, I'm assuming you already merged with Astor Industries?"
He nodded. "The day after we got back from the Philippines."
She was wondering why his reason didn't bother her at all. Well, maybe it was the thought from the back of her mind that knew about Philip having another reason. What she didn't understand though was how he would explain to his new associates about their divorce. She didn't want to ruin the mood of the evening so she rejected the idea of asking him. It would be his problem in the end, right?
*****
Hours later, she was lying in bed wrapped in his arms with the same feeling of contentment she always felt every time they were like that.
Through the darkness of the room, she peered through her husband's sleeping form and smiled. She couldn't get over his gift. It was great and thoughtful and sweet. She hadn't—not in her wildest dreams—imagined that he would do something like that.
All the while she thought he was getting distant because of some reasons. She thought those calls he'd been making were just all for his business..
Chanty and Angelica were stunned when they knew about the star. Everyone was, actually, including Harrison. Yes, of course she told Chanty who told almost everyone. That was how the talk of the star spread through the crowd in the exhibit.
I don't think I would want to leave when the time comes, she thought to herself as she traced her husband's face with her fingers. Her life had always been full of surprises, but they were mostly brought about by her. And when she was with Dennis, it was always predictable. She knew his every move, his every thought, and his secrets. But with Philip, she was always at a loss, and always at a big surprise with the things he did. He never failed to make her do the extremes—good or bad—and she was starting to get used to it.
*****
The next day, it felt like the tight knot between them came loose and finally both of them could breathe more freely. And it also meant she had to go back to her chores.
But Cassandra always found a way through.
It was her birthday! And she made it sure to remind him.
"Didn't I greet you this morning?" Shit, she forgot about that. "And I already gave you your gift, right? Do you want anything else? I thought you don't like parties, but if you want—"
"No, it's not that. I'm going out to meet Chanty." For a moment she wondered where her other friends were? Ah, of course, they were not part of this transient life.
"You're just going because it's your day to do chores, are you?" her husband said, the suspicious tone gone. He knew her too well to know what she was thinking that she even wondered if he knew about that one time she pretended she was sick.
"Of course not!" she denied anyway. "Chanty and Angelica are waiting for me. Willie's party is the day after tomorrow in case you forgot?"
Philip looked at her for a long time before he stood up and declared, "Then I'm going with you."
"You can't contribute anything to what we are going to do," she stopped him by planting her palms on his chest.
"I don't have anything to do today, so I'm going. I can watch over Willie." He did not let her say another word and walked out the kitchen.
"You're just going to watch over me, I know that!" She shouted after him.
"That one too!" He shouted back.
"I can't believe it," she sighed. She already missed their silent war. During that time, she was free to do whatever she wanted without worrying he'd come after her or tag along like a dog. Now he was back to being her personal shadow.
*****
Actually, no one knew it was her birthday and she made her husband promise not tell Chanty. She was going to help with Willie's party and not be greeted just because she was born more than two decades ago anyway.
"Don't tell me you're still fighting with Philip," Chanty whispered half an hour later. They were at her sister-in-law's house and her husband went directly toward Willie the moment they arrived.
"Of course not. What made you think that?" she asked.
"I saw that you rode at the back."
Bummer. She forgot to transfer.
"Oh, that..." she winced. "I have this fear of riding shotgun. But you can't tell anyone. It's only you and Philip who knows about it."
"Really? That's weird, Cass."
"I know. Long story," she retorted, brushing the topic aside with a wave of her hand and asked, "Where's Angelica?"
"I don't know. I can't contact her. Lately, she has been acting really weird. She's always late and she's never late."
"Especially when Philip is coming," she added with a laugh.
"Yeah, you're right about that one too," Chanty chuckled.
They joined Philip and Willie until Angelica arrived sweating and far from her usual glamour.
"What the hell happened to you?" Chanty demanded.
"Don't ask. It's confidential," Angelica said, tying her red hair in a bun and wiping her face with a towel. She had dirt all over her and she smelled quite unpleasant. It was not like her at all.
"You've been saying that a lot lately."
"Go have a shower, will you?" Cassandra told her, covering her nose. "You really stink."
"Ugh, don't mention it, I know," she went to the direction of Chanty's room. "Oh, hi there, Philip," she waved and disappeared behind the door.
"What happened to her?" Philip asked from across the room.
"Don't ask, we don't know," Chanty sighed. "Hey, Ange! Don't use my soap!"
*****
After Angelica spent almost an hour in the bathroom, they went on planning Willie's party. Since they were done with the most important details, they did not really do anything more except calling a lot of people about the food and the balloons and some bubble-maker machines. Angelica literally slept through half the time, but she was obviously exhausted so they left her alone.
Philip kept himself busy with Willie, taking him out the lawn and even went out for a drive to buy some snacks for the ladies.
They left before dinner after pumping the balloons that were delivered that day. They would come back early the day after tomorrow so they could help with the set-up.
"You shouldn't have come," Cassandra told him as they drove back home.
"I wanted to be with you," he countered.
She scoffed. "Yeah, right."
He just chuckled.
Is that true? She wondered. "Where are we going?" she asked when she noticed that he was taking a different direction.
"We're going on a date."
"Date?"
He nodded. "Movie and popcorns kind of date," he said.
"Really? Is it because it's my birthday?"
"Yes, and no," he said smiling.
"What are we watching?" She was excited all of a sudden.
"What do you want to see?"
"Everything," she declared.
"Everything? I haven't heard that movie."
"You'll like it," she beamed.
When they arrived at the cinema, she went to get their tickets while Philip immediately went through the list. He was frowning when she came back and he said, "I don't see Everything here..."
Cassandra laughed out loud. "Babe, can you get any more gullible?"
"Then what did you really mean?"
"When I said everything," she held up her hand holding the tickets, "I meant every movie."
"You must be kidding," he said in disbelief.
"Of course I'm not," she snapped. "Now, let's see what's next. Okay, Pirates of the Caribbean will be first, then we'll transfer to The Priest, and then we'll see X-Men, and finally Kung Fu Panda."
"You want to watch Kung Fu Panda?"
"Of course. It's funny." She took his hand and dragged him to the popcorn stand. "You buy the popcorn and the drinks."
Philip sighed and grabbed for his wallet, muttering under his breath.
"What are you whining about? I thought you wanted to go on a date?"
"I can't watch four movies in a row. My eyes can't handle that much stress."
"We can watch them the next day, okay? We'll just watch two for tonight."
"Deal," he said quickly.
*****
It was nearly midnight when they finally went out the cinema and Philip was obviously drained. He was babysitting Willie and it was not that easy and then he watched two movies in a row, the last one he did not enjoy as much as she did.
By the time they arrived home, he was asleep the moment he hit the bed.
"Hey, Philip, aren't you going to change?" she nudged him.
"Hmm..." he said from the pillows.
Cassandra sighed and climbed out of bed to circle to his side. She stripped him of his clothes, only leaving him with his boxers, and went back to her side of the bed.
His arms went around her naturally the moment he felt her beside him. Cassandra smiled and smelled his bare chest, wrapping her arms around his waist, pressing closer. A simple gesture but she liked it.
Shit, just another thing she'd miss.
*****
The next day, she spent it prodding him to go back to the cinema and finish those movies.
"Come on, I bought those tickets myself. Do you get it? I bought them," she shook his arm.
He choked on his sandwich. "Babe, I'm still having headaches from last night."
"It was your idea in the first place."
"I said, movie—not movies," he pointed out.
"But I paid for those movies and you promised that—"
"I'll pay you back."
"But I want to watch them and—"
"I'll download them for you."
"I want to see them on the big screen and you can't tell me you're going to buy a projector and a white screen." She narrowed her eyes at him and folded her arms across her chest. When he did not answer, she cried in exasperation and stomped out of the kitchen. "Fine! I'll watch it with Harrison!"
That did the trick.
She secretly smiled when she heard his chair screech back and his footsteps came near. "Not gonna happen," he said, walking past her.
"Where are you going?"
"Getting my jacket," he snapped, throwing the last piece of his sandwich into his mouth.
"I'll be waiting!" she called after him with a grin and it wavered when he disappeared from sight.
She would miss all of this.
*****
Cassandra tapped her foot on the carpet floor. "Today's Willie's party. I need to be there to help Chanty," she urged. When he did not respond, she started to pull at the comforter.
"Five minutes," he groaned, pulling back the comforter.
"You have to wake up now or I'll leave without you."
"How did you wake up so early anyway?" he complained as he tried to push himself away from the bed with a grunt.
She smiled. "I'm excited for this party."
"You don't like parties," he sat up in bed with squinted eyes, his hair tousled.
"This one I like. It's for Willie." She took his hand and pulled him to his feet. "Go get dressed. I'll wait for you outside."
They arrived just in time to help Chanty set up the balloons and meet the caterers for the food. The lawn was filled with so many colors. There are tiny bubbles floating in the air, the weather was great, and it looked like Willie was enjoying his upcoming party because he was smiling and chuckling at everything—especially the bubbles.
"Where's Angelica?" Cassandra asked, painting Chanty's face.
Chanty rolled her eyes. "Don't ask. For all I know, she's in the hospital or with that guy she's dating."
"She's dating someone?"
"Uh-huh," Chanty's lips pouted, "But they really look weird together."
Cassandra frowned. "How come?"
"I don't know. And I'm not judging the guy. I only met him once in passing while they were at the mall. But he's... I don't know, mysterious? I did not see his face because it was a very quick meeting. And that's weird, right? He just walked off before I reached Ange. Really, the guy's just not her type. She likes men in suit like Philip, and he's... how do I put it? He's a jacket guy in boots. He looked rugged for Ange's taste it's surprising that she's even dating him."
"Maybe she chose a different direction. Is this the guy she was talking about the last time?"
"I don't have any idea. And she's not talking about it either it's really weird. She tells me everything. Even when she was after Philip, she told me every single step she was taking to get him."
"Hmmm... yeah, that's weird."
"But let's not talk about that. She's just probably trying a different variety if you know what I mean."
"Maybe," Cassandra agreed and placed down the brush. "Okay, we're done."
Chanty took a mirror and checked out the left side of her cheek. "Oh, it's beautiful, Cass. Thank you." A teal butterfly with glittering dots around it moved with her cheeks as she spoke.
"You're welcome. Now, I think it's my turn."
"I'll do it for you," Philip announced, walking near them with Willie in his arms.
"I doubt I'll like the outcome, babe," Cassandra told him.
"This is not art school. It's a party," he reminded her.
"Fine," she sat on a stool Chanty vacated. Her husband handed Willie back to his sister and reached for a brush.
Cassandra stopped his hand just as he was about to start painting. "What?" he laughingly asked.
She stared at him seriously. "Don't you dare make pranks, Philip."
"I won't," he chuckled, brushing her hand away. "Just hold still."
Cassandra's face was cringing as she felt the tip of the brush touch her face.
He drew a star much to Cassandra's relief.
By the time the party started, they got really busy. People started arriving with little kids, most of them from the same park Chanty usually took Willie for a walk. Others were friends Cassandra only met for the first time aside from Angelica who arrived rather late once again. Their family was there as well and enjoyed having face paints on their faces that Cassandra had no time to eat if not for Philip who gave her food every now and then.
He also bragged about painting her face and even offered to help her paint, but not a soul came near him.
"You go join some games, babe. I can't take your incoherent mutterings right now," she told him while painting William's face with a skull upon his request.
The old man laughed. "Listen to your wife, Philip."
She saw her husband turn and walk to where Willie was with Chanty, watching some kids playing games.
Cassandra joined him after she was finally done with all the faces of the guests.
"We're joining a sack race," he informed as she sat beside him, resting her hand on his shoulder. He circled his arm around her to hold her close.
"What sack race?" she asked.
"Some game Chanty thought about for the big guys."
"I'm in, of course. But I'm a lousy loser so you better do your best," she warned.
"I always do my best," he bragged, kissing her nose.
*****
"Jump faster, babe! What the hell are you doing?" His wife was shouting an hour later, jumping with squinted eyes against the sun as Philip tried to catch up with the rest of the players, his body too big for the sack. "You can't lose, remember!"
"I'm trying!" he shouted back, gritting his teeth.
They were playing a relay and she was up next. Their team was losing because of him. It was because of the blasted sack!
Philip felt a large presence behind him as he struggled to leap across the lawn, the voices of cheering children and adults alike ringing in his ears.
"Watch out!" Cassandra shouted but it was already too late. Whoever was behind him lost his balance and crashed against Philip. "Philip!" he heard Cassandra cry out and saw her run before his face hit the ground.
Philip could hardly breathe, nor could he feel anything else but the very heavy weight upon him. "Get off him!" Cassandra was crying out, kicking the struggling guy over him and sent him rolling away, sack and all.
"Oh my God! Philip!" Philip heard Chanty shout.
His eyes were closed. Something was definitely painful but he could not point out where.
"Let me through, don't touch him!" Angelica was shouting through the growing crowd around them.
"Angelica!" was Cassandra's helpless cry. "Philip?" she tried to call out and sighed in relief when he opened his eyes.
Shit, he could hardly feel his own body.
"Move aside, people! What the hell! Are you doctors! Go call an ambulance!" Angelica shouted as she knelt beside Cassandra who was crying. Why was his wife crying? He was fine. Except for the pain. And he couldn't move. Not yet anyway. "Good. He's conscious," Angelica said.
"Is that good?" Cassandra stupidly asked.
"Yes, and keep him awake," Angelica said, assessing Philip's limbs. "Where's the ambulance!"
"I'm fine," Philip managed with a grunt and a puff. "Ow!" he shouted as Angelica reached his left foot.
"You dislocated your left foot," Angelica told him.
"Oh my God, get him to the hospital, please!" Mary said with tears in her eyes.
No need to be dramatic, he wanted to say but his jaw was tight because of the pain.
Angelica looked at Cassandra, "He needs to go to the hospital."
"Just drive him to the hospital, dear!" Hope said with fear.
"Yes, yes, of course!" Cassandra stood up with shaky feet.
"No, no," Philip tried to argue faintly. "She can't..." but no one seemed to be listening.
"Where's your car?" Angelica asked Cassandra.
His wife pointed at his car. Angelica took his keys from his pocket and threw it at her then asked someone's help to carry Philip to the car.
Angelica and some guy placed Philip at the passenger side, pushing the seat back to its fullest so he was almost lying down.
Cassandra willed herself to get in the driver's side, fighting her shaking hands.
"Cass, I can wait for the ambulance," Philip tried again but no one was listening.
"Be careful. And don't let him fall asleep. I still have to look after the other guy. We'll follow after you," Angelica said before Cassandra placed the car in gear.
"Okay, okay!" She shouted, nodding her head held on to the steering wheel.
And then they were off, running down the street.
Philip was groaned in pain. Shit! Okay, maybe he needed to go to the hospital now.
Cassandra peered through the windshield and said, "Stop groaning, I can't concentrate..."
"You can't drive," he said through gritted teeth.
When his words finally registered, she stiffened. "Oh my God! I—I'm driving!"
Realizing it was a big mistake to remind her of that, Philip said, "Hey, it's okay..."
"Oh my God!" He saw a different kind of fear appear on her face.
Shit.
*****
What if she got into an accident again? What if Philip got worse? What if she lost control once more?
She couldn't move, she couldn't breathe, and her vision was starting to blur.
"Cassy, Cass... listen, babe... get me to a freaking hospital now!" She barely heard Philip's voice.
Stop thinking about that stupid accident and save him, a voice whispered to her.
She gulped and nodded. Yes, drive. Just drive.
"Babe, hang in there and let's go. My foot is killing me," Philip rasped, his eyes closed in pain.
"Yes," she whispered, nodding her head. "Hospital...yes, let's go drive to the hospital."
"Just be careful," he said, his voice trailing off.
"Philip? Hey, Philip," she called out, but not a sound came from him.
"Shit!" she cursed, feeling the weight of the world on her shoulders. She had to drive alone to the hospital with her unconscious husband.
"God, help me..." she uttered, gripping the steering wheel tightly, focusing her eyes on the road.
itA:o