Chapter 44 The Rejection

It was already midnight when the attendees of the party went home. Most of them were just some paces away from the home of the Solis-Britton residencial area except for the wedding coordinator with her team mates and the caterer.

They were all exhausted that when the caterer left, they proceeded to their bedrooms. Good, the gate and the doors could be locked automatically.

When each of them washed up their eyes were drooping on their own accord that was why they did it quickly. When their body was flattened on their soft bed, all of them were fastly deeply lulled.

Habitual practice to wake up early everyday due to his duty in cooking their morning meal,

Juan was the first to rise up and started cooking. As it was already seven o'clock in the morning, he knew that his delayed cooking of their meals might result to a rebuke from his bosses.

"I have to be quick in cooking." Juan told himself.

Inasmuch as he was a skilled cook, he had expertly finished cooking at once. He was even able to set the table for them to dine.

Maria and Aida, the two house aids were next to appear at the dining room who quickly went to the kitchen where they poured boiled water to their cup with coffee and milk. While drinking their hot beverage, both of them went out the house passing through the back door at the kitchen.

"Good morning, Juan." Aida greeted her joyfully.

"At last, you're awake now! Can you help me mess up here?" Juan requested from the two ladies.

Maria suggested; "Aida & I will fix these mono blocks by layering them together so you can start keeping them in the store room."

Juan did not utter any word. Instead he gave Maria a thumbs up.

So, as Juan was busy keeping the tables and chairs, the two aids had started to get rid the mess on the ground by sweeping and putting them in the waste bins.

They were done cleaning when the head of the family inquired if they had already eaten their breakfast first before working.

Their negative reply made their boss to tell them to eat their breakfast. So, they obediently ate ahead of their employers.

Looking at the tall and fat grandfather wall clock that was facing the door of the living room from the porch, he went back upstairs and slightly knocked at the bedroom doors of his children.

"Darlings, wake up now. You'll eat your breakfast."

When he didn't hear them stir in their bedroom, he used the intercom in waking them up.

"Dad, I'm still sleepy." Adrianne May called out in her hoarse voice.

"Me, too, Daddy!" Chase seconded her sister.

"The three of us are still drowsy, dear daddy!" Hide's croaking voice was obvious that he has his eyes still closed.

"Your Mommy and I are going to Roque's supermarket after breakfast."

Forasmuch as they wanted to see it for themselves, too, they were willing to go there with their parents. So, no matter how drowsy they were, no matter how their body aches due to exhaustion, no matter how they still like to laze on their own bed, their father's plan was seemingly tempting.

Sydney, on the other hand, went back to their bedroom and tickled his wife in order to wake her up.

"Stop tickling me!" She was struggling to pull her feet away from Sydney to no avail as the latter held her feet tightly. And her laughter was heard by their children as he left their master bedroom's door ajar.

An abrupt stoppage of laughter resulted to quietness that they could hear that someone was walking toward their bedroom. Listening to it, he dashed to the door and locked it. He went back to the bed signalling his wife to keep mum. When he was beside her he told her in a whisper about his lie that he was going with her to gallivant.

"Dad! Dad! Are you still in there?"

Yes. How may I help you Hide?"

"Have you done eating with Mom?"

"I'll wait up for her. She's still in the bathroom. Tell your sisters to eat ahead of us."

"O....k.... ay!"

When Hide left, the couple immediately took a bath and wore a creaseless clothes before heading downstairs to the dining room. Their children were already washing the dishes that each of them used.

"Dad, I'm going to change my clothes."

"Are you going with us Chase?"

"Can't I?"

"You can, sweetheart."

"Thank you, Mommy."

It was almost noon time when the family left their home to the subdivision where the known CROMENIR Supermarket was located. It wasn't hard to find since it was at the threshold of that vicinity.

Because it was almost noon time, there were so many customers that had it not for the quick longer strides of their father, they would unable to get the only available pushcart at the entrance.

As Pearl Ace and Sydney were busy picking the goods they need at their home, the three children were seated inside the cashier booth where Merly, Chelsy, Ramon, Nick, & Roque sat in each booth who were too busy punching every item in its cash registry machine.

Meanwhile, the couple was in trouble when a blonde woman hugged Sydney and kissed his lips as if she'ld devour him on that very spot. Surprised by the abrupt sexual harassment of that woman, Sydney struggled to be freed from her very tight embrace. Pearl Ace who was also dumbfounded was unable to react. Nevertheless, when her husband was able to push the face of the woman away from his, he told his wife to pull the woman away from him. Her perplexity urged her to pull her shoulder length blonde hair with all her forceful energy that made the woman's shrieking voice reverberated inside the store.

"Oooouuuuucccchhhh!" Boom! The woman was already lying on the ground as she did not expect that someone would be dragging her away from the body of Sydney by pulling her hair fiercely.

Before some customers could the couple & the troublemaker, be surrounded, one of the two security guards, Nina and Inday were able to tell them to just continue picking the items that they would buy.

"Just mind your own business!"

They were able to control having a crowd around the three that could possibly make the situation more difficult to solve. And... there might be havoc of some goods.

When the guard, Nina & Inday had stopped those who were curious Sydney was already freed from her whose pushing action synchronically matched his wife's pulling action. Alas! It was a successful push and pull action in partnership.

Pearl Ace was furiously in rage that she stepped on the woman's hands twisting her two feet while stomping on them with all her might.

"Who gave you permission to touch my husband?" She was already seated on the belly of that shameless woman while pulling her hair that lifted her head from the ground toward her, then to the left, to the right, and upward again. As she was still discontented, she slapped her that made the woman saw hundreds of stars while her ear seemed to have heard a weirdy whizzing sound.

"That's enough, hon. Let's pay these goods we picked." Sydney gently pulled her away from that maniacal woman who harassed him abruptly. Then he petted the hand that she used to slap the foreigner and kissed it lovingly.

As they turned their back away from that woman, she finally talked. "Sydney, Sweetheart, you can no longer recognize me? I am your fiancee!"

Listening to her clamor, the couple exchanged glances and turned around to see the face of the woman. Staring for long at her wrinkled face, they were finally identified that she was really his ex-fiancee.

The couple high-five and simultaneously said; "What the hell are you doing here? Go home to your place and plant 'camote'!" (sweet potato) Then.. they high five again.

A retort from Pearl Ace cut the woman's heart painfully that a blood seemed to be oozing.

"You're not his ex-fiancee. He was never in-love with you! He just thought so but he realized that he was awfully wrong in analizing his feeling for you especially when he met me. Isn't it, honey?"

"True!" Sydney confirmed what his wife stated. "I was still very young and innocent, then. It was your seduction that you used to ensnare me to satiate your lust not love." Sydney added.

"But I came for you. If you wanna like to live in this country, I am willing to do so!" Her eyes were already red and in verge of crying.

"You're going to snatch my man? my husband? No way!"

Since the attention of these loving husband and wife were focused on that seductress, they did not notice that their children were already in sight. Both Sydney and Pearl Ace were stunned when Adrianne May suddenly had her wrathful outburst.

"She planned to steal our Daddy from us. Over our dead body! Hide and Chase, am I right?"

"Hah! Ha! Ha! Ha! Bitchy seductress, just try and you'll see the result sooner than you expected." Hide's left limb was in akimbo while his right limb was pointed at her face.

"You cannot take away our Daddy from us!" Chase yelled at her while crying and hugging her father.

"Hon and my darling babies, let's go pay our goods so we can go home." Sydney's right arm was embracing the shoulder of Pearl Ace guiding her toward the cashier while holding the hand of their youngest child.

Hide and Chase pretended to be tripped to something that made their calculative landing fell exactly at Rosemarie White who was at that time was about to stand up pushed her back to the ground with her face that had first smashed hit on it as hard as a skyscraper pinned her down to death.

"Ooooouuuucccchhhh!" Her yell caught the attention of the couple to turn back to see what happened to Rosemarie White.

They saw their eldest daughter and their only son standing up from the sprawled body of the woman whose face was on the ground while her ass was raised upward. They again looked at each other with knitted eyebrows in quizzical look.

"You're blocking our way dear presumptuous assertive bitch!"

Their son and their daughter shook off their clothes, hands and legs before kicking his ex.

What happened next was flattening Rosemarie's body on the ground facing her back to them and she remained to be seemingly fond of kissing the shiny tiled floor.

Again, Sydney high-five with Pearl Ace while they burst into laughter turning their back away from looking at that woman who was so confident that she could take him away from his family.

Leaving Rosemarie White in that pitiful position, Arm and Hide dashed toward the exit and seated where they sat in that cashier both separately as if nothing happened at all.

The humiliated woman who was repeatedly hurt slowly regain her consciousness as she fainted when Sydney's children pinned her down, smashing her face especially her nose and mouth on that floor. As she was already seated, her nose and mouth were bleeding that stained her neck with it.

Despite Rosemarie's initiated perturbation, still Roque requested Nina and Inday to bring her to a nearby clinic where her bruises/abrasions could have been given the proper and needed treatment. Afterall, the abrupt unexpected confrontation occurred inside their store. Therefore, although they were close to the Solis- Britton family, still every buyer/ customer in their store should be fairly treated.

The management and staff of CROMENIR SUPERMART's policy was not to let any of their customers to suffer desolation while she was in their store. They likewise tried to let the family's furious son & daughters of the head of their family who was harassed by Rosemarie be abated.

Sydney appeased their hatred against Rosemarie by bringing them to the biggest park in Metro Commercial City where they ate their lunch and they went to the ocean park to watch the different kinds of fish swimming in that gigantic aquarium.

Having sensed that his wife & his children's ire were already appeased, he insinuated that it was time for them to go home.

"My loves, our home misses us that it gave me a ring. It was so sad that it sobbed asking me what took us too long away from it."

Pearl Ace chuckled joyfully upon hearing her husband's innuendo about going home.

"Okay, sweethearts..." Their youngest child cut what she was going to say.

"Mommy, from now on never use that endearment to us. That was the same word that shameless woman called our Dad!" Chase was stomping her feet, pouting while her request was expressed.

Listening and witnessing their little girl's sentiments and grievances, Sydney went to her and carried her on his arms kissing and giving her an assurance that he's not going to leave them for that woman.

"Your Mommy is the only one imprinted in my heart as my woman. And mind you.... Ah.. ah... ah.. Baby... remember that I could have died a million deaths if my children wouldn't be with us. Right, Mommy?"

"Hundred percent right, honey."

Then she kissed both of them including Arm and Hide.

At exactly five o'clock in the afternoon they were outside the gate of their comfortable warmth home.

When they stepped on the five stepped laddered porch, Juan, Aida and Maria greeted them.

" You're back!" Juan got the boxes with grocery goods to bring it at their store room.

Maria hugged and lifted Chase before turning around that made the latter shrieked like a squealing rat.

Aida on the other hand, stretched her right arm to meet the right fist of Hide as a firm of their gleeful usual greeting. He was closer to Aida as she was his nanny since he was an infant.

"Mmuuwwwaaa!" My favorite is becoming taller and taller than me. She smucked and hugged him only for a little bit.

"Huuuu! You both are spoiling them as a rotten brat." Arm kidded their two house aids.

They ate their dinner as their grandfather wall clock rang the angelus on that still very young evening.

They slept peacefully that night without recalling the event that gave birth to their children's extreme fear and anxiety. It put Sydney into a very deep abyss that he must solve as soon as possible to take away the skepticism of his children that he might leave them for that obnoxious woman.