Jack was just staring at the way she slept beautifully on his chest and he felt the way his heart swarmed with something he didn’t want to think about. She was beautiful even when she slept soundlessly, and her beautiful hair was messy. She was beautiful even with her lips pursed into a pout and her eyelashes laid to rest on her cheek bones. She was beautifully, effortlessly and he wanted to be seeing this view for the rest of his life. He had confirmed that Anna was the sweetest soul alive in his life, she was ever loving and caring that sometimes if she said she loved him, he itched to say he loved her too. Those days since his release were filled with too much beautiful memories that he himself would deny it if someone said he wasn’t in love with her already.
Yesterday, he had already planned on something big for them, to tell her how much she meant to him and the emotions she broke out of his soul. But then he got the call, and Jack knew he could never do something to break her even more than it was planned for him to. And right now, as he stared into her sleeping face, he didn’t know what he felt. She squirmed slowly and when her eyes lazily opened up, she flashed him lazy and sleepy smile that made his balls tightened. Had he ever said that she had the most charismatic smile? “Good morning, beautiful.” He said with a husky voice he was sure she loved to hear because she had once told him how much his sleeping voice affected her and made her fall more in love with him.
Wasn’t it an irony how Anna Brayden had found solace in letting him know that she loved him almost every day in their lives? There were times that he was at work and she was at work too, but he would get a call from her. Sometimes she was in a minute too, but she would excuse herself and when he asked if she was alright and everything, her response will be, “I just want to remind you that I love you, Jack. You should never forget that, okay?” Times that like were the most beautiful times of their lives. For sometimes always tightened his heart and he wanted to be right where she was.
There was a day he had to be at work at night, and when she called him to ask why he wasn’t back yet, he told her he was working, she ended the call. Jack thought that she was angry at him, or maybe she thought he was lying. But a few minutes later he got a call that his wife was there to see him. He was still in shock even when he told the security officers to let her in until her smiling face bloomed into his office and he lost all his senses. He stood up and watched the way she eagerly walked up to him and stood by the table.
“Don’t you think this office suits you the best then those planes?” He hardened his expression and she chuckled. “I was only meant to bring out this expression on you, Jack. Five years will be a short time so long as we’re together, and you look so hot in your pilot uniform, I bet no one has ever told you that.”
His heart swayed with what he was certain was love for her, and her beautiful smile was like an arrow that shot directly into his heart. “Will you come over here?” He widened his hands and she chuckled before she ran to him and when he engulfed her into one of the warmest hugs Jack ever had to give her, for it was ones that came directly to convey the message he was trying so hard to hide in his heart, she snuggled her chest in his chest and smiled. “I don’t know why I love you this much, Jack.”
She brought him dinner that night, and they ate while she helped him work. He was mesmerized to see how smart she was and how all the work he was seeing as too much seemed very little to her. He was glad that he had gotten married to Anna Brayden, because even though she made his life so tough at a certain point of his life, she made things more beautiful now. And as he stared down at her face while curiosity swarmed in her eyes, he hated himself that he had no other choice but to break this woman.
“What are you thinking about this early in the morning?” She asked while he sat upright and rested his head on the head on the bed and she laid on his chest, staring into his eyes.
“About what?” She giggled even though it wasn’t as chirping as the giggling voice of Anna Brayden used to be, which he knew was because she just woke up. “Are you finally in love with me, Jack?” She sounded so excited to know and he felt his heart as it filled more with her love. He didn’t know when he fell in love with her, he only knew that he might’ve realized it a bit too late, when not telling her that he was in love with her would be best for her than for him to tell her he was. But before he answered her, she had slowly patted his naked chest with a whiny tone, “Please Jack, say that you love me. Or you’re still on your words of me not being lovable?” She pouted her lips and looked directly into her eyes.
Jack leaned down and he took a hold of her lower lip, morning kiss with Anna was always what made his day. He lightly kissed her, and she was looking at him with dreamy eyes that were filled to the brim with expectations. “Say you love...”
He smiled and pinched her nose playfully, “I’ve always been in love with you, Anna. I might’ve realized it not long ago, but what I feel for you has been what I've been feeling since the first time I saw you. I didn’t know what made me walk your way that day, maybe it was because of the way you were angrily speaking through the phone. Or how you carried your petite frame alongside your trolley. Or maybe it was simply the way your clothes fitted you in such a sensual way. But do you want to know the truth?” He asked and she tried so hard to fight her tears back as she nodded her head at him.
“Your way wasn’t the path I should follow that day, but I found myself going and you luckily bumped on me or I bumped on you because I want to hear that voice speaking to me. That voice that keeps saying, ‘Mom, I know what’s right for me, I'm an adult for god’s sake!’ It felt so sweet. I imagined you walking around the house as you fought endlessly with her even though she’s the loveliest person in your life. Maybe she was the nagging type like my Mom...”
Chuckling through her tears, she wiped at them but more gushed down and she sweetly cut him off. “Maybe she was a shopaholic like your Mom...”
He laughed too, not knowing why it felt so emotional for him. Was it because they had been depriving themselves of something they had wanted since the beginning of their lives? “Yes, definitely a shopaholic like my Mom. But then we fought, you were impatient, and I simply loved the way you look when you’re angry. How you flare your nose, how these cute lips of yours curl the words out, I simply love everything about the angry Anna because that’s the only version of Anna I know.”
Her tears were rushing now but there was a beautiful smile fixed on her lips. “I've never got the chance to take you out of my mind, Anna. Everything was about you, I told myself that every time I thought about you was because I'm thinking of the best way to revenge on what you’ve done to me but the truth is, it was simply because thinking about you gives me peace and the first time I got the chance to look into your eyes, the color in them had me enthralled...” he chuckled and used his thumb to clear her stubborn tears, “I can go on and on but my words will never be enough, Anna. I'm just in love with you, I could say it was love at first sight.”
“Why didn't you tell me any of these?” She asked with a sweet smile even though her tears were rushing down her cheeks. She cleared them and sat upright, sitting opposite him not minding the only lacy bra she had on her body. “I shouldn’t even be crying when it’s a happy sensation for me.”
“How do you think it’s possible for me to tell the woman I've ever fought with in my life that I've always been in love with her? You’d have had the chance to hurt me more, don’t you think?” He asked and she nodded her head with a pout on her lips.
“It’s likely I'd torture your heart just like you did to mine.”
“I've always hated to see you cry, even though it was exhilarating sometimes to see the powerful Anna Brayden crying over the guy but trust me when I say it hurts me a lot. I just love you so much.” He kissed her lips harder this time and Anna smiled at him.
“Jack Roberts, I'm glad that I've married you. I don’t know what my life would’ve been without you.” She rushed into his arms and hugged him lovingly. “I love you so much, Jack. Please don’t ever hurt me again, please.” She looked up and her eyes were full of plea, “I know that life isn’t always a bed of roses, we could have a misunderstanding, we could fight our silly fights, but please, don’t break me apart.”
He only pulled her to his body and hugged her, feeling the way it felt as though his heart had been ripped open and too much pain was added to him. He wished he could apologize to her for what he didn’t do yet. He wished he could beg her to forgive him already, but this was the only way to save her. This was the only way to save the woman he loved, the woman he had always been in love with.
❦
They had breakfast with laughter and smiles, and when Maya called, she put the phone on speaker and motioned for Jack to be silent for a while. “Girl, I'm so much in love with him.” She giggled excitedly as she felt the way his hands were snaking up to her body and she hear the scoff Maya made. No one knew that Jack was in love with her but him and today, she knew.
“I know that you do, and it’s a beautiful thing for a woman to love her husband the way you do, but have you ever known the pain of an unrequited love, Anna? I don’t want you to feel that pain...” Jack smiled at the phone and then lightly pecked Anna’s lips.
He cleared his throat, “Maya, this is Jack.” He could already imagine her rolling her eyes. “I want to both apologize to you and appreciate you for loving and taking care of my wife. I apologize for making her cry all those times and inflicting pain on her, I'm sorry. But the truth is, I'm in love with her, Maya. Can you help me in making her realized that she won’t ever be in pain because this man loves her so much in his life.”
Anna smiled at his face and she pulled him into a very tight hug. “You have no idea how much I love him too, Maya. Will you please pray for us?”
They heard the exciting chuckle of Maya, “Tell me, is she pregnant and when is the wedding date?” Anna smiled and she kissed Jack so hard on his lips.