“Stressed at work?”
He shook his head, amused.
“An ex, then?”
Rafa looked her in the eye when she said the wordex.The idea of Sal being called that made him uneasy.“Yeah,” he replied.“My engagement is on thin ice…”
She raised her perfectly arched eyebrows.“Ouch.What happened, if you don’t mind my asking?”
“It’s a long story.But she says it’s because I have a lot of expectations,” he responded ruefully.
The beautiful woman nodded as though she understood exactly why Sal would believe that.“Well…you strike me as high maintenance.”
“Me…high maintenance?”Rafa repeated, one brow raised.
She raised a hand.“I’m only assuming here.But few people can afford to stay a night at this place unless they’re someone’s rich son who has a lot ofresponsibility.”
Rafa chuckled, embarrassed at how easy he was to read.
The lady continued, “Some women feel nervous about marriage, especially if they’re the independent type.”
Rafa narrowed his eyes.“Why is that?”
She scoffed and leaned forward.“Almost all my friends felt that way before marrying.”She nearly laughed, as though he was dumb for asking it.“So what do you think happens for a woman after marrying…?”She held up her fingers and began counting, “You give up your independence, if not completely, then temporarily.You move to the guy’s home.If you’re lucky, he lives alone; if not, he lives with his family.Then there’s this pressure to have kids—always.It is relentless, and it comes from everywhere.Even if you don’t want to, even if you can’t, it always ends up being a central discussion.And if you give in and get pregnant, there’s going through the pregnancy, the body image issues after, and all the other considerations when you become a parent.”By the time had finished speaking, she had five fingers up.“So you see, even if you marry into money, and even if the guy loves you, it’s still a high price to pay.This is especially true for self-made women who worked their entire lives to reach a certain level of freedom.”She took a sip of her wine.“So when a woman says yes to a life with someone, know that she is willingly choosing to compromise it all.”
Rafa sat there thoughtfully.
“Don’t you have any sisters?”she asked.
Rafa chuckled.“Yes, I do.”
“Ask them, then,” she said confidently.“I mean, sure, getting married and having a family is a beautiful thing.All I’m saying is it’s not for everyone.It comes with a price for everyone involved, and your partner has to be fully committed to it in order for it to work.Not just you.”
“Is that the reason you’re not married?”
“That’s a story for another day.”Then she slowly blinked and said, “I came on to you hoping to sleep with you, but…” She bit her lip and paused.“A woman knows when a man’s heart is elsewhere and that’s no fun,” she smirked back at him and stood to excuse herself.
“Please let me buy you another drink.It’s the least I can do for your company.”
“No, thanks,” she said with a graceful shake of her head.“It’s refreshing to be valued for my thoughts, not my body.”She walked off, then turned back and said, “If you want your fiancée back, think about what she wants.”
***
When he retired to his suite, he saw a text message Willow had sent fifteen minutes ago.“Sal’s live broadcast is in a few minutes!”He dropped his phone, lunged for the remote control, turned on the TV, and began surfing.He stopped when he spotted Sal’s face on the flat screen.
My Sal,he thought proudly, and turned up the volume.
Sal’s confident face presented itself on the TV screen.They showed photos of her handling the grimoire with care, and without giving too much away, she explained its contents and how mysterious it was, and how the research and investigation into its origins was still ongoing.Her timing was impeccable, and she paced her humor well with the news anchor when they joked with her on set.When it came time to address all the negative press, she acknowledged the suspicion by saying, “I understand the skepticism surrounding this.It’s difficult to accept the things we don’t yet understand.So instead, I encourage everyone to investigate with an open mind and consider this for what it might be, which is a discovery of magic that was found in a small town.”It was punchy and resonant, and it struck the right chord.She was changing the conversation.
By the time the broadcast ended, without thinking, he sent a message to Sal:“I just watched the broadcast.You were amazing.”A few minutes later, she replied:“Thank you.It’s nice to hear from you again.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
Winking at Fate
SAL
Somewhere in Makati
