The Transient Wife

Chapter 10

"I'm not afraid of anything," she lied.

"Really?"

She arched an eyebrow and said, "Really," she coupled it with a wink. They lay there in a battle of unblinking gaze, both with no intention to give up. Intending to send him away from her, she lifted her right arm and placed it over his chest. His muscles tightened.

The frown deepened on his face. Instead of jumping out of bed, he lifted his arms and crossed them under his head.

Squinting her eyes, she lifted her left leg and crossed it over his outstretched ones, taunting him.

"Not really working, Cassandra," he uttered with a pretend yawn, but Cassandra could feel his heart hammering against his chest where her hand rested.

For her last attempt, she trailed her hand lower to the edge of his shirt.

"Nope, not working."

She stayed like that for a long time as she thought of another way to keep the bed to herself. She could slip her hand lower or under his shirt, but then she was not quite sure she would want to end it there if she did. She worried her lower lip. "Want to play papel, gunting, bato?" she challenged.

He frowned. "What's that?"

She disengaged herself from him. She hadn't even touched skin yet her heart was beating fast. Was she having a heart attack? It would be embarrassing if she died in bed with her new husband.

Brushing off her thoughts, she focused on the important matter at hand. "Rock, paper, scissors. Papel for paper. Gunting for scissors. Bato for rock." Cassandra explained the few Filipino words she managed to retrieve from memory. "Whoever loses takes a step to the edge of the bed. The first to fall off the bed takes the couch."

Philip was never going to give up. After all, he paid for the room himself. But she couldn't give up either. The only thing left was for them to play a game.

He immediately sat down on the center of the bed and she did the same. They crossed their legs and faced each other, fists balled and ready for battle.

"Papel, gunting, bato!" they both chanted and Cassandra howled with victory when her rock crushed Philip's scissors. She pushed him forward, closer to the edge of the bed behind him.

Determination was now apparent in his eyes as she looked at him. Really, the game is just like poker. All you have to do was bluff. "Papel, gunting, bato!" and Cassandra lost this time. She glared at him as she scooted back.

Three more rounds and they were both sitting on both ends of the bed. She thought of reaching out to poke him because that was all that was needed for him to fall down the floor.

"Papel, gunting..."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Cassandra cut in with one hand. "Surely there can be an agreement here," she said. Philip had won two straight rounds. And in this game, it meant the winning player was able to finally know how to read the losing one's hand beforehand.

Philip gave a sheepish grin. "Afraid to sleep off the bed?"

She ignored his statement. "Fine," she said after so much deliberation. "We'll divide the bed."

"That's very wise of you," her husband said with amusement.

"But you can never cross to my side," she reminded.

"Deal," he said, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand. After all, they had been sitting with half their butts in the air for more than five minutes now. "That was the most exhausting thing I've ever done in bed with anyone," Philip muttered as he settled himself in a more comfortable position.