Chapter One
The Present
The Coffee Shop at the Mall —- Wednesday 11:30 AM
Paul is on his second cup of coffee as he sits patiently at a table for two on the corner of his favorite coffee shop. He has been waiting for Catherine since the mall opened more than an hour past. Catherine has never been this late before. They should be on their way to Tagaytay City by now. Paul is in a bind, he could not contact her. They had long before agreed that only personal meeting is safe. He does not even have her number.
Catherine is married.
Paul turned his attention to the growing crowd of early shoppers. He thought it was rather unusual this Wednesday. Wednesday…our day, Paul smiled as his thought drifted to the Wednesday he came to know Catherine. It is still fresh in his mind as if it took place only yesterday and not two years before.
Chapter Two
The Past
The Coffee Shop at the Mall – Wednesday 11:00 AM
Paul was looking at the books at the new arrivals section, when he saw one that caught his interest. He reached for it at exactly the same time that Catherine did. Their hands touched.
“I am sorry.” Paul, a bit embarrassed, quickly apologized as he looked at her.
“Nobody’s fault.” She smiled at him.
They both loved books, arts and literature, history and current events. It was uncanny, the similarity of their interests, their passion for reading and writing. They came to know this during coffee at a coffee shop nearby. Paul talked about his work, his aspiration, injecting it with humor that amused Catherine. She listened enthralled, her eyes never leaving his handsome face, wondering what compelled her, a married woman, to accept the invitation of this stranger to join him for coffee. Tomorrow, she thought, there will be time to find a reason.
Paul too was in strange territory. He has never talked to anybody like this before. Not since his wife died. He usually kept to himself after that. His invitation to Catherine was just a spur of the moment, not really caring if she accepted it or not. He knew she is married. He saw the ring on her finger.
Yet, here he is having coffee, excitedly sharing his thoughts with a stranger. He looked at her face, this classy lady, so stunningly beautiful, giving him her full attention, hanging to his every word. He felt important, appreciated. Catherine also found herself telling Paul more than she should. She looked at him. Something in his eyes stirred a strange feeling she never felt before. Strange . She was inexplicably drawn to him as if she has known him all her life.
It was almost mid afternoon when Catherine said she really had to go. She was already late for her appointment. His eyes followed her tall svelte figure as she rushed towards the escalator, her long wavy hair flowing.
Chapter Three
The Past
At the Mall – Wednesdays
They both could not exactly say how and when they came to meet every Wednesday. It just happened. They did not plan it. Something appeared to be dictating their action, drawing them together, sealing their fate.
They spent the day mostly at the mall. The bookstore, the coffee shop, restaurants, movie houses, have been part of their stolen, yet still innocent moments together. But it was at the coffee shop where they spent most of their time. They never seemed to run out of things to say to each other. Sometimes, they just sat there in shared silence, reading books or writing. At times they just aimlessly walked around hand in hand.
Often, Catherine left by mid afternoon. Paul never asked her why. Until one day, she invited him to come with her. They left in Catherine’s car. .
“Nanay, this is my friend Paul” Catherine said to the old woman on a wheelchair.\
“Paul, this is my mother Anna. I call her Nanay, she calls me anak.”
Paul smiled at Nanay who looked like an older version of Catherine. Nanay just stared blankly, unmindful of their presence. Catherine wheeled Nanay into the garden, their usual place during her visit.
“She is my only family.” Catherine said as she lovingly stroke Nanay’s hair. I am an only child, my father died when I was twelve. She did not marry again to take care of me. She used to be a teacher.”
“We brought Nanay to this homecare when her Alzheimer’s got worse. She refused to live with me when I got married. She did not want to leave her house. She is really very independent. Anyway, I felt that my mother-in-law did not really want Nanay in her house.”
The visit made them much closer. More intimate.
Chapter Four
The Past
Wednesday – The hotel in Tagaytay City
The heavy rain before, had turned into a gentle drizzle, giving way to the misty view of the Taal Lake. Paul and Catherine stood hand in hand by the window that framed the panoramic splendor. They were both naked. Their bodies still aglow in the aftermath of their lovemaking. The heavy smell of sex permeated the room.
Earlier, it was raining hard when they checked in their hotel room. They reached for each other as soon as the door closed. Their bodies colliding into a tight embrace. Their pent up desire, long been building up, unleashed. They tore at each other’s clothes, barely making it to the bed where they fell naked, Paul on top of her. They kissed, tongues engaged in savage duel. He felt her long nipples hardening on his chest, the soft trimmed hair between her legs against his hardening manhood. He slipped a hand between their bodies, cupped her left breast, fingers caressing, gently pinching her aroused nipple.
Their kiss deepened.
Paul’s hand moved across her body, tracing her warm smooth skin, gently sliding down towards her womanhood.. Catherine gasped into Paul’s mouth as she felt his hand cupped her mound, gently rubbing. A finger run up and down her slit, parting the moist pussy lips, circling her bud of lust so gently it barely touched the tip. Catherine spread her thighs wide, her pussy quivering, creaming. Paul broke their kiss and positioned himself on his knees between her thighs, his finger still on her bud.
Paul gazed adoringly at the writhing nakedness before him. Her beautiful face flushed with lust, hair spilled over her pillow, mouth slightly open, her heavy eyes on his. Paul got bolder, he slipped a finger into her. Slowly sliding in and out, circling, exploring her inner walls now sleek with copious juices. Catherine was beside herself with lust, her legs started to shake as Paul lowered his head to feast on her firm breasts, alternately licking, sucking and blowing her erect nipples.
After what seemed to be an eternity, Paul kisses slid downward. His knees touched the floor as he gently pulled Catherine towards him, her buttocks on the edge of the bed, her legs weighed on his shoulders. His face was so close to the slightly open lips between her legs. Catherine could feel the warmth of his breath down there. Paul breathed deeply, seemingly overwhelmed by the scent of her quim. . She could also smell her sex.
“Paul, wait I have to wash, I….I mean I have to go the bathroom” Catherine said in panic.
“No, my lady, the proof of the pussy is in the eating”
Paul smiled before his tongue run up and down between her pussy lips, parting wider, deeper, the already swollen petals. Catherine squirmed as he felt his tongue snaking in and out her love hole, lapping, licking, savoring her wetness. His hands massaging her breasts, kneading the pliant flesh, fingers toying with her nipples.
“Ahhh, shouldn’t it be the pudding? She stammered.
“Hmmm, whatever, but surely, your pussy tastes much better, much sweeter.” His tongue fluttering, flicking at her swollen clit. Catherine moaned, hands clutching Paul’s head, pressing, grinding his face to her sex. She could feel the rush building up.
Sensing her impending explosion, Paul hook two fingers inside her quivering pussyt, churning her GSpot. She arched her backed, twisted and turned, delirious in her climax. She squirted for the first time, flooding his fingers. She tried to sit up, surprised and embarrassed, but Paul held her and kissed her hard with open mouth. She could taste herself in his mouth. She reached for his hard cock, grasping it. It throbbed in her hand as she stroke it up and down. Catherine rubbed the tip of his cock along her wet crack, circling the head at the entrance, dipping it in just a bit, teasing him.
The head now slick with his precum and her wetness, dipped into the swollen lips. Paul pushed on, sinking slowly inch by inch, opening her wider, stretching her inner walls, until all of him is enveloped in the silky buttery warmth of her hungry hole. His hair grinding against her pussy hair.
For just a moment, Catherine thought of her husband. She is being unfaithful to him. She is letting another man’s cock inside her. “No, this moment is mine. He has nothing to do with this. This is my time” she thought as she spread her legs wider to meet Paul’s deep but gentle thrusts as they found their rhythm in the dance of love.
She could feel her pussy gripping his shaft as it moved in and out relentlessly, filling her, stretching her. Paul moaned as he thrust deep until he couldn’t get any further. He stayed, feeling the rush in his balls as he stiffened, his cock expanding, pulsing, until he exploded, spurting copious cum, flooding her love tunnel..
They stayed immobile for a while, Paul’s cock still inside her. No words were spoken. Catherine was too overwhelmed to speak. Paul too was filled with overpowering emotion he couldn’t explain. They fell asleep in each other’s arms.
Chapter Five
The Past
Wednesday – The Coffee Shop at the Mall
“I’ll be happy if I get even one book published.” Paul said as he recalled his rejection slips he got from several publishers.
“Don’t give up Paul. I believe in you. Its just a matter of time.” Catherine held his hand.
“What about your dream book. Have you started work on it yet?” Paul asked.
“Not yet Paul, I want my children’s book to be especial, different from the others. Its personal to me.”
For a while, Paul remained silent. He understood. Catherine had already told him she could never have children after her miscarriage. It broke her heart. Being an only child, she had hoped for having many children.
She also revealed that her husband, George is an only son from a family engaged in medium scale construction business. They have offices in Makati and Cebu. Her mother-in-law manages the Makati office while George oversees operations in Cebu. He comes home to Makati for the weekend once a month.
Catherine had long suspected her husband of having affairs. She knew her husband’s penchant for young women. She married him when she was twenty four. He was her childhood friend, her only boyfriend. They had been married ten years. After her miscarriage five years ago, her husband became more distant. He did not want to adopt a child.
She holds office in Makati Monday to Saturday. Sundays, she is in the company of her mother-in-law. She has no complaints, she needs to be busy especially after her miscarriage. But Wednesday is her free day. A day for herself. Her time with Nanay.
Chapter Six
The Past
Wednesday – The Book Store at the Mall
“Your wife, how was she?” Catherine asked while pretending to be leafing through a book, not really wanting to look at Paul.
It took a while before Paul spoke.
“Faith and I were batchmates in a creative writing course. I was already a freelance writer then while she worked in a PR department of a government agency in Manila. She was a journalism graduate from Davao City. We were both aspiring writers who dreamt of having our works published. She was a good writer, wrote good poetry too. We were married three years when she died six years ago, a hit and run victim. The day of the accident, she had to work late, so told me not to fetch her anymore. She was waiting for a taxi when it happened. My regret is our being childless. She would have been a good mother. She was a beautiful person, so loving, so nurturing.”
“I am so sorry Paul” she held his hand.
Catherine became unusually quiet. After a while, she held his arm and looked straight into his eyes.
“Paul , let’s go to Tagaytay “.Her voice was so soft it was almost a whisper.
Chapter Seven
The Past
Wednesday – The hotel in Tagaytay City
Paul sat naked on the sofa looking at the view outside when Catherine came out of the bathroom naked.
“Hey, handsome, its your birthday on Saturday, so I have a surprise for you”
She sat on the edge of the bed, her legs spread wide.
“And what do you have in mind?” Paul looked at the slightly parted lips surrounded by neatly trimmed hair between her thighs.
“Ah, something especial, you can eat my pussy” She, proudly said as she slowly rubbed her cunt.
“Hmmm, but I’ve done that before, what’s so especial then”
“I washed it” Her laughter was thick with passion as she spread her pussy lips.
“Thank you, but first, this birthday boy needs some TLC.” Paul pointed to his cock as he walked towards Catherine.
He stood between her legs, his cock almost touching her face. She took it into her hand, felt it throbbed and grew in her grip as she gently moved her hand up and down. Her other hand cupped his balls, gently massaging them. Paul moaned as the tip of her tongue touched just tip of his penis before its wet slide along his shaft, down to his swollen balls and back….fluttering, licking.
Boldly, her lips enveloped his knob, tongue swirling around it.
His legs shook as she took him into her mouth as far as she could, pulling back and forth in frenzied sucking, tracing spit along its his length. Paul lost all control, holding Catherine’s head, he moved his cock in and out of her mouth in synchrony with her rhythm. He knew she wouldn’t mind him coming in her mouth; but he wanted to come inside her pussy. He pulled his cock out.
He had her kneeling on the edge of the bed, her head on a pillow, her bottom upturned. She moaned, feeling his lips on her pussy lips, tongue toying with her clit, gently sucking and lapping. No part of her pussy was left untouched. His tongue parted her lips seeking entry to her moist hole; circling the ridges around it before dipping in and out. His tongue then slid upward, rimming her butt hole. Licking the puckered rose. Catherine’s ass squirmed in wild abandon.
Paul positioned behind her, brushed the tip of his cock at her wet entrance and pushed all the way in. She gasped. Paul is so deep in her. A moist popping noise filled the room as Paul, gripping her hips, began pumping in and out her slippery cunt. Catherine could feel her climax building up as Paul, like a fucking machine, never missed a beat.
“Ahhhh, Paul” She shouted as orgasm gripped her whole being, so intense, she feared she would explode. Paul could feel her inside squeezing, gripping his cock in orgasmic spasm. He couldn’t hold it anymore, he fucked her faster and harder until he exploded inside her, flooding her hole to overflow.
They stayed in bed for a while basking in the intense afterglow of sex. Catherine’s head on his chest.
“I can’t wait for your birthday to fall on Wednesday” She said, her hand gently rubbing his stomach.
“Me too. You know, I was born on a Wednesday.”
“Really” She was quiet for while. “You are a child of woe, if one is to believe the old nursery rhyme”
I don’ t believe that, I have you, you are here with me right me now, holding my cock, I couldn’t be more blessed.
Catherine laughed, squeezed his penis hard. Before rolling on top of him, straddling him, her cunt on his shaft sliding back and forth along its length.
“You are hard again as I am ready again. We are both sex crazed” Catherine smiled as she held his cock to guide it inside her. She rode him hard, Paul’s hand gripping her breasts. They fucked like animals in heat…never seemed to get enough of each other.
————————
During the drive back to Manila, Catherine was unusually quiet, her eyes on the stretch of the road ahead.
“My penis for your thought” Paul joked.
She smiled but didn’t say a word. She was deep in thought about their affair.
Catherine thought it was unfair for Paul to be stuck on their kind of relationship. While Paul had never pressured her to define the future of their relationship, she knew he wanted more, needed more of her as she needed more of him. It was then that she made her decision. She would have her marriage annulled. She should have done it long before. Catherine was sure George would not contest it. Her husband maybe weak, but he is basically a good person. He just couldn’t resist women. And as the family business grew so , was his appetite for young women. She knew about his mistresses. She didn’t mind. Sometimes, she wondered if she did not love him enough, if she ever had loved him at all. After her miscarriage, she just went through the motion of living, not really caring much about her future. Only Nanay brought meaning to her life.
Until she met Paul. The past two years had been her happiest. She would build a new life with him.
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Chapter Eight
The Past
Wednesday – The Coffee Shop at the Mall
“Please read them when you get home.” Catherine pleaded as she handed Paul her initial drafts of several short stories for children. “I want your honest opinion on them.”
” I am flattered that my opinion matters to you” Paul was being coy.
“I want to thank you for inspiring me, motivating me to pursue my dream.”
“Okay, if you really want to thank me properly, we can go to Tagaytay next week”
“Too soon, now, isn’t that too heavy a price to pay, you sex addict. But on second thought, its fine with me.”
They both laughed out loud.
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Chapter Nine
The Present
Wednesday – 9:50 AM
Catherine looked good in her white cotton long sleeves blouse and denim pants . She smiled at the thought that she had on her skimpiest white bikini and bra. She bought them especially for this day. She could barely contain her excitement.
Just as she was leaving, she heard her husband called her.
“Cat, could you drop me at our Makati office. ” George said as he descended the stairs.
“Mama left early. We have something to discuss that is why I came home last night. I am going back to Cebu today as soon as Mama and I are done.”
“Uh, okay” Catherine had no choice, their driver had already left with Mama. Anyway, Its not that far from their house, she thought.
‘Thanks, I’ll drive”
Catherine sat quietly beside her husband who was driving fast. Her thought was about the annulment. She would have to tell George when he comes back for the weekend. As the car slowed down to make a turn, a motor cycle riding man also slowed down beside George. He pointed his gun at George and fired several shots then quickly sped away. The car swerved to the right and crashed on the electric post at the roadside.
Catherine was bleeding profusely, her head against the car window, her husband leaning against her side…dead. Everything seemed surreal around her. Blood splattered all over the place. She tried to keep her heavy eyes open. She felt pain in her head, her life quickly fading away. She thought of Nanay, alone at the homecare…Paul, waiting…they were going to Tagaytay…she loved him so.
——————
Wednesday at The Mall
From the coffee shop, Paul went to the bookstore to bide his time in a vain hope that Catherine would still be coming. By mid afternoon, Paul gave up and decided to leave. As he passed by the coffee shop on his way out, he thought he saw through the glass panel a lady in white sitting at the table on the corner. Paul rushed inside the coffee shop, heart pounding, only to find the table empty.
He walked out disappointed.
He found himself at the homecare visiting Nanay. He toured Nanay around the premises for a while before he took her to their usual place in the garden. His thought still on Catherine.
“Nanay, you just have to bear with me, Catherine did not make it today. But don’t worry, I am sure she’ll be here next week. She loves you so much Nanay. But I am sure you love Catherine more.”
“I love her too Nanay.” Paul said in afterthought.
Although there were times when Nanay couldn’t stop talking senselessly, Nanay is quiet this time.
Paul stayed for a while, talking to her, telling her stories about him and Catherine. As he rose to take Nanay back, he heard her spoke.
“I love you too anak” as she smiled through her tears, her eyes fixed at Catherine’s empty place. A feeling of dread gripped Paul.
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Chapter Ten
The Present
According to the authorities, the gunman fired three shots, two hit George in the head killing him instantly. The other one probably missed George, hitting Catherine below her left ear. There are two angles being considered regarding the incident:: business rivalry and love triangle. But in Cebu, the rumor floating around is that Catherine’s husband was killed for his affair with the mistress of a notorious local politician.
————–
Wednesday – 5:30 PM
Paul stood alone before Catherine’s grave where he had laid upon a single white tulip. It was almost sundown. He had waited until everybody at the funeral was gone. He stood still, not shedding a single tear. He was too numb to feel anything. He couldn’t understand why life had again dealt him a bad hand, threw him a curved ball. Why someone like Catherine, so beautiful, so warm and gentle, who loved and dreamt, is now a mere name on a gravestone.
“God speed, Catherine.” He whispered.
Paul stayed until sundown. Until twilight. Until dark
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Chapter Eleven
The Present
Come Wednesday – Paul
Three years quickly passed. Paul had his first book published, it was a collection of short stories. The book was a mild success. After that first one, the next followed easily. He also made periodic contributions to several newspapers and magazines. But what he was so excited about was the coming publication of a children’s book. It was Catherine’s book, based on her unfinished drafts of several short stories she handed him to review before she died. It took him two years to finish the book as her memory was still too painful.
He is still single, devoting most of his time to work. He visited Nanay as often as he could, patiently attending to her needs. He would always talked to her, unmindful of her silly smiles and gibberings. Nanay’s health was then rapidly deteriorating. She died a year after Catherine. Paul took care of her funeral. Like Catherine, Nanay was an only child.
After all the years, her memory, the hurt remained. They dwell in his heart, in his mind, in his eyes.
Come Wednesday,the past is relived… the sadness magnified.
Paul never set foot on the mall again.
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Epilogue
The Coffee Shop at the Mall – Wednesday 09.55 AM.
The girl at the shop smiled, knowing she had done a good job preparing the place for the expected pouring of their early customers. It was her first day at her job and she wanted to make a good impression. As she turned toward the counter to join the other staff who were busy minding their chores, she somehow saw something in her peripheral view. She was sure she did not see anybody entering the shop yet. A sudden creepy, eerie feeling gripped her, raising every hair on her nape. Goosebumps.
As she slowly turned, there appeared a misty figure of a beautiful woman in white seated at a table for two on the corner.
Her face turned pale, almost white as the figure quickly faded until it vanished before her unbelieving eyes. She stood transfixed on the floor, too petrified to move.
She almost jumped out of her skin when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
It was her lady supervisor.
“Hey, Sarah, are you okay? You look as if you’ve seen a ghost!”
I did, Sarah was about to say, but decided to just keep quiet. Her boss might think she is crazy. It could jeopardize her job.
“I am okay Ma’am. I am just nervous I guess, being my first day here. I’ll be okay Ma’am. I am Sorry”.
The supervisor noticed Sarah stealing a glance at the corner table.
“The Sad Lady! Oh, Sarah, you must have seen her!” She blurted excitedly.
“Seen who Ma’am?”
“The Sad Lady!”
“The Sad Lady?” Sarah echoed, mouth agape.
“Yes Sarah, that is what we call her here. The fleeting apparition of a lady in white, with long wavy hair, and sad beautiful face, always seated at that corner table and then disappearing just as quickly as she appeared.”
Sarah just nodded, she could not find words to speak. The apparition. She will never forget it. She has never seen such sadness in so beautiful a face.
“Yes, Sarah, I myself had seen her twice in my three years here. People in other shops also have stories about this lady. But it seems that our shop is her favorite and also the bookstore nearby where she is said to be wandering around the book section. Strange, but the lady appeared at no particular time of day but only on a Wednesday. I wonder why.”
“She seemed harmless though.” The supervisoradded, looking up the ceiling, seemingly trying to remember more details about the lady. She looked at Sarah as she continued her story.
“Some of our former workers swore that the lady used to frequent this coffee shop with a tall good looking man. Always, taking their place at that corner table. They were quite a pair, looking so happy, so much in love. Then one day, they just stopped coming and were never seen here again”.
A brief silence ensued.
Suddenly, the supervisor gestured toward an elderly woman entering the shop.
“Okay, Sarah, shape up, here comes your first customer!”
“Yes Ma’am, thank you Ma’am” Sarah said absentmindedly as she moved to take her position at the counter.
But not before casting a nervous glance at the table for two on the corner.—
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The Hotel in Tagaytay City Wednesday – 1:30 PM
The young couple made sure everything is in order before they check out. After a brief, final look around the room, the man switched off the light and then gently closed the door.
On the hallway, the couple walked hand in hand, their love reflected in each other’s eyes.
Just as the door closed inside that darkened empty room, a misty figure of a lady in white appeared…standing by the window, gazing sadly at the lake.
The misty view appeared quiet and eerie amidst the gentle rain…
FIN