Square One: Ashboo Fanfiction

Chapter 4: Trapped

"You know, you don't need to go. You should stay here, I can manage naman eh." He was tying his shoelace at the edge of the bed and she was standing infront of the vanity mirror.
"Honey I love my job. If given a chance, I wouldn't marry you just yet." She said as she fix her scarf and headpiece.
"There's a certain time of your life when you just stop what you do. You need to evolve, to move forward darling. Isn't it boring flying around here and there? Same places." He stood up and walked towards her, hugged her from behind. She held his arms, and smiled at him through the mirror.
"I'm not like you, I'm attached to my job, this has been my dream from the very start okay. 4 days lang ako mawawala, grabe mo naman ako mamiss." She teased.
"Hindi kita mamimiss, ang daming girls na mami-meet ko mamaya eh. All of them wants me."
"Aba sige, dun ka sa mga babae mo." She pouted.
"Haha. Joke, honey. Of course, 4 days will be like 4 years for me okay." He kiss her neck, her cheek, and her lips.
"See you in 4 days honey." She kissed him one last time, "I'll be back."
That was his last conversation with her.
"Oh, it's 8:30 already?" Bamboo looked on his wrist watch, still a little groggy after having a long nap. He stretched his arms and stood up. He checked his phone and saw 3 missed calls from Jeanne. He called her back.
"Hi Baby. What's up?
"Hi Daddy. How are you?"
"I'm fine, i'm fine."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. So, how's school? And Andy and Kath?"
"School's fine. Today I learned how to do some napkin folding!!! It's really fun. Although nagpaturo ako kay Kath pero in the end tinapon niya lahat ng ng napkins....."
"What?? Why???"
"Kasi di niya magets... Nainis siya."
"Classic Kath. Haha. How about Andy?"
"Andy was here earlier pero ngayon he's out for a date. Kath's downstairs cooking our dinner."
"Ok ok, good. See you soon okay? I'll be back on Monday."
"Daddy... Ang sad ng boses mo."
"What? No baby I'm just a little tired."
"Are you sure?"
*over Jeanne's line: JEAAAAAAAAANNEEEE DINNER'S REAAADYYYY*
"Oh, Dad, Kath's calling."
"Okay okay eat your dinner ok? Let's go out soon. I love you."
"Ok. Dad... I want to read you a quote tonight."
"Sure sweetie."
"Okay, this is the line what Fairy Estrella told Princess Michelle... 'Always do what makes you happy. Because you'll never know if that can also make other people smile.' Soooo turn that frown upside down!!!"
"Uhm..."
"I read you that quote because you seems sad. I just want my dad to be the happiest man on earth. Enjoy your stay there, I love you!!!"
And she hung up. He smiled and realized how lucky it is to have an understanding daughter, who also happened to be smart. She was only 8, but she asks as if she can handle everything, she acts as if he's stronger than his dad.
He went online only for a few minutes, and tweeted for updates. Afterwards he went out the cottage.
It was already dark, the only thing that's lighting up the walkway are the post lights. He went further to Sarah's cottage.
"Serah? Are you there?"
He knocked several times but it seems she's not inside. So, he went to the front desk and asked if the dinner was ready.
He kept on calling Sarah but her phone's in airplane mode. So, he just went to the floating dining room by himself.
When he got there, he saw the other plate with leftovers. It must have been Sarah,
"So kumain na siya nang hindi ako tinatawag? That girl." Bamboo murmured as he sit down and eat by himself.
Afterwards, he heard splashes of water in the infinity pool. As soon as he's done eating, he went there to check if it was Sarah.
When he got there, he saw a silhouette of a girl who seems to playing and dancing with the waters.
He stopped for a while and observed her. She resembled someone he knew...
A vague image of another woman appeared in her mind. 'She looks like her'... he thought. Then, he snapped out of it and walked closer.
he said to himself he was right, it was Sarah. Enjoying the infinity pool all by herself.
And of course, she's not wearing a bikini.
"Hi." He said as she looked at her back. Sarah was looking far away to the extreme view of the shore. She was resting her arms on the edge of the infinity pool.
"Heyyyy Seraaaaaaaah." He repeated.
"Oh, Bamboo! Gising ka na pala. Pinatawag kita kay kuya kanina kaso tulog ka pa raw. Eh gutom na ko kaya nauna na ako." She swim until she reached the other end where Bamboo was standing.
"Hello." She looked at him again
"Hi," he bend his knees and dipped his fingers in the cool water of the pool.
"Gusto mo magswimming?"
"Uhm no thanks."
"Hindi naman malamig. Pampa-tanggal stress oh."
"Nope."
"KJ."
"I won't swim with a girl who doesn't wear a bikini." He tapped her pointed nose.
"Aba, ang arte mo!" She pulled him close and immediately fell into the pool.
"Dang Serah!!!" Bamboo was so surprised on what she did.
"Haha! Ayan swimming na tayo yehey!!!"
She splashes water to him and he did the same. Sarah was so cheerful that made him smile and enjoy too. They played in the water and showed off who's the better swimmer. They played around for a couple of minutes.
"Looook I'm a mermaaaaid!"
"Nope."
"Sama mo. Atleaaast I can do this!"
"That's not how you do it. Malulunod ka niyan kapag hindi mo binalance ang sarili mo."
"Weh. Ilang taon na ko nagsswimming eh."
"Put your weight somewhere else! You look like a penguin na nagsswim!"
"Eh pano ba gusto ko ganito ako!"
"Don't be stupid you could do better!"
"Makastupid ka ah!"
"Hahaha!!! Balance it kase here!!"
Then Bamboo unconsciously held her waist.
"Here!!"
That moment, Sarah was frozen. It seemed that she was electrocuted by the hands of his. Bamboo, on the other hand, felt something. He didn't realize how sexy she was until he touched her curves. Both seemed to be awkward with what they did. Bamboo was still holding her, Sarah's back was turned, he was staring at her prominent neck...
"Having fun there?" Sarah cracked.
"Oh, sorry. I was just telling you to balance your weight." Embarrassed, he let go of her.
"Enjoy mo naman? Lol"
"Nope, you're fat."
"What?!"
"You're fat."
"Fat ka diyan! I lose weight na nga eh! Hindi na nga ako nakakakain!!" She splashes the water once again.
"Oh, that explains the empty shells of shrimps and crabs sa plate mo kanina." He teased.
"Gutom ako!! 2 hours kitang inantay ha!"
"Really?"
"Really."
"You could have eaten by yourself."
"The reason why I want to be here is because I want to help you. Bakit naman ako mageenjoy ng ako lang? I'm not that selfish."
"I know. It shows."
"Uhm."
"..."
"Okay.."
"Okay."
Both stared at each other. For the first time, they felt super nervous. How long did they not realize it? It has been compressed for a long time. Something that's been in their subconscious, that they continue to ignore.
And all of the sudden Sarah turned to face Bamboo believing it could lessen the tension but she made it worse. Sarah was staring at Bamboo. His white shirt fitted his body, his hair is all over the place, the wet look made him look more appealing. And his eyes that looks so foreign and sexy. She also noticed his detailed features, how his nose and lips complemented his face.
Bamboo was looking straight to her eyes. It didn't seem that he noticed her almost see-through shirt. He noticed that her eyes were really clear, it wasn't the contacts that made her eyes look so vibrant. It was natural.
"Uhm... Ano, balik na tayo gabi na." Sarah awkwardly gestured and turned her back again.
Instantly, Bamboo grabbed her wrist and cupped her cheeks. She was surprised, she didn't move, her eyes was straight to his shirt.
Bamboo didn't know what he did, but he knows he wanted to grab her and so the reflexes. He took a deep breath, and whispered, "Serah..."
Sarah just closed her eyes. But she's still facing down. Because of the silence you can almost hear their hearts pounding.
Bamboo hugged her tight.
He was about to kiss her on the lips..
But he hesitate, and ended up kissing her in the forehead.
She didn't know what to react so she stood still.
They remained like that for a few seconds, no one wanted to let go. But they both knew they had too.
Sarah was the first one to pull herself away.
They both went up from the pool, she took her bathrobe, while he was just standing and staring at her.
"Ah, mauna na ko." Sarah gave a faint smile.
"Sure."
***
"Ate.. Usaaap tayo minsan."
Sarah texted her sister. She was still shaking and blushing. She cannot contain what she's feeling right now. Is she happy? Is she mad? No one can define her mixed emotions. She liked to share it with her closest bestfriend, her sister but afterwards she realized that it will be so awkward so she decided not to.
"Sarah. Kumalma ka. Wag mong gawing big deal iyon."
"Laking amerika si mr sungit, malamang normal lang iyang mga ginagawa niya diba. So walang ibig sabihin yun."
She kept on talking to herself...
"Pero kahit na... GINAWA BA NIYA TALAGA IYON?!" She was smiling and giggling.
"Hindi, hindi mo pwede ipahalata. Act like nothing happened."
"Hoy Sars tama na. Nakakarami ka na ng ganyan. Wag kang umasa ok. Laro nalang tayo ng games."
She put out her ipad from the luggage. She plugged it in beside the bathroom because there were no available outlets. She took a quick shower.
Meanwhile, Bamboo was still sitting on his room's couch.
"Oh man, did I just do that?" Bamboo said to himself. He was just absorbing the things that happened earlier.
"But she was so---. Ugh." He closed his eyes and rest his face in his palms.
In his vision, he saw a vague image of a woman, again.
"You shouldn't have." That woman said in his mind.
Bamboo opened his eyes, checked around the room and believed he was hallucinating. He unpacked his clothes and took some with him inside the bathroom.
"OH SHIT SERIOUSLY?!!!!" Bamboo screamed.
***
It started to rain heavy. Sarah was already done and she was in her sleepwear. She was wearing a night shorts which is literally, short and a pink top. She was drying her hair with a blower when she heard a knock.
"Seraaaaaahhhh!!!!!"
A familiar voice was heard from the outside. Sarah was surprised, she didn't know he wanted to see her face after what happened. From there, she assumed that for him, it was nothing. So, she conditioned herself to be the normal Sarah infront of him.
"Serah nababasa na ako!!!"
"Ito na! Sorry!!" She opened the door and saw, a drenched Bamboo.
"Bakit ka nandito?"
"Pa-shower."
"Ha? Wala ka bang shower sa villa?"
"Meron."
"Eh bakit ka pa magsshower dito?"
"Uhm. The shower head's broken."
"Bakit di mo nalang pinaayos may staffs naman na umiikot?"
"It's late."
"It's only 10:30."
"Ok. Sige na. I saw 3 cockroaches sa shower area. Lumabas sila pagbukas ko ng faucet." Bamboo hesitantly explained.
Sarah couldn't hide it so she blurted out a very loud laugh. She couldn't believe what she heard.
"OH MY GOD BAMBOO!!! HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!! TAKOT KA SA IPIS?!!! SERYOSO???? HAHAHHAA!!!"
"Just please let me in!!!"
Then a roaring thunder stopped the two. The rain is getting pretty mad. Finally, Sarah let Bamboo in.
"Hahahaha. Sorry nakakatawa ka talaga."
"Okay na?"
"HAHAHAHHHA. Ayan ok na."
"Sino ngayon ang masama satin?"
"Eh kasi naman.. Hahaha."
"Anyway, can I?" He pointed out the bathroom.
"Ay sige wait kunin ko lang yung gamit ko."
He followed her but only until outside the bathroom door. Sarah picked up the things she left on the bathroom floor. Bamboo glanced and saw her that instantly caught his eye. He didn't notice how short her night wear are. It exposed her long skinny legs and the fitted top enhanced her curves more. He can't help but stare at her. When she turned back, he immediately set his eyes away.
"Ayan, malinis na. Lagay mo nalang yung damit mo doon sa rack."
"Okay, okay, thank you."
Bamboo immediately went inside. If he stayed with her longer, he might explode. It's the first time his heart pounded like that. Sarah, on the other hand, set her mind about not thinking of what happened with the two of them.
The rain is getting louder and heavier than ever, Sarah sat down beside the bathroom door and checked her ipad for updates.
"Bagyong Julio: Nasa Visayas na!"
"Typhoon Julio expected from Heavy to Intense level."
"VISAYAS AREA WARNING; EVACUATE ASAP"
She scanned more to check about the updates.
"Bamboo!! May bagyo pala dito!!!"
"Oh really? What signal?"
"Signal no.3!!! Expected pang lalakas mamaya!"
"Are you sure? I'll contact them later wait."
Shortly, Sarah's phone was flooded by text messages by families and friends. They knew she was in Visayas.
Her mom tried calling her but the signal is badly broken, she just texted everyone that she's fine.
And then she received a facetime call from Yeng, good thing the internet connection is quite cooperative.
"Hi ate Sars!!!" Yeng was on the screen, she was with other ASAP Stars, they seemed to be inside a dancing room.
"Hi Yeng! Oh, Luis! Hi Iya! Hi Papa P!!"
"Kamusta Sars? May bagyo daw diyan! Magiingat kayo ha! Okay?" Luis reminded her with concern.
"Oo naman, salamat! Medyo malakas na nga ang hangin at ulan dito eh."
"Si Iana??"
"Ah eh, nasa Tacloban. Nasa mama niya."
"Wait, where are you ba Sarah?" Iya asked.
"Uhm... Sa Guiuan.."
"Guiuan? Wait akala ko sa Tacloban ang ASAP Reachout??" Piolo asked.
"Ah eh, ano.. bumisita lang ako dito sa Calico-an kasi maganda raw."
"Okay, wait. Calico-an? Sars delikado ha! Beach side iyan!!!! Baka may mangyari sa iyo!" Luis said, now in more concerned tone.
"Ay okay pa naman kami." She assured.
"Kayo? Sino kasama mo????" Now they're curious.
"Si... Ano... Kasi eh---"
Bamboo went out the bathroom, only with a towel wrapped around his hips. They saw him behind Sarah and they were in state of shock.
"You're with Bam..boo?" Iya whispered in the screen.
Bamboo didn't seem to notice them because he took his bag and went inside the bathroom again without saying a word.
Sarah was just speechless.
"Sars. Anong nangyayari diyan." Luis asked.
"Meron ba kaming dapat malaman?" Yeng asked.
"Anong ginagawa niyo? Bakit kayo lang dalawa diyan ha?" Piolo added.
"Ui wag kayong malisyoso diyan! Okay, oo siya lang ang kasama kong magpunta dito... Mahabang storya bakit kami nagpunta dito. Pero to clarify things, magkaiba ho kami ng villa!!!"
"Eh how do you explain what we saw earlier?" Iya asked.
"Eh kasi..... Nasira yung showerhead niya sa cr!!! Tapos di mapalitan agad eh gusto na niyang magshower, kaya inoffer ko muna yung akin tapos na naman ako gumamit."
"AHHHHHHHHHH." All of them replied in a sarcastic synchronized tone.
"Ano ba tigilan niyo nga ako!!!"
"Walang nangyari sa inyo???" Luis initiated.
"Wala!!!"
"Talaga?"
"Oo wala!"
"Peksman?"
"Peksman!!"
"Mamatay man kuko mo sa paa?"
"Oo! Pero wag naman sana!"
"Promise? Mawalan na ng career?"
"PROMISE PERO SANA HANGGANG 60 NASA INDUSTRIYA PARIN AKO!!"
"SIGURADO KANG WALANG NANGYARI KAHIT ANO?!!!"
Sarah instantly remembered what happened in the pool, and she immediately blushed.
"AYUN NA! AYUN NA!" Luis shouted and the rest of them teased her.
"Hindi nga eh!!! Ang kulit niyo naman! Wala talaga! Sige magagalit ako ibababa ko to..."
"Ay hindi na hindi na, ikaw naman Sara hindi ma mabiro."
"Pero wala po talaga.. Kayo naman, papatulan ba ako non."
"Ano ka ba kaya nga akowozjkakfkqkoajxkw------------"
Facetime Disconnected.
She checked her mobile wifi, and it has no signal. Same as through with her phone signal. The last update she saw from twitter was that Tacloban City seemed to be a zombie town because most of them evacuated immediately. On the other hand, Guiuan Samar should also do the same as it was expected to have stronger heavy rains on midnight.
Sarah's starting to get scared. She stood up, took her gadgets and went in the bed to get her flashlight and necessities. Few seconds after the lights went off.
"BAMBOOOOOO!!!!!" Sarah's afraid of the dark.
Bamboo opened the door, he was already done grooming, and he was also surprised with the sudden blackout.
"Serah? Where are you?" The room was literally dark, you can't even see any shadows.
"Bamboo nasa kama ako." Sarah was crying.
"Okay I'll go there!"
He immediately went straight to the bed, his phone was already dead.
"Bamboo!!!!" Sarah grabbed his arm. Bamboo opened the flashlight and saw her face again.
"What the Hell Serah are you crying?!"
"Ang diliiiiim!!" She was still crying like a child.
"Seriously? Ang hina agad ng flashlight mo!!!"
With this, Bamboo got more tensed in the situation, they cannot contact anyone. They cannot go out because of the strong wind and heavy rain. He was mad and stressed out, but she saw Sarah who was really scared, so he comforted her...
"Ui, don't cry. Don't cry. I'm not good at this ok. Basta kumalma ka lang. Stay here okay. Stay here. I'll check lang sa window."
Bamboo let go of her, he stood up and walked towards the windows, he looked outside and saw fallen trees, trees about to fall and flying debris everywhere. He was also surprised to his villa, covered by fallen trees, and it seems that the glass walls of the bathroom are already shattered into pieces.
Not for long he heard a loud shatter in the bathroom. The wind was roaring, the rain was heavier than ever, and Sarah's sob was louder.
"Bamboo... Asan ka na please? Ang diliiim!!!!!!" Sarah was still crying.
Instead of getting mad, he felt a genuine concern concern and unconsciously, he thought of something else. Or someone else.
'Did she feel the same way too, is she this helpless too?'
And again, the faint image of hers appeared in his head. His mind is boggling him again.
They have nowhere to run. Bamboo just went back to the bed and comforted Sarah, who was still tearing up because it was still dark.
"Hey, hey, look at me. I'm here. I'm here. Okay?"
"Okay..."
He cupped her cheeks and wiped her tears.
"Don't make me nervous Sarah. Please don't cry like that again."
"I-law.. Wala paring ilaw eh.."
"I know. Just, kumalma ka lang, please. Can I borrow your phone?"
"Ito oh.."
"Shit, wala paring signal."
"Pano tayo niyan???? Delikado na dito bakit hindi tayo sinabihan na--"
"Shh. Maybe they have no idea rin na ganito kalakas. Diba?"
*super OA na thunderstorm and mas lumakas ang ulan and hangin* (sorry di ko alam pano idescribe iyan ng intense level hehe)
"Bamboo..." She grabbed him tight.
"Don't be scared." He stroke her hair lightly trying to comfort her.
"Dito ka lang. Dito ka lang sa tabi ko please nakakatakot."
"... Shh. Dito lang ako."