One Summer with the Sinner (Monteverde Series 5)

12

Chapter Twelve

"I've never had a picnic before," Asheng said in between bites. She had a half-eaten apple in one hand. Today, she looked more delicate than usual. She is wearing a sleeveless white top paired with denim shorts. She didn't even have any jewelry on, but man, she looked like a million bucks. Damn.

"Me, too." I took a banana out of the picnic basket that she brought with her. As I peeled it off, I listened to the sound of lapping water coming from the lake in front of us. This is part of our property here in Daet, and though I didn't particularly enjoy swimming here when I was little, I was now starting to appreciate it every passing minute I'm spending with Asheng.

Who would've thought that I'll enjoy a simple picnic, in front of a lake, with a woman I've met while on vacation? If someone told me before that something like this was going to happen, I'd look at that person weirdly, and shrug everything off while laughing in disbelief.

"Asheng is such a weird name, you know? Bakit 'yun ang ipinangalan nila sa'yo? I tried to look you up on Instagram, but I can't find your profile." Yesterday, when I got home from horseback riding, I tried to search for Asheng on social media, but none of her profiles appeared. Not a single one. Instead, I discovered that there's a hotel in China called Asheng and a clothing store with a similar name. As an actor, I need to maintain my online presence for all the endorsements and to stay "relevant," as Luciana likes to put it, so I'm active on Instagram and on my Facebook page.

Asheng froze all of a sudden as if she didn't expect the question. Or maybe she did, but not this soon.

"It's a nickname, Vane."

"Oh." A nickname. "What's your real name?"

"It's not something I'm comfortable with. I usually just go by Asheng with people I'm close to." Tumango-tango ako. I realized that it may be a personal topic for her — one she's not yet ready to discuss, just like how I'm not ready to discuss the fact that I am a celebrity in Spain. When I picked her up from her house earlier, I thought about what kind of family and household Asheng grew up in. Halata namang may kaya siya sa buhay. She seemed very well-educated, politically-aware, and she carries herself with the kind of silent confidence that you don't always see, but you know is there.

Their house stands three-storey tall, painted neatly, as if it gets regularly renovated and refurbished for it to look modern and clean all the time. She also mentioned that Manang Soling was with her growing up, so she must have been her nanny.

I wondered what her parents do for a living. Could they be politicians? Bank managers? Engineers? Architects? I wanted to know, yet I didn't want to ask an information she did not willingly volunteer. I guess the important thing is that I know for certain that she was raised well. Maybe for now, that's all the information I need to know.

"People here used to call me Ben Jison when I was young, you know?" I smiled at the recollection of a childhood memory. "We had this helper who had a hard time speaking Tagalog due to her native dialect, so when she calls me, instead of it sounding the way it should be as Vane Jason, it comes out as Ben Jison."

"I like the sound of that. Noong bata ako, hindi pa Asheng ang tawag sa akin ng iba. They branded me with the name kasi sabi nila mahirap daw bigkasin ang tunay kong pangalan. People in the city call me by my real name and sometimes even when I'm not in Daet, I feel like I'll always be more of an Asheng lost in the metro, surrounded by so many people with different dreams and desires, and often times... I feel like my heart is not in the right place."

"Where should it be?"

"Here, living simply, with Manang, the kids. I have always wanted to stay here, but I know that I have a life in the city that I have to go back to, a family that misses me, and work that needs supervision." Asheng bit at the apple again, and this time the sound produced an audible crunch.