Dagger Series #3: Unscripted

Chapter 2: Trouble

"You wanted us to break up?" he whispered.

"Yep."

"You're just saying that to save face. Ayaw mo lang na mapahiya sa mga tao. Hindi mo lang matanggap na he chose me over you," sabi ni Michelle.

"Oh sweetie, do you think you're in a movie? I could care less about what people think of me. This is not a fairy tale and you're certainly not a princess. Hindi ka rin si Taylor Swift. She's the only person that I will be threaten with if she stole my boyfriend." Matamis na nginitian ko siya. "You think you got the prince? Kaiser is no prince, you poor thing. He's only a man that will inspire a lot of hate songs."

"Belaya, please. Can we talk?" Kaiser asked, his eyes pleading.

"Nope. I have a reservation." Binuksan ko ang bag ko at may kinuha ako roon. Inabot ko iyon kay Kaiser na nagtatakang tinignan iyon. "A recommendation. Diyan ako nagpapaayos ng sasakyan. They're good, you might need it."

Nanlaki ang mga mata niya at halos matumba pa si Michelle sa bilis ng kilos niya dahil sa sinabi ko. Binigyan ako ng masamang tingin ng babae pero wala na siyang nagawa kundi sumunod sa lalaki na halos takbuhin ang direksyon ng tumutunog pa rin na sasakyan. What a tool.

Papasok na sana ako nang may mapansin ako sa sasakyan na kanina ay ginawa kong drawing board. Mababa iyon at mula sa kinatatayuan ko ay parang flat ang lahat ng gulong no'n. That's weird. Hindi ko naman binutas iyon ah.

Ipinagkibit-balikat ko na lang iyon at pumasok na ako sa restaurant. I told the employee my name and she quickly ushered me to the seat that I reserved. Nasa may bintana iyon at pandalawahan lang ang upuan.

"Are you waiting for someone, Ms. Lawrence?" a waiter asked me as he placed a glass on my table.

I smiled at him. "No."

I'm comfortable eating alone. Hindi naman ito ang unang beses na kumain akong mag-isa sa isang mamahalin na restaurant. Mga tao lang naman ang nagbibigay ng ibig sabihin sa mga gano'n. Being alone doesn't mean you're lonely.

Binuksan ko ang menu at mabilis na ini-scan ko iyon. I ordered lobster toasts with espelette pepper for the hors d'oeuvres, the ribeye steak for the entrée, and I told him to come back if I decided I want a dessert.

"Do you want to see our wine collection?"

"No. I want your most expensive champagne. I'll pay for the bottle but I'll just need one glass since I'm driving." Nangalumbaba ako at nginitian ko siya. Lalong lumawak iyon nang makita kong napakurap siya at napatitig sa akin. "I have something to celebrate for."

Nang hindi pa rin siya umalis sa harapan ko ay nakangiti pa rin na tinitigan ko siya pabalik. His reaction is not uncommon specially when someone recognize me and it's also not uncommon even for people who don't know me.

It's the eyes. My parents are Filipinos but my eyes doesn't have the normal color for the natural born citizen of the country. Sa pamilya namin, Ate Vodka and Kuya Ram have these beautiful light brown eyes but me, Kuya Cross, our youngest sister Reika, and our mother have gray ones.

Our mom has this light gray eyes which she said she didn't always had. Nagkaroon ng mga pangyayari raw noon that put her in a coma and because of the other complications that came from the poison in her system that could have killed her, her eyes became like that. Hindi niya rin akalain na may makakamana sa amin. Iba nga lang ang sa amin ni Kuya Cross. It's a weird shade of gray and black. Like it's fighting between wanting to be gray or wanting to be black... with the gray side winning a bit more.

"Yes?" I asked the waiter that is still looking at me.

"S-Sorry po. Umm... pinapanood po kasi namin ng girlfriend ko ang mga palabas mo." Nagpalingon-lingon siya na parang kinakabahan na may makakita sa kaniya. "Alam ko pong baka mapapagalitan po ako, pero pwede po ba na magpa-autograph? Fan na fan kasi po siya."

Aww that's sweet. "Sure, no problem. Just give me a pen and a paper. Give your phone to me too so I could give her a video greeting."

Lumiwanag ang mga mata niya sa tuwa. "Thank you po!"

Tumingin ako sa labas ng bintana nang umalis na ang lalaki. I looked out the window and my eyes went to a midnight black car. It looks like a jeep wrangler or something. The car is huge. Pero hindi iyon ang dahilan kung bakit napatingin ako kundi sa taong nasa labas no'n.

He's still here.

Nakasandal si Pierce sa sasakyan habang nakatingin sa ibang direksyon pero nang mukhang maramdaman niya ang mga mata ko na nakatutok sa kaniya ay lumingon siya sa akin. Our gaze locked for a moment, his eyes trapping me as if we're under a spell. I couldn't look away... not until he did.

"Why are you still here?" I whispered to the air.

He stayed there for a long time. Nakadating na ang pagkain ko at lahat ay hindi pa rin siya umaalis. I don't know how long he stayed standing outside but when a tow truck came into view and a few minutes after, it's carrying the particular car I ruined, that's only when Pierce Dawson went inside his car.

"Sinisiguro niya ba na hindi ako guguluhin ni Kaiser kaya hindi siya umalis agad?"

I'll never know the answer to that question unless I see him again, but if there's one thing I'm sure of... I'm not the only one who committed a crime tonight. Dahil siguradong-sigurado ako na hindi ako ang bumutas sa mga gulong ng two timing ass na iyon.

Huh. Interesting.

Inabot ko ang bag ko nang marinig ko ang pagtunog no'n. Kinuha ko ang cellphone ko at napangiti ako nang makita kong ang kapatid ko na si Vodka ang tumatawag.

"Hello, my dearest, Ate!"

"Belaya."

I grinned at the sound of her voice. She sounded so much like our mother. Iyon bang parang malapit na niya akong pagalitan. "What did I do?"

"You asked Ram to hack a restaurant's security system."

That snitch. "Well... yeah."

"Belaya-"

"Do you want your beautiful sister to go to jail?"

"Kung hindi mo gustong makulong hindi ka dapat nag vandalism!"

"Ate, that jerk two-timed me. Remember what daddy always told us? Hindi dapat tayo pumapayag na agrabyaduhin ng iba. Sometimes people need to be taught a lesson."

Sandaling natahimik ang kapatid ko. If my parents are overprotective ay hindi nalalayo roon ang nakatatanda kong kapatid. Growing up, she's one of the few people that can make me listen... sometimes. Pero if I'm being honest, lahat naman sila protective sa akin. Bata pa lang daw kasi ako alam na nilang mas marami akong dadalin na sakit ng ulo sa pagtanda ko.

"There's a right way for that," she said.

"Ano? Reika will probably send him an email everyday just to make him see the error of his ways, Kuya Ram wanted to burn Kaiser's house, if that jerk is in surgery Kuya Cross will let him die on the table, but Kaiser will only be needing surgery because daddy will blow up his kneecaps. Don't get me started with Mom. She'll feed him to Star." Star's my Mom's pet snake. She's the daughter of Little who passed away early, and the granddaughter of Twinkle, my mother's first snake.

I'm not even kidding. My family is far from normal. Before the family business became the top security and investigative agency that it is now, it was far far different. They are more like a covert spy agency before. It's a long story but to make it short the business is legalized now though Kuya Ram said that the government is still giving them a loose rope.

"What's his name?"

"Hmm?" I asked.

"That jerk. What's his full name?"

And with that, I smiled widely. Poor Kaiser.