"That's sweet."
I smiled.
"May mga nagsasabing hindi sila naniniwala na magboyfriend kayo. What can you tell them?"
"Hindi naman po kami namimilit. I tried so hard to keep quiet para maging safe sya sa bashers, sa issues, sa pagiging public, we actually had never went out together in public dahil sa takot kong makunan sya ng picture at maikalat at magkaissue."
"Bakit ganoon mo na lang sya protektahan?"
"He's a professional. He's passionate on what he does. Ayaw ko lang na pati ang trabaho nya magkaroon ng issue. Pinaghirapan nya po ang career nya at ayaw ko po talagang maging cause ng damage doon."
"We can clearly see how you wanted to protect him, how you love him. And with the same intentions as you have, let's welcome on the show, Doctor Raphael Javier..."
Syempre kahit na alam ko namang kasali sya, nagpanggap akong nasurprise. May paghampas pa nga ako, at may pabulaklak naman sya. He kissed my head as he take the seat beside me.
"Magandang hapon Doc Raphael, welcome to the program"
"Magandang hapon po, at salamat sa paanyaya."
"Salamat din sa pagkakataong ito. Salamat dahil nagtiwala ka sa amin."
Paeng smiled sweetly.
"Yaman din namang inamin na ni Aiesa ang relasyon nyo kani-kanina lamang, what can you say?"
"Umamin ka na?"
I slapped him softly. Sarap din talaga nitong sakalin. Galing magpapansin. Tuwang tuwa naman si Tita Vicky.
Then he smiled at me and hold my hand. Pogi nga din talaga netong taong to.
"Kidding, I've watched you from backstage Love."
"Well Tita Vicky, I've always wanted to boast her. Sobrang tagal ko syang pinangarap. You know, seeing her from afar, looking at her with just a glance, at ng naging girlfriend ko na sya, gusto ko itong ipagmalaki sa mundo. Imagine the girl singing Beauty and the Beast as a young Sharon that you've been crushing since seven years ago, naging girlfriend mo, hindi ka ba naman maging masaya? Imagine that beautiful lady you just admired from the screen come to life."
Napatingin ako kay Paeng. I did not know he knew my filmography. Alam nya na naging batang Sharon ako? That was freaking 7 years ago!
"What do you call each other?"
"Love."
"Who said I love you first?"
"She did."
"You did?"
I nodded. This is part of the story to make it more convincing.
"Aiesa said I love you first to you?"
"He tricked me Tita Vicky!"
"How?"
"If people don't know, Ayie knows five languages, English, Filipino, German, Korean and Spanish. I tried asking her to translate things. Then ask to read things for me. I let her read a poem in German, it's about love. Because she got so engrossed reading, sinamantala ko na and ask her things that were only answerable by yes or no."
"He asked me if the aircon is okay, if we're eating ice cream after, if I'll be dropped of my house, if we'll attend my cousin's birthday, and I keep answering Yes. Tapos he asked me na pala if I love him so I answered Yes then tapos he asked, so tayo na? I answered Yes again."
Tita Vicky is laughing.
"That's how we became official. Hindi ko na po kasi mabawi."
"She's most honest every time she's engrossed with something."
