THE LOVER : Lucius Marco

[Dieciocho] QUÉ

Maximo leans on his desk, looking at his son. "You'll be a big help, Lucius." A somewhat victorious smile has plastered on his lips. Napataas ang kilay ni Lucius habang tinititigan ang papa niya.

"What do you mean?" Tanong nito. He watches his dad opened a drawer on his desk, took out a brown envelope then places it infront of Lucius. Hindi naman siya nagdadalawang isip at kinuha niya ito't binuksan.

His eyes widened at the picture of a woman that he took out from the envelope.

"How did you-"

"You know her. Hindi ba, hijo?" With a sly smirk, he asked his son. Puno naman ng katanungan ang isip ni Lucius.

Why does he have a picture of her?
Anong kailangan niya sa kanya?
May nagawa ba siya?
Magkakakilala ba sila?
The hell is going on?

With his eyebrows furrowed. "What the heck is this, papa?" He asked.

"Language, Lucius." Suway ng ama.

"I need answers." Slightly gritting his teeth, he stated in a somewhat authoritative tone. Napabuntong hininga naman si Maximo at pasimpleng naglakad palapit sa kanyang sariling swivel chair. He sits down then leans his back on it, looking at his son emotionlessly.

"I need her."

Lucius clenches his jaw.

"She can be her replacement."

He doesn't know why but his blood suddenly boils. This topic annoys him. No matter what the reason is, "She's not a thing, papa. You're not allowed to use her."

"Hear me out, anak." Maximo moves his swivel chair closer to his desk, leaning his elbows on it. Staring at Lucius right in his eyes before he talks.

"She'll be our success."

---

"Babalik ka pa sa homeroom?" Tanong ni Kyline habang kain ng kain ng fishball na itinitinda sa labas ng campus nila. Emmanuela nodded while swallowing the water she drank, she just finished eatint hers.

"Ilang weeks kana nitu-tutor ni Sir Marco?" Tanong ni Frudo.

"More like 2 weeks?" She annoyingly scratched her head. "Porkchop, ba't ko kasi nakalimutan cellphone ko?" Nakangusong saad ni Emmanuela.

"Ayan, tatanga tanga." Kyline commented. "Hihintayin kapa ba namin?" She added.

Emmanuela shaked her head and said. "Don't bother. Mauna na kayo."

"Sigurado ka?" Emmanuela smiled and nodded after Frudo asked. "Lagpas na nga ng 30 minutes after dismissal time which is time ng tutor n'yo. And from the looks of it, Sir Marco may not be the type of professor who waits. Kaya wag ka nalang-" Hindi natapos si Frudo sa sasabihin niya nang biglang pinalamon ni Kyline ang natirang fishball sa bibig ni Frudo.

"Shhhh. Shut up na. Baka naghihintay pa si Sir Marco." Nakangising saad niya. Frudo looked at her grumpily while chewing on the fishball. He then wipes the sauce off of his lower lips while Emmanuela chuckled at them.

"Napaka ano neto." He murmurs.

"Ano? Ha?" Smiling widely, Kyline asked with a warning tone.

"Wala! Tara na nga." Sabi ni Frudo sabay hatak kay Kyline. "Mag ingat ka pag uwi." Dagdag pa niya habang nakatingin kay Emmanuela.

She smiled. "Ako dapat nagsasabi n'yan eh kasi kayo ang uuwi."

"Ayy susss, we'll be fine as usual." Kyline stated while smiling. "Wag magpaabot ng dilim!" Bilin niya sabay kaway sa kaibigan niya.

"Ba't naman siya aabutin ng dilim-"

"Tara na, dami mong satsat eh." Hindi nakatapos magsalita si Frudo ng hinatak ito ni Kyline hanggang sa hindi na ito makita ni Emmanuela. Napangiti naman siya.

This is gonna be awkward. She's silently walking towards their homeroom, seeing the door slight ajar, she knows that there's a possibility that he's in there. Waiting for her.

Her heart starts to beat fast. She can't identify if its because she's excited to see him again or just nervous because she'll see her professor that fucked her last night.

She messed up big time. But she didn't even complain about it.

Clenching on her handbag, she gathers all of her courage as she slowly opened the door wide, her eyes immediately landed on him sitting on the teacher's table while leaning his back in the chair. He's reading a book while wearing his earphones.

He looks focused on what he's reading. She took advantage to stare.

How can he be so... stunning as a man?

Emmanuela blinked a few times then looks away when he glances at her. With a little smile, he takes off his earphone then puts both of the book and earphone down on the table.

"You're late." In a soft tone of his voice, he said. That is quite new.

Hindi niya mapigilan kundi ngumiti sa guro. "Uhm, sorry. We went out to grab a..." Bahagya siyang napahinto sa sinasabi niya nang tumayo si Lucius at naglakad palapit sa kanya. "...bite." She continued.

Nakataas ang isang kilay, "Bite?" Tanong ni Lucius habang nakatayo sa harapan ni Emmanuela. She purses her lips before answering.

"I mean, kumain muna kami ng snacks saglit." Paliwanag nito. He nodded then reaches out for the door behind her. She slightly backs off as she watch him lean in. He grabs the door knob then closes the door behind her. Their faces are close to each other. Emmanuela can hear his breathing. She can't stop but stare at his eyes, down to his lips. Which she tasted last night. She still remembers the taste of it a while ago, but now she's looking at it, it seems like the taste faded and his lips are tempting her to get it.

"No, Ms. Besar. We're in school." She stopped when he talked, she didn't even noticed that she was slowly leaning in. Agad lumayo si Emmanuela kay Lucius. Akmang lalakad na sana ito papunta sa desk niya ay hinawakan ni Lucius ang bewang niya at hinipa palapit sa kanya. He then pressed his lips on her forehead.

"Sorry I didn't gave you an aftercare. I was on a rush." He lowers his voice as he speaks while looking at Emmanuela in the eyes. She looked at him quite surprise for what he said.

Akala niya babalewalain lang siya ni Lucius dahil mukha naman ito tao na mas pipiliin ang dignidad at reputasyon niya kaysa sa sino mang tao. Pero... may pake din pala siya sa kanya.

He actually... cares for me? That's new.

"Uhm... a-ayos lang." She looked away. "I wasn't expecting anyways." She excused.

"You sure?" He holds her chin, making her look at him. "Wala bang masakit sayo?" He sounds worried as he asked the question, making her heart beat.

Innocently, she shakes her head slowly. He plastered a small smile on his face.

"Good. Now let's proceed to our lesson, shall we?" Still with a smile, he asked. Napatango nalang din naman si Emmanuela.

"Alright," He nodded then grabs a book from his desk. Dahan dahan naman napalakas si Emmanuela patungo sa desk niya at napaupo.

He's sweet. Staring at him. "Also, do you have plans after our tutor?" She blinked when he glances at her.

"Uhm.. I don't think so po." Mahinhin na sagot ng dalaga. Napangiti naman si Lucius.

"Alright, then let's have dinner after this." Her mouth agape on what she heard.

"Po?" Tama ba yung narinig ko?

"We'll start from where we left off last tutor session." Completely ignoring her, he writes the lessons on the white board. Nakatulala lang din naman si Emmanuela habang tinititigan ang guro niya.

Is he serious?

Ganito ba talaga 'pag ano...?

He ignored me, hindi ba ako pwedeng umayaw?

What if aayaw ako?

Aayaw ba ako? ._.