Incognito

Chapter 25

NANG LUMINGON SI Vera sa likuran niya, nakita niyang naglalakad palapit sa kanya si Gwynette, may parang kinakabahang ngiting nakaukit sa mga labi.

Gwynette was walking beside an emotionless Amon, and following them were her crew-Jaja, her twenty-five year old PA, the forty-plus-year-old male cameraman who was holding his camera, the thirty-plus year-old male assistant cameraman who also held a camera, Divine, the female makeup artist in her thirties, and another man, in his twenties, who was probably the propsman because he was holding the tripods, a propsman who didn't look a propsman at all because, well, he was good-looking. Ngayon lang niya ang lalaking ito sa grupo ni Gwynette.

There was no writer because Gwynette almost always wrote her own TV commercial script.

Lumapit sa mesa si Gwynette, naupo paharap sa nakatayo pa ring si Cree. Nakatingin pa rin sa kanya si Cree, may maliit na ngiti sa labi. Iniiwas niya ang mga mata rito. Kung ano ang nasa isip nito ng mga sandaling iyon, ayaw niyang basahin.

You can run but you can't hide.

That was probably the message he was trying to relay to her.

Inilapag ni Gwynette ang dala nitong laptop sa mesa at tumingin sa kanya at ngumiti-it was a guilty smile. Pinagitnaan nina Jaja at Divine ng upo si Gwynette habang ang tatlong lalaki ay lumagpas sa sa mesa.

The cameraman and the propsman walked on the pathway behind Cree while the assistant cameraman walked on a different pathway, the one on the left of the pathway that the cameraman and the propsman treaded on-and they all quietly started setting up their equipment.

Gwynette told her that she would have a gorgeous male partner in this commercial. Inilibot ni Vera ang tingin niya, bukod sa propsman, wala siyang nakikitang guwapong lalaki sa paligid. Pero mukhang handa nang mag-shoot ng commercial si Gwynette at ang mga tao nito. Cree was there and he was gorgeous, yes, but there was no way he'd be involved in this TV commecial. Kilala ito ni Gwynette at alam nito kung ano si Cree sa buhay niya at kung gaano kasidhi ang paghahangad niya na iwasan ito.

Naatraso lang siguro ng dating ang guwapong lalaking iyon, kung sino man iyon.

Mabilis niyang sinulyapan si Cree na ng mga sandaling iyon ay nakaupo na bago niya inilipat ang tingin kay Gwynette. "Ano'ng ginagawa niya rito?" tanong niya kay Gwynette na ang tinutukoy ay si Cree. Hindi niya hininaan ang boses, mas maganda kung maririnig agad at malalaman ni Cree na hindi niya gusto ang presensiya nito roon at wala siyang balak maupo hangga't naroroon ang lalaki.

Tumayo si Gwynette, may iniukit na malaki ngunit parang kinakabahang ngiti sa mga labi habang nakatingin sa kanya. "He's a part of this TV commercial," Gwynette told her.

"Don't tell me he's the producer."

"No, he's not the producer."

Sumulyap si Vera sa direksiyon ng daan patungo sa pinto ng malaking bahay, tahimik na humihiling na lumitaw rito ang isang guwapong lalaking magiging leading man niya dahil kinakabahan na siya sa susunod na sasabihin ni Gwynette tungkol sa partisipasyon ni Cree sa commercial. Gwynette's little script required that her partner in the commercial should be tall, should look really manly and drop-dead gorgeous-parang inilarawan lang nito si Cree.

"He's..." Gwynette cleared her throat. "He's your partner, actually."

Vera looked intently at Gwynette's face for a few seconds, looking for clues that she was just joking. Her lips didn't show a hint of a smile but her eyes did. "You're kidding," Vera said, chuckling a nervous chuckle.

"I'm not," Gwynette declared, her eyes getting more replayful.

"I wasn't aware that you know each other."