End Game

Chapter Twenty-Three

Ano na 'yung massage?

Pinigilan kong mapaingos nang maglapag si Saint ng tasa ng tsaa sa aking harapan. Itinuon ko na lamang ang aking atensyon sa binabasa at nagkunwaring sobrang busy kaya hindi ko na napansin pa ang ginawa niya. Kahit ang totoo ay hindi ko naman na talaga naiintindihan kung ano ba ang nakasaad sa mga report na ito dahil naiinis ako.

It had been almost an hour since Paeng, Gray and the others left. Pero 'yung massage ko, wala pa rin! Okay, medyo busy nga kami pareho ngayon dahil may kung anong pinapagawa sa kaniya si Paeng lalo na at sa isang araw na ang trial. Kaya lang naiinis pa rin ako dahil siya naman ang nagsabi nu'n, ah! Tapos hindi niya gagawin? Sana pala nagnakaw na lang ako ng cookies kay Gray kanina kung ganoon.

"It's chamomile," sabi niya nang hindi ko pa rin pansinin ang tea.

Alam ko naman kung ano 'yun, hindi lang talaga iyon ang gusto ko. Bahagya na lang akong tumango, pretending to be so into what I was doing.

I caught Saint grinning from my peripheral vision, but I kept my eyes trained on the reports in front of me. Umupo siya sa tabi ko at inabala na rin ang sarili sa ginagawa. Parang wala naman talagang balak na i-massage ako! Hmp!

Pasimple kong minasahe ang aking leeg, baka lang makaramdam siya katulad kagabi. But didn't move. He was too busy scanning the papers in front of him. I sighed loudly, trying to get his attention, but he didn't even glance up.

Nakakainis na, ah!

I shifted in my seat, annoyed. Sapakin ko na lang kaya siya para maalala niyang pinangakuan niya ako ng massage? Would that work? That would be too humiliating.

"You okay?" Saint asked suddenly, still not looking up from the papers.

Hindi ako sumagot. Tumango lang. Wala akong pakialam kung nakita niya ba o hindi iyon.

Saint leaned back in his chair, watching me for a moment before he turned back to his reading. "Take a break kung napapagod ka..."

I huffed, rolling my eyes. Hindi pa rin ako nagsalita. I figured I wouldn't talk hangga't hindi niya ako minamasahe. Isip bata na talaga, pero I needed that massage.

Saint continued to glance at me from time to time, sipping his tea as he flipped through the forensic reports. He looked completely unbothered, which only made me more annoyed. So, ganoon na lang iyon? Napairap ako. Uwi na lang kaya ako? Sa bahay ko na lang basahin ang mga ito. Wala naman palang massage.

I busied myself by highlighting sections in the report, underlining critical details, even though half of it barely registered in my brain. All I could think about was how much I needed that massage—and how much I didn't want to ask him for it... ever.

"Did you go over the toxicology report again? There's something weird in the timeline with when the drugs could've been administered." Biglang sabi niya. At dahil seryosong kailangan nito ng atensyon ko ay hindi ko tuloy magawang hindi siya pansinin katulad ng plano ko.

Pero hindi ko pa rin siya nilingon. "I already highlighted that. Page six, bottom section."

He paused for a second, flipping to the page I mentioned. "Yeah, here. If the drugs were in her system before 11:00 PM, but they didn't take effect until closer to 12:30 AM, it means there's a gap we're not accounting for."

I nodded, keeping my eyes on the paper in front of me. "There's definitely a gap. That's why I've been focusing on the timeline of events, especially the last hour before the incident."

He took another sip of his tea, then leaned forward, his elbows on the table as he studied me. "You're still tense."

Leche! Hindi mo naman ako minamasahe. Puro ka lang sabi dyan!