Pizza Boy

Chewy Mozzarella

"Napapayag mo agad si Tatay?"

Meng wondered aloud. They just finished lunch from a restaurant they saw earlier and were now inside RJ's car. She already gave up trying to make him say where he's bringing her, so she moved on to the next topic inevitable: grilling him about the IAMPAT that occurred earlier.

"Ano ba pinag-usapan niyo?" But he was just smiling and looking at the road. "RJ kasiiiiiii."

"What? Meng nagdadrive ako."

"Parang ikwekwento lang naman!" Meng pouted, that when RJ looked at her he chuckled at her cuteness.

"What happened to that catfish when you broke up pala?"

Meng started, surprised at the sudden question. "Huh?"

"Sabi kasi ni Sir Mendoza na huwag na huwag lang daw kita sasaktan... tapos sabi niya, dadalhin niya daw itak niya pagkatapos mo sakin. Because, he said, you're thoroughly capable of protecting and handling yourself. Back up na lang daw siya."

RJ turned towards her and found that she was trying to stifle her smile. "Ah... That. Kasi, ano..."

"Ano?"

"When Denver and I broke up, I sort of got back at him. That guy has a lot of mirrors around him. It's his collection. Sa bahay niya, his most prized possession is this huge antique mirror hanging in his living room."

"So nakarating ka na pala sa bahay niya?"

"That is what you noticed?" Meng couldn't help her laughter.

"But, I don't mind. Kasi nakarating ka lang sa bahay niya," he briefly flashed her a bedimpled smile. "Pero sa bahay ko, dun ka titira."

Meng flushed and rolled her eyes. "Shut up."

"Kilig ka naman."

"Eh pano kung gusto ko nga tumira sa bahay mo? Pakasalan na kita?"

RJ froze. Meng laughed at him. "Oh? Kilig ka naman?"

He hastily changed the subject. "Tuloy mo na lang kwento mo."

"Oh, well. That's about it. I used blood-red lipstick to write haunted things on his mirrors. All of them; pocket mirrors, the mirrors in his cabinet, the antique mirrors, the one hidden under his dashboard..." she snickered. "He was so scared it took him a few weeks before he was able to look at mirrors again. He stayed at his mother's during those weeks, tapos nung pinalinis lang tsaka nalaman na lipstick lang naman yun."

RJ bit his lip to keep himself from grinning. "You're scary."

"I know," Meng sent him an equally playful grin. "Perks of being a writer; I can come up with a lot of things. So learn your lesson, Mr. Faulkerson."

"That you're scary and mean when you want to be?"

"That when I do revenge, I take it out..." She smirked. "On your most prized possession."

And despite himself, God bless him, RJ gulped and crossed his legs. Meng didn't miss this, and she ended up chuckling to herself. "Oh, tapos? Ano pa pinag-usapan niyo ni Tatay?"

"It was literally an interview, Meng. He asked me what my job was and if I love what I do. He said he needed someone who could provide for you, and in order to do that I needed to love my job so I wouldn't have to lose it. Or yung papalit-palit."

"And what did you tell him?"

"Of course I do. Dahil kaya sa trabahong 'to kaya kita nakilala."

Meng hummed in response, nodding. "Ano pa?"