Alabang Boys Series #1
Jaesie Rosenthal knows what she brings to the table, and love is just another luxury she doesn't have any plan to buy. But a multi-million-peso agreement is something she will consider when it comes to business.
When Rico Dard...
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"JAE? WHERE are you?"
That was Arthas' last text message I received kaninang four ng hapon at half past nine na ng gabi. Kanina pa kami bumibiyahe ni Rico pabalik ng Manila. Anim na oras nang walang imikan sa pagitan naming dalawa at tahimik na rin naman ang phone ko pagkatapos ng huling text ni Arthas.
Lalong lumaki ang wall ko sa sarili dahil sa lahat ng nangyari. I couldn't take my eyes off the road, trying to ponder all the wrongs I'd done this day. Rico was with me, yet I couldn't feel his whole presence. I felt like I didn't have Miles or even Art. I felt like I had lost almost everything.
"Toll way ahead. 1 km," the sign said. We were getting close, and I badly wanted to go home.
"Jaesie." Napalingon ako kay Rico nang hawakan niya ang kaliwang tuhod ko.
"Ha?"
"Hindi mo narinig ang tanong ko," he said, not in a questionable tone but rather stating that I really didn't hear him. "Ang sabi ko, nagugutom ka ba? Gusto mong mag-dinner muna?"
I looked him straight in the eyes. He was calm, like nothing had happened. Like . . . nothing chaotic happened a while ago.
"You are lost." He nodded. "I can see it. I'm sorry for dragging you down to this problem."
Pakiramdam ko, ang blangko ko ngayon. I was thinking about it, yet I was not feeling guilty, sad, or anything like it would tear my whole life down. I was just thinking about it, stressing myself out for nothing. I just lost it.
"I'm not hungry," I said, and that was all.
"It's too complicated, right?" Rico asked, and along with his tone, like it was something outrageously pathetic, I could sense na pinipilit lang din niya ang sarili niyang tawanan ang lahat kasi totoo naman. Complicated ang lagay namin.
"Who's Tricia, by the way?" I asked him, bringing back the name of that girl his mother told him about earlier na magdi-dinner daw kasama nila.
"Anak ng ka-batchmate ni Mum noong college. Last year ko siya unang nakita at napag-usapan na namin ang tungkol sa gusto ng parents naming dalawa."
"Alam niyang magpapakasal kayong dalawa?" tanong ko, at nasa loob-loob ko nang masasaktan lang ako sa maririnig kong sagot mula sa kanya. Ang Tricia na 'yon ang gusto ng mama niya at hindi ang kahit sino, mas lalo na ako. Siguro, gusto rin siya ng Tricia na 'yon dahil makikipag-dinner pa sa kanila sana.
Pakiramdam ko, wala na ako sa lugar.
"Tricia's pregnant. For real."
And that changed the mood inside Rico's car.
"At ikaw ang ama?" gulat kong tanong na halos makapagpaurong sa akin sa inuupuan ko.
Malakas na tawa lang ang isinagot niya sa akin. At ang nakakainis lang, nang-iinis pa ang halakhak niyang napakalakas!
