Steel Skin: Pitch Black

14:00 Eyeing Suspicion

EYEING SUSPICION

Valdemar instantly opened the black, old and thick notebook the moment he set foot in his room. Napaupo siya sa paanan ng kama nang hubad ang pang-itaas na katawan, at walang habas na binuklat ang mga pahina ng Diary.

He licked his thumb and flipped another page while meeting both his brows.

He just can't slip it off his mind, paulit-ulit na nanunumbalik sa isip niya ang pangalan ng lalaking iyon.

At baka, baka sakaling nabanggit ito ni Jourdan sa diary nito at nakaligtaan niya lamang. Napatingin siya sa kawalan kasabay ang paghinto.
He hissed. There must be something with him. O baka paranoid lang siya?

He seemed a but strange kasi. He looked at Jourdan's ID as if he knew her for a long time now. Pero nga naman, baka nagagandahan lang ito sa litrato sa ID diba?

He is frustrated by the fact that he is taking everything into a whole new level of malice. But whatever, kailangan niyang bantayan ang paligid niya no matter how small the details are and how coincidental it may appear.

He flipped pages again. As minutes passed by, natapos niya na lamang sa pinakahuling pahina ang diary ngunit walang nabanggit si Jourdan na pangalang Calum. Or the surname Jacques. Again, he shook his head in confusion.

Saka siya napahiga sa malambot niyang kamang may kulay itim na bed sheet at saka napatingin sa chandelier ng bedroom niya.

Calum Jacques did not seem to appear in Jourdan's Diary. No mentions about a guy and by the looks of Calum, he seem older than him, how much more with Jourdan.

Is Calum one of Jourdan's men in the syndicate? Along with Novano? Hmm... It's not impossible. But why does he have to be a bartender and follow him all the way down that street at night and pretend like not knowing their Alpha? No, medyo malayo ang ideyang iyon.

O... baka naman nagagandahan lang talaga ito sa picture ni Valentine sa ID na 'to? Hindi malayo, kaya nga itinanong nun kung kaano-ano niya eh.

Yup, baka ganon nga, baka nagagandahan ito kay Valentine. Of course, hindi iyon imposible. Sino bang hindi magagandahan kay Valentine?

That man was simply a stranger who introduced himself to him, and yet he acted so anxious about it. Calm down, Valdemar.

--

Alexander Wu  took a short glance at his twin brother, who is eating along with him, across him with a dining table just between them. Ang kaibahan lang, mukhang mas malakas ang kain nito kumpara sa usual nitong appetite.

Alexander calmly  cut his medium-done steak using the knife in his left hand, and as he did, he quickly took a glance at his twin again. He skewered the small piece of meat in the fork from his right hand afterwards. Tiningnan pa niya ang steak nitong paubos na. Napahinga siya ng malalim.

This small detail in their lives as to which type of steak do they eat differs. While Alex is obsessed for Medium-done cooked steaks, Ales preferred it well-done dahil ayaw na ayaw nitong nalalasahan sa pagkain ang kahit anong dugo.

Alex even remembered the time they almost forced shut a restaurant in Macau because Ales vomitted after eating a buttered chicken na hindi pa pala ganun kaluto at may dugo pa sa pinaka-ilalim. It was disastrous because their late protective Yeye was so mad that Alexander had to beg his Yeye to calm down and not shut down that 3 star restaurant. True indeed, mas mabuti pang kumain sa streetfood stalls ng Singapore, may Michelin stars pa.

"Mukhang gutom na gutom ka ata ah," panimula ni Alex, while silently chewing his food. Nagulat naman si Ales sa biglang pagsasalita ni Alex, as if he forgot Alex's present for a moment.