Catching a Prince

Chapter 36 - Temptation Part 2

TEMPTATION PART 2

"Sweet naman, it's your birthday! We agreed na ise-celebrate natin ito together! We have planned this for weeks! Tapos ngayon, dahil lang sa group research nyo, ika-cancel mo?"

That was me and tinatarayan ko si Mike. Papano naman kasi, we were supposed to have a date. Birthday niya and yes, nag-plan talaga kami to celebrate it together. We were supposed to have dinner, watch a movie, and then doon siya matutulog sa apartment namin since nag-out of town si Mommy for some company seminar.

Nandoon kami noon sa U.S.T. Kalalabas ko lang noon after ng last class ko. When I saw him outside the building, tuwang-tuwa pa naman ako. Akala ko, tuloy yung date namin.

Hindi pala.

I was very upset at that time.

"Sweet, I'm really really sorry," sabi niya. "Emergency kasi. Deadline na nung reseach paper namin tomorrow. Last minute kasi nagpalit ng topic yung group. Tomorrow na lang tayo mag-date. Please understand naman..."

I turned away from him. "Mag-date kang mag-isa mo!" I shot at him.

"Arlene... please..." habol niya sa kin.

I just kept on walking away. "Leave me alone, Mike. Naiinis ako sa yo."

He tried to hold my hand. "Arlene..."

I shook his hand away. "Go away, Mike!"

With that, tumigil na siya sa paghabol sa akin.

Paglabas ko ng gate ng campus, sumakay agad ako ng jeep pauwi sa amin. Inis na inis talaga ako noon.

                                                            ♣  ♦  ♥  ♠

"Hi, Arlene!" Si Vincent.

Nagulat ako nang abutan ko siya in front of our apartment. From the looks of it, mukhang hinihintay niya talaga ako.

"What are you doing here, Vince?" tanong ko sa kanya.

"Ang taray mo naman," sagot niya. "Siyempre, hinihintay ka."

Tinitigan ko siya nang masama. Ako, mataray? I asked myself. But then again, napailing na lang ako. I realized na baka na-carried over ko yung inis ko kay Mike hanggang sa pag-uwi ko.

"How did you know my address?" tanong ko na lang sa kanya.

Nag-shrug lang siya ng shoulders. "Nagtanong-tanong ako. It's a small world naman."

I took out my keys from my bag and binuksan ko yung pinto. "Pasok ka," alok ko sa kanya, sabay pasok sa loob.

"Thanks." Sumunod naman siya sa kin.

Inilapag ko yung bag ko sa sofa and I immediately sat down. I leaned back, closed my eyes, and I tried to relax.

Tumabi si Vincent sa akin. "Bad day?" tanong niya.

"Yup," sagot ko.

"Problema sa boyfriend?"

"Yup."

"Tell me. Baka makatulong ako."

I sighed, not looking at him. "Wala kang maitutulong. It's between him and me."

He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, talking about it and having someone to listen may help."

I shook my head. Pero naisip ko, wala namang mawawala kung sasabihin ko sa kanya. "It's his birthday today kasi," I started explaining. "May date dapat kami. Tapos, kanina sa school, hinintay niya kong lumabas, only to say na hindi kami tuloy."