"What?" I finally asked. Kanina ko pa naririnig ang pag tap ng daliri niya sa table. I could feel his gaze on me din. May dumi ba ako sa mukha? I opened my phone and went to the camera. Wala naman ah.
"Huh?" kunwaring tanong niya.
"Anong huh? I can feel that you want to say something. Sabihin mo na."
"Grabe talino mo naman. Mind reader ka?"
"May sasabihin ka ba o hindi?"
"Mayroon. Sabi ko nga sasabihin ko na." he laughed.
Even his laugh was attractive. Bigla akong napa-iling. Shut up, Louise. Hindi ito ang oras para magisip ng mga ganiyan. "Ano nga?"
"Patulong ako kay Constantia."
I suddenly stopped writing. I was in the middle of writing the word like when he said that. "What?" gulat kong tanong.
He chuckled and brought his hand to his nape, medyo nahiya. "Oo... alam mo naman siguro na kachat namin ang isa't isa for months. Now that I got to know her personally, I decided to court her."
I blinked. Court? As in... ligawan? With all the flowers and shit like that?
A lot of questions popped into my mind. One was: does he like Liana or does he like me? Nahalata siguro ni Santi na nalilito ako. I shook my head and ignored him. Trying to place my energy and attention sa paper ko. Pero mas lalong hindi ako nakasulat ngayon. Nagsalita ulit siya.
"Hindi pa ngayon, siyempre. Paghahandaan ko muna. Ta's when the time comes, puwede tulungan mo 'ko?" habol pa niya. His eyes looked so pleading. So innocent. I couldn't believe na nadito siya ngayon. Sa harapan ko, nagpapatulong para ligawan ang best friend ko.
Ang gulo!
"Ayoko." saad ko. Gugulo lang ang buhay namin ni Liana if ever he tries to court her... or me... ewan ko na! Kaya kung yayain ulit ni Santiago ang best friend kong makipagkita, I'll tell Liana to let him down carefully and tell him na ayaw na niya. Tumingin ako kay Santiago, sorry nalang in advance.
"Hala, bakit?"
"Basta ayoko. Wala akong time."
I didn't hear what he said next. Pero alam ko it's somewhere around the lines of parehas daw kami ni Constantia. Umirap ako. Akala ko titigil na 'tong lalaking ito pero hindi pa siya umaalis! He just stayed there, looking at the papers on the table.
Tumingin ako sa paligid. Puta, there's no more spare tables. Kung mayroon lang talaga, nilayasan ko na ito 'e. Paunti unti siyang sumusulyap sa akin. He's gonna say something again. Ang daldal nga nito. Akala ko ba sabi niya mahiyain siya! Ang scam niya!
"Please. I really like her. Gusto ko lang naman i-try. Kung ayaw niya, e'di I'll respect her decision. Pero atleast wala akong i-reregret."
"Why do you need me?"
"Ewan ko din. I guess kahit marami akong alam sa kaniya, hindi parin sapat iyon dahil isang araw palang kami nagkikita. Iba kasi yung chat sa personal 'diba?" tugon niya. I saw him bite the insides of his cheek, siguro dahil hinihintay ang sagot ko whether tutulungan ko siya or not.
chapter 23
Start from the beginning
