Chapter Forty Two: Good Again
"Congratulations!"
My editor congratulated me and the others gave me a bouquet of roses to congratulate me for the sell-out of my pre-release novel.
We've been hinting at the release of my new novel and when we finally released the date of our pre-release, maraming nakabili and we sold out!
It's crazy, 'di ako makapaniwalang maeexperience ko 'to, I've had pre-releases before but I've never had a sold-out pre-release.
I'm always going to be grateful for my fans and everyone who loved my books. Naiiyak na nga ako pero pinipigilan ko lang ang sarili ko, 'di kasi waterproof ang mascara na gamit gamit ko.
"Thank you, thank you so much..." salamat ko sa kanila.
"We should thank everyone else who worked with me for this novel, my editor, and everyone who worked with me to perfect it, without you guys we would not be able to have a successful pre-release before it was even fully released, thank you so much!" I added.
This is huge.
Itetext ko si Genevieve pagkatapos ni'to for sure, magpapaparty din siya, inuman kami sigurado tapos kakain pa kami ng Pizza sa Pizzahut, I'm sure of it.
Nakatanggap din ako ng iba pang mga bulaklak at pasasalamat mula sa mga nakatrabaho kong mga modelo at pati na rin yung mga kaibigan ko.
Pag dating ko sa apartment ko kita ko na agad yung mga bulaklak galing sa mga Manuel na magkakapatid, meron din galing kay Quinten which surprised me, and then... Alexander.
Oh, of course he knows.
Siya yung kasama ko nung nalaman ko na na-sold out yung novel sa website at sa mga retailers.
He was supportive, he was very excited for me.
I remember when my first novel was released, he was very excited for me too and he just told me that he's proud of me, gano'n din si Silas.
Speaking of Silas, he bought me a new laptop as a congratulation gift, wait-- ito yata yung mamahalin sa Apple, is this a MacBook?
Is he crazy?
Alam naman niyang 'di ko gusto yung mga mamahaling bagay galing sa mga kaibigan ko.
I'd rather spoil myself than be spoiled by someone else.
"Stupid." I said, laughing while on the phone with Silas.
"What? It's a wonderful gift!"
"Wonderful? Ang mahal!"
"Oh, you love it. And besides, it's a gift for your success, and she loved it. I'll be reading it soon." he chuckled.
Umupo ako sa couch at binuksan ang TV habang hawak ko pa rin ang telepono sa kamay ko, alam kong matagal niya na ring hinihintay ang novel ko, he's a fan and I didn't want to spoil him anything.
"Nabasa na ba niya?"
"Hm, sino?"
"Your future boyfriend."
Oh no. He knows, doesn't he? Ako wala akong sinasabi kaya kung kanino niya man 'to narinig siguradong makakatanggap siya ng sapak galing sa'kin.
"How did you know?" I sighed.
"He told me, he was upset because I joked that I'd court if he wouldn't and he said he's courting you..."
"You shouldn't say that, tsaka may girlfriend ka naman."
"Yeah but I love the look on his face every time I joke about it, I won't tell that joke again, I love my girlfriend too much."
Cute. But ew.
Parang ayoko lang maniwala na galing kay Silas 'tong mga sinasabi niya, it just doesn't sound like him but hey, if he's happy then I'm happy for him, right?
"Right but... thank you for the gift. Pero sa susunod, 'di na pwede, okay?"
"Oh shut up, you love my gifts, you always do. You should tell him that I sent you a gift, you'd see the look--"
"Okay, okay. Go back to work, kung ano ano nanamang kalokohan ang pumapasok sa utak mo."
'Di niya talaga kami titigilang dalawa, minsan napapaisip ako kung bakit magkaibigan pa rin silang dalawa ni Alexander.
I can't believe that I was that oblivious whenever Alexander would get jealous because of how close me and Silas are.
Marami ring nagtaka kung kami ba pero 'di naman kami, we just love to flirt, our love language as friends is flirting, it's not really as sexual, you know?
Pero I don't flirt with him whenever he's with another girl or when I learned that he is dating Charlotte. I know the limits, yun nga lang inaasar niya pa rin ako pagdating kay Alexander.
Binuksan ko ang mga regalo na binigay sa'kin ng mga kaibigan ko, natuwa naman ako ng makita ko yung gift cards, masaya talaga ako kapag gift cards lalo na kung Starbucks.
I was just about to change clothes when I receive a call from Alexander.
He told me that he's going to have a lot of meetings so in my head I thought he would be busy.
May time pa talaga siyang tumawag?
"Hello?"
"Hey, you did it! Congratulations... love."
Kinilig naman ako agad sa sinabi niya. Hanggang ngayon nagpapractice pa rin siya samantalang wala pa ngang kami.
Pinigilan kong tumawa at kinagat na lang ang labi ko ng mga ilang segundo bago ako sumagot.
"Thanks, you don't have to call me lov—"
"I'm practicing, Rina." He chuckled.
"Not when you're in your office."
"But I'm not working right now, so it's alright, you don't have to be shy..."
Bwisit siya. Sinasabi ko sa inyo kapag nasanay siyang tawagin ako na love tapos kasama ko si Genevieve baka asarin ako ni Genevieve sige.
"Oh... shut up."
"I love you~" asar niyang sabi kahit na alam ko naman na totoo naman sinasabi niya.
"Ano bang kailangan mo?"
Pinindot ko ang speaker button sa tawag at pumasok sa loob ng kwarto ko, tinanggal ko ang earrings ko, bracelets, and just all of the accessories all over my body.
"I was gonna ask if you're busy tonight."
Binuksan ko ang drawer ng vanity ko at binalik ang mga aksesorya ko sa loob, itinali ko ang buhok ko at dahan-dahan kong hinubad ang dress ko pababa.
"Nope. Not really. Manonood sana ako ng New Amsterdam, why?" tanong ko at nilagay ang hinubad kong dress malapit sa washing machine sa kabilang kwarto.
"Well forget about that show and spend the night with me. Let's eat dinner together."
"So... a date?" I smiled again and took my phone.
"If you want to think of it that way then go ahead. But it's also a dinner to celebrate your success, congratulations again, Katerina. I am proud of you, you deserve all of it, all of this, and you know that, alright?"
"Salamat, it means a lot." I laughed silently to myself.
"Please? Let's eat together, tonight. We'll even watch New Amsterdam after dinner. Or... maybe we could watch that one show you wanted to watch with Genevieve."
Natawa ako sa dinagdag niya. Grabe siya, gusto niya lang yata ng oras na makasama ko siya eh, pumasok ako sa loob ng banyo at kinuha ang tuwalya.
"Fine. But you know that you're not Genevieve, right?"
"And you know that I am your future boyfriend, right?"
Baliw.
'Di pa naman sure kung magiging boyfriend ko ba talaga siya, 'di ba?
Tsaka isa pa baka paghintayin ko rin siya tulad nung pinaghintay niya 'ko, para it's a tie kami, right?
I can't remember how many times I have begged for him and his love.
Oh, shit.
Just the thought of him begging for my love over and over again is enough to make me smile like an idiot just wanting to make it happen now.
No.
I can't do that.
He has a reason why and he will tell me.
I told him that it's better to tell me everything when we're both ready, when he's ready, I don't want to JUST force it on him.
I want it to happen naturally.
"And as your future boyfriend, I will pick you up right after I'm done with my meeting later at 6 tonight."
"Future boyfriend daw..." bulong ko sa sarili ko.
"Gusto mo bang boyfriend mo na lang ngayon?"
"Hoy! Manliligaw pa rin kita."
"I can hear everything, Rina. I hope you know that."
I'm just gonna let him be my boyfriend now, baliw siya.
Umiling ako at hinubad ang underwear at bra ko.
"Okay na, balik ka na sa trabaho mo. Pick me up later."
"Yes, love."
"I--"
He didn't even let me finish and just ended the call right there. Baliw talaga siya. Kailangan ko yata siyang sawayin mamaya sa dinner na'min to not call me love too much, to not get used to it.
It's not a good thing.
Paano kung masyado siyang masanay sa gano'ng bagay at bigla niya 'kong tawagin na love sa harap ng mga empleyado niya, kaibigan ko, o model din?
That's not good.
He shouldn't be used to it at all.
"Oh c'mon, Katerina!"
I knew he was gonna say this.
Natawa ako sa reaksyon niya at ininom ang tubig sa tabi ng plato na kinakainan ko.
"It's a practice."
"I know, but not when you're working and besides... wala pa ngang tayo."
"But I can call you love here, right? It's just the two of us here now, just you and me." he added.
"We can't be seen too much either--"
"Rina naman."
Ngayon ko lang naisip kung anong iisipin ng iba kapag nalaman nilang may namumuo sa pagitan na'ming dalawa, kilala si Alexander dahil sa itsura niya at sa apelyido niya, kilala ako dahil modelo ako ng isa sa mga kumpanya niya at author din ako.
People are not gonna be happy, some of them are not going to be happy for sure.
We should also probably talk about it.
"I know what you're going to say..." he sighed before taking a piece of his food.
"I think we should talk about it. How we're going to handle our relationship in public, right?" I added.
"Hm..."
He doesn't look too happy.
Oh well, but we should still talk about it, it's only right to talk about it before we enter the next phase of our relationship. It'll happen soon anyway.
"We're both public people, Alex. Alam mo naman kung anong iisipin ng ibang tao kapag nalaman nilang tayo."
"So tayo na?"
"Nope, that's not the deal here, Alex..." natatawa kong sabi, natatawa rin siya sa sinabi niya, bwisit.
"Naisip mo na ba kung anong iisipin ng ibang mga modelo na katrabaho ko kapag nalaman nilang tayo na?"
"They would be scared."
"Scared? May--"
"Scared because they shouldn't be touching a man's property, other male models who works for me who flirts with you should know that n--"
"Alexander, kumalma ka."
Jusko. Naiirita tuloy ako. 'Di niya yata ako papatapusin eh! He knows what he's doing!
"I'm just saying that I've seen you work before with male models and the way they smile at you and then flirt with you? Fuck that."
"I'm a model, whoever my partner is just a partner for a job, nothing else. You are going to be different, you are going to be my boyfriend."
Lumawak ang ngiti niya at pinunasan ang labi niya gamit yung tissue bago niya binalik ang atensyon niya sa'kin.
"Say that again."
"Say what?"
"That I'm going to be your boyfriend."
I swear. This man is adorable, I swear. I know that I should be upset right now but how can I? How can I even get upset when he looks adorable?
"Fuck you." mura ko at ininom ng baso ng tubig ulet.
"Love you too." bulong niya at hinalikan ang likod ng kanang kamay ko.
"Look..." simula niya ulet at hinalikan ang hintuturo ko.
"...if I were to officially your boyfriend, 'di ko na iisipin ang mga gano'ng bagay. Pagod na 'kong isipin yo'n, ang gusto ko na lang isipin ay ang relasyon ko sa'yo. I've waited for this, and I'm stupid as fuck so it took this long... so..."
Hinawakan niya ang kamay ko na hinalikan niya at bigla niyang hinila yo'n at hinalikan ang wrist ko.
"...there's no way that some person's reaction or thought about our relationship would change everything. I don't care what the public would say about our relationship, their words don't mean shit, you mean to me more than them."
Fuck. He's hot.
"But if they do affect you... I will bring them all down for you, you understand, right?"
"You can't actually do--"
"I love you, Katerina."
This man is really hot, fuck.
Napalunok na lang ako at parang 'di ako makahinga dahil sa pokus ng asul niyang mga mata sa'kin, I tried to calm myself down but there are just moments where you can't handle the man who made you fall, drown, and fall again.
Huminga ako ng malalim at ngitian siya.
"Fine, just love when it's the two of us and no one else, 'wag mong sanayin ang sarili mo."
"I really love you." he chuckled.
"Landi mo." bulong ko sa sarili ko.
"Kamusta pala yung libro mo? Sold out, right? Are they going to publish more now?" he asks while cutting his food into pieces this time.
"Probably. We'll have a talk about it, you know... contracts again for units of books to publish more."
"Yup, look at you... you did it."
"Thank you."
Kaso nga lang yun, medyo kinakabahan ako kung magugustuhan ba ng mga readers yung libro, it makes me want to write more now and write my next project.
"You're also working hard as a CEO, right? That's also huge."
"I don't really know if I'm working hard enough for the company, I'm trying, I'm really trying, thank you, Rina."
"Hoy, you do work hard enough. Kung ano ano nanaman yang iniisip mo, you're doing a great job."
This time, I held his hand and gave it a few pats with a smile forming at the corner of my lips.
"I appreciate it. You're too kind, I'll work harder so I could match you. What can I say... you're just too good, Rina."
Natigilan ako sa sinabi niya.
Ewan ko ba kung bakit pero 'di ko nagustuhan ang lumabas sa bibig niya, too good?
Anong too good nanaman?
"T-Too... good for you, huh?" nautal kong sabi at napakagat sa labi ko at pinokus na lang ang atensyon ko sa pagkain ko.
"Yeah, you're just too good for me. But I'm working really hard so I could prove myself to you as I promised, right?"
For the first time in my life, I didn't actually think I'd hate those two words.
Too good.
I just can't help but think about the past when he used to use it as an excuse for him to reject me every time I confess my feelings for him like an idiot over and over again.
Good again, huh?