Hinatid lang daw ni Chaos ang sinasabi niyang babae bago pumunta rito sa bahay ko. Hindi alam ni Nessa na darating siya at wala rin akong balak sabihin. I wanna get her raw reaction to him.
Nasa kuwarto niya si Nessa. Pagdating ni Chaos, dumiretso ang gago at humilata sa sofa, akala mo talaga ay bahay niya ito. I'm used to it.
"What was that?" tanong ko.
"What's what?"
"Who's that girl you were talking about?"
"Ah!" Tumayo siya na parang walang narinig.
Dumiretso siya sa kusina namin kaya sinunda ko. He immediately started opening the pans.
"Wow, kare-kare," he said. "Nakakagutom. Kain, dude!"
Kumuha siya ng pinggan at maliit na bowl. Nagsimula na siyang magsandok. Wala naman na akong nagawa nang magsimula siyang kumain.
Napailing ako at iniwan siya roon. I called Nessa from her room. I had to knock a few times because she wasn't answering. Paglabas niya ay nagpupunas siya ng basang buhok.
"Ano 'yon?" she asked.
"Kain na. Baba ka na."
Tumango naman siya. Pagbalik ko, kumakain pa rin ang gago. He looked at me.
"Saan ka galing, dude?"
"I called my maid."
Kumuha na rin ako ng pagkain ko at dahil wala pa si Nessa, I decided to prepare hers.
"We can definitely talk about life over some beer after dinner," he said.
"And by that, you mean your fucking love life?"
Nagkibit balikat naman siya. Ilang sandali ay dumating si Nessa. Nakayuko siya kaya hindi niya kaagad nakita si Chaos. I observed her actions.
"Kain na, andiyan na pagkain mo, oh," I told her.
Nakuha yata ng pagsabi ko no'n ang atensiyon niya. She looked up and immediately saw Chaos. Nanlaki ang mga mata niya at saka tumingin sa akin. Kinuha ko naman ang atensiyon ni Chaos.
"Chaos, dude." tumingin siya sa akin kaya tinuro ko si Nessa. "This is Nessa, by the way. Maid ko."
Tumango lang si Chaos at tipid na ngumiti. "Hey, kain!"
"Ah. . . sige," saad ni Nessa.
She looked shocked. Umupo siya sa tabi ko pero ang mga mata ay nanatiling nakatingin kay Chaos. I nudged her then smirked. Nilapit ko ang bibig ko sa tainga niya para bumulong.
"You can ask for an autograph," I teasingly said.
Her eyes immediately shot a deadly glare. Bumulong din siya sa akin. "Bakit siya nandito? Magkakilala pala kayo?"
"Well, FYI, this motherfucker is my best friend."
Tumikhim naman si Chaos. 'I don't really care what you two do with your lives, but really? Right in front of my fucking kare-kare?"
I snickered. "Shut the fuck up, Chaos."
Narinig ko pa ang paghinga nang malalim ni Nessa bago kumain. Pinanood ko lang siyang sumusubo. She can't even look at Chaos direction. I can read the obvious awkward atmosphere.
"Say, Ness, nakita kong pinapanood mo ang film ni Chaos. I'm sure you know him," I blurted out, teasing her more.
She kicked my leg and faked a smile at me. I stared at her unbelievingly. How dare she kick her boss?
"Ah, oo. Napapanood kasi kita simula noong nasa probinsiya pa ako."
"Wow," Chaos said. "Ano naman ang masasabi mo?"
Ngumiti si Nessa. "Hindi naman ako kritiko pagdating sa ganiyan. Na-enjoy ko 'yong palabas. Ang galing mo ngang umarte, eh. Dalang-dala mo ang emosyon ng eksena."
Chaos grinned widely. "Thanks! It's nice to hear that from someone."
Muli silang nanahimik. I took my phone out and opened the camera. Itinaas ko 'yon at in-open ang front camera.
"Look at the camera and smile," utos ko sa kanila.
They both looked and smiled. I posed with my thumb up and a wink. I took a few photos before going back to eat. Wala na talagang gustong magsalita sa kanila so I decided to shut my mouth as well.
"Ako na ang maghuhugas," I told Nessa.
"Ah, hindi na! Trabaho ko 'yon."
"Nessa, I insist. At saka may pag-uusapan pa kami," I said, looking at Chaos.
"Mamaya na 'yon," Chaos said. "Dude, hiram ako damit mo, ah! Ang init, eh."
Hindi pa niya hinintay ang sasabihin ko at basta na lang umalis. Mabilis namang lumapit sa akin si Nessa. Nakangiti siya nang malapad at parang excited.
"Puwede bang makuha 'yong picture natin kanina?" she asked.
"Ayaw ko nga. Tinadyakan mo ako tapos ngayon hihingi-hingi ka."
Hinawakan niya ang braso ko. "Sige na! Para naman magkaroon kami ng picture na magkasama!"
"Why don't you ask him to take a photo of just the two of you?"
"Nakakhiya! Ipasa mo na sa akin ang picture!"
I snickered. "Kiss muna."
I didn't expect her to do it, but I was shocked when she gave me a flying kiss. I was caught off-guard for a minute. I blinked a few times then looked at her. She was still asking me to send the pictures.
"O-Okay, saan ko. . . ise-send?"
Nagulat ako sa paraan ng pagsasalita ko. I couldn't recognize my own voice and Fucking stuttered! I stuttered in front of her.
"May messenger ka?" she asked.
"Uhm, Twitter? Mas malinaw yata."
Tumango siya. She opened her Twitter on her browser and showed me her username. I bit my lip to stop myself from laughing.
"@wifeynimoruichi right?"
She slowly nodded. I couldn't help but smile teasingly. So, she really is a fan.
I sent her the picture using my dummy account and followed her as well. All her tweets are about Chaos.
"Too bad, may gusto na siyang iba," I mocked.
"Heh! 'la akong pake!"
Nang matanggap lahat ng picture, nagpaalam na siyang aalis. Nakasalubong pa niya si Chaos na nakasuot na ng shorts ko.
"Dude, pati boxers hiniram ko, ah. Iyong mga nakalagay pa sa plastic nila," Chaos suddenly blurted out.
Nessa side-eyed him before leaving. Kumuha kaagad si Chaos ng beer in can sa refridgerator at saka ako inabutan ng isa. Sumandal siya sa counter habang nilalagay ko sa dishwasher ang mga hugasin.
"So, what really happened?" I asked.
"Well, you know how I hate being in a relationship, right?" Tumango ako bilang sagot. "For years, I've been avoiding intimate relationships, but Maj. . . she's different, dude!"
"How do you say so?"
"Well, for starters, she's literally different from everyone else. She's been almost sheltered her whole life. She is kinda innocent compared to the others. . . not that I'm comparing her. I know she hates that."
He said that as if he were scared someone would get mad.
"And you know how I hated helping others out because I hate it when they think they owe me something?" pagtutuloy pa niya. "I wanted to help her in many ways I could because damn, she looks so damn gorgeous when she's happy. . . she's happy when I help her out."
Once saw him smile while talking about her, I knew he was in love. I've seen those eyes when Dad talks about Mom, when my cousin, Rouge talks about Rielle. Those eyes show how badly he's in love.
"Eh 'di umamin ka," I replied.
"I can't do that! What if she doesn't like me back? 'Tang ina, lalayuan ako no'n, dude!"
I chuckled. "Paano mo naman malalaman kung hindi mo susubukan, 'di ba?"
He shook his head and took a sip of his beer. "I can't lose her. She won't love someone like me."
Binato ko siya ng basahan. "You're starting to sound a bit corny, my man."
I don't understand why people do stupid things when they're in love. Ang dami pa nilang sinasabing kinatatakutan nila. They're scared of this, afraid of that. Bullshit!
Napailing ako habang pinapakinggan ang iba pang kuwento ni Chaos tungkol sa Maj na sinasabi niya. Naglabas pa ulit siya ng isang beer dahil naubos na niya ang kaniya habang hindi ko pa nakakalahati ang unang binigay niya. After washing the dirty dishes, we moved to the living room to continue talking.
Nagdala ba siya ng marami pang beer at mga junk food. For some reason, the always-quiet Chaos Moruichi can't seem to stop his mouth from blabbering when he is talking about Maj.
"Bakit hindi mo kasi tingna kung may gusto siya sa 'yo, dude? I mean, it must be obvious from the way she treats you and others," I suggested.
"I'm fucking trying, okay?! Pero nawawala 'yon sa isip ko kapag magkasama na kami. I fucking love the way she treats me and I don't want to know if she's treating others the same way." Napasabunot pa siya sa sarili.
"I think you are just overreacting."
Umiling siya ulit at saka kwinelyuhan pa ako. "Dude, she kisses me on the cheek when I take her home! She hugs me when I bring her food. If she does that to other people, what makes me special to her?"
My jaw dropped. "Dude, seriously, what the fuck was that?"
He grunted. "Just wait 'til you fall in love, dude."
I chuckled but it had me thinking, what will happen to me once I fall in love?