Catch-up
Everything felt surreal. Hindi ko inakalang gano'n lang kadali naming nakausap ang Don. Like he doesn't even have anything against me to just easily drop off the idea of that engagement that he wanted Gon to commit to for seven years or so.
Kaya habang nakahiga na kaming dalawa ni Gon at naghahanda na sa pagtulog ay hindi pa rin ako dinadalaw ng antok.
"Gon..." I called out to him silently, trying to check if he's already asleep.
I laid on my side and looked at him through the dim lights of my room. Nagkatagpo ang mga mata namin at ginawaran niya agad ako ng marahang ngiti.
"You can't sleep?" his voice is hoarse and it echoed silently throughout my room.
Dumapo ang kamay niya malapit sa mukha ko para alisin ang iilang buhok na sagabal dito. He then tucked some of the strands near my temple behind my ear.
Sumugat agad ang isang ngiti sa mga labi ko.
"I just can't believe that Don Primero has nothing against me being in a relationship with you."
"What is there for Lolo to be against you, Tequila?" he says as if nothing is to be hated about me.
As if I'm... perfect as I am.
I sighed.
"You know I left before. Without even letting Don Primero know."
"Lolo said he understands you Tequila. Your mother... passed away at that time."
I blinked. I could think of so many reasons. Ni hindi ko mahagilap agad ang lahat dahil ang daming rason para hindi ako magustuhan ng pamilya niya.
"I'm the daughter of the c-corrupt Governor," my voice shook.
Umiling siya. His eyes are softly caressing every part of me, as if trying to soothe the pain I inflicted inside my own head.
Para bang hinahaplos ng mga titig niya ang bawat kaibuturan ng pagkatao ko. Including the imperfect parts that I bravely bared to him as well as the parts I never speak about that needed healing.
"The burden of your parents' mistake is not yours to carry, love."
He leans in closer, nudging his nose against mine before placing a reassuring kiss on my lips.
He already calmed me down. But the voices in my head is never giving up, it gave me all the reasons to doubt myself. And I needed to speak it out to him, just so I could let it all go.
"It's not just that. You know how the people in this town paints me as a girl with a bad reputation, Gon. Even your cousin, Alita, tried to tell you that."
"Love, if you'll focus on the imperfects, you'll lose sight of all your perfects," he whispered painstakingly slow as he traced every part of my face with his fingertips.
His fingers touched my hair, down to my forehead, nose, and then lips before it fell down my chin only to lift it up just so he could give me another kiss.
This time, it is a deep, unyielding kiss. His tongue battled with mine and the rest of the night, the painful voices in my head was hushed down and replaced by my pleasured moans.
Sa umaga at pangatlong araw namin sa El Valencia ay nagplano kaming maglibot sa buong lungsod.
Ang una naming pinuntahan ay ang Arena Fina na siyang mas lumaki at nag-improve pa sa nagdaang mga taon.
We are now eating our breakfast in their open restaurant peacefully. Malamig at marahan pa ang simoy ng hangin dahil kakasikat pa lang naman ng araw. But I can predict that later on, the heat wave will impose its extremity.
Kaya hindi nga nakakapagtaka na
kaonti lang ang tao sa resort ngayon.
Who would want to burn under the sun's heat?
Well, I guess it's just me and Gon.
"Wanna go boating?" he says after we were done with our breakfast.
With no hesitations, we were already boating, under the glaring heat of the sun. But it felt worth it when I let my hands down and felt the warm pristine waters of the ocean.
And I have the best view right here in front of me. Gon is rowing the boat effortlessly. His biceps are cording and the veins that traced his arms are now more apparent. What completed it is his topless look.
Sweat is running down from his neck, to his chest, and down to his Apollo's belt.
Marahang iniihip ng hangin ang buhok niya habang kinukuhanan ko siya ng larawan. I took a lot of shots before he noticed what I am doing.
"Take a photo of us on my phone too, please."
And that's what we did. He stopped rowing the boat while were near Isla Del Deseo as I told him to pose for the pictures that I want.
We stayed for a while in the boat talking about random things when we decided to go back to the resort because the heat of the sun is becoming too unbearable now.
Pabalik na kami sa dalampasigan nang-nag ring ang phone ko para sa isang tawag.
Ma'am Therese's name registered on my screen and my brows furrowed of curiosity before I answered her call.
If I remember it correctly, she's in abroad this week. She's on a vacation with her husband and their teenage son.
Madalas naman siyang tumatawag sa akin. She calls me everytime she is at work. For her to call me at this time is a surprise.
Tinatali na ngayon ni Gon ang bangka sa dating puwesto nito so I tapped his shoulder to tell him I'm taking the call.
"Hello, Ma'am Therese?"
I heard her shaky sigh on the other line before she gave out a warm laugh.
"Hija, ang tagal na nating magkakilala. You can stop calling me that now. You can call me Tita or even..."
She cut off her sentence and there's something about her laugh that seems frantic, like she's in a hurry and she just called me mindlessly.
Malayo na ang naging tingin ko ngayon sa dalampasigan. Pinapakiramdam ang emosyon niya sa kabilang linya.
"Anyway, I called because I heard you're in... El Valencia?" Ngayon naman ay halos bulong na ang tanong niya.
Mas napakunot na ang noo ko.
It's odd. Everything about this sudden phone call seems weird.
"Yes po, I'm currently having a short vacation here in El Valencia."
I notice Gon patiently waiting for me near the rock formations now. I can feel his observant stares, the one he uses whenever he's trying to decipher my mood.
I tilted my head and gave him a small smile to reassure him I'm fine before paying attention back to the phone call I'm having.
"C-Can I visit you there by tomorrow or maybe, the next day?" she croaked out nervously this time.
Natahimik ako ng ilang saglit. There's no way she can visit me here in El Valencia. She is in abroad. Siya mismo ang tumawag sa akin last week at nagpaalam.
"Aren't you in a vacation po? You're with your family in abroad. Pwede naman pong mag-usap tayo sa phone kung sakaling may gusto kayong sabihin o may kailangan kayong ihabilin tungkol sa kompanya niyo."
Maybe this is about her company. Palagi rin kasi siyang tumatawag sa akin tuwing may business trip siya at kinukumusta sa akin ang kompanya.
"I'm on a rush flight right now. I... had a fight with my husband about something. I'll call you when I'm the–"
And that's the last thing I heard from her before the line went off.
I let out a heavy sigh. Nakalapit na ako ngayon kay Gon ay hindi pa rin mabura-bura ang pagkalito at pagtataka sa ekspresyon ko.
"Are you okay?" he immediately asks, sensing my disposition.
"I just got a baffling call, from Ma'am Therese. She's Tita Reesa's friend that helped me along her finish my studies."
"Therese?" His brows knitted and a spark of something hidden lit up in his eyes.
He then shook his head, as if trying to brush off something.
"You got the same first name," sabi niya nang kalaunan ay naglalakad na kami paalis sa kung saan nakapuwesto ang mga nirerentahang bangka.
"Yes, it's such a fascinating coincidence!"
Even Ma'am Therese likes the fact that we have the same name. Minsan pa nga ay tinatawag niya rin akong Therese. I remember how happy she was during those times I let her call me by that name.
"Therese Racquila, who gave you your name?" He suddenly asked out of the blue.
Napaisip ako dahil sa sinabi niya.
"If I remember it correctly, it was Papa who gave me this name. Si Mama na 'yong nagdesisyon na tawagin akong Tequila. She used to say my name is too long." I laughed, my mind now starting to get completely diverted from that call.
Sa gabi ay masiglang-masigla na ang Arena Fina. Wala mang masyadong tao no'ng umaga ay dumagsa rin ang mga turista nang nagdidilim na. At halos lahat, ang sandbar ang dinudumog.
And that's where we are right now.
I am wearing my black tube top with my beach flared pants and he's also wearing a top that's also the same color as mine with a khaki shorts.
I can't keep my eyes off his top though. It's a dress shirt with its three buttons open, showing his hard chiseled chest and the light matting of hairs on it.
Narito na kami sa bar counter, malayo sa karamihan na nasa dance floor na pero tila agaw-pansin pa rin siya sa mga kababaihan.
I eyed the girl who now ordered her drink three or more times. Malapit pa talaga kay Gon pupuwesto para sa order sa hinaba-haba ng counter ta's pasimpleng ngingiti.
I tried to stop my eyes from rolling inwards as I sip on my fruit cocktail.
I notice the girl now sitting down on Gon's left side, she had her elbows propped up on the counter that it made her cleavage pop out her tank top's heart neckline.
Nang umayos siya ng upo ay bahagyang nasagi ng siko niya si Gon.
"I'm sorry," she says a bit too sweetly when she eventually caught Gon's attention with that.
I shook my head in disbelief.
"It's okay," tanging sagot ni Gon sa babae at ibinaling ulit ang tingin sa akin.
I know I'm not supposed to be jealous or threatened at all. Ni hindi nga napansin ni Gon ang pag-upo ng babae sa tabi niya kanina. His eyes are on me, and all over me. At ang kamay niyang nakatukod sa bar stool ko ay gahibla na lang ang layo para hawakan ang bewang ko.
But somehow, I am pissed off. This girl obviously knows that Gon is with someone. And it seems like she doesn't care about that fact and is still trying to shoot her shot. Can't she respect that? The signs are glaring.
"Gon, my drink isn't hard. Naiinggit na ako sa iniinom mo. Can you let me get a taste of that?" nilakasan ko ang boses dahil sa lakas ng tugtog pati na rin dahil gusto kong marinig ng babaeng nasa tabi niya ang sinasabi ko.
"Su–"
Hindi pa man natapos si Gon sa sinasabi niya ay kaagad ko nang inatake ang labi niya ng malalalim na halik.
I licked his lower lip, tasting the whiskey blending in with his natural intoxicating taste. He let me take the lead and he even opened his mouth for me before I could even initiate it.
I smirked during the kiss and teasingly bit his tongue. He grunted sexily.
Rinig ko ang pagtunog ng stool sa tabi namin. When I opened my eyes, the girl already left. May iilan na rin palang mga babaeng 'um-order' at nakita nilang lahat 'yon. I know they were all eyeing Gon since we came in this sandbar. That kiss should make the glaring signs more clearer now.
I slightly pushed Gon's chest to let myself breathe from our kiss. Sinubukan niya pang habulin ang labi ko kaya marahan akong napahalakhak at ibinaon ang sariling mukha sa pagitan ng leeg at balikat niya.
Jealousy made me shamelessly kiss him on public!
"Thank you for letting me get a taste of your whiskey," I murmured on his ear.
"But I'm sorry for shamelessly kissing you on public. Did that made you uncomfortable?"
I now got myself out in the crook of his neck to look at him.
He groaned and shot me a warning look that's teasing. His hand that's on the seat of my stool now climbed up my waist and gently pressed it.
"Why apologize when you can do it again without being sorry?" he whispered and kissed my ear.
The strobe lights, the sensual music, and the alluring smell of mint and whiskey in his breath made my breathing hitch and shivers ran down my spine.
Marahan kong kinurot ang braso niya para pabalikin ang sariling huwisyo.
"At least not here," my bedroom voice took all over me.
God, what am I saying? Hindi pa kami nagdadalawang oras dito ah? Uuwi na kami? Just so we could have our own party at home?
"Let's go home then, and... rest," he uttered the last word a bit naughtily.
Ilang sandali lang ay paalis na kami sa sandbar, nagmamadali nang umuwi.
Now I wonder if this is really a vacation or just purely a sexcapade? Hindi yata lumilipas ang bawat araw namin dito nang hindi kami nauuwi sa kuwarto.
Akmang lalagpas na kami sa open restaurant ng Arena Fina nang may pamilyar na boses ang tumawag sa pangalan ko.
I looked to see who it was only to cover my mouth with my hand because of the surprise mixed with shock.
Napabitaw ako sa kamay ni Gon para salubungin ang kaibigan.
"Quan! It's been so long!" hindi ko na mapigilan pa ang excitement na kumawala sa boses.
Like it's been really so, so long! I'm all connected with them on social media. Quan, Killian, and Heron. Pero madalang pa rin naman kaming nag-uusap doon. To see him now is really a pleasant feeling.
But it seems like he's even more thrilled about us meeting here when he immediately enveloped me in a tight hug.
I stiffened and pushed him a bit to break our hug. Ramdam ko ang paglapit ni Gon sa amin at ang pagpulupot ng kamay niya sa bewang ko.
His hands grazed my skin in a territorial manner and Quan's confused eyes fell there.
"T-Tequila, kelan ka pa nakabalik? And you're with Gonsalvus Cavallero?"
Halos malaglag na ang panga niya habang palipat-lipat siya ng tingin sa aming dalawa. I can't help but smile.
He's the same old Quan. Just a bit more mature now but the same boyish looks and the tattoos remained.
Noon ay tila wala akong matago-tagong sekreto sa kanya. We were basically best friends. But right now, he seems like he has a lot of questions to ask me.
"Just last Sunday. I'm here for a short vacation with my boyfriend, Gonsalvus."
I glanced at Gon and smiled at him but his face looks so stoic and formal now. Napanguso ako.
"Nice meeting you here, Quan. It must be so good to see Tequila here again. She's like a sister to you, after all. And you've been separated for years."
Bahagyang nanlaki ang mga mata ko dahil sa sinabi niya. He remembers that? That time we were drinking in their barn house and he interrogated Quan?
Sumusugat na ngayon ang malapad na ngisi sa labi ko.
He knows that I will definitely have to catch up with Quan now. And he's pissed 'cause our previous plan to 'rest' at home is delayed. Well, I'm sure that that can wait... or maybe not.