A/N: Dedicated to you, sakuro_pinkyanna24! Thank you for ALWAYS reading my stories. :)
The new look of Zelline Montereal in multimedia. Enjoy reading, readers! ^____^
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CHAPTER 2
ZELLINE'S POV
This is it. Far from the city. Far from Ethan. Far from heartaches, I told myself, breathing the fresh air while eyes were closed.
After one week of Ethan and Miles' marriage, I decided to go back here in Batangas beach resort. Same beach resort where my planned two weeks' vacation was postponed because of some epal guy like Joseph Matthew Andrada. But this time, I have a strong feeling that he was not here anymore. Hindi na siya babalik dito.
Pagmulat ko at pagbaling ng tingin sa mataas na bato di-kalayuan, isang pamilyar na lalaki na naman ang nakita kong nakaupo roon. If I'm not mistaken, it was him. It was only my second day here, and yet, I already saw him. I sighed. And here I thought that he won't go back here.
Gaya ng unang beses ko siyang makita rito sa resort, at kung paano niya tingnan noon ang mag-asawang Ethan at Miles sa harap ng altar, naroon na naman ang pamilyar na expression sa mukha niya habang nakatanaw sa dagat.
I stared at the sea, frowning. It looks calm and peaceful. And actually, it was relaxing. What's so sad about it? He's weird.
I chose to ignore him and walked away. If he's here, so be it. Hindi ako aalis sa beach resort na ito nang dahil lang sa kanya. Hindi ko hahayaang sirain na naman niya ang bakasyon kong ito. Kung may aalis man samin, sisiguraduhin kong siya iyon.
I decided to call Red. "Hindi ako mamamatay sa pagiging brokenhearted. Mas mamamatay ako sa konsumisyon! Argh!" agad kong bungad sa kanya pagkasagot sa tawag.
"Hey, easy. Where are you? On vacation again?"
"Batangas. And how I really wish na nasa bakasyon talaga ako. Kaso may nakikita akong asungot kahit saan ako magpunta. Kung alam ko lang talaga, sana nag-stay at nagmukmok na lang ako diyan sa condo ko. Bwisit talaga yung epal na yun."
"Pogi?"
I could really sense on his voice that he was teasing me. "Pogi? Oo. Pogita siya. Duh!" I answered, rolling my eyes. On second thought, I admit that the guy is good-looking. But, mind you. He's just good-looking, but still a jerk.
"I need to hang up now. Cheer up, Zell. And just enjoy your vacation."
Enjoy? I'm really trying my best to enjoy my vacation here. But, how can I if I see him everywhere here? Parang katulad lang noong unang bakasyon ko rito. Nilalapgpasan ko na nga lang siya kapag nagkakasalubong kami. Kapag nagkakatinginan naman kaming dalawa, kukunot ang noo niya sakin habang tataasan ko naman siya ng kilay. Hindi na lang kami nagpapansinan. At wala akong balak pansinin siya. Tsk.
Fate was really good to me, huh? Because fate has all the time to play with me. I won't lose to this game. I can't lose, I promised to myself.
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Kinagabihan, lumabas ako para uminom. Pinuntahan ko ang isang party na nagaganap ngayon sa resort. Nang makarating ako roon, may ilang mga guests nang nagsasayawan sa tabi ng bonfire habang ang iba naman ay mga nakatayo at umiinom.
Lumapit ako sa isang table na walang tao at agad na kinuha ang isang baso ng wine sa dumaang waiter. Ininom ko iyon nang diretso. Na-miss ko ulit uminom.
I looked around. I saw a group of three boys looking at my direction just a few tables away from me. One of them whistled, but I just raised my eyebrow at him. Then, the other two men grinned and raised their glasses at me, but I didn't grin back. Inirapan ko pa sila. I don't want to waste my precious time to those jerks. Flirting with other guys was the least thing on my mind. It's not worth it to forget Ethan.
Ang mga lalaking iyon, hindi yata nakahalata na hindi ako interesado sa kanila. They even bothered to join me here in my table.
"Are you alone, Miss?" asked by one of them.
I frowned and looked side by side before looking back at them. "I guess so? Unless you see something or someone with me that I don't see."
"That's good," said by the other one, ignoring my sarcasm. "Why don't you join us? Let's drink, then dance later," he added, grinning like an idiot.
I sipped the last drop of wine on my glass before answering. "You know, boys. I will come and join you if I wanted a company tonight. And I will go to that damn bonfire and drag some f*cking guy to dance with me whenever I want. If it's still not clear to your floating heads what I'm saying, then let me get straight to the point. Leave me alone and get the hell out of my sight."
"Bitch."
I glanced at the guy who said that. "I know. Thanks for the compliment, anyway. Can you leave now? Because as you can see, you're ruining my night, jerks."
"Aba't---"
"What? You're going to hit me?" I cut him off. I almost flinch when he raised his fist at me. I felt a bit scared but I will not give them the satisfaction. I looked at him disgustingly from head to toe. "Tell me. Are you gay?"
"Talagang sumosobra ka ng babae ka!"
Napapikit na lang ako nang makitang papalapit na ang kamao nung lalaking iyon. Pero, ang inaasahan kong suntok sa mukha ko ay hindi dumating. Ilang sandali pa, dahan-dahan akong nagmulat at tiningnan kung anong nangyari. Right then and there, I saw Joseph Matthew Andrada in front of me. Hawak-hawak niya ang kamao nung lalaki.
"A real man don't hit a woman. Unless you're not really one," he said emphatically.
The jerk tried to let go from him, but didn't let him. Matt even tightened his grip until the jerk cried to let go of him. He did. "Go before my fist hit all of your faces." And with that, the three jerks run as fast as they can away from us.
"Cowards," I murmured before getting another drink from a waiter. "Even if you didn't come to my rescue, I can still handle those jerks," I said to him.
Matt glanced at my direction. And I was insulted when he looked at me from head to toe. "Really? I can see that. You almost flinch and just waited for that punch to come to your face. And if I didn't come, maybe you're lying on this sand now unconsciously," he answered mockingly.
I raised my eyebrow at him. "So, what now? Are you expecting me to thank you for your chivalrous act earlier?"
"No. I'm not expecting you to thank me. Not at all. That's not really you," he stated, grinning from ear to ear.
Was that a compliment or an insult? I asked, but chose to keep it to myself and ignore him. But, suddenly, "What are you doing here, anyway? I mean, what are you doing here in my table?"
"If you tried to look around, you can see that there's no available table for me to drink alone. As much as I don't want to be here standing and drinking next to you, and since we're both aware that we hated each other's presence and guts, we can pretend that we don't know each other at all. You drink there, and I'll drink here on my own. You really don't need to talk to me if you don't like to."
I raised an eyebrow again, crossing my arms. "And what makes you think that I would like to talk to you? Dream on, jerk."
"Then, don't think that I'm here because some stupid guys tried to hit on you. I'm not worried about you, bitch."
I grinned sarcastically, ignoring what he just called me. "No. I'm not thinking that you would be worried about me. Not at all. That's not really you, jerk."
I saw him smirked and shook his head before drinking his beer. We remained silent and ignore each other while drinking and watching some people dancing near the bonfire. In the corner of my eyes, I saw him drinking non-stop and continuously.
After an hour, napansin kong parang lasing na lasing na siya. I tapped his shoulder. "Hey, jerk. Stop drinking."
He glanced at me. "Hey. You got your hair cut."
I rolled my eyes at him. "No. Actually, it's an extension."
"Really? I thought your hair was short."
"No. It was really a long hair," I answered sarcastically.
"Nice hair, by the way. It suits you."
Napatigil ako sa akmang pag-inom at muling tumingin sa kanya. After a few seconds of staring at each other, he grinned at me. "Because just like your short hair, you have a short patience and temper." Sabay tawa niya.
I winced. "Look who's talking," tanging nasabi ko na lang bago umirap. Ganito pala siya kapag nalalasing, dinadaldal ako at siraulo pa rin. Tsk.
Nakita kong pabagsak na siya sa direksyon ko kaya on an instinct, sinalo ko siya. "Hey. Are you okay?"
I just heard him moan. Great. He's really drunk and wasted, I told myself. Instead of leaving him here, I decided to help him walk to his room.
"Oh, geez. Ang bigat mo," bulong ko habang inaalalayan siya sa paglalakad. Inayos ko ang braso niya sa balikat ko. At isang ungol na naman niya ang narinig ko.
I asked the receptionist for his room number, and she immediately gave it to me. When we get to his room, basta ko na lang siyang ibinaba sa kama niya.
"Pen..." I heard him moaned, closing his eyes.
"What?"
"Pen..."
I frowned. "You're looking for a pen? What would you do about it?"
"Penelope...Sorry....I'm really sorry...."
I was left speechless. After a few minutes of staring at him, I smiled bitterly before walking out to his room. He was not referring to a stupid pen, but a girl.
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