29-Drake

Her reaction bugged me even the seclusive meeting started.

Hindi ko siya sinali sa meeting. I plotted this whole thing to be a secret. I had been going extra mile for the past months.

I was simply nodding my head to all the ideas they have said.

I hired the best people. I was being complacent because the quality of the brandy was my top priority.

"Who will be the possible brand ambassador to entice the attention of our target consumers?" Our creative director asked.

"Mr. Drake Wayne Mathildo is the brand ambassador himself..." The head of the marketing team answered.

I had been thinking of asking Angel to be the brand ambassador but this wasn't her passion resides.

"Sir, we're waiting for the brand name."

"It will be a surprise..." I replied, grinning at my phone, without lifting my eyes to the one who asked it.

"So, for now, the brand name will remain a mystery..." The presenter announced.

"Sir, about the launching event? We have to set a date."

"March." tipid kong tugon.

"What specific day, sir?"

"That will be a surprise too."

I couldn't launch my new business yet. I hadn't still sorted out the things with her guardians.

I was staring down the table with my cellphone between my hands. I was watching the CCTV footage outside my office where Angel had relocated her desk.

I just wanted to check if Angel was fine. Naroon siya na payapang nagguguhit.

I zoomed in the camera. I could see it in her heavy eyes that many things were perturbing her.

It was the fifteen-minute break. She spent it drawing something in her sketch pad.

I felt a pang in my chest when she rested her head on it. To my surprise, someone entered my office, and it was Ayden!

"Sir?" Someone called me.

"Okay! Thank you! Thank you, everyone for the hard work and dedication! Meeting adjourn!" I ended the meeting straight off the bat.

Their eyes brows knitted into complete confusion. I ran to my office.

"Ms. Soledad..."

I gave prominence to her surname once I reached her desk with bated breath.

Tumayo siya. Her desk was already positioned beside Robert. Hindi na sa loob mismo ng opisina ko.

"Sir, a random visitor is waiting for you inside. He said you two know each other. I should have called you first, but he entered heedlessly..." She informed me at once.

"I'll talk to him, and we will talk afterwards, Angel." I said without hesitation, tugging the edge of my coat.

There was a shade of hesitation in her orbs. There were the rush of distress and concern beating my chest.

Something was wrong.

I wrenched the door of my office. He was sitting on my throne, feeling it as its own.

"Drake, how's your business?" he inquired, comradely.

"Good. What are you doing here?"

I wanted to know the purpose of his random visit. I wanted him out of my office in an instant.

"I'm just bored and oh, she's working here?" He stood up and thrust his hands to his pockets.

"Who are you referring to?" My eyes narrowed into slits.

"Angel. That pretty girl." May multong ngiti sa kanyang mukha.

I hid my hands in my pocket too. I might throw it to his face.

"What are you really doing here, Ayden? And how did you know her?"

"You really don't know. Because if you do, you'll be thanking me."

"Quit messing around, Ayden." I grunted at him.

I wanted him to speak the truth on the spot. I had a strong intuition it's all about her.

May hindi ako nalalaman!

"Your girlfriend was almost hit by a truck because of your negligence..."

I balled my fist in my pocket to control the surge of emotion. I could feel the hard grind of my jaw and the bunch of muscle in my cheeks.

Angel lied to me... She should have told me! It was petrifying she had the plan to keep it with me for many days!

"You aren't that type of person to meddle with someone's negligence. What are you really doing here, Ayden? Or else I'll kick you out..." I threatened him.

"Easy, Drake." He put his hands on the air defensively. "You look tense."

"I'm calling the guards now. You're not welcome here..." Kalmado kong banta.

"Alright! I'm having a vacation?"

"You're not sure?" Tumaas ang isang kilay ko.

"Vacation and yes, to finally congratulate you, Drake." he clarified. "Though, I'm still waiting when you'll be retiring so that I can have my own spotlight..."

He wasn't the type of person to visit and congratulate you. He was more of a person who's trying hard to be good to you while forming a plan at the back of his mind to get what he wanted from you. Or the one that disrupts for his own benefit.

"What else? Bumalik ka na sa Manila. That's where your roots. This is not your place. The city is calling for you to come back already. Tatawagan kita kapag gusto ko ng magretiro. Pero palagay ko puputi muna ang mga buhok mo bago mangyari iyon."

"I'll probably stay here for a while. Marami palang magaganda dito. After a whole day of hunting, I found one-"

"This is not a forest, dude. You're not an animal to roam around the forest, right?" sikmat ko.

"Stop it, Drakeyboy..." tudyo niya sa akin.

I snorted at that. "No, you stop little Ayden. Be a man."

"She's working here, right? Baka ay mapapadalas ang bisita ko dito. Anong oras ba ang uwian niyo? Ihahatid-"

"That's my responsibility because she's mine. She's taken. She's unavailable. Not only that, but she's off limits. We're in love." I clamped my jaw tightly to keep myself from raising my voice.

She was just outside, Drake. Hold down your horns. You better calm your ass.

"I don't think so, Mathildo..." He cocked his head.

He was the least person I wanted to have another argument in this life. Ayden was greedy for fame. He would do anything on the desperate level to get what he wanted.

He didn't have good sportsmanship. I bet if he could have that decency I'm expecting. He was acting insane as of now.

"Angel is my girlfriend, Ayden. I hope that's clear. Back off, or you might find your body parts being delivered to your loved ones." I pressurized with the last seep of my self-control.

"Maybe your dark humor scares her..." he persisted.

"Do you know what's scares her? A boy like you." I fired back.

"Maybe it's the other way around?" he insinuated.

***

When evening came, Angel's feet keep on touching mine while we were having dinner. She would either smile, tilt her head to the other side, or muttering sorry for that.

I know it wasn't accidental. I smiled back at her, making an ardent eye contact with her.

She flinched, chewing her bottom lip.

She grasped the reasonable ire from me. The frequent tapping of her pink slippers on the floor curtailed my patience.

I leaned back in my seat. "Speak up, Angel. I know you want to say something."

"Wala pa akong mahanap na boarding house. Sa ngayon pwedeng dito muna ako?"

She began picking at her cuticles and skin around her fingernails.

Hearing it from her made me realize that the normalcy she wanted was burning my heart to ashes. She could even live for a lifetime with me! Her reason was valid though. I had to understand her.

"You can stay here as long as you can, Angel. I didn't even prohibit you to sleep in my room. That's not entirely different in staying in our penthouse..."

She let out a low chuckle. Her lips formed into a thin line, sensing my gloomy mood.

"Ayos lang ba kung may pupuntahan ako ngayon?" She inserted the main purpose of her beating around the bush.

I puffed an air through my nose. Not reacting first was harder than I thought.

I had promised to myself, I should always be calm in all challenges that would be thrown at me.

"Who will you meet?"

I poured some cold water into my glass with the pitcher, in an attempt to cool down the raging fire in my head.

"Ayden? I owe him something. Alam kong sinabihan ka na niya..."

The way she said his name drove my blood through the roof and how nonchalant she mentioned that incident twitched my jaw.

I quickly grabbed the glass of water and swallowed it down my throat, never taking off my eyes on her.

"Drake, are you mad?" She noticed.

I put down the empty glass with a huff. "Nah. Just thirsty." I shook my head. "Why don't you just make another way of thanking him?" I managed to shrink in the possible weight of argument.

"He wouldn't let me, Drake. Samahan mo ako." Her eyes lowered down to her food.

Ayden's stubbornness was like made up of a brick wall. He wouldn't break to anything that's propelled to him.

"He saved me, Drake. I have to thank him."

Her admission of obligation to pay him back wouldn't delete the thought in my mind that she lied to me.

I gripped the handle of the spoon until my knuckles were red with dots of white. I dropped it down slowly before I ruptured the poor thing.

"Yeah. And I had no idea..." Bitterness was dripping in my voice.

"I'm so sorry. This is not a date, Drake. You can go with me." She gave me a crystal-clear statement in the core of silence.

What else could I do?

"Okay." Tumayo ako nagtungo sa lababo. I soaped up my hands and rubbed the rest of the froth on the back my palms.

"Siguro uuwi ako after thirty minutes." she continued.

"Siguro?" Tumaas ang isang kilay ko. I washed my hands with the fast flow of water from the faucet. "Thirty minutes is too short..."

Umingit ang kanyang upuan hudyat na tumayo siya. Walang ingay niyang niligpit ang aming pinagkainan at dinala ito sa lababo.

"He said he wants to teach me how to drive. Kailangan ko siyang pasalamatan. Pagkatapos ay uuwi din ako. Hindi naman ako marunong magdrive. Kung ikaw naman ang magtuturo ay willing akong matuto." she explained again.

Pinipigilan kong hindi ngumiti sa huli niyang sinabi.

She wanted me to teach her to drive, but lying baby wasn't the best choice.

It opened a can of worms. In the endeavor to conceal something for me to not get upset, she lied. Then all of a sudden, this whole thing leads to considerable subsequent problems.

"You didn't tell me that you are almost hit by a truck, Angel. Wala ka bang planong sabihin sa akin?" I remained calm.

This was how I should react. Just like a true even-keeled man.

"Last week pa nangyari iyon. I don't want you to know. Alam kong magagalit ka." she said without any hint of stuttering.

No one would be happy if your girlfriend lied to you. Especially when she was in the brink of danger!

"It doesn't matter how long that incident happened, Angel. The thing that scares me to death is your safety being tested! And I have no clue as your boyfriend!" I cracked the gentleness I practiced seconds ago.

"I'm so sorry, Drake..."

She took a step to me and hold my hand instead of running away or bursting back. I stared at her beautiful face.

Angel's beauty made my demons docile.

She caressed my hand, restraining me from doing it again. Her touches curbed the height of my scorching temper.

I cupped her face, taking a gander of the softness of her orbs, the tinge of pink on her cheeks and those lips that made me speechless and forget my name.

I kissed her forehead with such tenderness that I have been accustomed.

"I'm sorry...tinaasan kita ng boses..." I released a deep breath, realizing my fault.

"Drake..." She whispered with a throb of compunction, wrapping her arms around me.

I buried my face in her hair. She was calm as a feather. She abstained any form of flare to enter her system in any turbulent situations.

"Exact location, Angel." I combed her hair, free from harshness.

"Lagao, Del Prado Racetrack. Sundan mo ako. O sumama ka nalang." She murmured in my chest.

Hindi niya parin ako binibitawan. Wala ata siyang plano. Mahigpit na nakapulupot ang mga braso niya sa akin. How I wished we could stay like this forever.

"Okay, then. Susunod lang ako."

She didn't take long to dress up. She didn't even care to put some makeup.

Nang nakababa na siya ng building ay humigpit ang aking dibdib. Hindi ko alam kung aabot ba ako ng isang oras na hindi siya sinusundan.

I was staring silently on the city view in front of me. I discarded my white button shirt and threw it on a chair, not feeling bothered to hang it up. Then, I made my way to my room, taking off my shoes.

Brandy on the rocks. Alcohol thrumming in my veins.

It aggrandized my nerve that I let her to go to Ayden. I shouldn't have let him go near her further in the first place. I pushed myself to follow them. I had to bite the bullet and shoo that blimp away.

I thought she had gone to their meeting place. But she was waiting outside the building alone! It was a good thing sinundan ko siya.

Pinaghintay ni Ayden ang girlfriend ko! I ran an agitated hand over my head while peeking through the window of my car.

"Anong gagawin natin, Ayden? Kumain nalang kaya tayo? Tapos uwi agad." I heard her.

There was the obvious sense of urgency in her voice. Parang ayaw na niyang tumuloy kahit hindi pa sila nagsisimula.

"I'll teach you how to drive then we eat afterwards." Ayden smiled in amusement.

I swore to God, I wanted to get out of my car and whack his head violently.

Huminga ng malalim si Angel. "Gusto kitang pasalamatan sa ginawa mo pero hindi tamang kailangan nating gawin ito. I have a boyfriend. You should respect that."

"Just think of this as a friendly date. Nothing else."

"No. Why it would be a date? I don't think so. We're not really friends. Pinagbigyan lang kita kasi I don't want to feel guilty."

I never heard her so brutally honest and sour. She was always been so sweet with me.

"This is a request, Angel."

Inunahan ko sila.

I hid my car at the darkest part of the Del Prado racetrack. Not long enough, Ayden's red cabriolet was roaring inside. He hopped out first to execute his pretentious chivalry. My blood was thumping when he motioned his hand to her.

Angel didn't pay attention to his effort. Ningitian niya lang. Ayden's reaction could be the main subject of my mockery.

I sat to one of the many rows of seat of the racetrack. I had the urge to pluck one of the chairs and hurled it to Ayden.

"Paano kung mabangga ko itong kotse mo? Wala akong pambayad." Angel was worried.

His thumbs hooked onto the pockets of his jeans. He racked with sheer excitement and amusement.

"Maganda ka naman, okay lang.." Ayden was grinning at her as if that wasn't a big thing for him.

For sure, he would be crying blood if his shiny cabriolet would have a scratch.

"That's not a valid reason. Wala talaga akong pambayad, Ayden."

"Hindi ko hahayaang mabangga tayo..."

I was shooting killer looks at Ayden. I hope other girls wouldn't be taken by that line.

Angel wasn't even persuaded. She even cringed. God, I love her even more!

"What a dickhead you are, Ayden!"

Angel jumped with the thunder of my voice. They looked behind their shoulders. I jogged downwards.

"Why are you here, Mathildo?" Ayden was thoroughly surprised.

"Of course, she's my girlfriend. Her safety is my top priority. At sinabi niya sa akin na sundan ko siya."

Angel's face lit up. Her eyes were gleaming with stars at me.

I halted my steps with a jolt. I thrust my hands to my pockets and calmed down my system.

"Umuwi nalang kaya tayo? I'm not really into cars, Ayden." Angel offered a neutral smile at him.

"Umuwi ka nalang kasi sa lugar mo, Ayden. Stop messing someone's life and love life..." I chuckled that came straight from the gut.

Angel sighed, attempting, to ease the knot of tension in the pit of her stomach. She was uncomfortable.

I snatched her hand when Ayden was about to reach for it.

May kinuha siya sa kanyang kotse. He brought paper bags from a famous fast-food chain.

"You like burgers for sure. My ex-girlfriend likes it. So, I just assumed you like it too."

His words raised a red flag.

I chattered my teeth in vexation before I lose my cool.

"Favorite ko talaga ang bibingka, Ayden. You should try Filipino sweet delicacies." Angel refused politely.

"Basically, you don't like burgers?" he elucidated.

The muscle in my jaw tensed.

Breathing deeply, I closed my eyes and counted 1 to 10 slowly until that clot of impatience subsides. I was near to my breaking point.

"Kumakain naman ako ng burger paminsan-minsan." Angel shed light to her refusal.

He shouldn't bring the food that reminds of his ex-girlfriend. It signified that he didn't successfully move on from his past relationship.

I grabbed the paper bags from him. Tinignan ko ang laman. My mouth watered. There were two king-sized burgers and two cups of mango juice.

"Do you really love me that much, Ayden? That you bought my favorite?" I took a sip of mango juice and a colossal bite of the burger.

Sarcasm was better to let off a steam. I let him watched me devour the food he bought for Angel. I swallowed the two big cups of mango juice.

"Slow down, Drake." Angel rubbed my back when I choke me down.

Inubos ko ang dalawang cups ng mango juice. His face turned sour when I happily crumpled the paper bags, and paper cups. I balled it in my hands and tossed it to the far trash bin.

"We should go home, Ayden."

"Mag-usap muna tayo, Angel." Ayden requested.

"Ano naman ang pag-uusapan natin? Wala naman dapat tayong iba pang pag-usapan. I don't really like this idea of yours in the first place. Pero gusto kong pasalamatan ka sa ginawa mo kaya pumayag ako na makipagkita sayo ngayon dahil hindi kaya ng konsensya ko. Wala ng iba pa, Ayden. Tanggapin mo nalang ang pasasalamat ko ng wala kang sinisirang relasyon."

That was a grievous blow!

"Just spend an hour with me. I felt so lonely these past few days, Angel. I just need someone to listen to me." he begged desperately.

A manipulative sad boy.

"If you need someone to talk to, Drake and I can listen to you..."

"I only want you, Angel."

"No. I'm going home with my boyfriend. Thank you, Ayden." Angel said with finality.

I walked to my car for I knew we're going home. She ran to me. Like how it supposed to be. I welcomed her in my arms and raised my middle finger to Ayden. He couldn't break us. Nothing could break us again.

When I settled on the cockpit of my car and her on the shotgun seat, neither of us spoke a word until I drove off. What could be racing in her head right now?

"Are you still mad, Drake?" she broke the silence.

"I'm not mad, Anghel. But right now, I love being spoiled with hugs and kisses." I replied.

"Ihinto mo ang sasakyan, Drake."

I obeyed the order from the most divine, beautiful fairy with an air of a true Angel.

She unbuckled her seatbelt. She hunched forward, giggling as she sprinkled my face with kisses.

She pulled her face an inch from me when she sensed something from me.

"I feel like you've taken alcohol before following me to the racetrack. Did you, ha?"

Her slender fingers were tickling my lips.

"You're not wrong." I chuckled, tucking the strand of hair behind her ear.

"Nakaubos ka ba ng isang bote?" tanong niya na may halong paghihinala.

"I drink moderately, Angel..."

"Okey-dokey."

I pointed my lips in mischief. "You didn't kiss this part of my face..."

She kissed my lips as requested.

PERIEDOT