Chapter 19

Alessandro Ramirez

"What the hell are you doing?"

I knew what he meant.

I sat across my father in the hospital cafeteria. There were a lot of hospital staff eating and well, other women looking our way. But I could fucking care less.

Nasapo ko ang leeg ko at napakamot sa aking ulo. Hindi ko alam kung anong dapat kong isagot sa kanya dahil maski ako ay nalilito na.

"I won't ask you again, son," mahina nitong ani at nagpahalumbaba sa mesa. May narinig pa akong ibang napatili at napasinghap, marahil dahil sa pag-f-flex nitong tatay kong tinatawag nilang DILF. Napaismid na lang ako. This old man... Tsk. Kapag talaga 'to may babaeng i-i-entertain, isusumbong ko 'to kay Mom pero wala man lang itong pakialam sa mga babaeng halos tumuwad na sa aming gilid.

Fucking bitches. Mukha silang mga paa. Ni wala sila sa kalingkingan ng gilagid ni Celebes.

Natatawa ako sa naiisip. Wait... The fuck! Bakit si Celebes agad ang naalala ko?!

"She's your sister, by the way."

Kumunot ang noo ko dahil sa sinabi ni Dad. Dalawa lang naman ang kapatid ko. Ano 'tong sinasabi ng lokong 'to?

"Who?"

"Miss Escuadro is your sister." Niloloko ba ako nito? Tinitigan ko siya na para bang nasisiraan na siya ng bait. Nagkasalubong na ang kilay ko habang pinipilit na kilatisin ang mukha niya. "Hindi mo ba ako narinig? Ang sabi ko kapatid mo siya."

At parang gusto pa nitong magulat ako.

"I know you're lying."

Umungot ito at ngumiwi.

Hindi ako nito maloloko. Alam na alam ko 'yang mga kalokohan niya. Diyan ako nagmana eh.

"Tsk. Oo, na. Ang totoo ay kinakapatid mo siya," nagmamaktol na anito.

"Mom and you are her godparents?" Bahagyang nanlaki ang aking mga mata. Kilala ko kasi ang mga kinakapatid ko na anak ng mga close na kaibigan nina Mom at Dad. Yung mga katropa ko ay kinakapatid ko lahat. We grew up together so we're close.

Speaking of those fuckers... We haven't got wasted for a while. Busy with women, I suppose.

"Yep, your mother and Enna's mother were best friends. Enna's mother was your mother's ex-girlfriend, by the way." Nabilaukan ako sa sariling laway dahil sa narinig. "Your mother loved her dearly."

Pambihira nga naman. My Mom and Celebes' Mom? Like holy shit! I didn't know Mom is bisexual!

"W-What happened?"

He paused for a while and he smirked.

"Enna's mother loved me. That's what happened." Mas lalo pang nanlaki ang aking mga mata. Tangina. Anong klaseng love triangle ito?! "She was a nice woman. She was very stubborn. She was complicated." Mahina siyang natawa pero may napansin akong kalungkutan sa mga mata ni Dad. "Manang-mana si Enna sa kanya kaya mag-iingat ka."

Hindi ko na lang pinansin ang pagbibiro nito.

"You loved her? Celebes' mother?" I blurted out.

There was a sad smile on his face.

"I love your mother more than anything and anyone and with Enna's mother, it was different. I didn't cheat on your Mom. She knows I felt something close to love. It wasn't hard to like her, you know. She was a good friend and a fine woman." Kung may beer lang sana kami sa harapan ay baka tumungga na ito dahil sa kapaitan sa kanyang mukha. "But she got married to a man she didn't love."

Then... Celebes' father and her mother didn't love each other? I could vaguely assess someone who grew inside a family without love.

It's...sad. That rare cold look I saw on Celebes' face popped inside my head and my heart thumped.

"Where is Celebes' mother now?" I managed to ask. I didn't know why I had the urge to know about their family.

"I... I don't know." He shook his head as if he can't believe what he's saying himself. Then his face warped into one filled with anger. "It's all because of that stupid fucker! Panthalasseus, that bastard!"

Pantha—what? What kind of name is that?

"Who?"

"That bastard that got her pregnant! He was a possessive ruthless son of a bitch that didn't give her freedom—"

"Thanks so much for the nice description of my father, Ninong," a sarcastic voice sounded from behind us and before I turned to get a look, Celebes was already sitting beside me. The long bench seemed shorter for some reason because she was close to me, close enough for me to snake my arm around her waist. And I did. Sanay na sanay na ang braso kong pumalibot sa kurba ng kanyang bewang. She cursed and she looked at me in disgust. "What the fuck, Alessandro?"

I inhaled the smell of delicious sex, her sweet sweat, and my own scent from her and I groaned. I'm glad she hadn't had the time to shower.

"You smell so fucking good," I murmured and I buried my face on the crook of her delectable neck. She gasped and I began licking her silky skin. "Fuck... What are you doing to me, sweetheart?" I sucked on her neck to leave a hicky and I grinned at her. Her hazy eyes looked at me as if she was possessed. "I wanna fucking take you again."

She licked her beautiful lips.

"Then take m—"

"If I don't know you two, I would've thought you're two horny newlyweds out during honeymoon."

Celebes looked at Dad and then she stiffened.

"Like hell! Never!" Celebes said indignantly and pushed me away. I could only stare at her in disbelief. Sa isang iglap lang ay parang nawala na ang pagnanasa sa mukha nito kaya napailing na lang ako. Kung ang iba ay magkakandarapa nang pakasalan ako, ito naman ay tinulak pa talaga ako.

But she has always been different.

Pero sobra naman kung makatulak. Gusto pa yata ako ihulog sa bench. Tsk.

"You don't have to push me like I'm some virus, woman," seryosong sabi ko rito. Hindi ako nito pinansin kaya kumunot ang noo ko. "What—"

"Did I see that right, Sandro? You and Celebes?! Are you like... a thing?!"

Halos dumagundong sa buong cafeteria ang lakas ng boses ng kapatid kong si Axiana. Sumulpot ang mga kapatid ko mula sa direksyon ng likuran ni Dad. Kaya siguro ako tinulak ni Celebes dahil nakita niya ang mga ito. Wait—ah fuck. Of course, they know each other.

Damn. Why am I the only one who hasn't known her?!

"We're not a thing," Celebes deadpanned. "Hindi ko type ang kapatid mo, Axiana."

Aba't—! Hindi pala type ah?!

I gritted my teeth in annoyance.

"But we saw how you two seem to be eye-fucking each other," sabi naman ng isa kong kapatid na si Alissiana. "Or did we make a mistake?"

"Wala akong gusto sa babaeng 'yan," seryoso kong sabi at tinapunan ko ng masamang tingin si Celebes. She scoffed and even rolled her eyes so I got seriously pissed off. "Bakit naman ako magkakagusto diyan? Ni wala 'yan sa ganda ng ugali ng girlfriend ko."

Naningkit ang mga mata ni Celebes pero wala rin namang sinabi.

Well, come on. Two can play this game.

"Nga naman. Kung pagandahan ng ugali, backstage ka na, En," nakabungisngis na ani Axiana at naupo sa tabi ni Dad na naaaliw lang kaming pinapanood.

"Huwag niyo ngang i-chop-chop ang pangalan ko," iritable nitong sabi pero tinawanan lang siya nina Dad at ng mga kapatid ko.

Nga naman. Ba't ang hilig ng mga taong gumawa ng nickname kay Celebes? Nakakabanas.

—

"Hindi mo sinabing inaanak ka nina Dad." Naramdaman ko ang pagtitig ni Celebes sa aking gilid matapos siyang makapasok sa kotse.

"Why'd I need to tell you that?"

Nanahimik na lang ako bago pinaandar ang kotse at nagmaneho na pabalik sa condo. Wala na akong balak pang marinig ang dahilan nito dahil totoo namang hindi niya na kailangang sabihin ang bagay na yun sa akin.

She's already my secretary and the woman I exclusively fuck. She couldn't be someone more.

The fucking connection between us is fucking me up. I couldn't deny the fact that I'm intrigued by how fate kept on pushing us to be together when the both of us are clearly unwilling to succumb to whatever this is.

Ring. Ring. Ring.

Naputol ang iniisip ko nang marinig ang tunog na iyon. Tumingin ako kay Celebes at nakita siyang nakakunot-noong nakatingin sa tumutunog niyang telepono.

"Aren't you gonna answer that?" tanong ko nang nanatili lamang siyang nakatitig sa phone nang iilang segundo. Bumalik sa daan ang paningin ko at pinilit na isipin lamang ang pagmamaneho ng kotse sa halip na tanungin ang sarili kung sino kaya ang tumatawag sa kanya ng ganitong oras—tangina. "Sagutin mo na. Baka importante."

"It's an unregistered number," she murmured so I raised a brow. "Who would call me at this hour other than you?" Happiness swelled inside my heart for some dumb fucking reason that I didn't even wanna know. I feigned a cough and shove the scary feeling out of my chest which I failed horribly because Celebes laughed. She fucking laughed. I knew she wasn't in the mood a while ago so I'm glad she seemed brighter now. "Damn. What if the one who's calling is a scammer? A voice phisher?"

Natawa ako sa iniisip nito. I didn't know she had these kind of worries.

"I'll answer it then," pagpresenta ko rito. Sumulyap ako sa kanya at nakita siyang pinaniningkitan ako ng mata. "What?"

"That can't be right. I'm the secretary here," maktol niya.

"Huh, you think?" pagbibiro ko sa kanya na mas nakapabusangot pa rito.

"Nakakabanas ka magbiro."

I chuckled at her annoyed expression and decided to just answer the call. I parked the car on the roadside and took the phone from Celebes.

She bit her lips and hesitantly gave me the phone. Worry filled her pretty eyes so I just gave her a reassuring grin. She pursed her lips and raised a brow at me.

Her anxiety even looks beautiful to me. I must be fucking nuts.

Inihilig ko ang ulo ko at nag-swipe na sa screen.

"Hello? Who the fuck is this?" I spoke with utter seriousness.

There was a long pause until I heard a groan from the other line.

"Why'd the mosquito answer my call? Ssh," walang modong reklamo ng gago. Nagkasalubong ang kilay ko dahil doon. Sa arogante nitong pananalita at sa pagtawag nitong lamok sa akin, alam ko na agad kung sino 'tong tanginang 'to.

Ito ung Azul na peste sa harapan ng unit ni Celebes kanina. Hindi ko pa rin makalimutan ang paghalik nito sa babae kaya mas lalong uminit ang ulo ko.

"Tangina kang istorbo ka. What do you need from my sweetheart?!"

"Her lips," the fucker deadpanned so I couldn't stop myself anymore and shouted.

"PUTRAGIS KANG TANGINA KA! MAMATAY KA NA!"

Sa higpit ng pagkakahawak ko sa phone ay baka nayupi na ito. Buti na lang napigilan ko ang sarili ko dahil phone 'to ni Celebes. Malamang ay marami itong importanteng mga files. Initsa ko na lang sa nagulat na babae ang phone bago ako suminghal.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" she asked in anger.

"It was voice phising," I mumbled.

"Don't give me that crap!" naiirita nitong sabi sa akin.

Tanginang Azul na asungot na yun. Ako pa tuloy ngayon ang nadehado.