Wala pang alas dose ng tanghali ay nagmistula nang flower shop ang office ni Red. Every fifteen minutes ay nagpapadala ng bulaklak si Troy. The sight of yellow everywhere made her sick.

"Vico!"

"Yes?"

Vico seemed to be in a good mood. Mukhang natutuwa ito sa mga dumarating na bulaklak. And it's like he's expecting her to be in a good mood as well. Too bad the flowers cannot lift her spirit up.

"Throw these away."

"Red, sayang naman yung flowers."

"Hindi mo pera ang ginastos dyan kaya huwag kang manghinayang."

Vico was hesitant to throw the flowers away, but he did what she told him to do. He called the cleaning crew to take away the flowers. And then he left without a word. Alam niyang marami itong gustong sabihin, but he also knows that she won't listen to him.

Not when she's pissed, anyway.

She tried concentrating on work, but her focus was so messed up. Sumandal siya sa upuan at saka pumikit. She badly needs a breather. Too bad she can't smoke inside the building. Sabi nila, nakakawala raw ng stress ang paninigarilyo. Gusto niyang subukan kung tama nga iyon.

Napasapo siya nang biglang umingay sa labas ng opisina niya. What is it this time? She stomped her feet and walked towards the door, readying the profanities at the top of her head, in case she might need them. When she opened the door, the sight left her baffled and confused.

Nagkakagulo ang mga babaeng empleyado dahil sa mga bulaklak na ipinamimigay nina Vico.

"What the hell is this?!"

They all froze at the sound of her voice.

Lumapit sa kanya si Vico tangan ang isang bouquet na kakaunti na ang nakalagay na bulaklak.

"Red, Troy asked us to give the flowers away."

"Why?!"

"Kasi sayang daw yung pinambili nya kung itatapon lang lahat 'yan."

She looked around. Almost everybody's trying to get the flowers away from her sight.

"Those are my flowers you're giving away," mariin niyang sabi sa pinsan.

"I thought you don't want them."

"Kahit na. Sa akin pa rin 'yang mga 'yan. I can do whatever I want with them!"

"Red, you're being unreasonable."

Pinamay-awangan niya ito. "You want unreasonable?"

She walked passed Vico. "Listen up!" she declared in a loud voice. "If you won't throw those roses away, I'll have you thrown out of my building by the end of the day."

"Red, you can't—"

"Maybe," she said with a shrug. "But do you really want to try me?"

--

Vico knew that his cousin could go out of hand. But he didn't expect her to go berserk over such trivial thing. The employees did not deserve to face the consequences of Troy's mistake.

And he gets that Troy's frustrated. Anyone around Red is frustrated. But she wouldn't be this mad if she didn't care, if Troy didn't get to her. Kung alam lang sana niya ang dahilan kung bakit galit ang pinsan niya, baka nakatulong na siya. But Red's not telling and Troy thinks that he can solve this one on his own.

Sinundan niya si Red pabalik sa opisina nito. He discreetly told everyone to throw the roses away. She can't fire them all, but she would certainly try just to prove a point.

"I get it. You're affected," sabi niya rito pagkasarado niya ng pinto. "And don't you deny it, Red. You won't get this mad if you aren't."

"He's an asshole. I never should have met with him in the first place," she said grimly.

"Well, you did. You can't undo what's been done, Red."

"It's your entire fault! You introduced me to him!"

He gaped. "Seriously? You're going to blame me for that?"

"Well, it's your fault!"

"You asked me to look for someone and I found him!" he retorted.

"You're supposed to be finding someone else!"

He exhaled sharply. "You know... being a bitch isn't gonna solve anything. I'm tired of cleaning up your mess for you, Red. Let him talk to you. Let him apologize. Hear what he has to say."

"I don't want to," she said indignantly.

"You have to or you'll lose him too."

He just hammered her and he wasn't being apologetic about it. Malakas talaga ang loob niya dahil alam nitong hindi siya nito sisisantehin. She has no one but him. She'd be lost without him.

"Fine," she finally said.

"Fine what?"

"Tell him that I'll talk to him."

Vico sighed and gave her a smile. "I'll go get him."

"And Vico?"

"Yes?"

"If this doesn't work out, I'm coming after you."

Napalunok siya. "U-Understood."

Nagmadali siya pagpunta sa lobby kung saan kanina pa nakatambay si Troy. He didn't go to work and he has no intention of leaving.

"Good news!" he declared.

"Finally!"

Troy walked passed him, excitement all over his face.

"Troy?"

"Hmm?"

"Don't screw this up. Please."

--

Huli na nang ma-realize ni Red ang ginawa niya. She just admitted to Vico that she's scared of losing Troy. She didn't use the exact words, but she's pretty sure that he got the message. She's just hoping that it wasn't already relayed to Troy.

She put on her poker face when she heard a knock.

"Come in."

The door opened and in came Troy, with his hesitant smile. He stayed by the door, unsure if he was even allowed to take a step further.

"Red—"

"Feed me with any more of your bullshit and we're done for good."

Troy leaned on the door, hands in his pocket. He was contemplating on his next move as she was formulating the next lines she's going to throw at him. They fell silent for a whole minute.

Maya-maya ay lumapit ito sa kanya. He went ahead and sat on her table.

"You have the nerve—"

"I do," he cut in. Dume-kwatro ito at saka ipinatong ang kaliwang kamay sa lamesa niya, while the other stayed in his pocket. "Four years ago."

She frowned. "What's four years ago got to do with anything?"

"Four years ago, my father set me up on a blind date. He told me that she's the daughter of a friend and my wife-to-be. I didn't want anything to do with her or the arrangement, but I don't want to disappoint my father so I went anyway. I waited for three hours in the restaurant before finally giving up. I called my dad and told him that she didn't come."

"Why are you telling me this?" litong tanong niya.

"Because until now, I still haven't figured out why you didn't show up that night."

Natigilan siya. Ngayon lang niya nalaman na magkaibigan pala ang pamilya niya at ang pamilya ni Troy, or more accurately, their fathers are friends. O past tense na ba yun kasi hindi sya sumipot four years ago?

But she didn't know that it was Troy. Ang sabi lang ng daddy niya, she was to meet her future husband. He didn't give any name, just the restaurant and the time. She didn't want to be told what to do. Ayaw niyang ipinapamukha nitong mas alam nito ang mga bagay na makakabuti sa kanya when he clearly favored Vince over her. It was Vince that he cared more about.

So instead of going to the date, she went to Atlantic City instead. She stayed there for a week and when she came back, her father was so angry, he almost disowned her. She remembered Vince talking him out of it. But she wasn't grateful. She just thought that he was kissing her father's ass back then. Pa-good shot kumbaga.

"You were that guy?"

He smirked and nodded. "I was. It was also the first time that someone stood me up on a date. You had the nerve."

"I didn't know it was you," depensa niya.

"Would it turn out differently if you knew?"

"No," she admitted.

"You caught my interest. Other women would not waste the opportunity to date me."

"I'm not like other women."

"You aren't. Maybe that is why my father didn't disclose your name. He knew you'd be different. And difficult."

"How's that going to make me forgive you?"

He sighed. "I shouldn't have said what I said. Alam kong sinabi mong sanay ka na, but I know it's not true. You don't get used to pain. You just tell yourself that, hoping that it would lessen the hurt. I told you that I've had you checked. I know about your mother, Red."

"Don't go there."

"I am going there and you have to let it go. It wasn't your fault."

She looked away. Tears threaten to come out. Why would he drag her mother into this? It's always been a touchy subject for her. Ayaw niya iyong pag-usapan dahil hindi niya kaya.

"Red, your mother loved you very much."

"Stop!"

"Your father loves you too. Vico loves you. My sisters love you. I... I want you to realize that there are other people who love you. You have to stop pushing them away or they'll leave."

"My mother told me that she will never leave me, and then she died!" she snapped. "My father said that he will always be by my side and that we'll get through the loss together. Ngayon hindi ko alam kung nasaang lupalop ng mundo ang ama ko. And Vico... he's dying to get out of here! And two years from now, he will!"

"Vico can leave you any time, and yet he chooses to stay. It's not because he's bound by some contract or promise. He can get off that. He just doesn't want to leave you because he doesn't want you to be alone. And instead of making him feel appreciated, you make him regret staying."

"Go away, Troy."

"And now you're pushing me away again."

Tinalikuran niya ito.

"The deal's off," she told him.

"I wasn't here because of some deal."