Marian's POV

"Marian..." Nagising ako ng maramdaman kong may yumuyugyog sa balikat ko. I opened my eyes and saw a pair of  deep olive eyes staring back at me. I smiled at his handsome face, still disoriented. His brows creased in a deep V. "What are you smiling about?"

"H-huh?" I quickly sat up nang magbalik ang katinuan ko. It was only then that I realized it was Seth. He was sitting on the edge of the couch, looking at me like I was a weird alien.

"Who gets drunk after three cans of beer? Really?" He snickered.

"Sino'ng drunk?" I asked. All I remember was having a drink and conversation with Seth and feeling sleepy after a few drinks. I sat up.

"Just get up. I'm hungry." He rubbed his tummy like a hungry 5-year-old.

"O, e'di kumain ka..." I muttered.

"Naubusan na ko ng pagkain. Bili ka ng dinner, d'yan lang sa baba." Sabi niya.

 I let out a huff and got up. "Ano bang gusto mo?"

 "I'm thinking pasta." He said. "Meron Italianni's sa malapit lang dito, doon ka na lang bumili."

"Opo, boss." I sarcastically said and rolled my eyes.

 Binigyan niya ako ng pera pangbili ng dinner at nagmamadaling pinaalis ako. Halos itulak na nga ako palabas ng unit. Problema nun? I was hardly even awake. I looked at the closed door with my brows knitted together before letting out a huff and walking away. I rode the elevator and it stopped a couple of floors down. A man went in and stood beside me and gave me a glance. Ilang beses siyang lumingon sa akin. I felt creeped out and the fourth time he looked at me, I sneered at him. Nakahinga ako ng maluwag ng bumukas ang elevator at nagmamadali akong lumabas. Well, that was weird.

Italianni's was just a few walks away from Seth's condominium building. As I was walking, I felt like everyone was looking at me. Naisip ko baka napaparanoid lang ako, epekto ng beer na nainom ko. I wasn't fond of alcohol. Kahit noong nagbabar kami nina Abby tuwing girl's night out madalas juice lang ang iniinom ko. I was greetd by a waitress. She just stood there with a look of both hesitation and amusement on her face. I opened my mouth to ask for the menu but before a word came out of it...

"Miss..." Isang lalaki ang lumapit sa akin. He was tall, fair skinned, chinky eyed and so gwapo.   

I turned my head to him and smiled. "Yes?" My voice slightly squealed.

"Um, may konting dumi ka yata sa mukha." He said, touching his forehead.

My hand went up to my face and I wiped my forehead. Hindi ko alam kung ano ang tinutukoy niyang dumi kaya kung saan saan dumapo ang kamay ko para punasan ang duming iyon.

"Hindi matanggal." The guys shook his head. "Why don't you go to the restroom? Basain mo na lang. Ito ang panyo kung kailangan mo." He handed me a brown patterned handkerchief. I looked down at it for awhile. Inilapit niya pa ito sa akin at nag-aalinlangan na kinuha ko iyon.. I excused myself and went to the restroom.

I was horrified when I looked into the mirror and saw my own face. My pretty face was vandalized. The word Wanted was written on my forehead and next to it was a phallus drawing. Under it was a cellphone number. I shouldn't have trusted him, that asshole!

"SEEEEEEEEEETH!!!!" I yelled furiously, my voice echoing throughout the whole comfort room. I had been walking around with a poorly drawn penis on my forehead all along? Nakakahiya! Nagmamadali akong naghilamos at pilit na tinatanggal ang sulat sa mukha ko. Mapapatay ko talaga ang lalaking iyon! Humanda yang Seth na yan! It took me a whole five minutes to completely get it off my face. I marched out of the bathroom and went back to his condo with a vengeance.

"Marian." He casually leaned his arm against the door frame when he opened the door. Pigil ang ngiting tinitigan niya ako. I glared back at him. "Binili mo na ba ako ng pagkain?"

"Hindi nakakatawa ginawa mo." I muttered with a frown. I put both my hands to his chest and shoved him in. "You're an asshole."

"What did I do?" Painosenteng tanong niya.

"What did you do? Seryoso ka ba?" I snapped as I felt myself on the verge of crying. "Gago ka!" I angrily hit him in the chest. He caught my hands, pulling me and guiding me to the couch. He sat me down and he sat next to me.

"Marian..." He softly said. Naramdaman kong hinawakan niya ako sa balikat and I shrugged his hand away.  "I'm sorry, okay?"

"Sorry? Sorry mo mukha mo!" I was so angry, it was a struggle to get the words out of my mouth.

"I'm just trying to help you get laid." He sighed. My head snapped up at him giving him another piercing glare.

"What the heck? Sino bang may sabi sa'yo na gusto kong-" I couldn't even say the word.

"Di ba sabi mo kanina walang nagkakagusto sa'yo? So far, I've already received 5 messages and 2 calls. See, meron pa rin nama nagkakagusto sayo." He said with a boyish smile and took out his phone. He read the messages out loud. I cringed when I heard the explicit and awful messages.

"Hoy, Seth, hindi naman ako ganon kadesperada!" I shrieked, scowling at him in disgust. "Hindi yun ang ibig kong sabihin. I want someone who... who would love me."

He shook his head. "Love sucks." And then he sneered. "But true love swallows."

I looked at him, cluessly. "You're a hopeless case." He let out a chukle and shifted to face me more. Marian, do you believe someday, someone out there would look at you in a room full of people and think you're the prettiest and that he wants to spend the rest of his life with you? Do you believe that you were put here on earth to be with that one person?"

I stared at him quizically. I didn't know where this conversation was going. Tinitigan niya lang ako habang hinihintay ang sagot ko. I slowly nodded my head. As a woman, a hopeless romantic woman, syempre naniniwala ako doon.

"In life, there's expectation and there's reality. That's not how reality works. You never enjoy anything because you're always waiting for something to happen, that something would probably never even happen. There's no sparks, no magic, no nothing. Only the right words and things to get what you want." He said as he looked at me in the eyes. Althought I didn't agree to what he was saying or at least I didn't want to,he was surprisingly making sense to me. "Women use sex to get love, men use love to get sex. I don't know what books or movies you read or watch but in the real world, that's how it works."

"So what are you really trying to say? That I should sleep around?" My eyes widened, bemusely.

"No... all I'm saying is that you need to take life easy and just enjoy it. Stop being uptight and frigid. Stop waiting for something to happen and start making it happen." He said.

"And you thought by putting the word wanted and a drawing of a phallus next to it on my face would help me?" I sarcastically asked, tumaas ang kilay ko sa kanya.

Tumawa siya ng malakas. His laugh slowly died down after a few minutes. "Not really, ang sarap mo lang talagang pagtripan."

I gritted my teeth as I tried to stop myself from jumping on him and throttling the life out of him. "I hate you!"

Days passed and Seth called me again to clean up his condo unit. As I expected, ala-smokey mountain na naman ang condo niya. Iniwan ko muna ang flower boutique ko kay Flo, ang tindera namin katulad at pumunta dito. I was doing his laundy while he slept in his bedroom. Madalas kapag dumadating ako sa hapon tulog pa si Seth, probably exhausted from partying all night. Gabi na ang gising niyan para kumain lang at aalis na naman. Habang nag-aayos ako ng labahan tumunog ang doorbell.

Ibinaba ko muna ang hamper para buksan ang pinto. A tall, beautiful woman stood in front of the door. She had long curly hair and was wearing a black body hugging dress. It was definetly Seth's kind of woman.

"Hi." I greeted her with a smile.

She looked at me from head to toe with one brow arched up and walked in, not even acknowledging my presence. "Where's Seth?" Mataray na tanong niya. Antipatika 'tong babaeng 'to!

Even though I was pissed off I still managed a smile. "He's in his bedroom. Masama ang pakiramdam."

"Sino ka ba?" Humarap siya sa akin at tinignan ako.

"Ako nga pala si Marian. Tagalinis dito." Nakangiting sabi ko kahit ang sarap hilahin isa-isa ng pilik mata ng babaeng yan.

She went to the couch and sat primly straight on it. "What's wrong with him?"

"May diarrhea siya." I lied. I thought of a devious idea to get back at him. I ran back to the laundry and took one of his boxers. I took out a chocolate bar from his fridge and smudge it on his boxers. I went back to the living room with it. "He's been having... accidents. See."

The woman grimaced in disgust when she saw it. I secretly laughed to myself at her reaction.

"Para ngang may chocolate factory siya sa pwet ngayon." I chuckled. She pursed her lips together and I saw her gulp.

She cleared her throat before getting up from her seat. Tumalikod siya at naglakad papunta sa pinto.

"Teka saan ka pupunta?" I asked innocently. She ignored my question and continued to walk. "Aalis ka na? Sasabihin ko na lang kay Seth na pinuntahan mo siya."

"No, it's okay." She said and opened the door. The woman hurriedly left. Hindi ko na napigilan ang tawa ko ng makaalis ang babae.

"MARIAN!" Seth opened the door to his room and grunted. I quickly hid his boxers behind me. His eyes were hooded, his hair messy and he was only wearing nothing but a pair of pajama bottom. "Jeez, will you keep it down. Natutulog ako."

"Okay, boss." Kibit-balikat na sabi ko.

"Sino bang kausap mo?" Iritang tanong niya.

"Wala. Baka yung tv lang narinig mo. Nanonood kasi ako kanina." Dahilan ko.

He pulled his head back in and closed the door. Mahinang tumawa ulit ako ng isara niya ang pinto.