Chapter 12

I woke up with so much comfort na tipong gusto ko pang i-extend ang tulog ko but that made me realized that I'm not in my own bed. The smell of him triggered my senses. I got up from the bed and the first thing that I noticed was all the mess last night were finally clean and tidy up to its places.

Inilapag ko ang paa ko sa carpeted floor at saka ako tumungo palabas ng kwarto. I never thought I would stay and sleep in his room—ever. The situation last night might brought us together or could be worse than that.

As I'm walking down the hall, I heard some noises in the living room and so I hurried to see what's happening. It could be Albertyne making a mess once again but it's not what I expected to see. Trent's moving the furniture and cleaning some stuff. He already had done most of it but some mess haven't been moved out.

I stood there watching him cleaning with the vacuum until he finally recognizes my presence. He turned off the cleaner and gently put it down. Nawala naman ang ingay sa paligid at saka siya naglakad papunta sa akin.

"You're supposed to be sleeping," he said, worries plastered in his tone. "Why did you get up?"

"And you're not supposed to be cleaning alone and... at all," sagot ko sa kanya. "Hindi mo trabahong maglinis. You can leave them to me. Trabaho ko 'yan and I should be serving rather than doing all these works on your own."

"Even without you I can work on my own," he said, still defending himself. "You should be resting and I can still do all the work."

"I wanna help you," I insisted.

He sighed deeply. I hope my persistent didn't irritate him. Ayoko lang maging pabigat sa kanya—na in the first naman, hindi dapat ako ang inaasikaso niya but he did and I'm trying to figure out how sway his mind out of it.

"Do you want to help me?" he suggested and I nodded to confirm it. "You can't help me moving these stuff out so I'm pretty you'll be able to cook for us then? What do you think so?"

"You haven't had your breakfast?"

He shook his head. "No. I just had a coffee."

"Oh, wait. Why aren't you at work? You should be at work, right?"

"I should be but I took the day off. I'm also the boss so that wouldn't be a problem," he said. Alam kong malaking problema rin nangyari so he's trying his best to cope with the situation. I didn't expect Albertyne could be a worst bitch-witch. "And you should take the day off and that's an order."

"Can I still cook?" I winced.

"If you persist, sure. But that's the only think you can do today, alright?"

"Sure, I understand. Thank you, sir."

He darted glares at me. "Did I mention repeatedly to call me by my name instead?"

I giggled. "You did but..." I bit my lower lip at napatungo na lamang ako. "I'm not comfortable to call you by your name though. Just out of respect, sir would be fine, I guess, right?"

"You'll get used to it," he said and smiled at me. I didn't give any reaction but that's the first genuine smile I saw from him. Napangiti niya rin ako kaya pinilit kong iiwas ang tingin ko sa kanya but I'm also trying to make an eye contact at him para hindi halata.

"I think I'll go to the kitchen now," I muttered.

"Sure, please do," he said and I scurried my way to the kitchen.

I felt relieved when I made into the kitchen nang hindi niya ako sinusundan. I didn't look back so he must be continuing fixing the mess left by Albertyne. I really feel like a wife to him right now. Alagang-alaga niya ako but I shouldn't get to that point. I'm his nanny and the boundary of making it seem like our relationship should step up is a big trouble. So I should stay where I should be.

I started preparing some ingredients. I don't know how to cook any Japanese cuisines so I'm afraid that Trent won't like it but I'm just going to risk it anyway. Nagluto na lamang ako ng lugaw and it's the easiest and fastest dish I can cook. Sopas sana ang lulutuin but that would take some time din kaya pinili kong lugaw na lang din ang lutuin ko.

It only took me a few minutes to serve the food. Nagpabalik-balik pa ako sa pwesto ko kung tatawagin ko na ba si Trent o hindi pa. Nang silipin ko naman siya mula sa kitchen ay napansin kong tumigil siya sa paglilinis at natanaw ko siya sa may balcony area na naninigarilyo. I walked towards the balcony and slide the glass window to go over the other side. Lumingon din naman siya sa akin saka niya pinagpag ang upos ng sigarilyo at marahang ibinugo ang usok mula sa kanyang bibig.

"Sir—I mean, Trent—still weird for me to say but breakfast's ready. I'm not sure if you'd like it pero wala namang mawawala, right?"

"Yeah, let's go," he invited.

Idiniin niya ang sigarilyo sa railings at shinoot niya ito sa basurahan. Nauna naman akong bumalik sa loob ng bahay saka niya ako sinundan. He's walking behind me until we reached the dining. I was about to pull the chair for him pero inunahan niya ako at pinigilang gawin 'yon.

When he finally settled in ay inihanda ko naman sa kanya ang bowl of lugaw. I put a spoon beside and pour some water to his glass. Tiningnan naman niya ako like something na may gusto siyang iparating sa akin.

"May kailangan ka pa po ba, sir?"

He chuckled when I mentioned it again.

"I mean, Trent..." napakagat na lamang ako sa ibabang labi ko. Feeling ko hindi ako masasanay siyang tawagin sa kanyang pangalan when I'm already used to call him sir out of respect and because I don't wanna lose my job.

He shook his head. Ang seryoso ng mukha niya. "I don't need anything anymore but I want you to join me on breakfast. That's all I ask."

Wala akong nagawa kung hindi ay sundin ang gusto niya. Nagsalin din ako ng lugaw sa bowl at umupo sa tapat niya. Kahit nakaka-intimidate ang tingin niya sa akin ay umasta na lamang akong parang normal at walang masamang nangyari.

"I cook a Filipino distinct dish—though madalas iniluluto ito kapag may sakit but I only have a little time at ito lang ang naisip kong gawin. It's lugaw though I thought of making sopas but I have to cut some vegetables pa and alam kong kanina ka gising—I'm sorry! Am I speaking too much tagalog? You might not understand what I'm saying anymore."

Nginisihan naman ako nito. He leaned his back on the chair and tilted his head looking back at me. "I understand every word you said, Lav. Just like what Tonton said, I'm half-Filipino. I basically grew up with my Mom who speaks her language most of the time. To be honest, I'm not quite good at speaking tagalog 'cause it sounded a bit slang so I'm trying to stick with English, but you don't know Japanese so let's forget about that."

Napangiwi naman ako sa sinabi niya. "Do you want me to learn Japanese?"

Umiling naman siya sa suhestyon ko. "No. You don't have to. It's not necessary."

"Okay... and how about this?" pagtukoy ko sa lugaw na niluto ko para sa kanya. "I hope you'll like it."

"I hope so, too," he muttered.

He straightened his posture and then took the spoon and started eating the lugaw. When he had his first taste, nangangatog ang mga binti ko sa reaksyong ibibigay niya sa akin. He pressed his lips together and watching him was like watching Gordon Ramsay bitching about my dish. But today was different and I saw a glimpse of smile on his lips then nodding his head that could be the sign that he liked it!

"What can you say about it?" I asked.

"It's nice," he timidly answered but that was already enough to know na pwede na akong mag-asawa. Kaya ko nang mag-alaga ng asawang may sakit dahil sa lugaw. "It's tasty."

"Thanks," I giggled. "I'm happy that you like it."

"Well, my mom also cooked this when I was young and when I was sick but that was a long time ago. You made me miss my childhood though," he smirked, upon reminiscing his past.

Napangisi rin naman naman ako sa sinabi niya. "Sana all."

"What do you mean by that?"

Umiling ako at ngumiti. "Wala, sir."

"Keep calling me sir then I will fire you," pagbabanta nito sa akin.

Napaismid naman ako sa sinabi niya at napalunok ng laway. "I'm sorry I kept forgetting that. Nasanay lang ako and I just don't want to make it weird at all. I'm still working for you and that's a fact."

"But it shouldn't be weird," paninindigan pa niya habang patuloy na kumakain. "You can still work for me and call me Trent. That won't be a problem. I won't cut your salary and just like what I said before, I will double and that's also not a problem."

"I know you don't have to do all those things but thank you, I really appreciate what you're doing for me," ngiti ko pa sa kanya.

"Of course," he said. "I fairly treated everyone who works for me. And this is not only because of Albertyne. You don't have to do anything and just let me do all the work. I will file a restraining order for her so if she's going to come at us like she did to you, she can go to jail once and for all. I'm afraid that this was also happened to you. You shouldn't be going through it."

I faked a smile. Ngiting akala mo strong. "Ayos lang... sanay naman ako. Though not physically pero 'yong laging masaktan emotionally so I think hindi na iba 'to sa akin."

"Still, I can't let that go," aniya. "But I can assure you, you'll be safe here with me, okay? If you need anything, don't hesitate to come at me and we'll make it possible. Do you understand what I'm saying, Lav?"

I nodded attentively. "Yes, Trent. I do."

He smirked. "Good to know that."

We then continued eating and after that, I insisted to wash the dishes so he could start moving some stuff again. Pinilit ko rin na payagan niya akong tulungan ko siya sa paglilinis kapag natapos akong maghugas. Pinayagan naman niya ako sa huli. And he shouldn't be doing all of this work, pwede rin naman siyang kumuha ng helpers but he wants to do this by himself. Makakatulong ako pero hindi ako pwede magbuhat ng mabibigat, that's what he demanded so I can help him.

We just continued what he left off earlier. Hindi na naman gano'n karami but still hindi pwedeng magpaka-komportable dahil hindi rin magiging maayos ang paninirahan namin if our surroundings ay magulo at makalat.

While I'm cleaning the shattered glass from the floor. Ito 'yong nakasabit sa wall and Albertyne had the nerve to break all of it. In the end, kailangan bayaran ni Trent ang mga damages at nakakalula dahil umabot ng one hundred thousand dollars and it seems like it wasn't a bother for him. Mukhang barya nga lang din sa kanya ang binayaran niya.

"Trent," pagtawag ko sa kanya. Nilingon naman niya ako at pinakita ko sa kanya ang picture na hawak ko. It must be one those picture frame na nakahilira sa corner. "This yours, right?"

Lumapit naman siya sa akin para kunin ang picture. "Yeah, thank you."

Then then immediately kept it away from me. Bumalik lamang siya sa pag-aayos at napuno din naman ako ng pagtataka. The photo looks like their family photo but Trent seems young on it. Para siyang nasa eight to ten years old. With that, his mood changes at hindi na niya ako masyadong kinausap all through the day.

Nagkaroon din naman ako ng chance na makausap si Sasa at kinunweto ko sa kanya ang nangyari. And then she told me na umabot din daw sa kanila ang nangyari sa unit namin. She wasn't sure before kung unit nga namin ang nabalitaan and when I confirmed it to her, nag-alala siya sa kalagayan ko. I made sure na wala na dapat siyang ipag-alala sa akin. She also felt touch na sinabi ko iyon sa kanya and because of that, I won't be going out for a week so I can't go to nightclubs until it's safe for me to go around.

And for over week, hindi nga ako lumabas ng unit without the supervision from Trent. Nag-grocery kami last time at magkasama kaming dalawa just to be sure na walang masamang mangyayari.

Trent also worked hard to file restraining order over Albertyne and that should us made us feel safe walking and going around Tokyo. But what made me feel safe ay hindi talaga ako binigo ni Trent.

He was there all the time. He's checking me from time to time na akala mo'y jowa. But if may chance, why not?

But that's not the reason why I came here in Japan... it's more than that. And I'm not sure if people around would ever know about it. Maybe, it's better for anyone not to know me. Better keep it on the dark side. Because in Tokyo, have fun while it lasts.

***

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoy this chapter!

#NightLifeInTokyo12 #NLI12 #WT3

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