Chapter 14

Kanina pa ako lunok ng lunok ng laway at hindi mapakali kung saan kami pupunta ngayon. Would we be going the love motel at mangyayari na ang bagay na hindi dapat mangyari? And I'm crazy for thinking about that. I shouldn't be thinking about that stuff in the first place. Wala lang talaga akong ideya kung saan kami pupunta ngayon.

Sasa would be partying right now but on the other hand, hindi naman maalis sa dibdib ko ang pangamba na nasa paligid lang si Fredrick and he'll definitely bust me out to my family.

And maybe I'm still on the safe side because my brothers aren't still messaging me anything about it. They have their own life to get busy for kaya ang pagtuunan nang pansin ang mga activities ko wouldn't be necessary for them.

In short, looking after me would be a waste of their time.

"Saan ba tayo pupunta Trent?"

"Somewhere you might never been into," sagot nito sa akin.

"And where that could be?"

He didn't answer the question instead put his attention on driving the car. Napakapit na lamang ako sa strap ng seatbelt ko at inihaging ang ulo ko sa gilid ng bitana at tinanaw ang mga iba't ibang kulay ng LED lights from every establishments na nalalagpasan namin. I keep telling to myself na ma-e-experience ko rin anytime soon ang bawat lugar dito sa Tokyo at kahit sa buong Japan. But if my job permits to do that, I can do that in six months—or so.

"What happened there, Lav?"

"Where?" maang-maangan kong sagot sa kanya.

"You know what I'm talking about," he said. Nang silipin ko ang mukha niya ay seryoso ang ekspresyon nito at inunahan ko nang ilayo ang tingin ko bago pa man niyaa ko mahuli. Binaling ko na lamang sa harap ang paningin ko. "Have you had your dinner?"

"I have not," I answered honestly.

"And what did you guys do?"

"Okay, I won't lie to you and I'm gonna tell you the truth but please, don't get mad at me, alright?" I requested but he didn't make any answer so I repeated. "I don't wanna make you say promise but—"

"I won't, so go," he commanded, nodding his head.

I swallowed before I could speak. "Sasa and I will be going a club. Well, we both planned it after being inside the unit for a week and thought I deserved that as well. But we also thought that it won't be a good idea if you will find it out so we spare our time by thinking we could go eat somewhere and that didn't happen. I lost her when we're crossing the street and then before I called you earlier, a guy was there taking pictures of me. But good thing, Sasa was there to make the local delete the photo so I guess everything we'll be fine."

"And do you think that's fine with me?" he questioned.

"Sabi ko nga hindi..." bulong ko pa.

"I let you leave the unit tonight because I thought you'll be safe with your friend... but I guess, the outcome was different."

"Well, there's also something that—you know what, it doesn't matter. As long as I'm okay, I think that'll be fine. Don't you worry about me. Kaya ko naman ang sarili ko. And you paid me, of course. It's my job to look after you."

"You just don't work for me," he smirked.

"Teka, is Sasa right?"

Kumunot naman ang noo niya. "What does she said? Is she talking behind my back?"

"No! Hindi 'yon do'n. She's not talking behind your back o kung ano mang masamang iniisip mo na gagawin niya. I think she's far from being capable of harming us—"

"Shhh. Shhh. Proceed to what she said," he motioned his hand by making me turn back to the topic.

"She just said that you hired a nanny so she can be your wife," I told him. Kahit na nakakahiya ang assumptions na iniisip ni Sasa. Pero kung makakasiguradong hindi nga iyon ang binabalak niya, I must tell it to him na lang din para naman mapanatag ako. "And you ended things with Albertyne because you already got yourself a nanny. And now, you're already trying to make a move on going forward on some things—"

"What are those things, Lav?"

Muli akong napalunok ng laway ko. "Uh... one of that was you let me call you love as well... and you cared too me so much na parang wala na 'yong limitations between the boss and the nanny role."

"Your friend got a crazy mind," he commented sabay ngisi.

"'Yon nga sabi ko. Masyadong advance mag-isip," komento ko rin.

"But maybe she's right," he said and there's a grin plastered on his face.

I gasped. "No, you're possibly joking, right?"

He shrugged off. "We won't be sure, love."

"Love?"

"Lav."

"Yes, Lav," pagsang-ayon ko pa.

"Be ready, we're close enough," he said and I became stiffed on my position.

I still have no idea where we will be going, hindi rin naman niya sinasabi sa akin kung anong gagawin namin. I just wished na hindi nga sa love motel ang punta namin. But I guess it's impossible to go to the love motel kung halos lumayo-layo na kami sa buildings sa city at kakaibang feeling ang bumungad sa akin habang tinatahak namin ang kalsada.

"If I'm not wrong, sa sementeryo ba tayo pupunta?"

He nodded, pressing his lips together. This brought me some stuff in my head. Ipapa-salvage na ba niya ako? Hindi pa ba enough 'yong mga ginagawa ko sa kanya at nakahanap na siya ng better nanny? Would Trent really be the death of me? Ayoko namang ipakita sa kanya na hindi na ako komportable at nagsisimulang matakot. I still know, sa kaibuturan ni Trent, hindi niya akong pipiliing mailagay sa panganib.

Or I might also be wrong. Kaya panay lunok na lamang ako ng laway.

"So bad you can't see the cherry blossoms," he said. 'It's still winter but in the next few months, you'll see what I'm talking about."

"Okay, sir... hehe."

When he finally parked the car ay lumabas na rin kami ng sasakyan. Sinabayan ko naman siya sa pagbukas ng pinto so he wouldn't open the door for me. Assuming lang pero baka gawin niya kasi. Ayoko na maging awkward ang gabing ito lalo na't hindi mapanatag ang loob ko ngayon.

"Come this way." He motioned his hand to direct me.

I just followed him behind. Hindi ko naman kasi alam kung saan kami pupunta at anong ginagawa namin dito. Unknowingly, he clasped his hand on me and then we proceed walking to some graveyards until we finally stopped into a more elegant space compare to the others. There were marbles from each side that only goes up by a feet or two. May napansin ko rin ang midget tree na merong mga ilang pulang dahon. Hindi mabunga sa dahon ang mga puno dahil na rin sa malamig na klima.

My eyes are roaming around and trying to guess who we are looking at. Hindi naman ako nagsasalita, naglilibot lamang ang paningin ko. Binitawan lamang ni Trent ang kamay ko nang lumuhod siya at haplusin niya ang lapida nito. I couldn't read the name 'cause it was written in Japanese characters. Nang bumalik naman siya sa pagtayo ay pinalapit niya ako sa kanya.

"That's my father," he introduced, as we look down below the ground.

"Oh! I'm sorry... I didn't know."

"That's alright," he said. "You don't know it too."

But why are we on his father's grave? Gumagawa na ba siya ng way para mapakilala niya ako sa pamilya and even to his dead father ay papakilala na niya ako bilang mapapangasawa niya?

I don't want to conclude this narrative but I'm freaking out.

"Sorry I had to bring you here at night," he said. "Good thing they put some lights around so people won't get lost. And of course, we had to build some personal lights at this space so we could distinguish it easily."

"Yeah, it's pretty nice. This tree is lovely," aniko at pagpunto ko sa puno.

"Yeah, he knows that my mom loves that maple tree and he once gave her a bonsai-like maple plant on her birthday and she keeps it in her home. In Kobe, which they are all living now."

"I see," I muttered. "But why aren't you living with your mom? I apologize if that's not my place to ask."

He took a deep breath and put his hands in the pockets of her pants. "Well, since the day that my father died, I took all the responsibilities he had left and I've got to carry everything by myself. It's hard actually. At a young age, being the boss of a few international companies made me cut off of to my social life. I have to make my father proud so he knows that I'm doing well."

"I'm sorry to ask... what's the cause of his death and when did he die?"

"No, it's fine. He died of a heart attack. It was sudden then it got complications that he had to go through surgery which didn't end so well. And that was seven years ago. I just turned 20 at that time."

"And you're so young to take all those responsibilities. How did you overcome it?"

There were so much silence around us, mga busina ng ilang sasakyan ang naririnig namin hindi sa kalayuan but our surrounding was at peace. I could just hear his deep breathings and I felt deeply touched sa mga kwentong sinasabi niya sa akin. I wonder if he did that to anyone o kaya ako lang?

"I had to," he said. "I had a few advisors who guided me at a young age. You know what funny thing happened? I was being ruled out because people thought I don't know how to run a business like my father did. It was hurtful. I feel like a shit at that time but I didn't give up. But those people who didn't believe in me, I know I had to do something to them that I made them known what I'm capable of. I let them stay in the company but because of their behaviours and bad mouths, they had to be relieved from their positions. It was tough back then but I've got it all now."

"And then people called you one of those billionaires," I muttered.

"Have you researched me?"

Umiling naman ako sa kanya. "No, I didn't. Sasa told me. I honestly will tell you na wala akong kaalam-alam sa 'yo. I came to Tokyo just to have a job and not knowing who will I be working with. Then when I met you, you seemed nice and all so I thought it'll be good for me to be here... that I made the right decision."

"Would you like to tell me about it?" Trent asked.

I shrugged off. "Maybe... but I guess not now."

"Sure. I'll be looking forward to that."

"So... uh... why did you bring me here? Is your father's birthday or is there any occasion that has anything to do with your father? I was just curious... but you don't have to answer if you're not comfortable."

"Nothing special, Lav," he said then he let out a smile. "I just want you to meet the person who stood before me and protect me at all cost. And I want to do the same thing to you. My father is a great person and I wouldn't change anything for that. It really gets so lonely at times. Albertyne was there just to have some fun and you know what the other stuff was. But she's making me feel sick after all. She's so demanding and she wanted to buy everything she finds nice for her. It wasn't healthy anymore so I cut her loose away from my life."

"So you look for a nanny to make her your wife—to make me your wife?"

He scoffed. "Why would you think I would make you my wife?"

Napakagat naman ako sa labi saka ko iniwas ang tingin ko. "Wala naman... it's just an assumption. Hindi naman big deal 'yon."

"Oh, really?" he chuckled. "What if I'll make you my wife?"

Tinulak ko naman siya at saka tumawa ako. "Hoy, 'wag ka nga magbibiro, mabilis din akong bumigay. Kapatol-patol ka pa naman."

He chuckled. "Are you hungry, Lav?"

"Papakain ka?" tanong ko, pero nang ma-realize ko na parang ang dirty ng tanong ko ay agad akong binago ang pagkakatanong ko. "What I mean is kakain tayo?"

"Sure, whatever you mean is," ngisi pa nito. "Shall we?"

"Wait. Let me do something firs."

Lumuhod ako sa tapat ng lapida. "I don't know if this is rude or not in Japanese traditions but..." I whispered my next few words and breathe in and let it go after a few seconds.

Matapos kong gawin 'yon ay tumayo na ako at binalikan si Trent.

"What did you say?" he asked pero ngiti na lang din ang sinagot ko sa kanya. "I hope you didn't wish anything because... it is a bad luck."

Hinampas ko siya ng mahina sa braso niya. Malaman talaga ang braso niya. "Hindi 'no... basta sa akin na lang 'yon."

He sighed. "Whatever, Lav."

"Okay... love," bulong ko sa huling salita ko.

When we head back to his car, he again asked what did I say to his father but I keep my mouth shut because he shouldn't know about it. Wala namang big deal 'yon but I guess for me it is.

Trent drove us to some five star restaurant. Nahihiya naman ako dahil hindi gano'n kaayos ang damit ko and he's so formal kaya naman para akong alalay niya. Well, I'm his nanny so I'll consider that one. And then we were attended by a staff and both seat on a reserved table made by, tell me the name of who is it, of course, Trent.

Our dinner was quite lovely. That's the only thing I could define what we have. He didn't pressure me. Hindi niya rin ako kinulit kung anong sinabi ko sa father niya, but I asked him why his father wouldn't be in a mausoleum. He just told me that his father wanted his grave to be simple as it is—just like his life before all of these stuff became part of his life.

And when we head back home to his unit—no, we didn't shared a shower together but I stayed in the balcony for the meantime, staring at the gloomy sky. I remembered what I said to his father earlier and I think it's something wouldn't forget.

He brought me there so I must be special to him. I wanted to give Sasa a call and tell her about what Trent and I did but she's busy partying so I guess I'll keep it for myself.

"Lav?" pagtawag sa akin ni Trent.

"Yes, love?" sagot ko naman. "I mean, yes sir—Trent!"

"Good night," he said.

Mas lalo akong napangiti. "Good night din... sweet dreams."

I turned back to look at the moon and reminisce what I said to his father earlier.

Thank you for bringing Trent into this world. I wouldn't be here if it's not for him. He's my second chance to do everything right. Arigatou.

***

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

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