"DO YOU want anything? juice, water, coffee?" I asked.

"No, thanks. I'm good."

I don't know why I'm fidgeting. I'm really nervous, too!

Sobrang cute kasi ni Arlo! I mean, Curtis is kind of cute as well, but Arlo gives this cute but kind of manly vibe in a way. Ugh!

"So..." he trailed. Ang awkward lang kasi ang tahimik namin pareho habang nakaupo kami sa couch sa living room.

"Do you want to go out now?" he asked, and I immediately nodded my head.

"Sure!" I beamed in excitement, and he just smiled at me. Kilig!

"But I'll go change lang sandali. Mabilis lang ako, promise!" I said to him and ran towards my bedroom and quickly changed.

Actually, ito na dapat 'yung susuotin ko. I'm just wearing a plain white shirt, skinny jeans, and converse para comfy akosa pag-iikot sa buong Manila, but Arlo happened, and I can't wear this while I'm with him! I mean, look at him. He looks so dashing and for sure, girls will be drooling all over him pag lumabas kami, kaya hindi hindi puwedeng ganito lang ang suot ko.

I lived in LA and, believe me, I had experiences with my past jerk boyfriends. When you're with a hot dude or a cute guy like Arlo, you have to up your game. Always! That's like an unwritten rule.

I've decided to wear a navy blue floral off-shoulder mini dress and lace-up high heels. Bahala na sa lakarin mamaya, ang importante maganda ako kapag katabi ko si Arlo mamaya sa pag-gagala.

Dahil sa pag-mamadali ko 'yung mga damit na inayos ko kanina ay nagulo ulit, but who cares? I'll ligpit that again later. Kanina pa naghihintay si Arlo sa'kin.

"Sorry," sabi ko dahil natagalan ako sa pag-aayos. I retouched my makeup kasi.

He just shook his head and smiled at me again. Ugh! That smile!

Hindi naman siguro magagalit si Kuya Baker if I'll have a crush on his friend, 'di ba? I mean, harmless crush lang naman, and it's not like we will have sex agad.

"It's fine," he said. "Let's go?" I nodded my head before we headed out.

#

Kung saan-saan kami nakapunta ni Arlo. Nakapunta kami sa Rizal Park, Intramuros at Fort Santiago. Ang dami kong pictures na kinuha dahil balak kong inggitin si Curtis para umuwi na siya dito sa Manila. Kaso after namin sa Fort Santiago, sumakit na 'yung paa ko dahil puro kami lakad ni Arlo at dahil papadilim na din.

I keep on texting Kuya Baker where we are and what are we doing dahil utos niya sa'kin kanina when he called me. He doesn't reply, but nakita kong naka-seen every text message that I've sent to him.

Napansin kong tahimik lang din si Arlo. Kung hindi mo siya kakausapin, hindi siya magsasalita. Tapos minsan tulala lang siya na parang may iniisip, but he always smiles at me, kaya kinikilig pa rin ako. He is also nice enough not to make me feel na parang napipilitan lang siyang samahan ako. Baka tahimik lang talaga siya. Hindi ko lang alam if my girlfriend ba siya dahil hindi ko naman siya tinanong dahil kakakilala palang namin. Besides, crush ko lang naman si Arlo. He's cute and really nice, but I'm not really looking for any kind of relationship right now.

I took off my high heels the moment I got inside his car, dahil sobrang sakit na ng paa ko.

"Let's eat. My treat!" I said while he was busy doing something at the rear of his car.

"Sure." he replied when he got inside the driver's side. My heart instantly melted as he handed me a box of band-aids.

"Thanks," I said, and I took the box of band-aids from him.

Hinantay muna niya akong matapos maglagay ng band aid sa paa ko bago siya nagdrive paalis. Grabe, ang bait niya talaga!

Siguro, kung hindi ako na-trauma sa mga ex-jerk boyfriends ko, baka jinowa ko na talaga 'tong si Arlo! Kaya siguro si Arlo ang tinanong ni Kuya Baker sa mga friends niya para samahan ako dahil alam niyang gentleman at sobrang bait niya.

Hindi ko alam kung saan kami kakain ni Arlo dahil sabi ko siya nalang ang pumili dahil wala naman akong alam na kainan dito sa Manila. Although I miss eating at Jollibee, hinayaan ko nalang muna si Arlo. Sa susunod ko nalang siya yayayain kumain doon.

Arlo brought me to an Italian restaurant. We ordered our food as soon as we got seated. Nagutom ako sa kakalakad namin kanina.

I excused myself and went to the washroom after ordering our food.

After I peed, biglang tumunog 'yung cellphone ko. I was expecting Kuya Baker to call me, dahil siya lang naman ang may alam ng number ko. Pag tingin ko sa caller ID. It was an unregistered number, kaya I declined the call and washed my hand.

Sabi kasi ni Kuya madami raw scammer dito sa Pilipinas. Mapa-text or call, they'll scam you. But after I washed my hands, my phone started ringing again.

I was debating answering the call but then decided to decline the call again before I headed outside.

"How long have you been friends with Kuya Baker?" I asked Arlo while we were waiting for our food to arrive.

He tilted his head slightly, na parang nag-iisip. I bit my lower lip to hide the grin on my lips because he looked so gwapo talaga! Madaming gwapo sa LA but naumay na ako sa mga foreigners. Although Arlo doesn't look very pinoy dahil maputi siya, but nagsawa na ako sa blonde hair and blue-eyed dude.

"Since we were in high school," sagot niya.

"Do you speak Tagalog? Pansin ko kasi panay English ka simula kanina," sabi ko kaya medyo natawa siya.

"Oo marunong ako magtagalog." sabi niya with a hint of an accent. Natawa siya dahil hindi yata siya sanay magtagalog. "I just got used to it because I studied in Canada for years," paliwanag niya, and I nodded my head. Kaya pala.

I've lived in LA since I was a kid, but Mom made sure na I could speak and understand Tagalog pa rin. She always talked to me in Tagalog pag nasa bahay kami, which I didn't understand before dahil sa LA naman ako nakatira and most of the time I'm with my foreign friends, but I'm glad Mom did that, kasi hindi ko alam na babalik at titira ako dito sa Manila.

"Anong work mo?"

"I'm an architect. I work with Baker," he said. So, he works with Kuya Baker pala. Buti nalang hindi siya busy kagaya ni Kuya.

I grinned at him, "Puwede ka bang magsalita ng Tagalog hanggang mamaya?" I challenged him.

"Why?"

"Nothing. Just for fun." I said, and he just shrugged at me.

Hanggang maihatid ako pabalik ni Arlo sa condo. Hindi pa rin siya nagsasalita ng English, kaya tawa kami nang tawa the whole time. Wala naman siyang magawa dahil tanong ako nang tanong sakaniya tapos sinasagot naman niya lahat ng tanong ko.

"Gusto mong pumasok?" I said when he parked his car in front of the building.

"Hindi na."

"Okay," I said, smiling at him. "Thank you sa pag-sama sa'kin today. Nag-enjoy ako."

He smiled back. "You're welcome."

Pagbaba ko ng sasakyan ni Arlo ay agad na rin siyang nag drive paalis kaya pumasok na ako sa loob.

"You had fun, kid?" I rolled my eyes at him dahil 'kid' pa rin ang tawag niya sa'kin. Feeling ko nga rin sinabihan ni Kuya Baker si Arlo kasi parang bata rin ang turing ni Arlo sa'kin kanina noong nag iikot-ikot kami. Palagi siyang nakabantay na parang mawawala nalang ako na parang bata.

I sat on the couch beside Kuya. He's glued to the NBA.

"I did, actually. I like Arlo. He's fun and really nice compared to you," sabi ko. Natawa naman si  Kuya.

"Glad you had fun."

"Arlo's super nice and I think I have a crush on him," I admitted, para asarin siya.

He glanced at me for a second, bago ibinalik ang tingin sa TV. "He's in love with someone else,"

"What? Really?" Gulat na tanong ko.

"Uh-huh," he replied while nodding his head, still watching the NBA.

Sandali akong nalungkot, but I just shrugged it off. Buti nalang crush ko lang siya. Pero parang may something sa the way nang pagkakasagot ni Kuya.

"Are they together ba?" curious na tanong ko.

Nakita kong sandaling napaisip si Kuya. "Just ask him."

"Kuya naman! You're so pabitin!"

"Conyo mo." sabi niya at saka tumayo at pumunta sa kusina, kaya sinundan ko siya. He grabbed a beer from the ref.

"Kayo ang friends, nakakahiyang magtanong, 'di naman kami close." I pouted.

"He's going to answer you if you ask him. Believe me." sabi lang niya at saka ako iniwan sa kusina.

#

I just took a quick shower, dahil ayaw akong sagutin ni Kuya Baker kahit anong pilit ko sakaniya. Nag-ayos nalang ulit ako ng damit ko while facetiming Curtis.

I sent him the pictures that I took a while ago and he immediately called me. 10 PM na dito sa Manila kaya 7 AM na sa LA.

He looks like he just woke up, kasi nakahiga pa siya sa kama, and he's half-naked, I think.

"Wear something first before you talk to me," I demanded. Sinunod naman niya ako at nag suot siya ng t-shirt.

I told him everything that I did with Arlo. He's just quietly listening to me while I'm making kwento.

"Punta ka na kasi dito!"

"How I wish it was that easy..." sabi niya.

"I thought Luca joined the WYRRMC competition here in Manila?"

He shrugged, "Try kong sumama kay Kuya." sabi niya. Motorcycle racer kasi si Luca at nabanggit ni Curtis na gustong makuha ni Luca 'yung title na 'yon kaya pursigido siyang umuwi.

Nag-uusap lang kami ni Curtis sa facetime nang biglang tumatawag na naman 'yung unregistered number. Naka-ilang missed calls din siya sa'kin kanina bago ko makausap si Curtis.

"Hey, I'll call you back. May tumatawag lang sa'kin," I said to Curtis before I ended our FaceTime and answered the call from the unregistered number.

"Hello?" I said, pag sagot ko nang tawag.

"Who's this?" the guy from the other line said. My forehead creased.

Siya 'tong tumatawag sa'kin tapos ako tatanungin niya kung sino ako? This guy is crazy! Baka scammer 'to!

"Excuse me? You're the one who called me kaya. Who are you and why do you have my number?" I said, a bit annoyed.

I heard him scowl, "Miss, you were the one who called me first."

"I did not!"

"Yes, you did!" he yelled back, and I almost threw my phone sa inis.

"Are you one of those scammers?"

"What the fuck are you saying, Miss?" sabi niya na parang naiinis na base on the tone of his voice. But honestly, his voice sounds so deep and sexy that even though he's annoying the shit out of me, I can't drop the call.

I caressed my temples and sighed. "Look, Mister." I trailed, "I swear I did not call you because you were the one who's been calling me simula kanina."

"But you called me around 4:54 in the afternoon while I was busy working, and I don't give my number to anyone, so now tell me, how'd you get my number?"

I paused for a second trying to remember what I did this afternoon, and my eyes widened in shock when I remembered it! I went to one of my drawers and grabbed the ID with the cellphone number that I wrote dahil I changed my sim card.

Holy macaroni!

"Is this Mr. Cash Evander?" I nervously asked.

"Yes, Who are you?" I felt a shiver down my spine just hearing his cold, deep, sexy voice again.

"Serenity Rose. The one you had sex with inside your Hellcat, remember?" I said while grinning from ear to ear.

W H A T Y A S E Y