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ZEFARINO gripped that fucking newspaper and stormed into the mansion. His face is now like thunder after reading that ridiculous headline. Sino ba naman kasing matutuwa na ganoon ang magiging bungad ng d'yaryo na para bang ginawa iyon para siraan siya? At ang nakakainis pa ay naroon ang mga mukha nila ng dalaga habang kumakain sa Subway.

Jaffnah on the other hand is worriedly panicking and following the man to get inside the mansion. Kanina lang ay masaya silang dalawa pero ngayon ang mga mukha nila ay kapwa hindi maipinta. Nakasunod naman din si Sir Mon na para bang hindi na rin alam kung anong gagawin. Alas sais pa lang ng umaga pero parang nasisira na ang mga araw nila.

"Zefarino! Nakita ninyo na ba ang balita?!" natatarantang sigaw ni Sir Pit nang makapasok sa mansyon. Kahit ito'y humahangos at mukhang problemado habang hawak ang kaparehong d'yaryo na hawak ni Zefarino. "Anong ibig sabihin nito? Bakit sila maglalabas ng ganito kawalang-kwentang pahayag? Wala na ba silang pera kaya sisiraan ka?!"

Napalingon naman si Zefarino na nagngingitngit pa rin ang mga ngipin. "They are determined to destroy me." Naibato pa nito ang dyaryo sa lamesa pagkatapos mabasa ang lahat ng nakasulat roon. "Kahit pa noong hindi pa ako nagpapakilala sa madla, kung sirain nila ang reputasyon ko ay parang kailangan na kailangan nila ng mapagkakakitaan. I've been holding back to sue them but they are pushing me to file a libel against them."

Napapaatras na lang si Jaffnah sa malalakas na sigaw ng manunulat. Kung dati ay nakikita niya itong kalmado sa tuwing humaharap sa problema, iba ang ngayon. At hindi niya maintindihan kung bakit tila ba apektadong-apektado ito. Sinulyapan niya ang dyaryo. Gusto niyang basahin ang nilalaman nito. Ano bang dahilan bakit galit na galit si Zefarino?

"No, Zefarino, this will also stain your reputation. Hangga't maaari iniiwas kita sa ganitong gulo," giit ni Sir Mon na napapahawak na lang sa baywang at sentido dahil sa sakit ng ulo. "Isa pa, ayokong sumabay ang issue na 'to sa pull-out ng collaboration ninyo ni Carizza. Dahil lalo lang mapapahamak si Jaffnah kapag naglabas ng statement ang lady writer na iyon. We both know what happened but she can distort a story."

Jaffnah gasped when she heard her name. The truth is, wala siyang maintindihan sa mga pinag-uusapan ng mga ito kaya naman buong lakas niyang kinuha ang diyaryo na ibinato ni Zefarino kanina at bumulaga sa kaniya ang katawa-tawang balita.

THE FAMOUS DICK BRAIN NOW HAS A DICK

We all laughed at his book title before because of how vulgar it is and now the writer itself was seen flirting with a girl this morning. Zefarino Salvatorre Hawthorne who has been a mystery to us is now finally showing himself on the street, having balls to date someone. A some kind of marketing strategy to get his name more popular. Might as well they are planning to release a new nonsensical book that discusses his pure dreams and nightmares which we really do not care about. We have a lot of problems in the country and yet he makes himself relevant. This man needs to wake up. 

And the girl he was with. I have done my research and it was discovered that it was the same girl who appeared in his first and last book-signing event at Manila International Book Fair. I almost believed that what happened before was real but my hunch was right when I sensed something fishy—that it was scripted, to seek attention and gain reactions from the masses. 

Kudos to his manager for doing a great job for starting to produce a trashy webtoon to overcome their crisis. To cover that Zefarino is losing his talent which cannot be called a talent in the first place.

Guess what he would feel after reading this piece. He should stop holding a pen and instead hold a knife. Isn't he a killer?

NAPAHILAMOS sa mukha si Jaffnah nang mabasa ang mga nakasulat. Kahit siya ay gusto niyang magmura, pero lahat sila ay nabigla lalo na si Sir Mon nang makita ang isang babaeng paparating sa main entrance ng mansyon. Hawak din nito ang kaparehong tabloid na sumira ng kani-kanilang araw.

"Zafira?" gulat na tanong ni Sir Mon sa matangkad at balingkinitang kapatid ni Zefarino na ngayo'y naniningkit ang mga mata.

"Stop it if you're planning to avoid me again, Raymond Don Bosco. Who knows this time would come when you would finally need an attorney?"

Sir Pit on the other hand clapped in amazement. "Oo nga pala, may abogado kang kapatid Zefarino! Wala tayong dapat ipag-alala! Kumalma tayong lahat!"

Attorney Zafira scoffed and shook her head. "Before that, I want to ask what my good younger brother is doing outside?" She glanced at Jaffnah. "And why is  this lady? Are they dating for real?"

Hindi nakapagsalita si Jaffnah. Nang mga oras na iyon ay nagkaroon ng tanong sa kaniyang isipan. Ano nga ba ang mayroon sa kanila ng manunulat? Ibinigay niya na ang kaniyang sarili rito. Dalawang beses nang may nangyayari sa kanilang dalawa at ilang beses na rin silang naghalikan. Kanina, niyaya pa siya nito sa isang date at siya naman ay hinayaan niyang maging masaya kasama ang lalaki.

"Zefarino, nagde-date ba kayo ng illustrator mo?" giit pa ni Zafira. Napatingin naman si Jaffnah kay Zefarino pero hindi nito tinatagpo ang mga mata niya at nag-aalala siya dahil doon. "Answer me and I'll help you fix this mess."

"This is not a mess, Ayra," Zefarino stated as if he's alone with his sister. Zafira stepped closer to them all, making the atmosphere get heavier.

"Then what do you call this if it's not?"

 Hindi nakasagot si Zefarino at tanging mariing paglunok lang ang nagawa.

"You gotta be honest with me, Zef." Lumapit si Zafira at hinaplos ang magkabilang pisngi ng manunulat. "You know what will happen if you tell a lie. You don't want to witness the same thing with your favorite bird, right?"

Zefarino glanced at Jaffnah. At that moment, Jaffnah was confused with how his eyes looked at her. It is disturbing.

"Look at me, Zef. Look me in the eyes. What's going on between the two of you?"

"Nothing. There's nothing between us."

That answer pierced Jaffnah's heart. It was painful beyond the fact that earlier this morning, the writer is hinting otherwise. No, it's been a couple of days since he started leading her on or even way before.

"Good. Now, let's go to your office and we'll talk privately to solve this."

NAIWAN si Jaffnah kasama si Sir Mon at Sir Pit sa receiving area. Both Sir Mon and Sir Pit are exchanging glances while they are waiting for Zefarino to come out. Beside that, they have been worrying about Jaffnah who's now looking so devastated and trying to hold everything in.

"I think you should go to your room for now, Miss Fleurdevuille." 

That cut Jaffnah's off from spacing out. Napalingon siya kay Sir Pit na may pag-aalala sa buong mukha.

"No, sir. This is my fault. If I did not go outside, Zefarino would not come to follow me. He wouldn't be in this scandal if it wasn't for me."

Sumabat naman si Sir Pit na wari'y hindi kumbinsido sa mga pilit na ngiti ni Jaffnah. Nakikita niya sa mukha ng dalaga na nasasaktan ito lalo na sa sinabi ni Zefarino kanina.

"Pero sa tingin namin ay kailangan mo munang pumasok sa kwarto mo, Jaffnah. Mas makabubuti kung mailalabas mo ang lahat ng nararamdaman mo."

"Ano ho bang sinasabi ninyo? Ayos lang ho ako. Nag-aalala lang ako kay Zefarino. Tama lang na sabihin niya sa kapatid niya na hindi kami nagde-date. Wala naman talagang kami." Humapdi ang gilid ng mga mata ni Jaffnah at napadila pa sa loob ng kaniyang pisngi.

"Gusto mo bang ihatid muna kita sa kaibigan mong si Red, Jaffnah? Habang hindi humuhupa ang issue ay mas magandang naroon ka muna sa kaniya."

Natawa si Jaffnah. "Okay lang po talaga ako, Sir Pit. Pakiramdam ko tuloy, ang tingin ninyo sa akin ay mahina. Hindi po ako nasasaktan, ano ba?"

Nagkatinginan si Sir Mon at Sir Pit. Kahit sila ay parang nakakaramdam ng pagkaawa sa sitwasyon ng dalaga. 

"Tatawagan ko si Red," saad ni Sir Pit tsaka tumayo. Umiling naman si Jaffnah para pigilan ito. "No, Sir Pit. Please, I'm begging you. You don't have to call her. I can fix this. I'm fine. And I don't have plans to go away from this mansion, not now, not from Zefarino. If I go outside, I fear that he'll come to me again and make everything worse."

Napakagat sa labi si Jaffnah at sa pagkakataong iyon ay hindi niya na napigilan pa ang butil ng luha na umalpas mula sa mata niya. Mabilis niya iyong pinunasan.

"Come here, young lady," wika ni Sir Mon habang inilalahad ang kaniyang dalawang kamay na parang isang magulang. Niyakap niya ang dalaga habang nakatingin kay Sir Pit. "It seemed that Pit was aware of what's going on and I'm sorry to notice it just now. I promise, we'll fix this. We'll take care of you because you're already a family to us." Sir Mon slowly patted Jaffnah's back, reassuring that everything's gonna be okay.

"What happened? Why is she in your arms?" Napatingin si Sir Mon kay Zefarino na kalalabas lang sa opisina at may gusot na agad sa noo nito.

"Why not? You're not even dating so who are you to question it?" pabalik na tanong ni Sir Mon. 

"Tama! Kahit hawakan namin si Jaffnah, wala kang karapatang magalit!" sabat naman ni Sir Pit na lalong nagpainis kay Zefarino. Bumitiw naman si Jaffnah mula sa pagkakayakap sa manager na si Sir Mon at ngumiti nang matamis.

"Stop everyone," Jaffnah chuckled before fixing herself. "I'll be in the writing room to finish my pending works and leave you all to your respected jobs. I hope that this issue will be solved as soon as possible. Call me if you need my help. I would be glad to extend my assistance, especially to you, Sir Zefarino."

Jaffnah bowed before making her way to the writing room, leaving everyone perplexed. Their eyes were darted on the trace she left. And if it's not for Zafira's interruption, clearing her throat, they won't go back to their senses.

"We'll release an article denying all the accusations and we'll sue the writer together with the newspaper company. How about that?"

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