Caleb

I am now officially free.

No commitments. No impending wedding. No irritating as hell fiancée.

I am now single, again.

And I am now here at, my friend RD's bar, to celebrate my freedom. I am with no one. Hindi ko na tinawagan ang mga barkada ko para samahan ako. Besides, wala namang isa sa kanilang nakakaalam ng ipinagse-celebrate ko. Except RD.

Hindi ko ipinaalam sa kanila na may fiancée ako. Na nakatakda na ‘kong ikasal in two months time kung hindi ko naagapan iyon. Only RD knew about my lolo's insane idea of having me engaged with one of his best friend's granddaughter. At kaya lang naman ito nalaman ni RD ay dahil malapit na kamag anak din nya ang very first ex fiancée ko. I vowed him to secrecy. Alam naman naming pareho na sa pangalawang pagkakataon, malulusutan kong muli ang kalokohang plano ni lolo sa buhay ko.

But of course I have to be very discreet about it. My grandfather doesn’t have to know that I was the one screwing up his plans for me.

Why?

Dahil pag nagkataon, mawawalan ako ng mana at itatakwil niya ako. Simple.

I am the sole successor of the Yung clan. And I am not some special kind of an idiot to let that go. Napakalaking kumpanya ang pagaari ng pamilya namin. We own a 5-star hotel, a resort, a car dealership company and a casino. Isang malaking kalokohan na bitawan ko ang lahat ng ‘yon. But I can’t handle marrying someone I don’t love. Call me old fashioned or a pussy but that’s how I roll.

So, I did my best to get rid of Heather.

Actually, it was easy. I just had to lock her up in a cabin in one of our resorts in Palawan with some stranger, and have our parents bust them up. From there, madali nang tanggihan ang kasal na pinaplano nila para saamin. Isa iyong malaking eskandalo para sa kanila. Pero akalain mo na magkakagustuhan sila? At talagang may mangyare sa kanila sa cabin na ‘yon? Fate really works wonders.

And I am thankful for it is in my favor. Lets drink to that!

"Hi."

Agad akong napalingon sa tinig na iyon na tumawag sa aking pansin. Standing beside me is a girl with pretty brown hair, her face covered with too much make up, and wearing some pitiful excuse for a dress. Nais kong mapangiwi sa itsura niya ngunit bilang tawag na rin ng kagandahang asal, pinigilan ko ang sarili ko. "Yes?"

The moment na magtama ang mata namin ay parang natulala ang babae at hindi nakapagsalita. She stuttered like an idiot so I lost my interest completely.

What the hell happened to women these days? Kailangan ba talagang gawing coloring book ang mukha para maging maganda? Kailangan ba magsuot ng gan’yang klase ng damit para maging sexy? Tsk. Nakakaawa at nakakaturn off.

I may sound so gay for being too picky with women but what can I do? I am not like my slut friends, namely Ram, Liam and Drae, who fucks around with women. Be it classy or not. I shook my head in disgust.

Naramdaman kong naupo sa tabi ko ang babae. She tried once again to catch my attention by saying hello but I didn’t mind her. Pinaka ayaw ko sa lahat yung mga taong papansin. She kept on talking to me in other languages which made me want to laugh. But I didn’t. RD's watching us with this weird look in his face and I have a bad feeling about it. And he also kept on giving the woman more alcohol which earned him a I’m going to kill you look from me. What the hell is he doing?!

Sinalubong ko ang mata niya at kinunutan siya ng noo and he just shrugged which pissed me off some more. Effin’ weirdo. That is what my friend is.

I tried blocking off the woman's voice by thinking of something else. But she just kept blabbering right there. Konti na lang, masisira na ang gabi ko sa kanya! Ngali ngali na kong umalis dito. Sana sa bahay na lang ako naginom.

"Ano ba? Pansinin mo naman ako! Sige na, kung gusto mo rape-in mo na ‘ko! Ibibigay ko sa’yo ang katawan ko, just please, pansinin mo ako!"

I was beyond shocked as my mind registered what the woman said. If she wanted to sleep with me can’t she at least be discreet and subtle about it. Ano ba naman ‘to? Inbouluntaryong napatingin ako sa kaya and that seemed to gave her more courage.

"Rape me! Rape me, please?" she extended her arms as if to hug me. "I wanna make love with you tonight!"

"What the heck are you saying?!" i hissed at her. I looked around and saw nobody paying attention to us. Good. Kase nakakahiya. Damn it! Nu’ng muli ko syang balingan at parang napahiya na s’ya sa’kin. Maya maya ay nangingilid na ang luha sa mga mata n’ya.

Oh shit. The last thing I wanted is to see a woman bawling in front of me.

Nag-panic ako at sinubukan kong magisip ng paraan para malusutan ang gusot na ito. I looked over at RD for some support but he just stood there grinning at us. Asshole!

I looked at the girl once again. "Hey, I’m sorrry for snapping at you, but can you please not cry?"

She sniffed and brushed her hand under her eyes. "Sorry."

Noon ko natitigan ng maiigi ang mukha n’ya. Damn! Without those heavy make ups, papasa naman s’yang maganda. No, scratch that! She's beautiful, I have never seen someone look as innocent before. Natabunan lamang iyon ng makapal n’yang kolorete sa mukha, kaya nagmukha rin s’yang matanda. But in truth she looks young, probably, eighteen to twenty years old or something? What the heck is she doing in a place like this? Aren’t they supposed to ask for IDs to get inside this place?

"What’s your name again, miss and how old are you?" I asked her.

"Ana, twenty five years old." she sniffed again. Namumula na ang ilong niya.

Twenty fucking five? You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me! She doesn’t look anywhere near that age! Wait.. "I thought your name’s Dianne?"

"N-no.. It’s A-Ana.." she stuttered. Nagsisinungaling pa ‘tong babaeng ‘to. What’s her game? Nevermind. I’m not in the mood to enable her.

"Are you sure you’re twenty five? Coz you look like you’re eighteen and you know minors are not—"

"I am twenty five! How am I supposed to get in here if I’m eighteen? Are you stupid?!" she snapped at me.

I was taken aback. Did she just raise her voice on me? And did she just fucking call me stupid?! Napalingon ako kay RD na tawa ng tawa sa gilid. Siraulong ‘to, imbis na tulungan ako, akala mo nanunuod ng sitcom, ng sarap upakan. "Hey, keep your cool. Nagtatanong lang naman ako."

Tumingin siya sa akin na parang natatakot. "S-sorry.. Kase.."

I sighed. If she will keep on looking at me under those thick lashes of hers and with those innocent eyes, then, fuck me dead, I am going to have to take her home tonight! I hissed. Dammit. I shouldn’t be thinking with my dick right now. "You should go home, you’re drunk." I tore my gaze away from her or else I might do something stupid like offer to take her home.

"I-I cant.."

"Why?" i looked at her incredulously. "Don’t you have a car or something? You-" hindi pa ‘ko tapos magsalita ay dumukdok na s’ya sa may bar counter. Holy shit! Lasing na talaga ‘to! "Miss? Miss?" I hesitated. I don’t know if I should touch her or not. But, I need to wake her up, yon ay kung nakatulog na nga s’ya. I tentatively put my hand in her shoulder and shook her. I groaned inwardly.

I’ve never touched such soft skin—Umayos ka Caleb Damien Yung! Magpakalalaki ka nga!

‘Pag nagpakalalaki ako, iuuwi ko talaga ‘tong babaeng ‘to! Singhal ko sa isang parte ng utak ko.

"Miss, okay ka lang ba?" wala na s’yang naisagot sa’kin kundi isang ungol. Patay tayo d’yan!

I glared at RD, who's still watching us. "This is all your fault, Ferrera! Hindi mo s’ya dapat pinainom ng pinainom!"

"She asked for it." he shrugged.

Napanganga ako sa kanya. I wasn’t used to RD acting like an asshole, he's always the nice guy, the gentleman among the bunch of jerks. What on earth is up with him? "Ano ngayon ang gagawin natin sa kan’ya? We can’t just leave her."

"Take her home." Suhestiyon nito.

"Are you out of your mind? I don’t even know her! Hindi ko alam kung saan s’ya nakatira!"

Nginisihan lang ako ni RD. "That’s not my problem anymore."

"What are you saying? You’re the one who got her drunk!"

"Yeah, I basically get everyone drunk in here."

What the hell is wrong with this guy? Konting konti na lang huhulagpos na ang pasensya ko sa taong ito. Right now, I wanted to strangle him but I’ve got more pressing issues at hand. What am I going to do with this girl now? Looks like RD's not gonna help me one bit. 

"Miss, do you have an ID or something, I need to see where you live." I told her.

She responded with muffled moans which pissed me off some more. I reached for the purse she had on her lap but she snatched it back. "Ugh!" she groaned.

I slammed my eyes shut and took several deep breaths. RD magically disappeared into thin air—Thank heavens for that because I’m one second to punching his sorry face. Humanda talaga sa’kin ‘yung lalaking ‘yon! Suntok ang sasalubong sa kanya sa susunod na beses na magkita kame. Napaka hudas!

"Miss, kailangan kong malaman kung saan ka nakatira!"

"I live nowhere." she said and then chuckled to herself.

What the fuck?

Maya maya ay dumadausdos na s’ya sa upuan n’ya. Damn it! She's really drunk. I really don’t have a choice now but to take her home. Or at least I was convincing myself, that I really do not have a choice.

Or maybe I can take her to the hotel. Right, that’s a better idea.

Walang anuman na ipinangko ko s’ya. Good thing the woman's skinny, Malaki ang boobs niya pero payat siya kaya madali para sa’kin na buhatin na lang s’ya papunta sa kotse ko. Pagtalikod ko ay agad kong narinig ang nakakalokong boses ni RD, "Take care of her, alright?"

"Motherfucker." I muttered.

I walked briskly to my car and strapped her in. "I am going to take you to my hotel since you don’t wanna tell me where you live, is that okay with you?"

All she managed to give me is a moan. She had her eyes closed and she was leaning heavily on the car seat. Wala na ‘to . Napailing na lang ako.

I walk towards my side of the car and got in.

***

After several minutes, we came stumbling to one of the rooms in our hotel. One of the room attendants assisted me, hindi ko na kase magawang i-swipe yung card key dahil buhat buhat ko si Ana. Or Diane. Whatever.

Nang makapasok kami ay agad ko syang inilapag sa king sized bed. I had to repeatedly shake my head to drive away dirty thoughts as I watched her lying there. Sighing, I pulled the comforter and covered her exposed body parts. Damn! This woman's a temptation!

Naupo muna ko sa dulo ng kama para magpahinga sana nang marinig ko syang umungot. I saw her clutching the hem of the comforter to her chest and she was crying.

What the hell?

"Hey, whats wrong?" I asked curiously. I didn’t bother getting up from the bed, coz I am quite wasted myself. Nu’ng hindi sya sumagot ay sinundot ko ng daliri ko ang tuhod nya nakaumbok sa loob ng comforter. "Huy, okay ka lang dyan?"

"Axel.." she sobbed.

Kumunot ang noo ko. Axel? Who’s Axel?

"Please.. Wag mo ‘kong iwan.." she continued sniffing.

Hell.. So she's broken hearted? Kaya s’ya nagiinom sa bar kanina? Maybe she thought I cound be a distraction, s'why she approached me. I shrugged.

"Please.. Don’t.."

I chuckled. "You know what, Ana? Or Diane.. If i were you, forget about your asshole of a boyfriend. It won’t do you good, having drinking spree over him. Just move the eff on. Find another guy." I shook my head, grinning to myself. Lasing na din talaga ako. Kung anu ano nang sinasabi ko, eh. "But you know what? You’re lucky. Coz you get to have a choice. Ikaw mismo ang pipili ng mamahalin mo at makakasama mo habang buhay."

I sighed. It felt somewhat good spilling it to someone. Be that a stranger. Parang gumaan ng konti ang loob ko. I looked at the woman and she stopped thrashing already, she seemed asleep. "Coz unlike you, I don’t have a choice for that matter. Si lolo ang nagdedecide kung sinong mapapangasawa ko. Ain’t that a load of crap? Ang tanda ko na pero dinidiktahan pa n’ya ‘ko. He's using me, para lumaki pa lalo ang negosyo namin. Bullshit. Like we ain’t rich enough."

"Anyway, to cut the story short, I got rid of my fiancée.. Cool huh?" I really don’t know why I’m saying this. "I set her up with another guy. I didn’t know it would work like a charm, but it did. So, once again, I’m a free man!" i grinned like an idiot.

But my smile faded and turned into confusion when the woman suddenly bolted upright.

Napamaang ako. "Are you okay?"

She just grinned at me from ear to ear. What the fuck? Okay, that’s creepy. Napaatras ako sa kama. Noon ko napansing may dinukot s’yang kung anong aparato sa dibdib n’ya. "I gotcha!"

"W-what?"

She jumped out of bed. Hindi ako nakakakilos du’n, I remained sitting there watching her do a happy dance. What is going on? "Huli na kita. You’re so dumb Caleb Damien Yung, I recorded everything you said."

How the hell did she know me?

Wait.. What?! She recorded it?

Fuck!

What have I gotten myself into?