Chapter 17

Tatlong araw na lang at babalik na si Fabian tapos ay birthday celebration niya na. Kinakabahan ako. Para akong masusuka na hindi ko maintindihan tuwing iniisip ko na sasabihin ko na sa kanya iyong tungkol sa amin ni Zion dati. Bakit kasi hindi ko na lang sinabi sa kanya dati nung una kong nalaman? I had to pretend that I didn't know Zion. I just dug a deep hole to bury myself in.

I decided to go to the mall para maghanap ng regalo para kay Fabian. Nung isang araw pa ako nag-iisip ng ibibigay sa kanya. Nagtanong na rin ako kay Nikki, pero tinawanan lang ako at tinanong kung mukha bang nagbibigay siya ng regalo sa lalaki. Fair point. Si Gem naman ay wala ring ambag. Kaya naman pupunta na lang ako sa mall. Wala naman akong schedule na gagawin today at sabi ko sa sarili ko na hindi ako uuwi hanggang wala akong nabibili na regalo.

Pumunta ako ng maaga para wala pang masyadong tao. Ang ayoko kasi talaga sa mall ay masyadong maraming tao. Kaya pumupunta lang talaga ako kapag may kailangan akong bilhin agad. Otherwise, I'd rather shop online.

I was pretending to know what I was doing because I just didn't like the thought of sales personnel following me all throughout the store. Alam ko naman na ginagawa lang nila iyong trabaho nila, but I felt like iniisip nila na may nanakawin ako.

Nakatingin ako sa mga gym bags. Fabian usually just wears jogger pants and sleeveless shirt kapag nasa gym siya. Hindi ko alam kung ano ang size niya dahil parang ang weird naman itanong.

I looked around para maghanap ng pagtatanungan if may stock ba nung isang bag na nakita ko nang matigilan ako dahil nakita ko si Zion na nandoon.

Oh, shit.

Hindi ko alam kung ano ang gagawin ko. Do I just turn around and leave the store? Pero hindi niya naman pag mamay-ari 'to. Besides, it wasn't as if we planned to meet here. At saka naka-pili na ako ng bibilhin ko, e.

Pero bago pa man ako makapag-isip ng gagawin ay napa-tingin siya sa gawi ko. He probably felt that someone was staring at him.

His expression changed from confusion to smiling. Naglakad siya papunta sa akin habang hawak iyong sapatos na tinitignan niya.

"There you are," he said with a rather flirtatious undertone. Hindi ako nagsalita at nakatingin lang sa kanya. Tumingin siya sa hawak ko na bag. "Need a new gym bag?" he asked.

"For Fabian's birthday," I told him.

"Right," he replied, slightly nodding his head.

"Nice to see you," sabi ko tapos ay ibinaba ko na iyong bag na hawak ko. Hindi pa naman siguro ito iyong last stock. Babalikan ko na lang bukas. I just really knew that being around this guy wasn't good for me.

I was well aware that he's not good for me, pero sabi nga nila, leche bakit masarap iyong bawal?

"Wait," sabi niya nang tumalikod ako at humakbang palayo sa kanya.

Huminga ako nang malalim dahil agad akong napahinto nang marinig ko iyong boses niya. I hated how this guy had me wrapped around his fingers. Like at what point in our short-lived 'affair' did he manage to do that?

"What?" I asked, looking at him and blatantly showing him my displeasure na inaabala niya ako.

"He's already got a lot of bags from his sponsors," bigla niyang sabi.

"What?"

"Fabian," he said. "He already has that bag," dugtong niya sabay turo sa ibinaba kong bag.

"Oh," I replied. "Thank you," sabi ko. Mabuti na lang din at sinabi niya. Sayang naman kung meron na pala nun si Fabian. Knowing him, he'd still thank me and still use the bag kahit meron na siya non. He'll probably give the other bag away tapos iyong sa akin iyong gagamitin niya. He's just that nice.

"He likes reading those self-help books," he said, shrugging. "He likes reading in general."

God, can that guy get any more perfect?

"Thanks for the tip," I told him.

"No problem."

And then once again, we were staring at each other. I should leave. Right. I should leave and go home because apparently, the one time I decided to go to the mall, nakita ko agad iyong tao na pinakauna sa listahan ng ayaw ko makasalubong. Such was my luck.

"Arielle," he called my name.

"What?"

"Can't we hangout?"

"I told you—"

"As friends," he said, cutting me off. "I promise I won't do anything."

"Zion—"

"Please?" he said, looking at me with those eyes. Why were his eyes so intense? I could get lost looking at them. "I don't have a lot of friends here."

"I beg to differ."

"What?"

"Your model friends."

"They're work friends. It's different," he replied.

"The woman you were with before?" I asked. "The one who asked you who I was."

Guilt immediately crossed his face.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I was an ass to you. I know that."

"You know yet you still did?"

"I have no excuse."

"Right..." I said. "We can't hangout."

"Why not?"

"Because."

"Because what?"

"Because it's weird."

"Why?"

Why was he so exhausting?

And why was I still engaging in this exhausting conversation?

"Because I'll tell Fabian about us and I don't think he'll like it if we hangout after the fact," I said.

"So, you're doing things for his approval?"

"No, out of respect," I replied. "If... if he still wants to be with me after I tell him."

Nakatingin lang siya sa akin.

Why did he have to look at me like that?!

"Look, I'm sorry you don't have friends," I told him although I found it hard to believe na wala siyang kaibigan. He's nice. Kind of. We didn't hangout a lot, but the one time we did, he was fun to be with. He just needed to find the right people. Hindi naman kailangan na ako 'yon. "But I can't be your friend."

There was a defeated look on his face.

No, Arielle.

'Wag kang maawa sa kanya.

You owe him nothing.

"I can," I said and sighed. "I can ask Nikki to introduce you to some people."

Damn it!

Bakit ba hindi na lang ako tumalikod at umalis?!

He looked at me like he wasn't a fan of the idea, but he didn't outright reject my offer. Nakatingin lang siya sa akin na parang nagiisip.

"Okay," he said.

Kumunot ang noo ko. "Okay what?"

"Have Nikki introduce me to some people," he said.

My lips parted. "Oh... Okay."

"Why?" tanong niya. "You don't want me to meet other people?" he asked like he's taunting me.

I scoffed. The fucking audacity of this French! "You're unbelievable," I said habang umiiling sa kanya.

"What?" he asked, laughing like he's finding this amusing. "Was just asking."

Hindi na ako sumagot sa kanya at naglakad na paalis—clearly, something that I should've done minutes ago because talking to this guy was hurting my brain.

* * *

I was supposed to spend the whole day in the mall, pero naisip ko na baka magkita na naman kami ni Zion kaya mas pinili ko na tumambay na lang sa condo. Gusto ko sanang tanungin si Zion kung may idea ba siya kung ano iyong mga libro na meron na si Fabian, but my entire system told me that that's a terrible idea.

I tried to look at Fabian's IG account, but it's mostly pictures of him professionally taken. Kaya siguro medyo nagulat ako na mahilig siyang magluto at magbasa kasi wala kang makikita na ganon sa IG account niya. Sinubukan ko rin na tignan iyong following list niya at mostly sports account o memes account o account ng ibang mga model na mukhang kaibigan niya.

There must be something wrong about him! I refuse to believe that he's close to perfection.

Zion5200 is typing...

My god.

It's like I couldn't escape him!

Zion5200: So about Nikki

Me: Fine I will tell her

Zion5200: When

Me: When she's not busy

Zion5200: When is that

Me: I don't know. I'm not her manager

Zion5200: Okay but I need friends. I get lonely you know

Me: Use tinder or bumble or go out and meet people

Zion5200: Nah tinder is full of girls trying to fuck. Bumble is full of girls messaging 'hey'

Me: So? Isn't that what you want?

Zion5200: What do I want

Me: To fuck

Zion5200: Lol do you think I'm a slut

Me: Kinda

Zion5200: Ouch

Me: You did fuck me the first night we met

Zion5200: Couldn't help it. You look so good

Me: See? This is why we can't be friends. We can't have a conversation without you making innuendos

I saw him typing, erasing, and then typing once again.

Zion5200: Fine

Zion5200: I will try to be as wholesome as I can be

Me: You talk like being a decent human being is such a task

Zion5200: It is when it comes to you

Me: What the fuck do you mean

Zion5200: Nothing

Me: You're infuriating

Zion5200: I know

Zion5200: Just get Nikki to introduce me to people

Me: Can't you really make friends on your own

Zion5200: No

Me: But you can fuck someone you just met

Zion5200: No comment

We talked for a while until I fell asleep. Nang magising ako ay nakita ko na nagmessage sa akin si Fabian. He was asking me how my day was and if I would be okay with FaceTime because apparently, he missed seeing my face.

I messaged Nikki telling him about the conversation I had with Zion. Maybe if Zion has other friends, he'd leave me alone. Baka kaya ako lang ang ginugulo niya ngayon ay totoo na wala siyang kaibigan. Ewan ko ba. With that guy, you'd never really know what's up.

Nikki: Is this serious?

Me: Yup

Nikki: Weird ask but sure?

Me: Thank you

Nikki: Do you want me to introduce him to guys or girls as well?

Me: Idk bakit mo tinatanong

Nikki: I don't want you getting mad at me

Me: Why would I be mad at you

Nikki: Haha sure let's pretend that nothing's happening

Me: Ewan ko sa yo

Nikki: Sure babe whatever you tell yourself

Nikki: There's a party tonight. I'll ask him to come with me

Nikki told me na may house party siya na pupuntahan somewhere in Alabang at isasama niya si Zion doon. I told her that she didn't need to update me kung ano ang gagawin nila ni Zion. That's none of my business. Fabian's my business.

I talked with Fabian and asked him about his work. He said it can get pretty exhausting, but he really enjoys what he's doing and that he knows he's lucky to be able to do something that he loves—and that he can travel for free, too. Must be really nice.

Ilang beses ako nag-try na itanong sa kanya kung anong libro ang gusto niya, but that would be weird to ask! Kung sana may kilala lang ako na kaibigan niya na pwede ko matanong tungkol dito. Weird kaya if magmemessage ako bigla sa mga model friends niya?

I went to Instagram to look at Fabian's following list. I was scanning through the photos to remember who among these beautiful people seemed the most friendly. Baka kasi friendly last sila before dahil lasing sila.

Then I clicked through Erick's profile. May Instagram story doon. I clicked on it and saw that he's in some party. I was about to exit the story when familiar faces caught my eyes.

It was Nikki and Zion laughing—Nikki was whispering something in Zion's ears and he was laughing like it was the funniest shit he's ever heard.

What was happening? Kailan pa sila naging close? 

**

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