Chapter 9

[ LEOX ACHERON SOLACE ]

After diving, Dal and I went to a cottage where my crew had prepared lunch. The cottage was just a meter away from the Elders Association Office, and when we arrived, the elders were already eating while waiting for us.

"Is there any food you're allergic to?" tanong ko kay Dal, na tahimik lang na pinagmamasdan ang pagkain sa lamesa.

They were different kinds of seafood sitting on the table; crabs, shrimps, seaweeds, fish, clams, and lobsters. They also had rice.

"Wala naman," tipid nitong sagot at lumapit na sa lamesa upang kumuha ng pagkain.

We had already taken a bath before coming here. Dal was wearing a white linen shirt, with the first three buttons undone, and beige chino shorts. He's only wearing flip-flops right now, and his sunglasses were resting on his head.

"Kumusta ang ilalim ng dagat, bos?"

While I was staring at the guy in front of me, Jeric suddenly came next to me and joined me.

"Wow, nakakapaglakad na pala ang dagat ngayon? Ganda!" he teasingly said while looking at me, his brows moving up and down.

"Tsk! Shut up!" I said, stopping him from saying anything more.

I went to the table and got a plate. I filled it with rice and a little bit of each dish. I saw Dal checking my plate before looking at my face, probably wondering why I was getting a lot of food.

"Gutom ka yata," puna niya.

"I haven't had seafood for a while, so I'm pampering myself."

Nang matapos na ako sa pagkuha, tinignan ko siya. "Are you done?"

"Yes, why?"

"Let's sit at the table outside. The air was nice."

Hinawakan ko ang kamay niya at hindi pinansin ang mapanuring tingin ng mga tao sa paligid. Naramdaman ko naman ang kamay ni Dal na gustong makawala sa hawak ko. Tinignan ko siya at ngumiti ng matamis at marahan na hinila papalabas ng cottage.

The cottage had glass doors, and I intentionally closed them so we could talk without being heard by others.

"What the hell are you doing, Acheron?"

I let go of his warm hand, placed my plate on the table, and sat down. Dal did the same, but his eyes were glaring at me. I just gave him a sweet smile. Every time he glares, his eyes look so sexy.

"Did you see the eyes of those people?" His voice was  sharp and clipped.

I just shrugged my shoulders, then ate a spoonful of rice while he was stared at me. Instead of answering him, I took some shrimp from my plate and put it on his since he didn't have any.

"Think about yourself and eat. Their business are their own," I said and gave him a smile, but I got a glare in return.

Nakita ko siyang sumubo na ng pagkain kaya napangiti ako ng lihim. What I had thought about Dal was that he was a light eater, given the fact that he had a slender body.

"You should eat more," I said and gave him some crab meat.

"Stop." There was a hint of irritation in his voice, but I just shrugged it off and smiled.

"What?" I asked.

"I don't know what your game is, but why are you so cool about being seen in public here? I saw you giving the elders some diving equipment earlier!"

The tone of his voice changed, and his face was full of concern. I didn't know if it was about me being seen by people or him being seen with me. But whichever the reason, it made my heart flutter.

Napangiti ako nang maisip ang ideyang iyon.

"Why are you smiling?" Nagtataka niyang tanong.

"Are you worried about me?"

Naging tawa ang ngiti ko dahil hindi ki aakalain na mag-aalala pala siya sa akin. 

Disbelief fell on his face, but he was trying to suppress it into a glare. Narinig ko ang mahinang pagmura niya.

Dal looks so cute when he's irritated.

"Don't worry too much, they're harmless."

Bumalik na sa normal na ekspresyon ang mukha niya at nagpatuloy sa pagkain.

"Feeding a snake will not stop it from biting you."

The way he said those words made it seem like he had experienced it before. He was sure about the fact that helping people doesn't guarantee loyalty.

I wondered if it was the same scenario as the issue he had.

Loyalty.

Hindi ako nagbigay ng komento sa sinabi niya, instead inisip ko yung sitwasyon niya. Hindi ko alam ang buong kaganapan sa nangyari sa kanya, pero tungkol sa  sinabi niya parang nagtiwala siya kaibigan niyang iyon at sa huli ay nag betray ito sa kanya.

There are people who only take you for granted and aim for your weakness to bring you down. In the industry we're working in, you can always see these kinds of people. Kaya ang hirap pumili ng mapagkakatiwalaan.

I don't really care what others think about me because, at the end of the day, I know myself better than they do. I know where I stand, and I know that I'm not stepping someone else's reputation.

I don't mind hearing criticism because it is also eye-opening, though not all the time. Some only want to see and understand what the wanted to.

When they think you're a bad person, even if it's not true and there's a lot of proof  that you are wronged, they will still see you as a bad person.

Well, not all people are like this....but mostly are.

"Dal," kaswal na tawag ko sa kanya.

He was done with his food, and so was I. Since I still didn't know much about him, I thought, why not use this time to talk about ourselves?

"Whaaaat?" He groaned, exasperated. Lihim naman akong napangiti. Ang cute.

"I said before that I liked being with you," I said with a straight face, trying to act serious while the person in front of me listened.

"So?"

"But I only know a few things about you," I intentionally cut my words short so that he would ask me.

"Don't expect to know me more. I'm not allowing you," he said giving me lazy eyes while one brow slightly raised.

Marahas akong bumuga ng hangin. Hindi ganito ang inaasahan kong sasabihin niya.

"You should ask me what I know about you," I commanded. "Don't be so strict with me, I'm harmless."

"Wow! Coming from you, who suddenly became a whole different person after just a day."

"Ha?"

Ako?  Paano naman nangyari iyon? I dug into my mind, trying to figure out which part of me had change.

"Whatever! So, what are those things you know about me?"

He finally yielded to my demand, and it brought a wide smile to my face.

"You love watching the sea, and whenever you're staring at it, your eyes slowly drown in its beauty and wonder. That is why I urged you to go diving."

Hindi siya nagsalita, bagkus ay nanatili siyang nakatingin sa akin. Wala ring emosyon na pinapakita ang asul niyang mga mata.

"You also have a high tolerance for alcohol. I noticed it when we had a drink back on my balcony."

"Well, yeah," he interjected.

"You tend to suppress your thoughts. I don't know why, but whenever I tease you, you only glare at me."

"Nonsensical things don’t benefit me."

I nodded, but I didn’t want to agree. I actually wanted him to say those unsaid words. I wondered what emotions he would show when saying them.

"Nonsensical things might be a way for you to recover," I suggested, referring to myself as the nonsensical thing.

"Nevertheless, you're just fetching fresh water from a contaminated river."

"Wow!" I exclaimed, not bothering to suppress my reaction. Did he just compare me to a contaminated river? Contaminated???

"It's a futile effort, false hope, and pointless work. Why bother entertaining them when you don’t get anything in return?" he continued.

I didn’t think so. There was another way to look at that contaminated river. I mean, what about...

"You can extract drinkable water from a contaminated river through purification, by the way," I said, trying to defend the river. "With the right filtration, you can make it safe to drink." I insisted.

"But it takes a lot of time. And how sure are you that the filtration you used is accurate? What if the water is still contaminated? You’ll be poisoned."

I wasn’t losing this debate. I wouldn’t let it happen. I was going to find a way to win. Hah!

"Let’s say the contaminated river represents the nonsensical thing, and the extraction process is the hope that addressing this nonsense isn’t pointless after all," I said looking at him straight in the eyes.

"The filtration is the risk you take. It’s a long process. When the extraction is complete, you have drinkable water," I continued.

"Now, drinking it requires trust. You put in a lot of effort—gathering the water, extracting it, preparing the filtration, and creating the finished product. There are only two possible outcomes after you put your trust in it. First, you’ll be fine, which means believing in the contaminated river was the right decision, leading you toward something good and meaningful. The second outcome is that you’ll be poisoned—you’ll fall into betrayal and gain nothing in return."

I was just blurting out words without even realizing it. But Dal kept listening, kaya muli akong nagpatuloy.

"But even in the second scenario, you still learn something. It teaches you that before extracting, you have to test the river...to see if it’s worth the effort, if it can be saved."

"So, you’re saying that whatever the outcome, both are essential?" Nagtataka niyang tanong.

"Yes! Each result leads to something. And besides, you’ll never know the outcome if you don’t take the risk."

I saw how Dal fell into a deep thought, probably thinking about what I had just said.

Come on! The world is full of negativity, there's no harm in being optimistic.

"Idealistic..." he mumbled but didn't continue.

"Do you like me now?" I teased him, raising my brows up and down, trying to get his reaction.

Dal scoffed, raised his hand, and placed his index finger on my forehead. He then brought his head close to mine. His eyes were fixed on mine, not breaking or blinking.

"Idealism can sometimes resemble naivety," he whispered, then pushed my head lightly. "But I like the way you explain it."

I was taken aback by what he did. I was at a loss for words just because he suddenly became an inch away from me. Our lips were so close, and I was too shocked.

I couldn't even complain about how he pushed my head with his finger. It actually looked like I was his student and he was scolding me, but the thought of that never turned into words. I only sat there, staring at his beautiful face, and the only thing I could hear was the loud beating of my chest.

"Let's continue. What else do you know about me."

Shit! How can I stop this loud beating of my chest?

Wait, I'm going to die if it stops.

"You're beautiful when you smile. Your eyes lit up as your cheeks curl up. Your lips look smooth and sexy. Your eyes are actually my favorite because they were the first thing I noticed the first time I saw you. They were radiant and sparkled whenever you smiled. I also like your irritated face because you look cute. Your thick brows forming a line are so adorable."

"What the heck are you saying, Acheron?"

Huh? Did I just blurt that out? Nagtataka akong napatingin sa kanya.

What am I blabbering about?

Nakita ko na lang ang namumula niyang mukha. It was so red that worry began to eat me.

"What the hell happened to your face?" I asked and placed my palm on his neck to check his temperature, but he pushed my hand away.

"I'm okay. M-Mainit kasi..."

"Are you okay? Allergic ka ba sa seafood? Do you need anything? Water? Wait, I'm going to get you a glass of water."

I didn't bother hearing his excuse and went inside to get him something to drink. Pagbalik ko, agad ko siyang pinainom. Baka kung ano ang mangyari sa kanya.

"I'm fine."

I checked his face before sitting back in my chair. His face was so red, like a tomato, down to his nape. Allergic ba siya sa init? Imposible naman yata.

"So, where were we?"

"N-No... I mean, let's not talk about me. Let's talk about you this time."

Hmmm... I wasn't urging this conversation to be about myself.

"There's nothing special about me, honestly. I want to know you better, so let's talk about you."

"Fine."

"I want to know how you got into the industry. Everything, from the start up until now." I demanded.

Dal didn't complain. He just nodded his head and start talking. He talked about the hardships he went through because people around him didn't believe he could be a photographer one day. He also said that his parents were the ones who invalidated his dream, telling him that photography wasn't a high-paying job and that he would be jobless for chasing it.

Hearing his story, I could tell that Dal didn't have a good upbringing. Although he didn't elaborate on the details, it was obvious that his parents were manipulative.

Dal's life was full of hardships and pain brought by his parents. I do believe that if a child's environment is full of toxicity and negativity, their views on life change. They also become prone to depression and other mental health problems.

"What did you do then? D-Did you actually hurt yourself?"

He gave me a gentle smile before speaking.

"No, because I also had good people around me."

When he said these words, I saw a glimpse of pain in his eyes.

"They became my strength and inspiration... before."

Napakunot ako ng noo habang iniisip ang sinabi niya.

"Well, you're successful now. You just slapped those people who didn't believe in you before." I said, trying to ease the heaviness in his chest.

"I don't know. I don't feel like I deserve the spotlight. I still have doubts about my decisions in life. I mean, I was too focus on reaching my dreams, and now that I've reached them, something happened. It always happens everytime I feel happy. Kaya minsan ayokong makaramdam ng kasiyahan dahil natatakot ako sa kabayaran nito."

That explains why he suppressed his feelings and always guarded. Hindi ko naman siya masisisi. Our past is actually a reflection to who we are today.

But now that I knew something, somehow, about him the urge in me wanting to step inside his world intensified.

Will he let me?

But hearing his story, it sounds like it will be tough. Well, who am I to complain? I want to see those sparkling blue orbs again. I want to see them shining.

"Not everything or everyone is meant for you, and that's okay. What is truly yours will find its way into your life. If photography is really your calling, then these problems are just a phase. You'll overcome them. I know you can."

- B M -