Gunned Down (Chasing Dreams Series #4) | C O M P L E T E D

Chapter 8

Hawak ko ang panyo ni Marcus habang tinitingnan 'yung latest post niya sa IG. He actually took a picture of us at 7-Eleven. He was facing the glass wall, while my back reflected on it.

03/14—best birthday ever

For some people who have seen his post, they thought it was just a picture of the street outside the convenience store that he took. But for someone like Harmony Travilla who zoomed it in, our reflections would be much clearer and it wouldn't be so hard to realize that Marcus went there with a woman.

harmony_travilla: Umm, who's she? 👽

Maraming nag-reply sa comment niya at lahat ay kuryoso kung sino ang "misteryosong" babaeng kasama ni Marcus. Bridgette saw that, too. She immediately texted me.

From: Bruhilda

Malandot ka! Birthday celeb sa 7-Eleven??? Wew

I chuckled as I replied to her.

To: Bruhilda

lol i didn't know that today's his birthday

Hindi rin 'yon nakatakas sa radar ni Jeremiah. He even sent me the screenshot of my back on Messenger as if he cracked the code.

Jeremiah Garcia:

Best birthday pa nga! Ihanda mo ang sarili mo, cous, kapag nalaman 'to ni Lola!

Ano naman ngayon kung malaman ni Lola Carmelita? 'Buti sana kung sinabi kong boyfriend ko si Marcus, eh. Baka ako na ang maging paborito niyang apo.

Me:

Alam naman talaga niyang friends kami ni Marcus Schmidt. Hindi na 'yon shocking news para sa kanya.

Ipinatong ko 'yung cellphone sa bedside table at bumaba sa kama. Itinago ko sa kaila-ilaliman ng cabinet 'yung panyo ni Marcus. Before he left earlier, I remembered that I had to give it back to him; but he refused to accept it and told me to just keep it.

Nag-shower ako at nagbihis ng pangtulog na damit. Pagkatapos kong magpatuyo ng buhok ay muli akong humiga sa kama. I checked my phone and a smile instantly stretched out my lips when I saw Marcus' text message.

From: Marcus Hotel

I just got back. What are you doing? ☺️

That smiley emoji...

To: Marcus Hotel

Matutulog na. Good night. Happy birthday ulit. 😁

'Kala mo ikaw lang, ah? Available rin ang emojis sa cellphone ko.

From: Marcus Hotel

Oh, right...

Thank you and good night, Olaia. I seriously want to see you again.

A new text message came in.

And again...

Tinagilid ko ang katawan ko at niyakap ng mahigpit 'yung unan. Hindi ko mapigilan ang ngiti ko habang hinahanda ang sarili sa pagti-tipa.

To: Marcus Hotel

G! Free ako bukas.

Humikab ako at inabot 'yung switch ng lampshade. Medyo masakit sa mga mata 'yung brightness ng screen kaya binabaan ko ng kaunti. It was about to turn black, but Marcus' message popped up. Funny how it represented my current mood right now; I was drowsy, but felt energized when he texted back.