Steal thy heart (PUBLISHED BY BOOKWARE)

Chapter 2

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.