Chasing Red

Batchi the Bounty Hunter

Disclaimer: I do not own TRMD and its characters.

"Excuse me, miss. Ikaw ba yung- oops! I'm sorry."

"Miss! Pwede bang- sorry! Ay mali."

"Nope. Sorry. Hindi ko hinihingi number mo. Akala ko ikaw yung kakilala ko."

"Sorry, miss. Sorry, bro. My mistake."

The short-haired girl sighed as she plopped down on the nearest bench. She glanced at the retreating back of another redhead and winced a little when she locked hands with her boyfriend.

Another failure of the day.

Batchi Luna consider herself to be a diligent person. She even has a ribbon that says 'Most Diligent Student' that she got from kindergarten. That's how rooted it is to her psyche and nothing will keep her from fulfilling her calling in life.

Not even that mysterious redheaded girl whom she thought would be so easy to find.

But it turns out, red is a pretty much common hair color next to brown and blonde. She tapped, called, followed, and even shouted to a lot of redheaded girls for three consecutive days.

And they're all the wrong ones.

Thirty minutes later and feeling somewhat discouraged, she trudged along the street in Makati while thinking of all the places she has yet to look for and the places she already scoured.

Saan pa ba... she mulled over as she passed by the different salons. Wala akong nakita sa mga salons at sa limang sororities na pinuntahan ko. There's one at a coffee shop near the Engineering building kanina pero yung redhead dun eh yung manager na fifty-years old. Dyusko, pa-bagets masyado si nanay.

She wanted to chuckle at her last thought but she's too down to even muster one. And on and on she goes as she listed down in her head all the places. Batchi almost gave up hope when she realized that she has already seen literally everything she knows.

Sighing heavily, she decided to call it a day and just try again tomorrow. And as she's reaching out for her phone on her pocket, that's when she saw something in her periphery. Or someone who is fast approaching.

Really fast.

"Batchi!" A shrill voice was heard and Batchi felt herself almost toppling over breathlessly as a tall figure ran over to her, squeezing the air out of her with a tight hug.

"Cathleen! Hindi ako makahinga..."

"Sorry!" The tall girl said with a gasped before letting go of the short-haired girl. "I just miss you! Where's Althea?" Cathleen asked as she watched the still-panting Batchi collect herself.

Batchi resisted the urge to roll her eye's at the other girl's injury. "Ayun, hindi ka pa rin type," she deadpanned and she chuckled at the mock, pained reaction the tall girl is sporting.

"Ouch," the tall girl replied, mockingly putting her right her to her chest as if her chest is in pain. "Sakit naman. Not looking for anything serious naman eh. Just another night will do."

The short-haired girl's lips curled in disgust at the eager, puppy-like expression on Cathleen's face. "Ang thirsty mo. Wala ka nga sabing pag-asa dun. Tigilan mo na," she said as she playfully pushed the tall girl away.

Cathleen is an old friend. Or rather, an old hook-up of Althea from when they're still young and foolish.

Just last year. And she's the very first one, actually.

"Fine," the tall girl acquiesced with a pout. "What're you doing here? Looking for trouble?" Cathleen added with an eyebrow wriggle.

"Sorta," Batchi mumbled and waved her hand dismissively at the other girl's bemused expression. "May hinahanap akong tao. Red hair. Your height. Parang model."