Pagkarating ni Ram sa Manila ay ako ang kaagad niyang inabisuhan. I was about to make my replies but I stopped myself. Why should I, anyway?
He said he'll be away for a week so I assumed, makakapahinga kaming lahat ng isang linggo. No supervising Arjuna's rash decisions, no spying over the Donofrio boys, and nothing to do.
That night, I was alone eating dinner on our long table since Papa was away too. Silence filled me as I swallowed my food.
The next day, my phone was already bombarding me with notifications. Mostly from Ram.
Out of boredom, I opened the stinking red marks. There were a lot of texts, and there's a picture attachment but no calls.
Tumaas ang aking kilay sa imahe na kaniyang pinadala.
Ito ay tila ba mula sa opisina. Hula ko ay nakaupo ito sa swivel chair dahil ang view ay ang kaniyang kamay na nakapatong sa desk, ang laptop ay nasa tabi, at ang background ay ang malawak ngunit panlalaking opisina.
Is this his main office? In Manila?
I hadn't been there. He hadn't brought me there back when...
The bile on my throat became evident, but I gulped it down. I inspected the photo more.
Gray, umber and onyx black were the color scheme of the spacious interior. Very dark, and masculine.
My eyes wandered and once it landed on something, my mouth formed an 'o'.
A reflection from a large plasma TV screen caught the contents of his desk. Besides his laptop, and a pendulum, there was a picture frame and his executive desk name plate.
Siningkit ko ang mga mata upang mabasa ang baliktad na mga gintong letra.
Ibrahim Ilara M. Donofrio
CEO, Donofrio Industries
Dumaloy ang mangha sa aking sistema. Tila ba isa akong manlalakbay na may natuklasang lugar.
I never knew his full name. Never knew that his second given name was Ilara. The sound it made on my messy mind ran down my spine in endless shivers.
Ilara. Hmmm.
My eyes claimed another spot just to divert my attention, then it landed on the picture frame. I zoomed it to see better but the angle made it hard for me.
No matter how hard I bend or squeeze my index finger and thumb.
This is bullshit. Plain bullshit.
And why would I want to see it naman? Who cares about that picture frame?
Kunot-noo kong sinasara ang cellphone nang tumunog ito. Nakaukit sa screen ang pangalan ni Ram. He must've saw that I had already opened his messages.
Kunot-noo pa rin ay naglaro ang aking mga daliri sa luntiang parte ngunit napupunta na rin sa pula. I did not want an intervention in my morning inhibitions, nor did I want to see his sinful face. And I do not answer to anyone.
Kaya, ganoon na lamang ang panlalaki ng aking mga mata nang mapindot kong tuluyan ang decline. Tagusan ang bigla sa akin at nakaramdam ng paghihigpit sa dibdib.
The call just got cancelled. And, so?
I stared at the screen again, mouth agape. I swear my fingers were innocent but...what's done is done. As if I wanted his call...
Seconds had only passed, and my phone rang once again. It felt like freeing a bird but it came back to me willingly. I stared at it seconds longer before finally answering.
"What?" My lips were set in a straight line as I boredly looked at the screen.
Ang tunog kaagad ng malalim na paghalakhak ni Ram ang aking narinig. Ang kumikislap niyang mga mata ang nakatingin sa akin habang prenteng nakasandal sa recliner.
