The Way To His Heart (The Starving Squad #3)

Chapter 20: Tug of War

Nang mamatay si Lola Dolores, Mona took a few days off to help Fresia take care of Bullet. The poor guy can't even fix himself a decent meal. Sa Pampanga sila namalagi nang ilang araw. Unfortunately, Andrea's also in the picture.

Nakaka-depress tuloy. And the woman kinda has an evil vibe. Bumaon ba naman ang kuko sa kamay niya! It was hard to move around with Andrea watching her. To make it worse, lapit nang lapit si Felix sa kanya. He makes every imaginable excuse just to talk to her. Na nakakakilig sana kung hindi siya sinusundan ng masamang tingin ng girlfriend nito.

Pakiramdam tuloy niya ay may ginagawa siyang masama kahit wala naman talaga.

Her friends didn't seem to like Andrea as well. And the latter doesn't seem to care if she's liked or not. Basta nakabantay ito kay Felix. Lakas makapangbakod!

Sasama pa nga sana ito sa birthday party ni Aika kung hindi lang napakiusapan ni Felix na huwag itong pumunta. But that didn't stop her friends from reminding her about that woman.

"Nasa'n na 'yong anino ni Felix?" tanong ni Brandi. "Hindi ba naka-gate crash?"

Siniko niya ang kaibigan dahil nasa malapit lang si Felix.

Brandi snorted. "She still has him on a leash. Ang pathetic lang," bulong nito.

"Marinig ka, uy!"

"Bakit? Totoo naman 'yong sinasabi ko, di ba?"

"Just because it's true doesn't mean you should say it out loud."

"Ayan. Kaya ka kaya-kayanan ng Andrea na 'yon, e. You don't say anything. You don't speak up. You don't tell them what you want to say. Kaya walang nangyayari sa 'yo. Masyado kang pushover."

"Aray ko naman, Beh."

Brandi walked away, shaking her head. Nang makalayo-layo, lumingon ito at tumuro sa kanya, "Don't make me say I told you so."

--

She wasn't sure if it was a good idea to not invite Baste to the party. Alam kasi ng mga kaibigan niya na may dini-date siyang iba pero hindi niya sinabi kung sino. Sinabi lang niya sa mga ito para hindi siya magmukhang kawawa. Alam kasi niyang tutuktukan siya ng mga ito kapag mukhang umaasa siya kay Felix, even though that's what's really happening. Umaasa siya... patago nga lang.

Ang akala niya, porket may dala siyang sariling sasakyan, ligtas na siya. But Felix always finds a way to suprise her. Since she refused to ride in his car, he just followed her home. Ipinarada nito ang sasakyan sa tapat ng bahay niya saka ito bumaba.

"I'm a bit sleepy," he told her. "Pwedeng makiinom ng kape bago ako tumuloy sa pagda-drive?"

"May Mcdo sa kanto. Malapit lang. Mas matapang ang kape nila," nakangiti niyang sagot.

"Hindi ba pwedeng dito na lang?"

"It's already late. Gusto ko nang matulog, e."

"Then I'll make my own coffee."

He was about to go inside the house when she spoke again.

"Ay! Wala nga pala akong kape. Maggu-grocery pa lang ako, e. Sorry."

It was a lame excuse and she knew he didn't believe her, but he also knew that she's making an excuse because she didn't want him inside the house. Maybe that's why he gave up.

"Oh, okay. Bibili na lang siguro ako."

"Sorry, ha. Next time na lang."

"Yeah. Next time."