You Belong With Me

Eight

MANDY?" PAO SOUNDED SURPRISED when he recognized the woman Alden was hugging and being chummy with.

Maine frowned and whipped her head back and forth between the woman and her cousin, then back at the woman who was grinning from ear to ear while still hanging on to Alden's side. She turned and smiled up at Pao.

"Hey Pao. Nice to see you again," the woman named Mandy smiled and removed herself from Alden's side to give Pao, who stood up from where he sat, and hugged the woman who seemed to know her cousin as well as she knows Alden.

"Long time no see, Mands," Pao chuckled after he disengaged himself from their hug. "Kamusta ka na? Balita ko supermodel na peg mo," he teased.

Mandy demurred at Pao's praise. She gave both men an impish smile, ignoring that she just interrupted table full of people watching them and wondering who the hell she was.

"Model lang," pa-hiyang sagot ni Mandy, but her body language was far from embarrassed. If Maine had to guess, Mandy was feeling very proud na pinagkamalang supermodel peg niya.

"Model, supermodel, is there really a difference?" Pao chuckled.

The trio continued to discuss amongst themselves, completely forgetting na meron silang ibang kasama. Maine was drilling a hole through both her cousin and Alden's head while she was skinning the feelingerang model alive where she stood.

Ike noticed Maine's change of mood and followed her line of vision. Hindi lang siya ang nakapansin sa pagbabago ng mood ng kasama nila. Jules also noticed and gave her friend a worried look. She caught Ike's gaze and with just a pointed lifting of a brow she conveyed her question to him: Okay ba siya? was what that look meant, and Ike responded with a firm shake of his head; he understood what she meant. Nagulat si Jules dahil none of her close male friends ever gets what she meant whenever she givea them certain looks.

# # # # #

BES, OKAY KA lang ba?" Jules asked while waiting at the bar for their drinks.

Maine announced she was going to grab a refill for her drink after Mandy continued to manipulate Alden and Pao's attention. Hindi na naghintay na merong server na dumaan at pumunta na si Maine mismo sa bar to order anothet drink.

Everyone paying attention to her at the table all exchanged looks. Jules and Aicelle offered to go with her and followed clearly annoyed Maine. They gave the trio dirty looks and made sure Mandy saw them giving her a disapproving glare when they walked past her. If that tramp thought she'd be welcome to join their little group, she have another think coming especially since she not only pissed off Maine but also Jules and Aicelle.

"Oo naman," sagot ni Maine, but she didn't sound convincing.

"Kilala mo ba yung girl na 'yun?" Aicelle asked.

"She looks familiar, pero hindi ko sure."

"Familiar how?" frowned Jules.

"Parang nakilala ko na siya noon, pero hindi ako sure."

Jules and Aicelle exchanged looks, then as one turned their attention back to the trio who now decided to include the other guys at their table sa conversation nila. Mandy was still beside Alden and from where they stood sa may bar eh parang super ang pagkadikit nito sa kanilang co-worker, which Alden doesn't seem to mind.

# # # # #

ALDEN TRIED TO PUT some distance between him and Mandy. Hindi siya comportableng parang linta siya sa tabi niya. He kept on stealing glances at Maine to see how she was reacting to this. Pero busy siyang kausap si Ike and barely paid attention to him.

Jules and Aicelle, on the other hand, kept on giving him death glares since the trio returned back to their table with their drinks. Danny and Sam were busy outdoing each other on stage singing some Parokya and Eraserheads classic, but before Sam followed the youngest member of their group, he gave him a 'WTF' look then elongated his lips to point at Mandy's direction to clarify na yun ang tinutukoy niya.

Alden was as curious as his friends as to what Mandy was doing here. He was happy to see her and since GMRC was instilled in him since he was in his diaper years, he was forced to be nice to her even if that was the last thing on his mind.

Things between him and Mandy ended on a sour note years ago, and they haven't seen nor communicated with each other since. They moved in similar circles pero never siyang nagtanong sa common frienda nila about her. And why would he naman? Ano siya, baliw? Pagkatapos siyang lokohin at paasahin tapos when pushed came to shove he was left dangling in the air.

Pao knew all about it, and it was him who helped Alden get over the hurt and humiliation. Tapos ano 'to? She was acting like their past history was nothing?

Nakakaloka siya ha!

"Den, okay ka lang?" tanong ni Mandy when she noticed Alden's lack of interest.

"Yeah," was Alden's clipped reply. He even forced a smile that didn't quite reach his usually smiling eyes. "Excuse me lang ha? Magsi-CR lang ako," he added and scooted off his seat bago pa siya mapigilan ng katabi niya.

Hindi naman siya talaga gagamit nf facilities, but he needed to get away from Mandy's clutches and regroup. Hindi niya napansin na sumunod pala sa kanya si Ike until he felt his hand clamp on his shoulder.

"Sino si Mandy?" were the words that came out of Ike's mouth habang sinusundan niya si Alden.

"An old acquaintance," Alden deadpanned and pushed the men's washroom door open. He was thankful it was empty and he made his way towards the sink.

Ike was still following him and cocked an eyebrow questioningly at him.

"Doesn't look like you two are just 'old acquaintances'. Even Pao's acting like he knew her really well," he commented.

"Si Pao 'yun," sagot ni Alden.

"What about you?"

Alden frowned and met the other's man gaze sa mirror.

"What are you getting at?"

Ike sighed and rolled his eyes skyward.

"Bro, hindi naman kami pinanganak kahapon, okay? And Mandy wasn't at all subtle about acting like she knew you really well from way back when. Lahat kami sa table came up with our own assumption as to who Mandy was sa buhay mo."

"And sino naman siya sa tingin nyo?" Alden challenged.

"Ex-girlfriend mo," Ike deadpanned.
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AUTHOR'S NOTE: Well? What do you think? I hope you enjoyed this update albeit another short chapter. I'm dividing my time between this and my The Flash fanfic, Heart, Don't Lie. If you are a fan of the CW comic boom series (and ship SnowBarry), then check that out & let me know what you think (yes, shameless self-plugging here lol). Anyway, I will try & have another chapter or two updated this month for this story. Thanks to you wonderful readers & supporters!