Lumabas si Ashton ng banyo with only a white towel wrapped around his slim hips. His hair was dripping wet and beads of water that drop from his hair trailed down his chiseled chest and sculpted abs. He found Stephanie sitting on the bed, her back propped up on some pillows and her legs crossed at the ankles. Kumakain ito ng macadamia nuts na nakuha nya from the bar at umiinom ng sparkling water. Naka-on ang television sa isang lumang episode ng isang American sitcom about six friends who live in New York City. Kumuha pa si Ashton ng isa pang twalya at pinunasan na ang kanyang basang buhok.
"How was your ICE, COLD shower, Abo?" Stephanie smirked as she popped another macadamia nut into her mouth.
"Eh di yun. Malamig. Kasing lamig ng aking wife-to-be na dragonang bratinella," he loomed over her on the bed and shook out his wet hair at her.
"Hey!" tinapunan nya si Ashton ng macadamia nut.
Ashton put on the white fluffy robe in the closet since he had no change of clothes with him. He sat down on the bed next to her. "Penge nga!"
Stephanie grabbed a macadamia nut from the can and popped it into Ashton's mouth. "By the way, you're paying for these, okay?" she smiled at him.
"Ano pa nga ba?" he reached over her to get another nut.
Ashton stared at Stephanie as she continued to munch on the salted nuts and laughed at the jokes on the tv show she was watching. He took the bottled sparkling water from her lap and took a gulp from it. "Stop staring at me, Ash."
"Meron ka ba talaga?" he wondered out loud.
"Yes," she said easily.
"Patingin nga," he slipped a hand underneath her dress.
"Go ahead! But it will be a bloody mess, ikaw din. Kadiri! Yuck!" she shuddered playfully.
"Humanda ka pag okay na."
"At bakit?" she glanced at him before turning her eyes back on the tv.
"Dahil sumakit yung akin sa ginawa mo."
Stephanie guffawed. "Ah yun ba? Peace," she threw him the peace sign and continued laughing.
"You are so lucky I love you."
"Am I?" she raised her eyebrow up at him.
"Yes. You are very lucky," he began kissing her shoulder. "Are we okay?"
"Nope," she shrugged so his lips could move away from her shoulder.
"Love naman."
"Sabi mo liligawan mo ulit ako as Daniel. So go!" she put another macadamia nut inside his mouth that went agape.
"I will, if that's what you want, Babe. I just want us to be okay. I want my mataray pero malambing na Stephanie back."
"Ash naman. Isipin mong mabuti ang ginawa mo. Okay, so I had a boneheaded plan to run away from home, from my duty as the only Asuncion daughter to get our business out of the sinking sand it fell into. Pero my goodness, to marry a man I don't know just for the sake of our family's business? Ang hirap lunukin yun. Tapos the day na Lota found me, I was mugged. Na hold up ako. I was desperate. I had no money, no phone, no belongings, and I still didn't want to go home. Galit na galit pa ko nung araw na yun. So Lota literally saved my life...or so I thought. I didn't know she was leading me right into the lion's den pala," mahaba litanya ni Stephanie.
"What? You were mugged?!" he asked her, his voice full of concern.
"Yeah," she shrugged. "I tried bargaining with Kuya, pero ayaw eh. Kinuha nya na lahat ng pera ko, pati pa cellphone ko, at ang maleta ko full of designer clothes and shoes! Nakakainis nga talaga eh!"
أنت تقرأ
Losing Control
أدب نسائيIt was so archaic, wasn't it? This wasn't supposed to happen. At least not to her. She wanted to stop it. Question was...how do you stop it?
