24/7

Daylight

•~• Jay's POV •~•

"Jay?"

"Hmmm?"

"Do you know the movie Speed?"

"The one with the bus or the one with the ship?"

"Hmmm both."

"Yeah. Why?"

"You know how Sandra and Keanu's characters' relationship didn't last that long?"

"Keanu was only in the first Speed, diba?"

"I know. Kaya nga nasa cruise si Sandra, I think. Because they didn't work out... my recollection is a bit fuzzy but I think that's what happened."

"Mendoza, you're circling your point. Just tell me what's bothering you."

We were out by the waters, having just had brunch when I noticed how quiet she's gotten. It wasn't the troubled kind of quiet but quiet enough that made me believe she had something important she needed to say. The prolonged silence only meant she was internally debating whether to keep things to herself for a while longer or to share it with me.

"Well?"

"Just.. this thing we have, whatever it is... it's a kind of extreme circumstance, diba?"

"Well, yes. Extremely satisfying given the circumstances."

She threw a grape at me.

Ang cute mapikon.

"Faulkerson, I'm being serious! Could you maybe get your mind out of the gutter kahit sandali lang?"

I stood up and leaned over the table to give her a quick kiss on the nose then sat back down.

"Tall order but I'll try my best. Sige na, tell me what's on your mind."

She took a deep, calming breath.

"Well okay here goes. So Sandra and Keanu broke up. Their characters I mean, so Sandra goes on a cruise where she meets another guy. As luck would have it, Sandra finds herself in another extreme circumstance. Incidentally, she needs to shake off whatever bad juju she has that keeps landing her in shit like that... kasi hello. Una bus tapos sunod naman barko. What's next? A space shuttle?"

"Mendoza. Your point."

"Oh. Yeah okay. Well there's a line from the movie that's kind of applicable to our situation."

She held up her hand then took a long drink of water.

"You're killing me, Nic."

"You know what? Maybe we can just talk about this later."

I started banging my head on the table.

"Jay! Stop that! FINE! I'm just worried okay?"

"About what?"

"This! Us! Whatever this thing we have going here for us is called. It reeks of extreme circumstance!"

"So what if it is!?"

"Relationships based on extreme circumstances never work out."

"Ah there it is. Took you long enough to say it. Is that all or meron pang sequel yang point mo?"

"You want more!? Isn't what I just said more than enough to worry about?"

I raised my hands in a show of surrender.

"Even if you have more worries to add to your pile of worries, they still won't be enough to stop me from seeing this extreme circumstance through with you."

That made her break into one of her blinding smiles.

"What happens after though?"

"After what?"

"Well, I'm confident we'll catch the asshole that wants to hurt you and things will go back to normal. You wouldn't need me to shadow you anymore. Your current security detail will be more than enough. And..."

"And you're worried that when things calm down, I'll let you go and forget about you?"

"More or less."

I stood up and walked nearer the water. I needed time to process my thoughts. And to calm the fuck down.

Does she really think I'm letting her go?

When I felt her presence beside me, I took her hand to pull her closer.

"You really think that after everything we've shared, after all those nights we slept in each other's arms, all the times I've made you scream my name, you really believe that I'll still let you go?"

"Jay..."

"Get this through your thick skull, woman. If you think you'll get rid of me that easily then you have one helluva fight coming your way. I'm sticking. Like industrial strength glue. And nothing you say or do can change that. Am I making myself clear?"

In the blink of an eye I found myself sprawled face down on the sand with my arms pinned behind me.

"What the hell?"

"You need to be able to beat me in hand to hand combat first, Faulkerson. And from the looks of it, you have a WHOA—"

I bucked her off my back then jack-knifed my body to flip our positions.

The surprise on her face as I started peppering her neck with open-mouthed kisses was worth the bite mark on my shoulder.

"You still play dirty, Mendoza. Just one of the things I love about you. But I don't need to beat you in hand to hand combat. I just need to stay true to my word. I'm ready to prove mys—-"

"Your phone's ringing."

"It's my dad. Wait. He never calls unless it's really urgent."

I stood and pulled her up with me. I pressed the Accept button and put the call on speaker mode.

"Dad? What's—"

"Jay. He has Seb. Whoever wants you dead took Seb."

*•*•*

Author's note: Dun-dun-dun (sound effects yan hindi ako nagtuturo ng lugar)

Wala lang. Gusto ko lang mag-author's note. Walang basagan ng trip.