Air Ball

XXV: White Gold

JILL

"Jeric, pagod nako. Ayoko na." I pleaded and he looked at me with disbelief.

"Seryoso ka ba?" He asked.

"Oo nga, kaya please. Tigil na natin 'to, pagod na ako." I whined.

"Grabe, ilang minutes ka palang sa treadmill pagod ka na. E pang-jogging nga lang yung speed mo e." He replied with a mocking tone.

"Ehhhhh. I'm already having trouble breathing normally here. And my side is starting to hurt."

"Fine. Kung hindi lang convincing itsura mo e." He snickered. "But seriously, sixteen minutes ka palang tumatakbo."

"We can't all be fit, can we?" I retorted as he adjusted my speed to a brisk walk so I can catch my breath.

It was his idea to take me with him to the gym. After a lot of "No's", excuses, begging, and puppy dog eyes, he managed to drag me here without me putting up that much of a fight. Mind you, I was the one doing the puppy dog eyes.

"I'm starting to believe na may alaga ka talaga dyan sa tiyan mo. You don't exercise much pero di ka naman tumataba." He stated casually that if I wasn't running, or walking, next to him, I'd imagine he was just sitting. Warm-up palang niya, buong exercise ko na.

"I don't exercise pero I walk and run around a lot sa work. Not to mention nasstress din yung brain ko in coming up with ideas for clients." I answered as I tried to normalize my breathing. Sneaking a look at him, it irked me that it didn't even look like he's bothered by the running he's doing. Am I so physically unfit?

"Babe, wag ka matulala sakin. Alam kong gwapong gwapo ka sakin pero wag mo naman masyado ipahalata." He laughed and looked at my direction.

"Wag mo nga masyado lakasan yung hangin, baka matuyo agad pawis magkasakit ka pa." I retorted.

"Maka-ganyan ka. If I know you're imagining my topless body right now. Pawis pa naman ako." He continued poking fun at me.

"I don't need to imagine your topless body. If I wanted to, I can just Google it. Or I could just take your shirt off." I stated as if it wasn't a big deal.

"Grabe ka, babe! Aggressive! Wag dito!"

Instead of replying with a comeback, I threw a towel at him, to which he just laughed.

"Umayos ka nga. People might get the wrong idea na minamanyak kita."

"I know in your mind, you are." Following up his statement with a wink, I rolled my eyes at him and turned the treadmill off.

"Ewan ko sayo. I'll be at the sauna. Let's meet at the lounge after an hour? Baka ma-late tayo sa game nila Kev." I reminded him as I picked up my water bottle.

"Alright. Don't think of me too much. Baka madapa ako dito sa treadmill."

"Well, in that case..." I trailed off and smirked evilly before heading towards the girls' lockers.

From: Kev Ferrer

Jec and Jill, I'll see you later ha! FO na pag wala kayo. Haha

To: Kev Ferrer

Of course we'd be there. :) Excited na ako mapanood kayo. Ferrer vs Mariano yun o!

Today marks the first meeting between Kev and Aljon, not as collegiate stars but as professional players already, not as teammates but as adversaries. It's Kev's rookie year while Aljon is already on his sophomore year, together with Kim who is now reunited with Fort at Barako Bull.