Seven Days with the Arrogant Spy (Elestia 2)

Ch. 9.1

AFTER changing into jeans and a hanging blouse, agad na lumabas ng silid niya si Renz.  Pagkatapos silang salubungin ng ama ay dumiretso ito kaagad sa susunod nitong meeting.  Sinabihan siya nito na magpahinga muna.  Kahit pa nga ba parang mas kailangan nito ang pahinga kesa sa kanya.  Sa tingin niya kasi pagkatapos nung nangyaring pagsugod ng mga terorista sa cruise ship ay hindi pa nakakapagpahinga ng maayos ang ama.
Nagdesisyon siya na mamaya na lang ito tanungin patungkol sa kung anong nangyari kay Care at kung nasaan si Cate.  Nakakapagtaka kasi na hindi pa niya nakikita ang nakakatandang kapatid.  But right now, she has more pressing matter to deal with.  Like that lying bastard, Lancer.  Or was that even his name?  Napuno na naman siya ng matinding pagkainis nang maalala ang pangalan na sinabi nito sa ama niya.  Hindi niya maintindihan kung bakit ibang pangalan pa ang kailangan nitong ibigay sa ama.  Pero mas magagalit siguro siya kung malalaman niya na yung binigay nitong pangalan sa ama ay ang totoo nitong pangalan at peke naman ang pangalan na ibinigay nito sa kanya.
Nagdire-diretso siya patungo sa hilera ng mga guest room.  Huminto siya sa tapat ng silid na pinagdalhan kay Lancer at walang sabi-sabing binuksan 'yon.  Only to find herself staring at a bare-chested Lancer.  Ang tanging suot lamang nito ay pantalon, which she thinks was provided by the house's staff.  Dapat ay sanay na siya na makita ito sa gano'ng ayos.  After all, she spent four days and four nights seeing and sleeping with his half-naked body.  Pero hindi pa rin niya mapigilan ang pagtalon ng puso niya sa tanawing nakikita.
"I know why you're here," wika nito na hindi man lang tumingin sa kanya at pinagpatuloy lang ang pagsusuot ng t-shirt.
Agaran naman niyang hinamig ang sarili.  "I see.  So you're not only a liar, you're also a psychic now.  Baka may natatago ka pang talent d'yan.  Sabihin mo na agad para hindi ako nagugulat."
Isang malalim na buntung-hininga naman ang pinakawalan nito.  "First, I really appreciate it na hindi ka nagwala kanina kahit na ibang pangalan ang ibinigay ko sa tatay mo."
"Probably because I was too stunned to even react."  Pinag-krus niya ang mga braso sa tapat ng dibdib.  "So Lancer, ano ba talagang tunay mong pangalan? Oh wait- was it Eric?  Sorry nalilito na kasi ako," sarkastiko niyang wika.
"It's Lancer."
Nabawasan ng kaunti ang pagkainis niya na hindi ito nagsinungaling sa kanya patungkol sa pangalan nito.  But she was still pissed.  "Oh so you lied to my father?  Why?  May kinalaman ba 'to do'n sa inakto mo kanina when you refused to go back with me the moment you heard who my father is?  Are you some sort of criminal?  Are you a thief?  Certainly, you're not a murderer--"
"Renz, just stop," putol nito sa sinasabi niya.  "Hindi ako magnanakaw o kahit na ano pa mang klaseng kriminal.  I have my reasons why I didn't tell your father my real name.  You just have to trust me on this."
"That's it?  No questions ask?  Hindi ka man lang ba mag-e-effort na magpaliwanag sa 'kin?"
"I can't.  Me telling you my real name was more than enough."
Now she's really pissed off.  Kung makapagsalita kasi ito ay parang utang na loob pa niya na sinabi nito sa kanya ang tunay nitong pangalan.  Lumapit siya dito.  "Listen here, you arrogant prig.  Do you really think that giving you the benefit of the doubt is enough?  Na sasabihin ko sa 'yo na 'fine, I trust you so let's just forget about this'?  Then you really don't know me at all."
"Yes, I don't know who you are as a car racer or a president's daughter, but I certainly know who you are as a person.  At alam ko na hindi mo palalampasin 'to hangga't hindi kita binibigyan ng matinong paliwanag.  But you see, Renz, there are things that I'm not in liberty to tell anyone about.  Just let this one go.  Please."
Bahagya siyang nagulat.  Ito kasi ang unang beses na narinig niya itong makiusap.  Pero hindi pa rin 'yon sapat para mawala ang inis niya.  "No, I won't let this one go," she said stubbornly.  "So you better start explaining.  Before I really snap and I punctured your throat with the heels of my boots."
Pinagtaasan naman siya nito ng kilay.  "You're wearing sneakers."
"That's just a figure of speech.  Magpapaliwanag ka na ba o ano?"
Muli na naman itong napabuntung-hininga bago pasalampak na naupo sa katabing upuan.  "Ah bloody hell.  Let's just get on with this then."  Marahas nitong hinagod ang buhok.  "You better sit down because this might take a while."
Naupo siya sa gilid ng kama.  "Start explaining."
"Kaya ibang pangalan ang ibinigay ko sa tatay mo dahil si Eric Callahan ang nasa listahan ng mga foreign delegate na imbitado sa cruise ship.  I'm pretty sure you're father will check my name on that list and it will become a problem kung wala siyang makikitang Lancer Townsend do'n."
Nagsalubong naman ang kilay niya sa sinabi nito.  "You mean, you used the name of this Eric guy para makasakay do'n sa cruise ship and you're not really one of the foreign delegates?"  Tumango ito.  "But why would you do that?"
"I work for MI6, it's a British intelligence agency, at kailangan kong makasakay sa cruise ship na 'yon to gather information for my current mission.  At ang tanging paraan lang para makasakay ako sa cruise ship was to assume another person's identity."
MI6?  British intelligence?  Ilang sandali pa siyang nag-isip but when everything clicked into place ay napamulagat lang siya dito.  "You're a freaking spy?"  Muli lang itong tumango.  "You lied to me.  You said you work for the British government!" akusa niya dito.
"I did not lie, because I do work for the British government."
Unti-unti nang nag-si-sink in sa kanya ang impormasyong nalaman.  Para tuloy biglang sumakit ang ulo niya.  Ni hindi nga sumagi sa isipan niya na ganitong klaseng paliwanag ang maririnig niya.  Who would have thought that Lancer was actually a spy?  Kung ibang tao siguro ang magsasabi sa kanya no'n ay baka pinagtawanan lang niya ito.  No some things made sense.  Kung bakit ito naka-disguise nung nakita niya ito sa cruise ship and why he was so freaking good at island survival. 
"So you're a living James Bond, huh?"
He grunted.  "Reality is totally different from fiction."
"Bakit kailangan mong makasakay do'n sa cruise ship?" kamakailan ay tanong niya.  Nang hindi ito sumagot ay sinipa niya ang paa nito.  "Oh come on, you already told me this much.  Wala namang mawawala sa 'yo if you tell me the whole thing."
"'Yon na nga.  I've already told you this much.  Telling you my job description is enough to get me fired."
"Who would tell?  I certainly wouldn't.  Hindi mo naman siguro kailangang i-report sa boss mo ang lahat ng nangyayari sa 'yo di ba?  Kaya tigilan mo na ang pagiging hard-to-get at sabihin mo na lang sa 'kin ang gusto kong malaman."
Napailing ito.  "You're bloody persistent, aren't you?"  Nang bigyan lang niya ito ng matamis na ngiti ay muli na naman itong nagpakawala ng malalim na hininga.  "Kailangan kong makasakay sa cruise ship because I needed to closely observed the crown prince of Elestia."
Naalala niya ang prinsipe, with his towering height and bulky body.  "The prince?  Anong kinalaman niya sa misyon mo?"
"My mission was to collect information about a wanted assassin.  Before coming in this country, nakatanggap ako ng impormasyon na ang susunod niyang target ay ang prinsipe.  Wala na kong oras para tiyakin kung tama ba ang impormasyon na nakuha ko.  So I immediately flown here and my only concrete plan was to stick near the prince until the assassin makes his move.  Pero bago pa siya makagawa ng kahit na anong bagay, that terrorist attacked happened.  I jumped after you.  Now, five days later, ni wala akong katiting na ideya kung nasaan ang prinsipe or if that assassin was still after him.  And the lack of information is getting on my nerves."
Mataman niya itong tinitigan.  He jeopardized his mission just to save her.  A person he barely knew.  "Do you regret it, jumping after me?"
Tiningnan siya nito, a small smile on his lisp.  "I should but I don't.  Even if you're such a pain in the ass, even if sometimes I just want to throttle your lovely neck.  I would probably do it all over again.  Hell, I would probably even jump on a waterfall if it would mean saving you."
Hindi naman siya agad nakapagsalita.  Parang naipit sa lalamunan niya ang mga katagang nais niyang sabihin.  Hearing him say all those things just brought all these tangles of emotions inside her.  Mga nag-uumapaw na emosyon na hindi niya mabigyan ng pangalan.  Or maybe she knew already what it was and she just refused to acknowledged it.

"Maybe you fell in love with me at first sight, you just didn't know it," pagbibiro na lang niya.

Bigla namang sumeryoso ang mukha nito, as if something was just put into place and he realized how right it was.  "What if I did?"

Her heart literally stopped beating dahil sa tanong nito.  Napalunok siya.  How the hell would she respond to that?  The only way she knew.  Binago niya ang usapan.  Yes, it was cowardly.  But she's not just ready to have this conversation right now.  "Paano kung hindi naman pala tama ang impormasyon na nakuha mo and that assassin is not really after the prince?"

Ilang sandali pa siguro siya nitong tinitigan bago sumagot, "Oh I'm sure.  Remember that masked man I told you about, the one who brought us to that island?"  Tumango siya, how could she forget?  "That was him."

Napamaang naman siya dito.  "What?"

"Nando'n siya sa cruise ship when those terrorists attacked.  Pagkatapos kitang iligtas, he found us and offered me a ride on his speedboat.  Wala akong ibang pagpipilian kundi tanggapin ang inaalok niya.  Because it's either that or be left for dead in the middle of the ocean.  And you know how the rest turned out."  Sumandal ito sa inuupuan.  "Now I don't know if he already killed the prince or what the hell his plan is."

"I think the prince is still alive.  Kung may nangyaring masama sa kanya, I don't think my father would be here.  He would be too busy cleaning the aftermath.  Tatanungin ko siya kung anong nangyari after we we're thrown out of the cruise ship.  Then I'll relay whatever helpful information back to you.  It's the least thing I could do.  So you better not think on suddenly disappearing on me."

Base sa ekspresyon ng mukha nito, mukhang tama ang hinala niya that he would be gone in this place the moment he had he chance. 

"I'm your only source of information here.  Kung gusto mong mag-aksaya ng oras, then feel free to go.  But if you don't, then stay put here."

Hindi na niya ito hinintay na makasagot at agad na siyang lumabas ng silid para hanapin ang ama.