French Kiss in Paris

Chapter 12

Chapter 12

If I'm going to summarize how my week went, it's dragging me to hell. On the first note, I'm still on my adjusting period and it seems like I'll just get used to it when I'm not worrying about some things anymore. And on the other hand, my agreement with Cashel.

It started with a kiss in the public and then a kiss on his bed. Kapag iniisip ko ang mga nangyayari nowadays, I thought I'm over with acting pero hindi pa pala. I know I'm only acting when Cashel's around. Sanay naman ako ro'n. I've had my acting workshop and somehow I'm one of the good--not the best, but good trainers who graduated on that specific workshop. Hindi naman seryoso 'tong ginagawa namin ni Cashel.

It is just an act. Kaya kapag sinabi ni direk na gusto niya ng laplapan, I would definitely give my best at baka manalo pa ako ng best actress award sa Oscars.

But I couldn't open our text box anymore. Bubungaran lang ako ng nude photo niya. I'm sure that it was a mistake. Hindi na naman virgin ang eyes ko sa mga ganito but seeing it was the man who happened to be the first man I kissed in Paris, it's kinda frustrating.

Pero ginusto ko nga bang mapunta sa sitwasyong ito? My mind splits in half. I could definitely say yes because I love the attention and somehow I hated it. Bumabalik kasi ang mga masasamang karanasan ko sa showbiz. I was never the one. I was never picked to be the lead role. Someone will always steal the spotlight from me. Every goddamn time.

"Cosette," mabilis na lumingon ang ulo ko sa tumawag ng pangalan ko. It's Minetta. Habang papalapit siya sa akin, pilit din niyang hinihila pababa ang suot niyang skirt. How could she wear something so short when almost every day halos mga bata ang nakakasalumuha namin? Or maybe she doesn't care at all? And it is her so-called-fashion? "I just want to talk with you."

She puts her tray on the table and joined me on my lunch. She crossed her legs and a lopsided grin plastered in his face. Saan naman kaya siya interested this time? Will she continue judging how I dress?

"Hey, Minetta, how are you?"

"Je suis déjà épuisé," she said and flips her hair back.

"Et pourqoui?"

"Rien," she scrunched her face, shaking her head. "I wanna talk with you about Cashel Jowsey Corprew and I know you're very much close to him."

Kumunot ang noo ko sa sinabi niya. "Uh... are you making that up?"

"Nope," she said, shaking her head. Ayaw niyang paniwalaan ang pagtanggi ko. Mahihirapan ata akong panindigan ang sarili ko rito kay Minetta. "I'm not making it up because there's proof."

"Oh... okay," I muttered. "Can we just eat first before we talked about him?"

"Sure... but you can eat anyway while we're talking about him," pagpupumilit pa nito. Nagsimula naman siyang halungkatin sa kanyang phone ang sinasabi niyang proof habang nagpatuloy ako sa pagkain ko. "La voilà."

Kahit ayaw ko siyang pansinin, tiningnan ko naman ang screen ng phone niya. I've only looked at it for a second at halos mabilaukan ako nang makita ko ang picture namin ni Cashel. It was a photo of us leaving the cafe last time.

"So, how can you explain this one, Cosette? I'm sure you've got some explaining to do. And I'm also sure that Cashel bought that dress for you," he said pointing to the dress I'm wearing again.

"That's... that's because we're friends," I explained, and I know I stuttered there because I'm trying to compose something in my head. It just doesn't work out this time. I keep remembering Cashel's schlong. "And just like what I said earlier, this dress came from his fan, not from Cashel."