Beneath Her | [R-16]

Chapter Thirty One

NATALIE

"Are you alright?"

Nandito ako ngayon sa bahay nila Ace dahil may maliit silang celebration. I nodded, "Yes, medyo masakit lang yung ulo ko."

No, I wasn't fine. Hindi ako nakatulog kagabi dahil sa sinabi ni Kim. Totoo naman na hindi ko hawak ang desisyon ni Justin. But who am I fooling? Raped or not, her kids lost their chance of having a happy family because of me.

"Mukhang malalim ang iniisip ah." napatingin ako sa likod ko at yung papa pala ni Ace yun. "Ah, tito, kayo po pala 'yan."

"I heard you just finished a project." upo niya sa tabi ko. "Perfect match talaga kayo ng anak ko, 'no?"

"Perfect na po yung anak niyo kahit wala ako." ngiti ko.

"Did you know that being an architect wasn't really his dream? He barely even made it." iling niya at uminom. Really? Is that why he didn't tell me he's an architect student when we met?

"But when he found out you wanted to take interior designing, he studied very hard. Lalo na para sa board. Naexcite daw makatrabaho ka."

That kinda melted my heart. It's so genuine. Napatingin tuloy ako sakanya. He was entertaining his friends and saw that I sat beside his dad. Lumaki yung mata niya at muntik na akong lapitan pero umiling ako. I raised my thumbs up to tell him I'm fine.

"I guess what I'm trying say is... I like you for him because he's the better version of himself when he's with you." he touched my elbow with his elbow. "Sana magtagal pa kayo."

"Sana nga po." I grinned.

"Ihahatid na kita." binuksan niya yung gate para saakin pero hindi ko na siya hinayaang lumabas. "No, it's your day today. Magcelebrate na kayo. You deserve it."

"You sure?" he held my arm.

"I'm sure." I kissed his cheek. "Talk to you later." I waved my hand while I go inside the car.

"Sweet." comment ni manong Edgar at binigyan pa 'ko ng tingin. Kinonsensiya pa talaga 'ko. I haven't told Ace about Kim yet and honestly, I don't think he needs to know. I want to be honest but I'll never meet Kim again so I don't get what's the use.

"Teka lang po, manong. Baba mo 'ko ulit." I went outside the car and called his name.

"Oh, did you forget something?" he immediately opened the gate again but I stopped him again. "No need. Gusto ko lang 'to sabihin kasi... Wala, you deserve the truth."

"What? You're scaring me."

"I met Kim yesterday. No, he saw me and followed me to the building." napakamot ako sa ulo. "N-nothing really happened. I just told him that I didn't want to see him."

"Uhm, okay? Nothing else?" he asked. My hand held his hand that was on the grills of their gate.

"Wala na. I didn't tell you agad kasi I thought it wasn't something to be brought up. Na realize ko na something small to me could be a big deal to you."

"Nat..." he smiled and took his hands off the grill to overlap my hands. "It's not a big deal... But I appreciate that you told me."

"Yeah, sorry kung na-late." I awkwardly smiled. He chuckled, "It's not late. You weren't just ready to tell me yet."

"Talagang may sagot ka sa lahat 'no?" umakma akong susuntikin siya pero syempre biro lang.