Drawn to His Flame

Kabanata 11

Come Back

I saw Treyton's eyes widening as if he was shocked to see me. Kumunot ang noo ko nang mabilis niya akong tinalikuran bago siya tumakbo paalis. Napangiwi naman ako pagkatapos nang makita kong nabunggo niya ang gondola shelf na nasa bandang kaliwa ng pasilyo kung saan kami ngayon. The impact when the left side of his body crashed into the shelf must've been strong because it even created a loud sound that echoed inside the store.

I didn't know that Treyton is also capable of being clumsy. Sanay kasi akong makitang kalkulado palagi ang mga galaw niya. But that thought made me smile a bit. It's just refreshing to see a new side of him.

I grabbed all the items on the tiled floor that Treyton didn't bother picking up. Nagpakawala na lang ako ng malalim na hininga pagkatapos kong maibalik ang mga iyon sa dati nilang mga puwesto. Why would he even get hired if he can't arrange these stuff?

I looked for the latter and found him sitting behind the counter, busying himself with his phone. Napatitig ako sa kamay niya at nakita kong nanginginig ang mga daliri niya. The fact that he can't even look at me straight is already off. And seeing him now wearing a black face mask like he was afraid that someone might recognize him made me more suspicious of his current actions.

Tumikhim ako pero hindi niya pa rin inaangat ang tingin niya sa akin. "You don't need to hide your face anymore. Namukhaan na kita," sumbat ko sa kanya. Dahil doon ay napatingin na siya sa akin. I tried to stop my teeth from chattering because the temperature inside the store mysteriously became colder. Lumakas ba talaga ang buga ng aircon o lumamig ang lugar dahil sa nagyeyelong tingin na binibigay sa akin ngayon ni Treyton?

"Who says I'm hiding my face?" Kinilabutan ako dahil sa talim ng pagkakasabi niya no'n. He then propped his elbows on the counter before inclining at my direction.

"If you want to see my handsomeness, you can just say so. You don't need to spout nonsense," he added and I automatically rolled my eyes heavenward because of his overflowing arrogance.

"I'm sorry but that would be the last thing that I want to see this early in the morning," litanya ko. Treyton sneered at me and after that, he continued what he was doing on his phone.

Habang nakatingin ako sa kanya ngayon ay hindi ko mapigilang mamangha. How could Treyton shift his mood that fast? My eyes really saw that he was flustered a few minutes ago! Pero bakit ang kalmado na niya ngayon? He's really insane!

Pero kahina-hinala pa rin ang kinikilos niya. Parang iniiwasan niya ako. He didn't even counter my insult! May mali talaga!

I pretended to look at the displays behind Treyton so I could get closer to the counter. Hindi ko sinadyang masilip kung ano ang ginagawa ng huli sa cellphone niya pero laking gulat ko nang makitang nakapatay naman pala 'yon! Something's indeed fishy!

Mukhang nakita niya ang repleksyon ko sa cellphone niya kaya kaagad niya iyong tinago sa kanyang bulsa. Inangat naman niya ang ulo niya bago niya ako sinamaan ng tingin. "What the fuck? You can just leave if you don't have anything to buy!"

Napakibit-balikat ako dahil sa inis. Buti na lang talaga at naka-face mask pa siya dahil kung hindi ay baka nabingi na ako sa lakas ng boses niya. "Are you really this rude to your customers?"

Lumilinga-linga pa ako sa buong store bago ko ipinagpatuloy ang sasabihin ko. "Why did I even ask? Obvious naman ang sagot. Nobody's even here! Hindi na ako magtataka kung masisisante ka na sa mga susunod na mga araw."

Padabog na hinampas ni Treyton ang counter kaya bumalik ang tingin ko sa kanya. He already removed the mask he was wearing so I saw that his jaw was clenched. It was bright around here therefore I could see how red his face was. But because I was so used to witnessing him lose his temper, my knees didn't buckle anymore even though his stare was even more penetrating right now.