Beauty And Madness by ANYA RAYNE

Kabanata X

A/N:

The most wonderful part of my job as a writer is arousing feelings from my readers as well as from myself too. So I hope you guys gets aroused with BAM every damn time. LOL.

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KABANATA X

MINABUTI ni Britanni na paunahin si Anthony sa opisina ni Professor Dalton Linggo ng umaga. Iniwan niya ang dalaga sa bahay na kausap si Deanne sa telepono tungkol sa flight details nila kinagabihan patungo sa Davao. He’d been excited last night nang imbitahan siya ni Deanne sa isla ng Ariadne. Noon pa niya binalak na pumunta sa island beach resort na iyon ngunit hindi siya makahanap ng pagkakataon sa dami ng mga naka-lineup niyang gawain. And now he’ll be able to do that because of Britanni.

How lucky was he?

Kumatok siya sa pintuan ng opisina ng Dean ng kanilang departamento bago pinihit ang seradura at binuksan iyon. Nadatnan niya ang sadya na nakaupo sa swivel chair nito at seryosong nagbabasa nang mag-angat ng tingin at makita siya.

“Cane. This is a surprise. Sit down.”

Ezekiel Dalton is a good friend of his eversince College. Hindi sila ganoon kalapit sa isa’t-isa ngunit hindi rin naman magkaaway o nagtuturingang estranghero. The last thing he’ll want to do is to sabotage their friendship by his association with Britanni, kahit pa kaya niyang isugal ang pagkakaibigang iyon para lang ipaglaban ang bawal na relasyon nila ng dalaga.

But he didn’t want to do that as much as possible.

“I need to talk to you about something.”

Kumunot ang noo nito and then once again gestured to the seat across his table. “Go ahead. I’m listening.”

Nanatili siyang nakatayo, pinipigilan ang pagliligalig dahil hindi siya mapakali hanggang sa hindi nakakarating dito si Britanni. “It’s about me and that girl in my Sexual Orientations class, the one I referred to you. Her name’s Britanni Knight.”

“Ah yes. I remember her. I talked to her other professors, ask about how she’s doing with them. I think she’s pretty good considering this is her first year in grad school. Looks to be intelligent and interesting to me.”

Tumango-tango siya sa mga sinasabi ni Dalton, all the while worrying why she wasn’t in here yet. “It’s something a bit personal, Zeke. I didn’t want to pull strings especially not on you but I need you to look at this on a personal level.”

And as if on cue ay may biglang kumatok sa pintuan. Bumukas iyon at sumilip si Britanni sa maliit na awang. “Can I come in?” tanong nito kay Ezekiel Dalton na bagaman at nagugulumihanan ay tumango.

Britanni let herself in and stood beside him. Sa puntong iyon ay nakahinga siya ng maluwag. He was glad she’s finally here at sa ganoong paraan ay nabawasan ang kaba’t pangamba niya sa pakikipag-usap kau Ezekiel.

“Okay. So what is this, Anthony?”

Saglit silang nagkapalitan ng tingin ni Britanni. At sa palitang iyon ay nagkaroon sila ng tahimik na unawaan.

He will talk. She will support him.

And he loved that she understood he needed to retain that part of control outside their intimacy. He loved that she understood how much he needed her to give him something to do, some role to play and a task to accomplish.

“Papaalalahanan lang kita na bago ko siya i-refer sa ‘yo, hindi pa nangyayari ang lahat ng sasabihin ko ngayon.”

“Ano’ng ibig mong sabihin?” takang tanong ni Professor Dalton. “Quit beating around the bush, start talking. Naguguluhan ako sa ‘yo.”