Eighteen

Chapter 22

I felt the dip of the bed. A strip of scarlet was staining my closed eyes. I pressed them even harder and shifted to my other side, blocking the light from me. Balak ko pang ituloy ang tulog ko nang biglang may nagsalita sa tabi ko.

Hide's legs, though my eyes had been closed and my senses blurred most of the time during the deep of the night, I had felt numerous times of them overlapping mine, kicking my side, and then opening like a full-grown butterfly on her side of the bed.

Old habits die hard, I guess?

I was just about to cover my face with the soft pillow from beneath my head when Hide spoke in her morning voice, all groggy and dry. She always sounded hot like a soliciting courtesan whenever she used her morning voice.

"May aswang ba rito?" her first question in the morning.

"Hmm?" I replied, eyes still closed. I hugged the nearest pillow to me.

"Daming uwak kagabi. Hindi ako makatulog nang maayos. Magalaw ba 'ko?" tanong niya at naramdaman ko ang pag-uga ng kama.

I was still too lazy and half-awake to split my eyelids open.

"You always move too much when asleep. The answer to your second question is apparent."

"Sanay ka na pala, e," aniya at naramdaman ko na lang ang braso niyang pinulupot ako. Her leg rested on mine, her knee pushing against my navel.

She was slim, but she was also tall; she was a bit heavy for my own body mass index. Nang bumangon ako para silipin ang kabilang banda ng kama, wala nang tao roon. Siguro kanina pa gising sina Catherine.

Tumayo ako sa kama, nahirapan pa dahil sa makulit na binti niya na nasa tiyan ko. Natutuwa siya habang mas dinidiin iyon sa katawan ko. Nang nakahanap ako ng lusot, tumakbo ako palayo sa kanya papasok sa banyo. I could hear her devilish laugh from the bed.

Pagkatapos kong maghilamos, tinungo ko ang salas at nakita naglalaro ng UNO sina Prince doon. Anais was not with them, and I heard Kuya had gone out early. Where could he be? O baka naman may dinala siyang mga libro niya rito at naghanap siya ng lugar na pwedeng pagbasahas noon nang hindi nasisita. He deserved a break. And I wanted to spend time with him. That was not too much to ask, right?

I went to the kitchen as the smell of something cooking pulled me in its seductive aroma. Noon pa lang, alam ko na na si Anais ang nagluluto. I had spent a lot of time at his place and had grown overly familiar with the scent of his skills. It would not take someone an hour to recognize the guy's talent in the kitchen. He was every girl's dream husband.

I could already see the man doing the magic at the counter top. Also, he looked hot in his camouflage compression shirt. Lumapit ako at sumilip, bagay na tingin ko ay sanay na siya. I leaned against the counter, checking on what he was cooking that gave off a very drool-inducing aroma.

I had seen them jogging around the villa when I woke up some time at dawn. Work-out, exercise, pilates, etcetera – I was not well-acquainted with them. That may be the reason why people would often comment on how pallid I looked as if I had a hole somewhere in my body, draining out my blood every hour that would pass, in secret.

He peered down at me, accentuating our height difference. Napataas tuloy ang tingin ko. From facing him sidewards, I shifted my body to face him properly as his hand moved from over the pan, withdrawing it and brushing across a part of me in the process – a part of me that was kind of sensitive, if I may say so.

Napaatras kaagad ako nang naramdaman iyon sa dibdib ko at nag-iwas ng tingin. Aalis na sana ako para kunwari ay walang nangyari nang nakita ko ang pag-aalinlangan at taranta sa kanya mula sa gilid ng mga mata ko.