The Queen & I (GxG)

Chapter 48 : Behind the Haze

"Alam mo yung pakiramdam na parang nasampal ka ng sunod-sunod?", I looked at a hazy Taal lake from the glass window while sipping a cup of hot caramel macchiato. I hate the taste and might regret drinking coffee later, but sanay na naman ako sa regrets. What's new anyway?

"Well, at the least, that's what I felt".

"A couple of days after the auction, I clearly stated to Amanda that I didn't trust Anntonia. Her generosity towards my girlfriend was becoming questionable. Yung parang ramdam ko na talaga na may agenda siya and perhaps taking advantage of Amanda's kindness and willingness to entertain those people who are really nice to her", I looked at the person beside me.

"The night of their scheduled dinner date, Amanda called before I left for a TV guesting — to reassure me that I have nothing to worry about and that the entire dinner will be for charity naman. I had to trust and believe her. I wanted to — despite yung fear ko and insecurities. I admitted to myself  months ago pa naman that there will always be women out there who are better and more attractive than me. Anntonia was one of those women. She was everything I'm not — she's very rich, sophisticated—intimidatingly eloquent. I didn't doubt her capabilities to attract a lot of people. You'd really be intrigued", I continued to sip the warm and bitter beverage.

"Their dinner ended and all seemed fine to me. Amanda came back to her apartment and called me detailing what happened — they had dinner and the food was overrated", I snickered at the memory. "Anntonia behaved and acted professionally naman daw, nothing more, nothing less — I believed her——That was until September, during New York Fashion Week."

I pursed my lips and stared at the lake again. We could see the volcano release some faint cloud-looking smoke to the atmosphere.

"I was in the middle of an acting workshop when my phone rang non-stop and to my surprise, tumatawag si Miss Mexico. The last time na nakausap ko pa siya was before the pageant. But something must be important if she's been ringing me continuously — or baka naman pinaprank lang niya ako, but I wouldn't have known if hindi ko sinagot yung tawag niya".

"So anong sabi?"

I inhaled deeply and answered the question.

"The first thing I heard from her was an apology. She said sorry for calling me out of the blue. Siyempre, tinuruan naman ako ni mama na huwag maging bastos sa ibang tao, kaya kinamusta ko nalang din siya. At first, akala ko tumatawag siya kasi mang-sosolicit siya. Malay ko rin ba, nasanay lang din kasi ako na tuwing may kilala ako na tao na hindi ko naman close tapos biglang tatawag, either mangungutang o hihingi ng pera pang solicit. Sa jeep lang nga na sinasakyan ko dati, may ganoon na galawanan na, bigay kaagad ng envelope".

The woman on the other side of the table laughed, "totoo yan. Minsan ayaw ko nga sagutin yung mga tawag ng tao na hindi ko naman masyado kilala".

"Diba? Magugulat ka nalang, ang bait pa sa umpisa sabay hirit kung mapapahiram ko ba ng limang libo?" I sighed again. "Anyway, apparently she was attending the same exclusive after-party that Amanda was in — and to my surprise, she sent me an Instagram link".

"I know you and Amanda are still together. And I do not believe any single thing that woman has said in the media. I told you to be careful around Amanda. You don't know everything about her", I can still vividly remember how she stressed every single word. I was so confused, but she urged me to open it, so I did. Marami na rin daw kasi na nakakita and taking videos in the place.

I bit my upper lip. It was so tough for me to recall what I saw that day.

"Amanda was with people I don't even know — except for one — Anntonia".