All For Show (COMPLETED)

Chapter 01

Chapter 01

"Why have I been summoned?" Jana asked habang nilalagay niya iyong bag niya sa table. It was 6:30 in the morning. Mamayang 9AM pa naman iyong pasok namin, but I told her that I needed to talk to her in person.

"Emergency."

"What could've happened in less than a day?" she asked and then I slid her coffee towards her. "Thanks."

I nodded. "I finally found him."

Kumunot ang noo niya. "Found who?"

"The perfect wedding date."

Her eyes widened. "Oh, wow. Sino? Patingin!" she said, her voice became a bit higher. Ready naman na ako ipakita sa kanya iyong itsura if meron lang talaga akong ipapakita, noh!

"Yeah... I don't have any pictures."

"Social media?"

"He doesn't have any," sabi ko na lang kasi parang medyo 'di ko pa na-process iyong kahihiyan na ginawa ko kagabi.

The initial excitement on her face was gone. Kumunot na ulit ang noo niya. "What? For real? In this day and age, wala siyang social media?"

"Apparently so."

She rolled her eyes. "Tanda na natin, Cerise, ha. Baka wala lang 'yang social media kuno kasi may girlfriend talaga. Kukutusan talaga kita kapag nagpadala ka sa ganyan. Dapat alam mo na 'yang mga ganyang paandar ng mga lalaki," she said. "Walang social media..." she murmured while shaking her head.

I rolled my eyes, too, as I sipped my coffee. "Bakit parang galit ka?"

"E para ka kasing high school na naniwala na walang social media."

"The hell? Ikaw naghahanap ng mukha, e!"

Sa totoo lang, isa sa mga mystery ng buhay ko kung bakit hindi pa kami nagsasaksakan ni Jana. Sa ilang taon na pagkakakilala namin, ilang beses na talaga na muntik na kami magkapikunan. Or I guess same lang kasi kami ng personality kaya madalas kami mag-clash? Either way, very thankful ako sa kanya kasi nandyan lang siya kahit anuman ang mangyari sa akin, personally or otherwise.

"Ang tagal mo na kasi naghahanap ng lalaki! Malamang macucurious ako kung ano itsura niyan," she said. "Saan mo na-meet?"

"Pablo's."

"Pablo's?" she asked, her forehead creased a little. "Sounds familiar."

"Yeah. Bar sa BGC," I replied.

"Oh. Nakainuman mo?"

Umiling ako. "Nope. As it turned out, he's the owner of the bar," sabi ko sa kanya. I could still remember how I tried to ask him kung magkano ba ang sweldo niya sa isang gabi and I'd pay for it just so I could take him as my date. Fucking shit. I humiliated myself so hard! I still cringe whenever I think about that.

"What can I get for you?" he asked with a smile.

"How about your number?" I asked as I was looking straight into his eyes. Fuck, he's gorgeous.

"How about gin and tonic?" he asked, still with that smile. Kahit wala pa siyang masyadong sinasabi, I could very well tell that he's already used to being hit on. I mean, sa itsura ba naman niyang 'yan? Sino ba naman ang hindi mag-aattempt? Kung lalaki ako, I would never bring my girlfriend here because that face is just hard to compete with. But then again, why bother be with someone who'd easily be swayed by a good looking guy?

Why was I overthinking again? This is an illness at this point.

I shrugged. "Yeah, sure," I said, placing both arms at the bar counter and watching as he moved around to prepare my drink. Don't get me wrong—big fan of his face. But his arms? Fuck. Mapapasabi ka na lang talaga ng 'choke me.'