Clarity (A SANDRO MARCOS FANFICTION)

32. Both

SANDRO

“You have to give that to her Simon. And please don’t forget the lavenders.” I instructed Simon through FaceTime. 

I saw him roll his eyes. “Yes I heard you the first time. You repeated it like five times already. Geez. Chill Sands.” He replied. 

“And her coffee too.” 

Kinamot ni Simon yung ulo niya. “Oo nga. Hindi mo kailangan ulitin. Ang kulit.”

“Caramel Macchiato.” 

“Oo nga. Alam ko. We go out for coffee whenever we have time together. I know her favourite coffee and we’ve known each other for like what? Five years?” He retorted.
 
I rolled my eyes and sighed. It’s bad to be envious of someone but this time, I feel envious that Simon gets to spend time with Airi even if it’s just work or break. With my busy schedule, I cannot even find time to ask for a leave. I get a day off but I usually sleep on my day off. 

“I’m sorry to interrupt your conversation with Simon but we have a meeting in ten minutes.” My uncle’s secretary suddenly spoke behind me. 

I turned to look at her and nodded my head. “I’ll be there.”

She smiled and made her way out. 

“You never told me Princess works for uncle.” Simon spoke as soon as I went back to the monitor. He was raising his eyebrows.

I shook my head. “It’s no big deal.”

His brows furrowed. “It is.”

“No it’s not Simon.”

“She used to be one of your romantic endeavours.” He pressed.

“I was young Simon. I didn’t know what I was doing.”

“Have you told Airi? That you are working with an ex-romantic endeavour.”

“No. Princess and I were kids that time. That was years ago,” I responded. “I’ll go ahead. Update me.” I cut the call.

I was annoyed. He was being pushy and had a lot of questions. Princess was just a past from my childhood. She was one of our maid’s daughter who stayed in Ilocos for summer. I, too was staying at home for the summer when I met her. 
It was just a crush that I developed with her. Nothing really special.

AIRI

I woke up with Simon in front of me. Putangina. Buti na lang talaga I was wearing my casual clothes. 

“The fuck why are you drinking? Have you no work?” He asked. 

Ay pota. May British accent pa ang lolo. 
Kinusot ko ang mga mata ko. I felt headache and my world spinning around. 

“I was just celebrating. Ikaw dapat kasama ko kagabi but you were at work on your fucking day off.” I retorted.

Just for today, ipapaako ko sa kanya ang kasalanan. Minsan lang naman. HIHI. 

He made a face and sighed, shaking his head. He walked by the carpet and took the empty can bottles of beer and soju. Yes. Soju ang alcohol cravings ko for today. I had a hard time looking for soju last night. Halos lahat ng Asian grocery na napuntahan ko ay out of stock. 

“Just go take a bath and I’ll treat you breakfast.” He replied, cleaning up the mess I made.

Napatingin ako to him. “Talaga? Manlilibre ka? The ever so kuripot Simon Joseph Araneta Marcos is manlilibre ng breakfast?”

Simon rolled his eyes. “Yes Airi. I am treating you breakfast. Now go take a bath. Your breath is so mabaho and alcoholic like you.”

Pinanlakihan ko siya ng mata. “Maka-alcoholic sa akin akala mo naman hindi sumuka sa gilid ng Thames river!” I exclaimed. 

He glared at me. The glare was enough to send me in the bathroom and reflect on myself. Simon doesn’t get mad but when he does, he is a different kind of person. 
----

Simon and I ended up walking by the park near Thames river. I sighed. Long distance relationship kinda sucks. Yung gusto mo siyang makasama but I ended up being stuck with his brother, Simon. Those video calls were not enough for me. I realized I wanted more and ended up missing our time together. Siguro kahit ilang taon pa kami nagsama, I would still miss him. Kahit ten days straight yung sex tapos aalis siya pagkatapos, siya pa rin isisigaw ng vagina ko. I sighed again. 

“Stop sighing as if I am so disappointing to be with.” Simon spoke.

“But you are.” I answered. Hindi ko na napigilan ang sarili ko at lumabas na naman ang pagiging prangka at walang prenong dila. 

I saw Simon rolling his eyes. Hinayaan ko na lang siya. Nakakasawa na mukha niya. Oo sana kung kamukha niya si Sandro. Hindi naman. Hindi ko nga alam kung sino kamukha ng lalakeng ‘to. Ampon siguro ‘to. Joke. 

“What do you miss about him?” He suddenly asked, putting his hands inside his jacket pocket. 

“Sex.” Walang abog kong sagot. 

Simon made a face. “Other than sex Airi.”

Ngumuso ako. “Dede niya,” Umikot mata niya. Siguro kapag araw-araw ko siyang kausap, mai-stress na siya sa akin. Mapapanot siya ng wala sa oras. “The presence Simon. I would miss the physical touch. The things we used to do when he was here. I miss cuddling with him in the morning and he would make me coffee in bed. Or yung siya kasama ko kapag nag-iinom sa bar. Or the movie dates.” I looked at Simon who I saw looking at me. 

“I don’t I have never been in love to clearly understand your situation.” He replied. 

“So libog lang yung sa ex mo dati? Yung pumunta sa Forbes na panget?” I retorted. 

Simon laughed. “I was a kid Airi.”

I only rolled my eyes.

“What if there is someone Simon. Yung biglang mapapabilis niya tibok ng puso mo once you lay your eyes on hers. You just haven’t met her yet. Or maybe you have met her but you were too naive to notice.”

“Or those things only happen to fairytales.” He joked. 

My eyebrows furrowed. “Nope. I’m a living testament it doesn’t.” 

Napatigil si Simon sa paglalakad. “What? Was it with Sandro? That night at the bar?” He asked curiously.

“Curious now are we?” I snickered.

“I just know you kissed the night you met. Period. And the next minute you were hanging out with my brother. Ano yan love at first kiss? Love at first smoke? Love at first gaze? These situations are making me feel cringe.” He said, shaking his head. 

I only laughed and walked ahead of him. 

Yeah he was probably right about those. 

But I do remember getting lost in Sandro’s eyes the moment we met. He have one of those eyes na parang maliligaw ka sa titig niya. The way he looked at me that night gave me goose bumps and fast heart beat. Pero I won’t say it was love at first sight because I don’t really believe in those. 
Maybe it was attraction that I had when I first met him. 
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HELLO! HOW ARE YOU?

I miss you guys hehe. Wavyu