The Perfect Boyfriend List

Chapter 11

[Chapter 11] Demon's Heart

I'm stunned to know that the boy I'm cursing for the last few hours has a heart. Mukhang kahit demonyo at ugaling halimaw man si Wren, may pusong tao parin pala siya.

Within the windows of Mother Marie's office, I can see him playing with the kids. Ibang iba yung paguugali niya. Ibang iba sa kilala ko. Who would assume that Wren could have a soft heart and a hard long horns at the same time?

Ngayon, may gana pa pala siyang sabihing bad boy siya? Halatang halata naman e.

"Ay... nako hija," Mother Marie said, cutting me out of my deep thought. "Kanina pa sobrang unat na unat iyang mukha mo. Hindi kaya mapunit iyang ngiti mo?"

I was shocked. Kanina pa pala ako nakangiti? I wasn't aware.

"Marie, halatang halata naman na inlove na inlove iyang dalawang iyan," Lola Prescilla said. "Hindi na siguro kataka taka."

Sus, Lola! Kung alam mo lang kung gaano ako inlove na inlove sa apo mo, I want to say with sarcastic tone. But instead, I ended up smiling at them.

Medyo nakokonsensya na din kasi ako sa ginagawa ko. I'm fooling everyone. I'm fooling myself.

Masayang masaya si Lola Prescilla at the relationship she think her grandson have without knowing that his grandson faked it.

At some point, I want to slap Wren out of his own mind. Gusto ko siyang batukan at suntukin para malaman niya kung gaano nakakagago yung ginagawa namin sa Lola niya.

I want to confess my mistake to her but I can't just drop the news right away. Baka kung anong mangyari na unexpected. Especially that she's in her old state.

"Well, I'm glad that Wren Andrei found his match," Mother Marie said. "You're so perfect together. Parehas kayo."

Yup. Parehas na manloloko.

Ugh. Conscience, stop killing me.

"I'm glad that Wren finally found his own happiness. Sabi naman na in every bad weather comes a rainbow in the end." Mother Marie said, smiling.

Bumalikwas ako. What if they can answer my questions that Wren doesn't want to answer? They could enlighten me.

But I stopped. Ayaw kong sa kanila malaman yun. I want Wren to be the one to explain and tell me the story behind every inch of it. Ayaw kong manghimasok. I'll just wait kung kailan niya sasabihin sa'kin. I'll wait for him to be the one to tell me.

I stood up and faced them.

"Labas lang po ako." I said.

They smiled at me. That was my sign to go. I closed the door soundly.

I walked down to the terrace. I closed my eyes then parted my lips. I don't know what's bothering me pero hindi ako mapakali. I feel like a worm. Hindi ako mapako sa iisang lugar. It feels like para akong kinokonsensya na ewan.

I fished my phone out of my pocket and dialed Liesl's number. Lagi kaming nag-uusap sa phone. There's no day that we didn't meet up or talked to each other. It became our ritual every day. But it feels odd and weird to cut my communication with my bestfriend. Siguro yun yung nararamdaman ko. Naninibago ako sa mga taong nakakasalamuha ko. Naninibago ako sa presence ni Wren. I mean, kakakilala lang namin tapos the weird part is I already joined him to stay with him in a province for a night or maybe two nights. Di pa ako gumawa ng ganong bagay. It felt so unreal.

Liesl picked up instantly.

"Nasan ka?" pambungad niyang tanong.

"Hey. I'm fine." I said, laughing.

"Wag mo akong pinagbibiro at niloloko, Rach. Nasaan ka nga?" there's a thickness on her voice. Mukhang napipikon na sa'kin. "I came to see you yesterday night but it turned out that you did not stayed the night on your own house. Where the hell are you?"

I chuckled. "Easy. I'm alive. I'm not kidnapped," I paused. "Oh, maybe I am."

"And by who naman, aber?" She asked.

"By your new friend," I answered. "I'm in Pangasinan. Come and pick me if you want."

She gasped in shock. "What the hell are you doing there? Ang layo layo n'yan ah?!"

"Ikr," I said in my bitchy voice. "He dragged me and pushed me into his car and next thing I knew, I'm already exchanging gestures with his Lola."

"What the fuck?" I heard her cursed. Well, I would gasp in horror kung ako nga talaga si Rachel Mae Pascua. I was very entertained whenever Liesl swear. She never really curse. She will when she was about to burst into anger or when she was shocked enough to do so. Pero ngayon, I'm not in the mood to gasp. I ended up gaping at the sunset.

"Hey. Are you still there?" she asked over the phone.

"Yeah. I am."

"Don't tell me...?" she suddenly asked.

"Tell you what?" I asked back.

"You know what I mean." she snapped.

"Oh that..." I gasp as I realized what she meant. "Of course not! I will never ever give that to someone who I just met!"

"Tss. Akala ko pa naman mauunahan mo ako e."

"Whatever," I rolled my eyes. "Don't ever think about that one. I will never ever do that. Never in a million years with him."

"Never do what with me?" a voice behind my back boomed.

I turned back instantly. Wren was looking at me with violent eyes, demanding an answer. My jaw dropped in shock.

"I'll call you back, Liz." I said over the phone. I turned to face him. "What makes you think na ikaw yung pinaguusapan namin?"

He shrugged. "Kasi ako lang naman yung lalaking kasama mo ngayon?"

I rolled my eyes. Assuming talaga kahit kailan. Sus, don't deny it. Siya naman talaga ang pinaguusapan niyo, a voice inside me broke.

"But that doesn't mean that you were the guy we were talking about," I said. "Besides, it all started kasi tinatanong niya kung nasaan ako. Is it my fault that Wren Andrei Flores forced me to go here?"

He sighed. "Fine. It is my fault."

"Finally!" I sighed in frustration. "Do you know how hard it is to convince you that it is your fault? Talaga bang you used to play the innocent all the time?"

He grinned. "Well, kinda."

I massage my forehead. Kailan ba hindi papasakitin ng lalaking ito ang ulo ko? Siya lang ang pabigat sa dalawang balikat ko e.

"Aren't you tired of playing, teasing and fucking messing me up? Kasi ako, pagod na pagod na." I said.

"No, baby," he sternly said. "Ilang araw pa lang tayo magkasama, sinusukuan mo na ako?" he walked towards me. He dipped his head for our eyes to meet within a few centimeters. "Well, guess what? It's only the start. I'm about to play a little harder when we get to the next round."

"Huh?"

He suddenly slipped his hand, entwining it. "Let's go. You have a responsibility to do as the new member of the family."