Bring It On, Detective

QE

"WOAH, YOU ALSO play Rubic's cube?" Namamangha niyang tiningnan ang babae na nakaupo sa upuan ng dining table. May hawak itong Rubic's cube na malaki, but it's not just the normal three by three. It's a pentagon-shaped cube with a star in the center at lahat ng sides gano'n ang itsura.

Damn. He can only solve the normal cube. But this woman. . .

"Yeah. Bagong dating. Dagdag sa collection ko." Elisheva shrugged while still looking at the cube. Kunot ang noo nito habang pinagmamasdan ang laruan. It was like she was calculating how to solve the cube.

"You can watch a YouTube tutorial." He adjusted his glasses and went towards the coffee maker. He's taking a break from all the civil cases that were put into his hands.

"Nah. Ayoko. Nakakawala ng challenge mag-solve kapag gano'n."

He looked at her over his shoulder. She began twisting the cube, at hindi niya na naitago ang panlalaki ng kanyang mga mata nang mapansing naka-solve na pala ang isang side nito. Wait, what?

And she's not watching a tutorial! What the fuck?

"How the fuck did you do that?" bahagyang tumaas ang kanyang boses at saka pinaandar ang coffee maker. Elisheva gave him a skeptical look before glancing at her toy again.

"Do what?"

"You solved the other side without watching a tutorial. What the hell?"

Kita niyang nagkasalubong ang kilay nito. She pursed her lips. "Why do you sound so amazed? Most of Rubic's cubes have the same pattern. They all boil down to the original pattern—the three-by-three. If you know how to solve the normal cube, you can solve weirdly shaped cubes that carry the three-by-three pattern. You just have to look at it from a different angle. Like this." She showed him the cube. "This might look complicated at first glance, but if you happen to know the center and its sides, you will realize that it's just so easy to solve at all." Nagkibit-balikat ito at muling bumalik sa pagso-solve.

Parang nawindang siya sa narinig. Kinuha niya ang kape at dahan-dahang naglakad papalapit sa babae na abala pa rin sa pagso-solve ng laruan. He sat in front of her, looking at her features, which morphed into seriousness and dedication.

"So, you mean to say, na three-by-three lang talaga ang napanood mo na Rubic's cube tutorial?" He brought the cup of coffee to his lips and sipped on it.

Elisheva nodded and looked at him. Bigla nitong inabot sa kanya ang Rubic's cube. "It seems like you know how to solve the normal one. Do you want to try to solve this one?"

He stared at the cube. It really looked complicated, but he recalled what Elisheva stated earlier.

Without saying a word, kinuha niya iyon. He messed the cube up, destroying what Elisheva had solved earlier, and started to pick a side. She told him that it's all about the center and the sides.

Hindi rin naman gumagalaw ang gitna ng cube, so talagang malaki ang possibility na three-by-three iyon. So, he started to solve it according to the pattern of the normal cube, starting at the center and then the sides.

His lips curled upwards when he successfully solved one side and its second layer. Nag-angat siya ng tingin kay Elisheva na may ngiti habang nakatitig sa cube.

"You're right. Damn, I didn't know about this."

"Now you know." She wiggled her eyebrows and took his cup of coffee, licker her lower lip. Pinanood niya kung paano dinala ng babae ang tasa papunta rito. She twisted the cup and brought it carefully to her lips.

Dahan-dahang sumimsim ang babae roon at biglang nag-angat ng tingin sa kanya na ikinakurap niya. His throat suddenly ran dry, and he felt how the air left his chest.