untamed seduction (fil.)

chapter 5.

Jacques and I walked back upstairs because I told him I'm getting my purse before we go. I don't really know what has gotten into me that I agreed with him but this is going to be the first and last time. Tomorrow, I'm back to being Trista Mariano once again.

Kita ko ang pagkunot ng noo noong babaeng sa table nina Jacques. Ito iyong Barbara—from what I heard a while ago. She looks confused as she watches Jacques and I come back together.

She even stood up and immediately clung her arm around Jacques's. I glanced back at him and he only nodded at me. I shrugged and walked back to my table.

"Mauna na ako," paalam ko sa kanila.

"Huh? Hatid na kita," ani Hero pero umiling ako habang kinukuha ang aking bag.

"Hindi na. I can manage," sagot ko.

Pansin kong may gusto pa sanang sabihin si Hero pero para itong natulala sa kung sino man ang nasa likod ko. And that's when I suddenly felt someone's hand on my waist.

"Nagpaalam ka na?" rinig ko and boses ni Jacques na malapit sa tainga ko.

"Yeah," sagot ko bago ngumiti sa mga kasama ko. "Una na po ako. Thank you for tonight. I had fun." The last part was a lie but I had to say it para naman hindi na sila magtanong pa.

I smiled at Hero last but he was only looking at me with a serious face. He must probably feel betrayed by now because he's been asking me the entire night if he could drive me home but I kept on turning him down.

Muli kong nilingon si Jacques na nakatitig lang kay Hero. Hinapit niya ako sa baywang papalapit sa kaniya at saka nagsalita. "We'll go ahead. Have a good rest of your night," he said before leading me to the stairs.

It was hard leading to the exit because he's too popular. Everyone is stopping at him to greet him. Ang ibang mga babae pa ay parang nanghihinayang na aalis na siya.

Also, Barbara's face when she saw us walking out is epic. She looked so disgusted that Jacques is choosing another woman than her. Oh, sure. I know all about it. Hindi naman ako bobo. I'm sure she's one of the ladies who are craving his attention.

"Sorry about that," ani Jacques nang makarating na kami sa wakas sa labas pagkatapos ng lahat ng mga taong gusto siyang makausap bago siya umalis.

I shrugged. "It's okay." Sanay naman ako sa mga ganoon. In the showbiz industry, we're usually mobbed by people asking us a lot of questions. Hindi na bago sa akin iyon. Siguro kung nanibago man ay dahil iyon sa ibang tao ang kinakausap nila at hindi ako.

Well, that's a good thing, though.

"So...where do you want to go? Coffee?"

I nodded. "Sure," sagot ko.

"Great. We can do drive thru and then we can go somewhere else..." tumaas ang kilay ko sa sinabi niya. "...wholesome. I honor my words, Trista."

I chuckled and just shrugged. "Fine. You're so defensive."

He led me to his car and I was not shocked that it is a sports car. I could only imagine how many girls have ridden this car. Sa itsura nito ay makukuha niya ang lahat ng babaeng gustuhin niya nang walang kahirap-hirap.

He opened the door for me and I went in. He ran to the driver's side after closing the door for me while I fixed my seatbelt. Parang ngayon lang nagsisink in sa akin. Bakit nga ba ulit ako sumama? Dahil lang ba sa gusto ko nang umuwi? Dahil ba sa alak? O dahil sa hindi ko napigilan ang kahinaan ko sa dimples niya?

Pwede pa ba akong magback out? I could call Manong Ben now and ask him to fetch me but all of my thoughts went down the drain when I heard the driver's door closing.