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Chapter 20: ruthless and brutal
JAJA
She looked so surprised when she opened the gate for me.
"Hi?" I greeted, handing her a large basket of flowers.
She smiled shyly and hugged me lightly. "T-thank you," she said, looking down.
I removed my sunglasses and looked at her. "What's wrong? It's not a grand bouquet."
Every time I came over, I bring her flowers. At first, she was so happy about it, but eventually, I noticed she felt uncomfortable. When I asked her, she said she felt burdened because she had nothing to give me in return. I didn't mind, but knowing her, she would end up unhappy. We talked about it, and I told her she gave me happiness whenever she accepted the flowers. It didn't work, of course, until I told her she was helping small entrepreneurs and florists. Since then, I stopped buying from big, well-known flower shops. I either dropped by a small shop or the public market.
Next, she mentioned that the bouquets were too grand, so I ended up picking a basket.
"I know, and I like it," she said shyly. "I'm just not used to this. You're the first one to ever give me flowers."
Well, she has to get used to it because I'm not planning on stopping.
"You look so...good," tila nahihiyang sabi niya.
I smiled and looked at myself. "Well, you said I'm always in my corporate clothes so..." I gestured to my outfit. "Did I overdo it?"
I simply put on khaki pants and a black shirt, paired with white shoes and a black ball cap. I made a note to be in casual clothes since if I came straight from work, I wouldn't have time to change.
"How do you always pay attention to the tiny details?" she asked, pulling me inside the house. "Pero oo, ang pogi mo po. Para kang artista na umiiwas na makita ng mga paparazzi sa airport."
I laughed at her comment. We had movies planned out for today. She said she wanted to watch "Romeo + Juliet," a very old film starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes. She said she'd watched it several times, but she loved watching it again and again because Leonardo was so handsome in it. She also liked the actor who played Mercutio and couldn't stop praising how it was a good take on the classic tragedy. She would also ask me from time to time if mafia transactions were actually like that, except for the poetic lines and all, which I always answered with a shrug, and she wouldn't press further.
As much as I wanted to bring Rustia to a proper date, I couldn't risk her safety. The commission was probably plotting something to make me fail, rivals were surely planning things too, and we still had suspicions about the real Brusca. I had to be careful and not risk her.
