I have a date tonight, and I want it to be perfect.
By perfect, I mean I need to talk to my dad first and clear everything up. There's no fucking way I'm going out with Damian and sitting face to face, overthinking whether there's still a chance for us.
Hindi siya nag-reply sa 'kin kagabi, so he probably wants to talk about it in person. If he has questions, I'll make sure I have all the answers he needs. I don't want to lie to him. Again.
That shit hurts.
"Something's up." Percival narrowed his eyes.
"I'm sure you know what's up. If you're not with me, you're with Damian." I replied.
He shrugged, basically saying na tama ako. Nakakainis pa rin siya especially whenever he finds our situation amusing, I think I will forever hate the fuck out of him, pero I'm grateful how he could be there for us.
"Why are you doing this?" I asked, narrowing my eyes back at him.
Seeing him relaxed in our living room, just waiting for me to ask for help or something, feels almost like a fever dream. I'm already sure na may kailangan 'to.
"Doing what?"
"Helping.. us?"
"To get on Damian's good side." And the asshole had the nerve to smile so smugly.
The fuck is wrong with him? I thought aware na siya na may gusto ako kay Damian? "You still like him?" Tanong ko because why would he help then?
"What? No?"
"You're not sure?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Fuck, no, I don't like him anymore." Percival rolled his eyes, "Don't look at me like I'm next to your father's name on your to-be-killed list."
I laughed. I just realized na kahit papaano, I'm comfortable to show an attitude kay Percival at Frankie. I'm still nice to other people pero.. at least, progress!
"So, why?" I asked again.
"I'm a Dirham, we are destined to work for the Villados. And if it ever comes to that, I'd definitely prefer not to work for Ian's brother." He scoffed.
"What made you confident you would work for Ian? I'm an aspiring lawyer too, he might hire me instead."
"Empirical research indicates that marital relationships involving cohabiting partners who engage in concurrent professional activities tend to exhibit a reduced duration of stability."
This time, I hysterically laughed. Fuck, lagpas one minute ata ako tumawa? Ewan ko, but what he said made me happy deep inside.
"Marital relationship, huh?" I repeated, still tumatawa. "I don't know about Damian but you're now on my good side."
"Thanks, tell him to hire me in five or six years." He laughed too.
When I finally moved on, I caught Percival staring at me. "What?" I frowned.
"Wala lang, ngayon lang kita nakitang tumawa nang ganiyan eh. All the laughs I've heard from you before don't compare to this one. I never realized how insincere your old laugh was, it was quite convincing."
That was my cue to shut up. It doesn't feel right lang na that got pointed out, kahit pa na he doesn't mean anything bad. Siguro it's because it reminded me of how much of a liar and pretender I am.
