The Pearl Princess (Taglish)

𝕮𝖆𝖕𝖎𝖙𝖔𝖑𝖔 VIII ♚ Words She Never Heard

⋄⋄⋄❖⋄⋄𖠁𖢨𖠁⋄⋄❖⋄⋄⋄

If scraps of her anger are all he gets, then he'll take them, piece by painful piece.

This is his punishment.

⋄⋄⋄❖⋄⋄𖠁𖢨𖠁⋄⋄❖⋄⋄⋄

I went full-on ballistic, just like the old days. And I was expecting Juan Miguel to do the same especially when I dropped the bombshell.

Kabit! I called him one of the ugliest, most demeaning Tagalog words ever created.

I was waiting for him to lash out with more acidic words, or words that could put me behind bars. O pwede rin niyang dagdagan ang binasag niya, maglabas na naman ng espada, batuhin ako ng libro, ihulog ako sa swimming pool, sunugin ako nang buhay sa Luneta sa harap mismo ng mga estatwa ng pamilya ko.

But. . .he didn't. Ang katunayan, matapos kong bitiwan ang salitang 'yon, hindi siya umimik.

No confession. No denial either.

Just nothing.

Matikas lang siyang naglakad patungo sa isang sulok. From there, he quietly grabbed a wireless vacuum cleaner, and began vacuuming the shards of glass scattered across the carpeted floor. His brow was furrowed in concentration, his movements precise and economical.

I watched him in stunned silence, my stormy emotions kept on simmering just beneath the surface. Sa dami ng beses na nag-away kami noon, iyon na ang pinakamalupit na salitang binitiwan ko laban sa kanya.

Kabit!

Pero. . .hindi siya lumaban pabalik.

My hands clenched into fists at my sides, my heart racing. I wanted to scream, to demand a more fitting response from him. But his face remained stern, his jaw set tight as he continued his task, not even sparing me a glance, the humming of the vacuum cleaner an anti-climax way louder than any insult he could've thrown at me.

Kaya naman lumabas ako noon na parang ako ang natalo. Na parang pagkatao ko ang nadurog, at hindi ang kanya.

And now, three days later, I am still burning hot from what happened. Iyon ay sa kabila ng katotohanang nagyeyelong katahimikan ang iginaganti niya ngayon.

Nang pumasok kasi ako kinabukasan matapos ang naging away namin, trinato niya akong hangin. O mas masahol pa nga. Sa tuwing may utos siya para sa akin, sa ibang bunganga niya ito pinadaraan. Sa tuwing may meeting, nagkukunwari siyang wala ako sa silid. Ganoon din ang nangyari nang sumunod na araw, at kanina.

But to be fair, I also didn't dare talk to him, didn't even look him in the eye.

I mean how can I?

"Uy, wow, invited ka roon sa nagpapa-birthday? Kung sa bagay, kapwa-Aguila mo nga pala."

Nakatambay ang nagsalita sa isang foldable camping chair, nakapwesto sa mismong patio. Si Liam Valdez.

Actually, I waited for his text for days, even considered reaching out first, but there's been no movement since we exchanged numbers. To make matters worse, he's rarely in his unit—lights off, silence stretching between the walls. I'm guessing it's because of the upcoming coronation of Infante Marco Antonio. The Ciervos must be swamped with preparations, leaving him little time for anything else.

Kaya naman masaya akong nagbalik na siya.

Liam is eyeing the tray of chips and guacamole that I prepared. Binalot ko ang ibabaw nito ng foil. Tumayo siya at saka ako nilapitan.