Seducing Mr. Antisocial |WARNING: R-18|

Chapter 26

What the f*ck was this?

Gusto nang tumili ni Lavinia sa prustrasyon.

She glared at the black screen of her phone, then at the darkened heaven. Parang latigong humahampas ang malakas na hangin at ulan sa salamin ng kanyang sasakayan.

Someone must be pissing on her from the sky. Pakiramdam niya ay may hindi nakikitang puwersa na pumipigil sa kanyang bumalik sa bahay nina Evan kanina pa. Nitong umaga lang, nagising siya sa madilim na langit at humahagupit na hangin.

May storm signal number two sa area, ayon sa ulat. Darating daw ang bagyo mamayang tanghali. Carmi advised her to delay her trip back to Burgos, but she disagreed. Tanghali pa darating ang bagyo, at halos isang oras lang ang biyahe mula Pagudpud papuntang Burgos. It was only nine o'clock, she reasoned. She'd be at the Servantes' before the storm hit Ilocos. She and Evan would have probably had three quickies by then, no problemo. Absolutely doable, right?

Right.

Sabihin iyon kay typhoon Ineng. Ineng did not believe in schedule, that bitch. O siguro (surprise, surprise) palpak na naman ang weather report. Quarter to ten pa lang ay parang nasa loob na ng washing machine ang kalsadang tinatahak niya. The wind and rain whipped at her car with the wrath of twenty women with premenstrual syndrome. Parang gustong itaob ng hangin ang kanyang nirentahang kotse, at makakapal ang galit na mga ulap sa langit.

She wasn't fazed.

Bagyo lang uurungan niya? Pfft.

Lavinia Montoya versus typhoon Ineng? Please.

She drove on, slowly but surely. She could be as patient as Buddha if the situation called for it. Making people beautiful required patience after all. So she trudged on.

Slowly...slowly...

So far, so good. Lavinia for the win!

Then her car broke down.

Hindi siya sumigaw. No, sir. Naging lohikal siya at kalmado. Patuloy ang paghagupit ng ulan at hangin sa kanyang sasakyan at halos wala na siyang maaninag sa kalsada. Pero hindi siya natinag.

She could call for help. She could call Evan or even Carmi. No need to scream in fury.

Dinukot niya ang phone sa bag.

At nakitang walang buhay iyon.

Of course, hindi dapat mag-assume na low batt na agad ang phone, hindi ba? Baka napindot lang niya ang power button kanina kaya nakapatay ito.

She turned it on.

Walang effect.

She tried again.

Wala pa rin.

She tried again. And again. And again.

Insanity. Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

She screamed.

She glared furiously at the heavens.

What the hell was this?

Pinipigilan ba siyang makausap si Evan para masabi rito ang tungkol sa disisyon niya? Pinipigilan ba siya ng guardian angel nito na tuluyang mahulog sa mga palad niya ang binata?

Too f*cking bad. Too f*cking late.

She would not let–

May natanaw siyang imahe mula sa makapal na kurtina ng ulan at hangin sa harapan ng kanyang nirentahang Toyota Innova.

Her heart hammered like crazy inside her chest and she grabbed the latch of her door. Because somehow, she knew. Somehow, she knew who it was. He would know, she knew. He would worry. He would come.