Tandem

Chapter 4

Nagising si Sam ng may narinig syang kumakaluskos sa sala. He turned on the lamp on his bedside table and picked up his phone to check the time. A las dos pa lang ng umaga. He pushed back his covers and stood up to check on Giselle. He knew she was the one making that faint noise; alam nya na ang schedule ng dalaga. Nagsusulat ng draft ang dalaga hanggang mga a las tres o minsan a las kwatro. Dun lang daw sya nakakapag concentrate...dahil tahimik na ang paligid at sya na lang ang gising. He opened the door and immediately saw her sitting cross legged on the floor in front of the coffee table. Nakikigamit muna si Giselle ng laptop ni Sam pero bumili na sya ng sarili nyang USB drive para sa mga draft nya. Her hair was in a messy bun and she was biting her lower lip in frustration, her fingers not moving against the keyboard. It looked like she was stuck again.

"Hi," Sam said groggily.

"Sorry," Giselle looked up apologetically. "Nagising ba kita?"

"Hindi naman," Sam padded barefoot to the kitchen. "Nauhaw lang ako. Ikaw? You want something? Water?"

"No, thanks, I'm okay," she smiled at him before turning her attention back to the laptop.

Sam walked back to the living room with his glass of cold water and sat down on the couch behind Giselle. "Stuck again?"

"Oo eh. Ewan ko ba bakit pinahihirapan ako ng sobra sobra ng mga characters ko. Ang titigas ng ulo, ayaw nila ng direction na gusto ko!" she chuckled quietly.

"Eh bakit mo ba kasi sila pinepressure?" Sam ruffled her hair. "Just go with the flow, sabi nga nila."

"Ano ka ba?" she swatted his hand away from her hair. "Syempre may deadline ako. I need to have a very rough first half by the end of the week."

"Alam ko na! Baka kulang ka lang sa inspirasyon!"

"Hay ewan ko ba. Dapat nga inspired ako di ba? Ang tahimik dito, I'm away from the hustle and bustle of Manila, pero ewan. Siguro tama ka nga."

"Describe your characters to me."

"Ano?" she looked up at him.

"Describe them to me. Maybe it would help if you had a sounding board to discuss your ideas with."

She looked at him skeptically, but shrugged it off. Tama sya. Baka kailangan nya nga na i-declutter ang kanyang utak. "Well, the main character is Abby. She's ano...a princess, but not in the literal way. She basically grew up being spoiled by her parents, pero hindi sya spoiled brat ha. And in return, parang she became a 'yes girl'. In short, sunod sunuran sa kung ano man ang gusto ng parents nya. They wanted her to earn her business degree kahit ang passion naman nya is writing and literature so she graduated with a business degree. Tapos yun nga, they wanted her to marry this man...I know, cliche, pero ganyan naman talaga ang mga kwento. May mga similarities ang mga premise."

"Okay, so Abby. And I'm assuming Abby finally says no to her parents?"

"Well, oo. Although not intentionally naman. She ended up booking a solo trip to England a few days before she was to meet this boy to do a bit of soul searching on a Shakespeare Tour of England trip. While there, she gets into a scuffle with a pickpocketer so ayun, hinabol pa nya, something she would never think of doing in her 'real life'. Next thing she knew, the pickpocketer is lying on his back and her purse was being returned to her."

"A knight in shining armor."

"Yes, a knight in shining armor. Ganyan talaga si Sam."

"Sam?" Sam smirked at her knowingly.

"Heh, wag kang assuming," inirapan ni Giselle ang binata. "Sam na talaga ang pangalan nung bida bago pa kita makilala."

"The Lady doth protest too much," he reached to pinch her nose playfully.

"Huwag ka nga," she swatted his hand away. "Basta ganyan si Sam. Gwapo na, gentleman pa. Gentleman na medyo bastos."

"Parang kilala ko ang Sam na yan ha," he teased her again.

"Heh!" Yun na lang ang nasabi ni Giselle. "Hay naku, makatulog na nga."

Tatayo na sana si Giselle pero pinigilan sya ni Sam. "Joke lang. Ito naman, hindi ka na mabiro."

"Joke mo mukha mo. Gabi na. Matulog na tayo."

Giselle saved her work onto her flash drive and ejected it before shutting down Sam's laptop. He put his dirty glass in the sink while she did that before returning to help her up to her feet. Inakbayan ni Sam si Giselle at hinatid na ito sa may pinto ng guest room. He spun her around to face him.

"Pero seryoso, pwede mo naman akong gawing inspirasyon sa Sam mo," he told her with a playful glint in his eyes.

"Ewan ko sa yo, puro ka biro eh!" she pouted. "Good night!" she said to him. He just looked into her eyes, longer than what was the norm. She pouted her lips before speaking up again. "You're not going to kiss me are you?" she winced a little.

"Bakit ko naman gagawin yun?"

"Malay ko ba, baka naiinlove ka na sa akin," she teased him.

"Gustong gusto mo naman," he teased back, bringing his face closer to hers.

"Sam," she whispered. Her gaze moved from his eyes to his lips.

A smile formed on his lips and he quickly kissed her on the forehead. "Good night," he smiled at her before turning to his door down the hallway.

Hay, Sam, ano yun?!

TBC