The Second Time Around (The Starving Squad #1)

Chapter 2: Wrong Foot

The question didn't register at first. But when it did, Bullet didn't know if he should be amused or concerned about the assumption. Sa lahat naman ng pwedeng mapagkamalang trabaho niya, stripper pa talaga?

"What? No!" natatawang sagot niya sa babae.

The picture Felix showed him the other night didn't do this girl any justice. She's prettier in person. She has the same shoulder-length hair. May bangs iyon at medyo kulot sa dulo. Simpleng t-shirt lamang at pantalon ang suot nito pero kitang-kita ang hubog ng katawan. She's not exaggeratedly sexy, but her body looked so soft and feminine.

She looks like a delicate flower, but her face was marred with that frown.

"Oh... you're not?" nalilito nitong tanong. "Sorry. I had to ask."

"Do I look like a stripper to you?" he asked in amusement.

The woman bit her lower lip. Mukhang nag-iisip ito ng isasagot.

"Would it offend you if I say yes?" she inquired.

"Depends," he said with a shrug. He'd like to think na may maganda itong dahilan kung bakit siya nito napagkamalang ganoon ang trabaho. For one, strippers have nice bodies. That must be it.

"My friends told me that they'd send me a stripper," she explained to him. "So since I don't know who you are, I figured..."

"You didn't stop to think that maybe they meant to send the stripper at night?" Sinipat niya ang suot na relo. "It's just past nine in the morning."

Bahagya itong namula dahil sa sinabi niya. Pero mabilis din itong nakabawi. Hindi pa rin ito umaalis sa may pintuan kaya hindi siya makapasok. He's starting to doubt that she'll let him in. Maybe he should have pretended to be a stripper. Maano naman kung sumayaw siya sa harapan nito.

The image of him dancing for this girl made him chuckle.

"Is something funny?" tanong ng babae. Nakakunot pa rin ang noo nito sa kanya. His hand was itching to ease that frown. That's not the kind of expression he sees on women's faces when they're with him.

This woman is not to be messed with.

Sumeryoso siya. "Nothing," he answered. "Aren't you going to let me in?"

"You're not Felix and you're not a stripper. What business do you have here?" mataray nitong tanong.

"Felix sent me here." Inilahad niya ang kamay. "I'm Bullet."

She looked at his outstretched hand and then back to his face. "Bullet? Like..." She made two guns out of her thumbs and index fingers and pointed them at him. "...pew pew?"

"More like... bang bang," he said with a smirk.

Pinaningkitan siya nito ng mata. "He didn't mention you."

"I told him not to."

But she wasn't convinced. Pinatawagan pa nito sa kanya si Felix. When he dialled his friend's number, kinuha ng babae ang phone niya at ito ang nakipag-usap. Naawa siya sa kaibigan dahil sa paninermon ng babae. Daig pa nito ang nanay ni Felix sa paninermon.

"May magagawa pa ba ako?! You better pray that he does a good job or else!" angil nito sa kausap. "Fine!"

The woman was red in the face when she handed his phone back. Idinikit niya ang phone sa tenga. "Hello?"

He winced when Felix bellowed a curse. Nailayo niya bigla ang cellphone.

"Dude, would you calm down? I'm handling it."