Mister Villain

CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

Too serious.

THAT was the description that people often gave when asked about RJ Faulkerson.

Sure.

He was playful. He dated quite a lot of women who were louder than a police siren during conversation (Lord knows why). He had even hosted outrageous parties before (Now... THAT Lord knows why).

Pero alam nang lahat nang tao na sa totoo lang e he has quite a serious personality overall.

At walang masama doon. As the head of a multi-national company, he SHOULD be serious.

Hence, his smiles, which seem to come far more often than they previously did have been duly noted and talked about. He did smile pero he didn't have a face as open as he did now. Iba ang "aura" nang mukha niya. Ika nga nila.

Speculation was high that he was in love.

No one knew who the girl was and a couple of celebrity names were thrown in, may iilang models, at may iilan naman na nagsasabi na baka si Joyce Ching iyon dahil may nakakita sa kanila at a dinner na nagtatawanan.

RJ, however, was impervious to the gossip that was going around him the past days and continued to do more than his usual work load so he could take Monday off. He has plans for him and Maine after Sam and Pat's wedding.

His focus on work was so great that after a dinner meeting, he was almost sprinting towards the valet and would have missed out on the woman who had turned his world upside down if she had not stumbled into him.

Louise was saying goodbye to a couple of friends, her back turned from him while walking, that if not for RJ's steady hands, she would have landed butt-first on to the marble floor.

They stared at each other in shock and immediately straightened themselves up.

It was the first time in years that they have seen each other this close.

RJ felt his mouth go dry.

"Akala ko hindi mo ako pagbibigyan" Louise told him as they sat in front of each other, the aroma of brewed coffee swirling in the air, and conversation and laughter from the other tables carrying over to them in the secluded cubicle that the restaurant manager immediately ushered them in to after her recognition of the telecoms magnate.

His ex-fianceé was still beautiful.

He remembered now that he often said she would be one of those women who would grow lovelier with the passing of years.

"Nabigla lang ako kanina kaya hindi ako agad nakasagot" he replied "We haven't seen each other in a while."

Louise nodded and smiled. "Nabigla din ako. What are the odds we would bump in to each other here?"

"Yeah. What are the odds that we would really BUMP into each other?"

He felt a little out of sorts. There really was nothing he could think of saying to her.

As far as conversation topics went, he would rather punch a wall than ask her how her husband was doing. He also didn't know whether he should be asking her about her child. He pretty much had a good idea of what she did for business but that could trigger memories of her starting off that venture during the time they were still together.

Bakit nga ba kase siya pumayag na mag-kape kasama ito?

He had some papers he still needed to review and sign.

Dapat yata e hinindian na lang niya ito kanina.

Louise would understand, he was a busy man.

Or maybe she wouldn't understand... wasn't it RJ doing other things that made it easy for another man to drive a wedge between them, step in, and take her?