"Ikaw ha! Sumusobra ka na talaga."
I stopped mid chop and turned to look at ate Mimi who was fuming behind me.
"What did I do now?"
She took a deep breath. Pulang-pula na ang chubby cheeks niya.
"You texted Lance na naman! Grabe ka na talaga!"
I rolled my eyes at her and returned to chopping vegetables.
"Hoy! Cythnia! Don't you turn your back on me!"
I exhaled noisily through my mouth before putting the knife down.
Keep your shit together, Cynth.
Pinikit ko muna ang mga mata ko for a second, before asking her what the problem was.
I heard her OA na pagbuntong hininga. And I was so sure that she won't stop sa pagbubuntong hininga hangga't hindi ma-resolve whatever she wanted to be resolved.
So, despite not wanting to, I turned around and faced her again.
"Your fiancée Lance is not my type, okay? You should know that by now."
"That's not the point! You texted him again. For the what? Nth time?! Hindi ka ba nahiya?"
I stared stonily at her before I told her I had nothing to be ashamed of.
"What do you mean nothing?! Nakakahiya ka! I mean... okay, once or twice... or sige, thrice. But what? Everyday? Ano ka ba?!"
"I just asked him something. I'm not texting him naman to make utang."
I saw her close her eyes and started breathing like an asthmatic dragon.
I was going to wait for her na mahimasmasan, but I was working within a certain time frame.
So instead na hintayin ko siyang matapos with her kaartehan, I decided to continue with my chopping.
She gave me a few blissful minutes before siya umatake uli, but this time - change tactic na siya.
"Cynth... I'm just... concerned lang ako sa'yo."
"Ah... okay. Thank you."
"Cynthia... I'm concerned about you... about this. Whatever you're planning-
Napatigil siya when I slammed the knife down on the chopping board.
"I know what I'm doing. Okay?"
"Cynth... This is not normal anymore. This is not you."
I turned around to raise an eyebrow at her.
"What?! I'm just saying. You texted Lance this morning asking him to ask his friend about that basketball player's favorite food!"
"Why? Am I not allowed to know what kind of food he likes ba?"
"It's not that! The point is... the point is..."
"The point is what?"
For a solid minute, she flailed her arms around like a penguin. On a normal day, or with the normal me, I would have started laughing like a crazy person.
