Mister Villain

CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE

Maybe Imelda Papin knew what she was talking about when she sang "Isang linggong pag-ibig", Maine thought to herself.

Noong bata siya, tuwang tuwa siya kantahin yun because her Tatang liked it pero nung tumanda siya, she grew introspective and critical of the OPM classic's meaning. Inisip niya gaano nga ba ka-posible mangyari na mahulog ang loob mo sa isang tao na hindi mo kilala in a span of a few days.

Ganun nga ba talaga kabilis?

How was it that during the time she was in love with Sam, it was so difficult to look at any other guy?

She heaved a sigh, gave up altogether in trying to get some sleep, rolled out of her bed, sat beside the window and watched the night sky.

Pinakiramdaman niya ang sarili and decided to be really truly honest with herself about the situation she had found herself in.

Hindi naman na niya dine-deny sa kahit na kanino na gusto niya si RJ.

Somewhere in the past weeks she knew she liked him.

It actually even came to the point that she had accepted the sense of doom she felt about her feelings eventually crash landing towards earth or burning up in the atmosphere before they even touched the ground.

She had believed then that there was no way on earth that RJ Faulkerson could like her too when he hated her with every fibre of his being.

But they were here now.

And if how he had looked at her all evening was any indication... what he felt for her was far from hatred and close to something that Maine has only dreamed of before.

"You're not alone anymore..."

Hanggang ngayon nanghihina pa rin ang tuhod niya just remembering it.

Gusto niyang itapon ang sarili sa labas nang bintana dahil baka makatulong yun para kumalma siya.

PAANO?

PAANO?

PAANO??????????

Even an hour after they had said goodnight to each other and he kissed the top of her head with so much tenderness, her heart was still racing.

Pakiramdam niya e kayang-kaya niya tumakbo mula Tagaytay hanggang Bulacan and not get tired at all.

Kung ganun manligaw ang RJ Faulkerson... KAKAYANIN BA NIYA ANG PATAGALIN ANG PAGLILIGAWAN NILA?

There was a moment after his declaration in the garden, when he was laughing about something Pauleen said, and Maine felt the word "YES" light up as brightly as a neon sign inside her head.

She knew what that "Yes" was for.

And she also knew that she really didn't care anymore na ang bilis nang lahat.

Her feelings for him were exploding inside her chest and she was trying to hold herself together kahit na gusto na niyang mag-fall apart from all of the emotion building up inside her.

How could the man know the right thing to tell her?

How could he understand the fear that a woman like her, who has loved another person without expecting anything in return, feel? Her sadness and desperation were far different from those he had experienced himself but he just knew it. He saw through it.

Sinampal niya ang sarili at inantay na bigla siyang magising.

Baka panaginip ang lahat e. Baka imagination niya lang.

This time, a year ago, she could not remember exactly what it was she was doing but she could hazard a guess about what she was feeling.

Some time last year, around this period, her editor had told her that they were going to have a third re-print of her book, "Two Wrongs Make a Right".