About You

VII.

"Shit! Kinakabahan ako!"

Iris smacked Maxwell at the back of his head. "Wow pre, dinaig mo pa si Leoel ah!"

Natawa ako sa kanila hahaha, well that's true. Kanina pang ganyan si Max, akala mo naman sya yung ex. Psh.

Llyndon's  phone beep. "Guys shh. Anjan na daw sila." and on cue, pumasok sa shop si Ms. Suzanna. Agad itinaas ni Llyndon ang kamay nya and Suzanna cheerfully walked towards us. "Hello there!"

She's looking fresh at 25, I must say. How'd I know her age and of course her appearance? Syempre na stalk ko na sya. Don't get me wrong. When we broke up with our girlfriends and they blocked us, Me and Iris stalked those people who are close to them to get info of their whereabouts.

"Hi Ms. Suzanna! You look really pretty!" Nagbeso muna sila ni Llyndon before he introduced us to her. "Ms. Suzanna, I like you to meet my groupmates. Maxwell, Iris and Leoel."

Nakipagbeso din yung dalawa, while me, I just offered a hand shake na di naman tinanggihan ni Suzanna.

"You can just call me Zana, nice to meet you boys! Ang gagwapo nyo naman pala." the boys chuckled at her last statement.

"Um, Zana where's Heart?" ayan nagtanong na ako. Ito kasing mga kasama ko, nakalimutan na atang si Heart talaga ang ipinunta namin dito.

"May binalikan lang sya sa kotse. But she'll be here in a minute."

"Ahh akala ko di nya na  kami sisiputin after finding out that it's us who'll do the docu." Maxwell sheepishly smiled. Biglang nangunot ang noo ni Zana.

"Huh? Why? Well actually, she doesn't have any idea whose gonna do her docu, hahah she's just so preoccupied this past days kaya umoo na lang sya sa meeting na to without asking further questions." Ano? Di nya pa alam na it's me-us who'll gonna do it? Tsk. Kaya naman pala natuloy tong appointment na to!

We all looked at the entrance of the café when the chimes dinged. Heart entered the coffee shop while busy talking to her phone. She just looked at Zana for a split second before focusing on her call again, ni hindi nya napansin na kami ang ka meeting nya. Dire-diretso lang ang lakad nya palapit sa amin.

"I'll call you later... I'm sorry for taking so long." she hung up and at the same time looked up on us. She seems so surprised to the point that she dropped her phone.

"Uhmm... Excuse me." walang anu-ano'y, nilimot nya ang phone nya and walked out of the shop. As expected.

"Teka, baby Heart!" Zana tried to call her but she ignored her. Tahimik lang sina Llyndon. Napsipol naman si Iris while me, tumayo ako at hinabol si Heart.

"Heart, wait up!" she keeps on ignoring me at mas binilisan pa ang paglalakad. No choice, I ran and grabbed her wrist, napatigil sya pero agad syang kumawala sa hawak ko.

"Ano na naman ba to Leoel? I thought I already told you to stay away from me?! Tapos ngayon? Really a school project? A documentation about me?!" she sound so frustrated. And I'm getting frustrated too.

"Heart look, it was our professor who picked you as a prospect for our project. Kung inisip mong sinadya ko to pwes nagkakamali ka. I respect your plea to stay away from you, pero it's for our acads, kailangan kong gawin to." She looked away.

"Please Heart, alam kong galit ka sakin, but this is a group project. Hwag mo sana idamay ang mga kaibigan ko sa galit mo." sa galit mo na hindi ko makuha kung saan ba talaga nanggagaling.

"If you're really not comfortable with my presence, I promise you hindi mo ako makikita sa buong production process. I'll just edit the whole thing after shoots, so please Heart pumayag ka na. For my groupmates. Please."

I am desperate, okay lang kahit hindi na ako maging parte ng shooting process, kahit hanggang off-cam duties na lang ako, ang mahalaga pumayag sya. It's for my friends' sake, ayokong bumagsak sila dahil sakin.

Heart deeply sighed "Fine. But you should keep your promise." I feel like a lump on my throat disappeared when I heard her. I smiled in relief.

"I will. Thank you Heart!" She look at me with stoic expression. "Don't thank me yet." And start walking back to the café. Taray.

When I got inside the café Heart is already settled beside Zana. I even heard her manager asking her what's wrong. Umiling lang si Heart.

When I took my seat beside Iris, bumulong agad sya sakin. "Anyare pre?" Umiling na lang din ako.

"Ehem. I don't think we still need further more introduction, so let's get down to business?" Llyndon said professionally. Iba talaga sya pag nagseryoso. Tumango-tango naman si Zana.

"So, like what I've said through email, our group is tasked to do a film documentation of Ms. Heart Lacsamana's journey to success. Since isa sya sa mga uprising author ngayon at a young age, it is interesting to know kung anong nagdala sa kanya on where she is now."

Zana smiled on Llyndon's opening statement."Yeah I agree with you, isa pa, this documentation can also serve as a marketing strategy. The more na malaman ng tao what's behind Heart's success, the more chances they'll support her and  her works."

Tumango-tango ang mga kaibigan ko. Magsasalita na sana si Llyndon when Heart interrupted. Ramdam na ramdam ko ang lamig sa mga tingin nya."Can this be done in a day?"

Halos masamid sina Max at Iris sa sinabi ni Heart, even Zana looked at her surprised with her statement. "Baby Heart naman..."

Iris cleared his throat. "Ehem, I'm sorry, but we already summed up everything and this CAN’T be done in a day." he handed them a copy of our production plan.

"The whole shoot will revolve on four major topics. First, your background. Everything about you. Second, the story behind your debut book 'Heartless Heart', third the story about it's sequel 'Hurt-less Heart' and lastly, your plans for the future." Max said confidently.

Napapalakpak naman si Zana."Wow! This is great! I myself, also want to know what's the inspiration behind those books." she looked at Heart while wiggling her brows. Napaling na lang si Heart. "Psh, Ate talaga."

They turned their attention to me when I started to speak. "We're also planning to seat in  your classes, also include a clip of your daily routine. Kung saan ka pumupunta or ano ginagawa mo to get inspiration on writing, and maybe include some tips for other young authors like you." Heart's face is emotionless while hearing me out.

"Ohhh. So it'll really be a long process, but it's good! what do you think Baby Heart?" Zana really look amazed on our ideas. Heart just smiled timidly.

"Well of course the schedule of shoots will be base on your availability." Llyndon said. Heart nodded, "I'm good with this. Just keep in touch with Ate Zana. Sya na lang mag-iinform sakin about the whole thing."

"Yes, yes. I'll just finalize Heart's sched for the next weeks before sending it to you. Yiee I'm really excited!" Enthusiasm filled Zana's voice.

"Kami din, and we are really thankful for your cooperation." Ngiting-ngiti ding sagot ni Maxwell.

So everything is settled?
I looked at Heart and she’s also staring at my direction with blank expression. I managed to smile, but she simply mouthed without sound

"Keep your promise."

"I will."

***
Thanks for reading this story even tho it's lacking 😂💜