Love Unmasked

Irritating Cognizance

"Bakit ka naiinis?" Sarah asked.

"Sino namang nag sabi sa iyo na naiinis ako?" I replied.

"Ayan o, yang kunot sa noo mo," Sarah said, pointing the piece of bread she had between her fingers towards me. "Kilala kita, Maya. Alam ko kung kelan asar ka."

I sighed. She knew me too well. Yes, I was irritated and it was all because of the article in the tabloid I had in my hand. It contained a picture of Noah and me together – the one taken for the Business Asia magazine article – and another one with him with an unknown girl. I was even sure there were lots of different versions of this kind of "news" on the net.

We were now fodder for the tabloids and that irritated me. The caption on the entertainment magazine was cheating allegations by him in big capital letters. Our life had now become a goddamn free-for-all-who-were-interested story for everyone to read. And mind you, there seemed to be many people who were interested in us. For the life of me, I really didn't understand why that was. We weren't actors in show business but people seemed to find our life fascinating.

"Patingin nga," Sarah said as she snatched the magazine from my hands. She scanned the article and I could see her frown a little. "Bakit ka ba affected dito? This is just a shitty showbiz magazine. This is something na hindi dapat binibigyan ng pansin."

"Sarah, they're talking about me! And naiinis ako dun! Hind naman kami artista ah. Bakit ba parang kating-kati ang mga taong malaman ang mga bagay about us?" I argued. "Besides, kung nangyari ba sa yo yan matutuwa ka?"

"Do you really have to ask?" Sarah gave me a wink as she said. "Of course I'd love the attention, dear."

"Everyone knows you're an attention whore, Sarah," Alice said, appearing out of nowhere, looking oh so elegant. She strode towards us, looking like a model in a runway.

"Oh my, look what the mice brought in," Sarah said to Alice, flipping her the bird as she finished the last of the bread she held.

Alice twirled as she walked, showing off her new beach-ready body.

"Don't I look fab, girls?"

Sarah just shook her head, knowing how vain Alice was. "Akala ko ba masyado kang busy doon sa boyfriend mong Brit, Ali."

"He flew back to London, so I'm all free and bored," Alice said, smiling as she plopped down on one of the couches. "I'm planning to fly out in a few weeks to see him, but that's still up in the air. Pwede pang magbago ... depende."

"Depende saan?" I asked, trying to act like I didn't know how she was.

"Depende sa mood ko," she replied, making a face at me. "But enough about little 'ol me, why are you two bickering again? About kay Noah ba to?"

"Eh sino pa ba?" Sarah said, giving Alice the newspaper article, tapping it as she did. "Tignan mo ang gago, napakalandi."

"Really, naglalandi? Baka naman hindi," Alice said, as always being the levelheaded person she was. "Malay mo naman, this is not what it seems."

"Whatever, Ali. You're giving him the benefit of the doubt na naman ... na alam nating lahat na hindi dapat."

Alice gave her a face before returning her attention back to the article. She seemed to not have a reaction as she scanned the entire article.

My family was known because we owned upscale malls throughout the country. The Arietta's were one of those richest. They were even feature in Forbes magazine as one of the top five wealthiest families in Asia. They were on top of the social hierarchy ladder so it was no wonder everyone knew them. Noah being the only heir of his family's dynasty and his impeccable ability to increase their wealth made him attractive to the young and old of the business sector. However, his charm and wit, not forgetting he was good looking , was alluring to the young and old of the female population, maybe even certain percentage of the male population. He was magnetic in every way, or so they say, because everyone wanted to be him or to be near him. I understood how people were fascinated with him, but perhaps my having to wed him dulled his attractiveness to me. It was really unfortunate I had to marry him.