Tamress and My Memories of Her

|Chapter Three|

Chapter3_Wild Guess 

"REALLY, TRINA? WHERE'S your kindness?"

"Shut up, Cobo. I don't wanna hear any sarcasm from you."

Inalog ko ang nakita kong cup noodles sa kusina niya kanina. I thought the crackling sound of the crushed noodles was pleasant to the ears. But maybe not for Trina who was fumbling through her closet, rattled by her mom's sudden call. I watched as her little face turned red with annoyance. It was such a masterpiece.

"Will you stop with what you're doing, Jacobo Marced? Nadi-distract ako."

Tumawa ako. Ang sarap panuorin mataranta ng napakaelegante at sopistikadang si Trina.

"You're loosing it, Trina," sabi ko. "Relax. It's just a dinner party."

"It's not just a dinner party, Cobo. I might meet my future fiancé there."

Some sort of imaginary warning bells rang at the back of my head. No-no topic. Off-limits.  I composed myself at once.

 "I want real food," pag-iiba ko ng usapan.

Sandali siyang napatigil sa pagpili ng masusuot. "Bakit hindi ka sumama? Pinapupunta ka rin ng mama mo, diba?" tanong niya.

I let out a sigh of giving up. So much for trying to chuck out the topic.

"You know I hate gatherings like that. Kung sino-sino lang ang nirereto sa 'kin ni Mama."

"What's wrong with that? May taste naman ang mama mo. At least these girls Tita Eve picks for you are pretty and classy."

Nahiga ako sa kama niya. "You know, most of the time, these pretty and classy women you're talking about turn out to be dumb or wicked dates."

"Ang judgmental mo talaga," she blurted.

"What?!" I couldn't believe I'd been told that twice in just one day.

"Ang problema mo kasi, hindi mo pa nakikilala nang tuluyan 'yong nirereto sa 'yo ng mama mo, na-categorize mo na sila sa isip mo. Kaya tuloy hindi nagtatagal ang isa sa 'yo."

Bumuntong-hininga ulit ako. "The reason they don't last is that they only turn into a series of dull, loveless one-night stands. If only they posed a little challenge for me, they would've become a perfect relationship."

"You want your girl to be pakipot?"

"I want her to be worth chasing after."

"Oooh. Romantiko ka rin pala, Cobo. So, naghahanap ka rin ng totoo at pangmatagalang relasyon?"

Nagkibit-balikat ako. "You could say that."

"And you found Tamress?"

"What are you saying? I just met her today," I said, matter-of-factly.

"Really? Sayang naman. Tamress looks so nice..." She paused briefly when she finally found a dress to wear. "But you found someone already, right? Who's the lucky girl? Aren't you gonna introduce her to me yet?"

"Hmm. One of these days, maybe." This was a lie. Trina was the last person I wanted to introduce to the girl I was dating.

Nag-umpisa na siyang magbihis. Walang anu-anong nagpalit siya ng panloob sa harap ko.

It was my turn to hiss at her. "What the heck, Trina! Have some modesty in your skin. You don't just strip down in front of a guy. Ish."

"What?  You've seen it many times already. Ano pa'ng inaarte mo?"

Napailing na lang ako. Why am I surrounded by shameless women lately?

IT HAD BEEN three weeks since I last saw Trina. After the dinner party she went to, I did not receive any call or even a text from her. Though, one time, she had managed to send me a private message through Facebook about her status. Said she had found herself a super-supermodel boyfriend and decided to go exclusive with this guy her mother's friend introduced to her. Punung-puno ng emoticon ang message niya kaya alam kong masaya at excited siyang magkwento sa 'kin. I replied to her with the generic, "Good for you."