Luca (BoyxBoy)

2

Biglang nagising si Luca at nagulat ng makita niya si Ryan sa tabi niya. It was already 3AM. Napaupo siya sa higaan at napa-isip kung anong nangyari kagabi. This cannot be. He thought, angry to himself. I barely know this guy and this happened. Baliw ka ba Luca? He quickly covered his naked body with the blanket. Parang nahihiya siya sa sarili niya and at the same time, naiinis din.

Matagal-tagal na rin ang huling one night stand ni Luca. It was with some random guy na nakilala niya sa beach party nung summer ng nakaraang taon. He already vowed to himself to never get attached with anyone else, even for some one night stands. Because of his bad experience from his last relationship, he promised to himself na ibuhos nalang niya ang oras niya sa sarili, sa trabaho at cycling.

Tumayo si Luca, napatingin kay Ryan na himbing na himbing ang tulog. He is cute. Napangiti siya ng hindi niya alam. Bakit hindi ko ' to napansin dati? Napatitig siya sa maamong mukha nito. Ngayon lang niya napansin ang magaganda at makakapal na pilik-mata nito. Parang anghel na natutulog si Ryan. He looked so angelic yet so sexy lying there, naked, with a mouth half-closed.

Luca shook his head to get rid of the thoughts that he did not want to have. Stop it! This will just break my heart. This will just be a one night stand and nothing more. He reminded himself for the final time.

Agad-agad na lumabas si Luca ng kwarto. He wrapped his lower body with a towel and went down to the kitchen. Uminom siya ng tubig at napatulala ng ilang minuto.

"Ang aga mo nagising."

Luca's heart jumped in surprise. He put the glass down on the table, his hands were slightly shaking. "Yes. Parang naiinitan ako," sabi niya. He could not look at Ryan straight in the eyes.

Ryan moved closer to Luca. "Ako nga rin eh."

Napatingin si Luca sa katawan ni Ryan habang papalit ito. Maganda ang katawan ni Ryan. Halatang pumupunta ito sa gym. He looked even hotter in his black boxer briefs. "Ryan." Napalunok siya sa nerbyos. "I'm sorry for what happened. I didn't mean..."

Ryan put a finger on Luca's mouth before he could finish his sentence. "It's fine. I enjoyed it." He smiled. "I like you Luca since that night I met you in the bar."

Umupo si Luca at napayuko. "Ryan," he said, almost inaudibly. "I can't. I'm sorry. I just can't."

"Luca, hindi naman kita pinipilit. But I just want you to know how I feel about you."

"We barely know each other Ryan. At ito pa yong nangyari sa atin. This is a perfect recipe for another heartache. Ayoko ko na masaktan ulit."

"Hindi naman problema yan ah. We can get to know each other more." Ryan sat beside Luca. He held his trembling hands. "Let's hang out more. Let's have more dates."

"I'm not ready for this. I will never be ready for this." Luca shook Ryan's hands off. "Hindi ganyan kadali Ryan and you won't understand what I mean." Ryan held his face and pulled his face closer. He attempted to kiss him. Luca pushed back. "Stop. This will be the first and last. I'm sorry." Agad siyang tumayo at tumakbong papasok sa banyo. He already locked the door before Ryan could follow in.

"Luca, buksan mo ang pinto. I'm sorry if nabigla kita." Malakas ang katok ni Ryan sa pinto.

Luca did not answer. Tumingin siya sa salamin. Hindi niya maipaliwanag ang kanyang nararamdaman. As much as he wanted to hate him, there was a little spark in his heart saying that Ryan deserved a chance. He liked him but he did not expect it would end up to this. He regretted letting him come over that night. He took a shower and stayed inside the bathroom for almost an hour. Paglabas ni Luca sa banyo, nasa labas na rin si Ryan, nakaupo sa sofa sa sala at nakabihis na.

"I'm leaving," Ryan said.

"Salamat sa pagpunta mo rito," Luca replied bluntly then went up straight to his room. He could hear a taxi pulling up outside, the gate opened and the taxi sped away.

For almost a week now, hindi na kumakain ng lunch si Luca sa pantry. He just ordered meals and ate them in his office. Iniiwasan niyang makita at makasabay si Ryan. However, Ryan kept sending him messages asking where he was and asking sorry for what happened. He did not reply to him even once. Pilit niyang iniiwas ang kanyang sarili sa pagkakahulog ng loob kay Ryan.

Luca was working on a report when Devon suddenly came into his office. "Kumusta ka na Luca? Parang ang busy mo everyday ah. Hindi na kita nakikita sa labas."

"Yes Devon. Sobrang busy ko for the past few days. Alam mo naman yan. Meron ka kayang access ng incoming orders natin."

"Pero sobra naman yang dedication mo. Kahit lunch break mo dito ka na rin kumakain."

"Time is gold. Maraming deadline to catch up."

"By the way, I'm here kasi may pinapasabi si boss sayo."

"Ano naman yon? Kakausap lang namin kanina sa phone."

"Emergency meeting daw."

Biglang nag-ring ang phone ni Luca. It was his boss. "Hello po sir."

"Luca, may emergency meeting tayo," sabi ng boss ni Luca. He spoke in his usual strict tone. "I asked Devon to tell you but I needed to call you to make sure napaabot nya ang message sayo."

"Actually, he's here po sa office ko ngayon at kakasabi lang din nya po sa kin na may emergency meeting."

"Very good. See you then sa conference room in 5 minutes." Binaba ng boss ang telepono.

Luca looked at Devon. "Okay, I have to go. Are you joining the meeting?"

"Yes. Wala kasi supervisor ko ngayon. Sinisipon daw so I have to attend for my team."

Agad pumunta sina Luca at Devon sa conference room. When they arrived, andon na lahat ng managers and supervisors from each department. Naupo sila ng magkatabi, malapit sa pintuan.

Tumayo ang boss nila. "Okay. I called you for an emergency meeting to address our issue with the large number of orders coming in recently. While I have not seen any problem in production, I noticed that our delivery finds it hard to keep up. Tambak ang delayed shipping natin and I have been receiving calls from our clients looking for their orders."

"Sir," Alyssa, the supervisor of the shipping department, said. "My team placed all shipping transactions promptly. However, nakikita ko na ang problema ay nasa courier natin. I understand we have been partnering with World Shippers for a long time, pero parang hindi na talaga nila kinaya ang dami ng orders natin ngayon."

"Tama ka Alyssa. You have been telling me that since two weeks ago. We will still keep World Shippers. But I am thinking of outsourcing another one. It won't be a permanent partnership. For now, para lang makatulong to get those pending shipments moving." Umupo yong boss. "I have actually found one already and that is exactly the reason why I called everybody here." He suddenly looked at the direction towards the door. "Nandyan ka na pala. I didn't notice. Come in." Everybody looked at who was there at the door. "Guys, let me introduce to you the manager of the logistics team of DBC Processes, Mr. Ryan Valdez."

Everybody smiled at Ryan as he came inside to join them. Tanging si Luca lang ang hindi tumingin sa kanya. Yumuko lang siya. He was staring at his shaking legs.

"Luca, yung Ryan mo oh," Devon whispered.

"Shut up," Luca answered, whispering too.