Seduce the Gambler (PUBLISHED) ✔️

Page 11 - The Decision is Always on You

Page 11 – The Decision is Always on You

I WAS walking behind Zenair wearing one of his black robe na hanggang tuhod habang pinapanuod siyang makipag-interact sa mga kalahok ng sugalan.

His shoulders were really wide and he looked so comfortable and self-assured. A dependable and successful businessman part-time gambler. His world revolves around money and the thrill of making it.

Malagkit ang tingin sa akin ng mga lalaki marahil iniisip kung anong mayroon sa akin, sa katawan ko, at ako ang pinipili ng Boss na ikama. Inggit ang nangingibabaw sa mga babae. Halatang gusto nilang malagay sa posisyon ko.

Tinanong ko si Zenair noon kung bakit ako. Bakit nga ba ako? Maiksi lang ang naging sagot niya, “A woman like you is rare.”

Tatanungin ko sana kung paano ako naging rare samantalang I'm pretty much average subalit may biglang dumating na importanteng bisita. From then on except right now, parati kong nakakalimutan. Wala naman sa lugar kung ngayon ako magtatanong. Bukas na lang siguro pagkatapos nitong event.

Live in the moment, ika nga, and I would freaking live this thrilling, risky moment. Hindi pa man ako nagsusugal, dahil napapalibutan ako ng mga taong nagpupustahan, nahahawa na rin ako ng nararamdaman nilang galak at pagkasabik na manalo. All of us were connected by gambling. At a certain level, we understand why we do these things.

Kaya bihira rito ang siraan. Even those women looking at me before with envy on their eyes were not probably talking nasty things about me behind my back.

Because they could relate. They have an idea why. They don’t get to judge when they’re not that different. When you've seen a lot of darkness in your life and learned from them, most likely, you end up open-minded.

Saglit na nahinto ang aktibidad ng karamihan nang may pumasok na taong balot ng isang itim na cloak mula ulo hanggang paa. Maliban sa hood ng cloak, may plain na puting maskara rin na tumatabon sa mukha niya. Of all gamblers, this person is the only one who’s intentionally hiding his or her identity. Simula nang naging magsusugal siya rito sa Bet & Fight, wala pa ring nakakatalo sa kaniya.

Wala pang nakakatalo kay Undefeated.

Lumapit si Undefeated sa pwesto namin ni Zenair. I couldn’t believe this. Tanda ko dati hinahabol ko siya sa pag-asang papayag siyang makipagpustahan sa akin. But now, Undefeated was coming towards my direction, most likely to greet Zenair but nevertheless, dahil sa ugnayan ko sa may-ari, I would be a foot distance away from the infamous gambler!

Nakatuon ang attensyon ni Zenair dito habang papalapit. From his side, I could notice Zenair was slightly frowning, he asked, “Where's your communicator?”

Undefeated doesn’t speak. Gumagamit siya ng sign language para makipag-interact, at usually, may kasama siyang interpreter. Undefeated's eyes were covered in shadows because of the hood nang ito'y sumagot, “On a vacation.” Zenair looked slightly surprised. Maging ako, na-sorpresa rin. I just heard Undefeated speak! May voice distorter nga lang kaya wala pa ring clue kung siya ay babae o lalaki. Napahinga ng malalim si Zenair at kinuha ang cellphone. Saglit ko lang nasilip ngunit nakita ko pa ring maraming missed calls.

“So that’s why he keep on bothering me today.”

Natawa si Undefeated. The sounds of that laughter was really weird because of the voice distorter. Para kaming nakikipag-usap sa isang humanoid robot.