A Deferred Asset

Chapter 13

I stared at him. He stared back at me.

Muling lumakas ang asaran nila na parang hindi na matigil dahil sa sagot ni Uriel sa tanong ni Ishaani. Casual siyang sumagot na parang wala lang sa kanya iyon, pero iba na ang tibok ng puso ko dahil sa sinabi niya. But this is not the first time I heard it. From the guys of my past, they've been telling me the same thing, but in the end, they just ended up hurting me.

Yet, Uriel's stares are hypnotising. Parang kinukuha niya ang loob ko dahil sa paraan ng pagtingin niya sa akin at pawang hindi ako makatakas sa tingin niya. And as we played the staring game for a few minutes, my heart raced a beat as he locked me with his eyes.

"Masyado ng nag-uusap ang inyong mga mata, baka saan na yan aabot." Biglang sabi ni Juno at agad akong umiwas ng tingin.

"Ang epal mo naman Jumar." Reklamo ni Ishaani gamit ang totoong pangalan ni Juno. "Kung naiinggit ka, makigtitigab ka sa jowa mo, nakikialam ka pa ng ibang lovelife."

"No thanks, baka sapakin ko pa iyan." Sadistang batid ni Kaye.

"Inlove na inlove eh." Tawa ni Juno at nasapak nga siya ni Kaye.

Napailing nalang ako sa kalokohan nila at nagpatuloy sa pagkain. Ngunit ang lima, hindi pa rin matigil sa kakaasar sa amin, kesyo daw bagay kami and such. But, sorry I'm no longer in for words and physical appearance.

Well, Uriel is charming though. Actually he's different from those guys whom I found attractive. Moreno siya at may katamtamang tangkad, kung saan masasabi kong magkasing-tangkad lang kaming dalawa. Medyo singkit siya at may charisma. Matalino rin, gentleman, and hardworking. No wonder if there are a lot of girls who are drooling for him since then until now.

"Manahimik na nga kayo, wala rin kayong mapapala." Tugon ko matapos hindi sila matigil sa kakadada tungkol sa amin ni Uriel.

"Ang choosy mo naman." Batid ni Xadrielle.

"Ikaw ba naman kasi ang nasaktan ng paulit-ulit, hindi ka ba mapapagod magmahal." Sambit ni Deachy bilang pagtanggol sa akin.

"Wow deep." Nonsense na sabi ni Ishaani at tumawa lang ako ng mahina.

The night ended well except for the fact that they kept on teasing us. They even pushed Uriel and I inside the photobooth to get some printed pictures together and they even posted a photo of us in Facebook, na isang sign na hindi talaga sila titigil sa kakaasar.

"Parang mga bata." Sabi ko sa sarili ko matapos makita ang pinost nilang mga litrato mula kagabi.

Hindi lang litrato namin ni Uriel ang in-upload nila. Kasama na rin ang mga group pictures namin before, during, and after the event. May mga picture pa nga kami kasama ang mga digital characters which is the very highlight of the event, kung saan ang DZ lamang ang kinaunahang gumawa no'n dito sa bansa.

And just as expected, no. 1 trending ang DZ Night dahil sa mga digital characters. It was featured on local tv news and even reported on international news. It was trending in Twitter since last night and everyone wished to witness a digital characters in person just like what we had.

Scrolling on my news feed in Facebook, I saw the oage of the company. Nag-upload rin sila ng mga pictures kagabi at una kong nakita ang pictures ng mga employees from the so-called red carpet.

DZ Group of Companies held it's third-year anniversary with a theme : "For wonder years that never ceased."

In Photos: DZGC's employees along with the sub-companies' employees, on their cosplay outfit in commemoration of Chasing Zen's 10th Birthday.