When Love Was Found In Bicol (WLD)

Sixteen

Chapter 16: Innocence

Zac

Hindi ko na talaga alam kung ano ang nangyayari sa sarili ko. I should be thankful but damn, the demon in me is making me feel otherwise. I just couldn't contain my anger when I saw them with such distance. It was petty. But damn, even I couldn't understand myself! Why does that man always makes me feel so... insecure?!

My jaw clench. I look at mah babe at the counter but she wasn't there. My brows furrowed before I roam my eyes around to find her but regretted it immediately. She was with that... man. Talking and laughing like they know each other for so long.

Gaano na ba sila katagal magkakilala? Well, babe said since she started working here pero hindi niya naman sinabi kung kailan yun. But then, why am I so bothered about it? That I cannot answer!

"Gusto mo pilinuts?" I came out from my reverie when I heard her sweet voice. We just got out from the eatery after a long day of work when she looked at me to ask. I was literally spacing out after what happened earlier.

"Madadaanan natin yung store, and I'm thinking of buying one for lola." She added with eyes so innocent and young. That jumpy thing inside my chest started it's painful beat again. Since when did I find innocence hot?

"Ikaw bahala." I said, in a voice so low. I drifted my eyes away from her because I needed to. The more my eyes linger on her attractiveness, the more my heart would aggressively beat. I don't even know why my heart pumps this way when it comes to her. Am I nervous? Afraid? What is this foreign feeling that she's making me feel?

Kagaya ng sinabi niya ay bumili nga kami ng pilinuts sa store na binibilhan niya. She bought two for me and yaya and right after, we continued our walk to get ourselves some vehicle.

Sa tricycle, pilit ko man iniiwas, palagi kong natatagpuan ang sarili kong nakatitig sakanya. Unlike earlier, ako yung nasa loob at siya yung sa may pasukan kaya malaya akong titigan siya ng hindi niya nalalaman. The sky was colored orange and it served as an effect for my perfect view. She was staring outside with sleepy eyes and pouting lips. Lashes defined at her every blink and thick brows down that justified her innocence.

I always see her as someone that's oblivious of what this world really holds. Even in her solitude for the past years, she seems so naive of the cruelty of this world. She's the type of girl that you don't want to hurt nor see crying. Like a fragile figurine that needs to be kept and protected. And that's the thing that attracts me most about her. I always wanted girls that's wild and carefree but Jolaizza is a damn exemption. Her innocence is killing me!

"Salamat, ija." Ani yaya ng maibigay sakanya ang pilinut pagkauwi namin. Pagod akong naupo sa tabi neto at tinitigan si babe na siyang dumiretso sa kwarto niya kagaya ng palagi niyang ginagawa kapag umuuwi. Now that I think of it, paano niya kayang nagagawang magtrabaho pa dito sa bahay pagkatapos ng nakakapagod na pagtatrabaho sa karinderyang yun?

"Kamusta ang unang araw sa trabaho, Zac? Nag-enjoy ka ba?" Mula sa pintuan ng kwarto nina babe ay bumaling ako kay yaya dahil sa tanong niya. She had that smile that she often used on me since she became my nanny.

I sighed before I answered her question, "Honestly, I thought it's going to be easy, yaya. Dahil kapag nakikita ko naman si bab-- I mean, si Jolaizza, parang ang dali dali lang sakanya. But I was wrong." Halos bulong na lang ang ginawa ko sa huling mga salita.

Napaisip ako sa sinabi at wala sa sariling muling bumaling sa pintuan ng kwarto nina babe. When I agreed to work in the eatery, I really thought that it's not going to be that hard. I thought that babe can handle it smoothly, than I could also. But my day in there was not that smooth. Infact, I find it so rough. Hindi ko alam kung dahil ba yun sa baguhan ako o dahil sa... nangyari kanina.