Game 2: If You Dare
“i have the perfect thing for you to do, mister rivera. kiss me.”
“wh-wh-whaat?! teka miss nadora, I think youre taking this too far,” sagot nito.
“okay. ill just go ahead and tell them what youre doing. i think ill start with karen,” bulalas ko, sabay talikod sa kanya. nakalimutan ko na hawak nya pala braso ko.
“hindi mo gagawin yun,” banta nito sakin. matulis ang mga mata nito.
“so you show whats under the mask. a conceited and arrogant guy. how will you stop me then, aver? sasaktan mo ako?”
kitang kita na wala syang maisip. mwahaha! akin ka ngayon! gagawin mo lahat ng gusto ko!
“think of it this way, mister rivera. if you do everything I say, mananahimik ako sa kalokohan mo.” at makukuha ko din ang material ko para sa story ko! “it wont take too much effort from you naman.”
“youre not leaving me any choice, are you.”
“you never had a choice.”
“okay okay. pagsisisihan mo to miss nadora.”
“yeah yeah, yada yada. cut the crap mister rivera. kiss me.”
“ill make you regret this, miss nadora,” sambit nya. humarap sya sakin at inilapit ang kanyang mukha. this it! my first romantic scene! mwahaha! tumigil sya saglit, nakatitig sa mga mata ko.
“youre really taking this calmly.”
“hahalik ka ba o sisikmuraan pa kita?”
bumuntong hininga na lang sya at nagpatuloy. unti unti nya ulit nilapit mukha nya, ang kamay na nakahawak aking braso bumababa. this is really it! excited kong pag iisip, his lips inches from mine, hand reached my hand–
“what the heck?! ang lamig mo! so its true what they say. para kang bampira sa lamig ng balat mo,” sabi nya ng maka kalas sya.
“…his lips inched closer to mine, while his hand found mine…” bulong ko sa sarili ko, hindi sya pinapansin. malapit na! a few more and ill get what I need!
“hey, are you even listening to me?”
“okay mister rivera, nice job so far. I think that’ll do malapit na matapos break.”
“aba–hey I thought you wanted me to kiss you, miss nadora?” tanong niya sakin. “duwag ka lang din pala.”
“we can do it some other time. right now we’ll need to work on the spread.” I turned to go out, when he suddenly pulled me.
“oh no you dont, miss nadora. you started this.”
“look mister rivera I told –ahh..wha–”
di ko na natapos pag protesta ko. my breath caught in my throat when his arms went around my waist, the other arm sa may batok ko. but the most uncomfortable feeling is when I tried to push him back. instead, napahawak lang ako sa chest nya. naramdaman ko init ng katawan nya, and my own ‘freezing’ body started to match his temperature. ganun pala un, isip ko.
I looked up at him and pop! goes my heart. his face was just a breath away from mine. my heartbeat became erratic, and I felt myself blush. well, I did want this. my eyes closed on their own, my body molding itself to his, at unti unting lumapit ang mga labi namin sa isat isa. I can feel his breath on my lips, and I let out a moan when I felt his lips lightly touch mine.
“oh my god..”
napalingon kami pareho sa boses. it was karen, dropped jawed and gaping at us.
————————-
shit shit shit! mura ko pagkapasok ko sa aking opisina. ano ba pumasok sa isip ko? you almost kissed her!
im aaron rivera, and as you have read ako ang biktima sa kwentong ito. im 28, graduate ng mass communication, took courses for photography, editing and design, and, unfortunately, single. well if I wasnt single hindi ko nmn kasi gagawin yung ginagawa ko ngayon. kamalas malasan pa at yung irish nadora pa na yun ang nakahuli sakin!
you might ask bakit ko ginagawa yun. im bored. bored as hell. our work is very routine, pooling dito, pooling doon, shoot dito shoot doon. nakakasawa. so naisipan kong maglaro. tapos na sana kay karen yun, dumating pa sya.
so here I am pacing up and down sa aking office, thinking of a way kung pano ko sya ma shshake off, ng may kumatok sabay bukas nito ng pinto.
“sir mister chambers is calling for a huddle. he wants all division managers and team leads there.”
“oh okay. thank you miss sommers, ill be along. I just need to get my scrapbook,” sagot ko ng may ngiti. ngumiti din naman sya at sinara na ang pinto. bumalik ako sa desk ko para kunin ang scrapbook ko ng matigilan ako. SOAB! naiwan ko sa boardroom sa kamamadali ko! at malamang nasa kanya na yun. shit! malas! soooobrang ma–
teka, bakit malas? I can use this against her! harharhar! tignan natin kung sino mas matibay satin miss nadora.
dumiretso na ako sa executive room, kung saan nagtawag ang boss namen ng huddle. andun na lahat ng kailangan nya, kaya lumapit ako sa kanya at binulong na nawawala ako scrapbook ko.
“sir that book is important. it contains all our layout ideas and samples of photographs for the spread,” paliwanag ko.
“hmm. okay let me handle it.” nilaksan ng briton ang boses nito. “alright everyone, before we begin I have to ask uf anyone has seen mister rivera’s booklet. it’s rather important for our publication you see, and id take it as a personal favor if anyone can find it.”
“uh, bos why dont we ask miss nadora here if she has seen it. I mean, we were in the boardroom with her team, so they might have seen it. also we csn ask everyone here to open their bags, if they have one with them, just to make sure.”
“yes, jolly right. well miss nadora?” tanong nito. “did you see anything?”
huli ka ngayon! kapansin pansin naman na ikaw lang ang may bag, at wala pang sampung minuto ng makuha mo iyon. hindi mo pa naitatago ang booklet. andyan pa ss bag mo! di bale na yung listahan ng mga pangalan, malulusutan ko iyon. huling huli ka ngayon!
“well mister chambers, I do have a, uh, scrapbook with me here. im just not sure if its mister rivera’s.”
what?! bakit inamin niya?
“well just to make sure, ill read some of the lines in the booklet for you mister rivera,” sabi nito.
‘i think **** is gay. he keeps on hounding my footsteps.’
‘**** is sooo vain, it irritates me.’
dun ko lang naalala. aside from the names in the booklet, may mga doodles din pala ako dun na di kaaya aya. namutla na lang ako at tumitig sa kanya. shit. panalo sya.
“well I dont think that’s you, right mister rivera?” ngisi nito sa akin na parang sinasabing ‘aking akin ka na ngayon’. leche ka basang basa ko isip mo!
“no thats not mine. well anyway, we’ll just look for it later, if you wsnt to help us miss nadora.” pilit kong pagpapakalma ss sarili ko.
“id be glad to help.” kulang na lang sayo sungay at buntot! bato ng isip ko sa kanya.
nagpatuloy ang huddle namen, at matapos ang isang oras magsisiuwian na kami. and like before, hinila ko ang braso nya bago pa man sya makalabas. humarap ito sa akin, naka ngisi pa din. iniabot nito ang booklet ko.
“you made copies.”
“lots of copies, mister rivera.”
“what do you want from me?! bakit ba ginugulo mo ako?”
“well, I told you. akin ka na. at gagawin mo lahat ng sasabihin ko sayo kung ayaw mo lumabas yung mga kopya ng booklet mo.”
demonyita. kampon ng kadiliman. yan ang mga gusto kong itawag sa kanya. lecheng babae! pero wala na akong magagawa kundi sundin sya kung ayaw ko masira reputasyon ko.
“okay. ano gusto mo ipagawa.”
“meet me after shift, sa parking lot, mga 5:30 would be good. ill tell you whats next there. and dont be late. I hate late people.”
“yes ma’am.”
and with that tali na ako sa demonyitang ito.
————————–
“youre almost late.”
“sorry naman, you know how busy arts div. is.”
“oo na. anyways, lets begin.”
“begin what?”
“ung serbisyo mo. tonto ka ba? well, hayaan mo na yun. rto ang gagawin mo. you will be teaching me everything about romance.”
“what!?”
“tatanggi ka?” pantataas ko sa kanya ng kilay.
“h-hindi. p-pero grabe naman yata yang gusto mo miss nadora! im not a gigolo, let alone a sex tutor!”
“did I say anything about sex? mister rivera, dont jump into conclusions.”
“well, what the hell do you mean then?”
“for starters, take me home.”
“dont you have a car?”
“meron, pero pinauna ko na si chris para ihatid yun sa place ko. that way you can take me home,” paliwanag ko. mwahaha! real romance! its a good thing naiwan nya ung scrapbook na iyon sa boardroom. now hes under my full control! mwahaha!
pero do I really want him to do this, isip ko habang bumabiyahe kame patungo sa bahay ko. I still cant explain how I reacted kanina sa boardroom. uncomfortable, pero medyo masarap. but, I have to do this. I need to prove na kaya ko din magsulat ng story with romance. humanda sila! nilabas ko ang laptop ko at nagsimula na sa storya.
an hour later at nasa bahay na kami. I packed my laptop, grabbed my bag and inalis ang seatbelt ko ready to go out. binuksan ko na pihto ng kotse nya nang,
“hey, hindi mo man lang ako imbitahin sa loob?
“bakit ko naman gagawin yon ha?”
“grabe. you ask someone a favor, ni hindi ka man lang mag tthank you.”
“whoever said that was a favor? but youre right, nakakahiya. so if you want you can come in and have coffee,” anyaya ko. “carry these for me.” sabay abot ko sa kanyw ng bag, laptop bag ko and some filetubes. mukhang kaya ko naman pala, isip ko. siguro nabigla lang ako kanina, kya ganun ako ngreact.
once inside pinaupo ko na sya sa settee sa living room at ng offer ng maiinom. he wanted a beer, so kumuha ako sa kitchen fridge and prepared some orange juice for myself. buti na lang at hindi ko hawak ang baso at beer nya, kung hindi basag pareho yun paglingon ko.
“bakit ka nangugulat?! pano kung nabasag ung baso at beer, nasugatan pa ako? loko loko! hala umuwi ka na nga!”
“you wanted me here, right? you said turuan kita about romance.”
“yes I did.”
“well then lets start,” he said habang papalapit sa akin.
“i-i’m not sure I follow you,” bulalas ko, medyo ninenerbyos na ako ah. “please, just go home mister rivera.”
“hey now. gagawin ko na nga ang gusto mo, tapos pauuwiin mo ako?”
I had my back to the sink, I had nowhere to go. I need to move, pero bakit parang ayaw gumalaw ng katawan ko? I blinked, at lalong nagulat nang sobrang lapit na nya sakin. oh shite! and I was in his arms.
“d-dont please…” again I tried pushing him away, but his arms were already around me. I saw his lips come closer, my knees getting weaker. “it’ll be rape if you force me..”
“i dont need to force you, miss nadora,” sabi nya. nilapit nya ang mga labi nya sa mga labi ko, at kusa nitong hinabol ang kanya. I let out a small moan of anticipation.
shite. tama sya. he wont need to force me because im giving in.
itutuloy po.