Undercover Cinderella

CHAPTER 4

What I meant about see you around the city is that I will find out where Gotti might be and pretend that I'm seeing him again in fate.

Cliché, yes, but that's the only way I can get close to him.

Hinintay ko muna ang tyempo ko bago pumasok sa Starbucks. At the corner of my eye, I see Gotti sipping on his cup of coffee while browsing on his laptop. Nagorder ako ng java chip, venti size. So habang maghihintay na tawagin yung pangalan ko para i-claim yung order, pa-as if akong nag-scan ng bakanteng table for myself.

And bingo! Just as I expected, I see Gotti waving his hand at me with a slightly shocked face. I made a shock face, too.

"Oh my God, you're here!" Lumapit kaagad ako sa kaniya at umupo sa tapat niya. "What a coincidence?"

Tumawa siya at sinarado ang laptop niya. "Oo nga. I'm surprised to see you standing there."

"Anong ginagawa mo dito? You work nearby?" tanong ko para mapalalim ang usapan namin.

"Trisha? Trisha's order?" A crew from the counter started to call someone's order.

"Day off ko ngayon. Well, supposedly I can't have day offs but he insisted to give me a rest day. So I spent my rest day enjoying the things I still have not tried in my entire life."

Bahagya kong itinaas ang kilay ko at tumango-tango.

Well, that's new. Gambino can't live without his excellent assistant that can protect him at all cost because first, he's a huge guy and probably been training for years, kaya magaling sa combat. I wonder what Gambino's doing right now.

"What else haven't you done ba? Maybe I can, you know, join you."

"Wala kang gagawin ngayong araw?" gulat pang tugon niya.

Without any hesitations, tumango ako. "Yeah. Aside sa iinom lang ng kape today, vacant ko na the rest of the day today."

Ngumiti si Gotti at tumango. He agreed.

And I started to panic.

What if he'll f**k me? Have he done it with someone? Kasi diba he said he will do the things he haven't done from his entire life. What if he's still a virgin?

Oh my coochie meow meow.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧ ♕ *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧ ♕ *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧ ♕ *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧ ♕ *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Malibog lang siguro ako ngayong araw kaya naisip ko lahat ng 'yon kanina. Turns out, Gotti wasn't that kind of a guy. And I have to stop thinking about being f****d, because that's the least that I do aside from holding a gun and sneaking someone's information or houses.

We went to the arcade right after we finished our coffee. We went to a friendly-date lunch together at a fastfood restaurant--he said he haven't tried fastfood before. And then at the afternoon we went to a carnival and tried some of their rides. We tried the sea dragon and I was f****d up; I almost p**e my breakfast, my coffee, and my lunch.

"Hindi na ako sasakay do'n!" mangiyak-iyak na sabi ko matapos ang pangatlong rides. Pangatlong reklamo ko na rin 'yon. We've tried sea dragon, the ufo and this recent ride, is the rollercoaster.

How ironic that I can hurt people but couldn't bear to hurt myself with just riding the carnival rides.

"Save your stomach, Ella. Do'n naman tayo!" Natatawang hinila ni Gotti ang kamay ko at kinaladkad ako.

A k******e. Of all the rides na nasubukan namin, I think dito ako tuluyang susuka.

It's a huge fuckin ride. It would literally kill your soul. Yung direction niya ay yung same lang sa sea dragon. But the difference is, sea dragon is swinging you up and down while k******e will swing you sideways--and maybe round-ways?

"John," I called out his name. "Gusto mo pang mabuhay 'di ba?"

Humagalpak ng tawa si Gotti. "Sige na, please. Libre ko naman, e."

Well, technically, he pays almost everything today. From the lunch up to here.

"Ikaw nalang muna mag-isa. I'm good."

"Bibilhan kita ng kahit anong gusto mo basta samahan mo 'ko."

"Kahit pa ibili mo 'ko ng isang buong condominium, no, hindi ako sasama."

"Deal."

Awtomatik akong nagulat sa pagsabi niya ng deal. It wasn't my intention, though, it was a good idea.

"Gaga ka. Hindi na. Ayaw ko. Period. Dito lang ako, vivideohan kita."

"Please?"

So what do you expect that happen next? I went riding a k******e with him. Buong rides ay puro sigaw, mura, at pikit ng mata lang ang ginawa ko habang paulit-ulit na nagdarasal na sana hindi 'to masira. Or hindi matanggal itong safety belt at lock namin. At sana hindi ako malipad kundi mamamatay ako dito.

After all the Carnival rides and traumas, nagpalipas kami ng oras sa sasakyan niya para magpahinga. Since I purposely left my bike on the parking lot sa condo nila Mandy, I guess he will have a heart na ihatid ako and that's how I'll make things easy for my mission.

"Nga pala," panimula ni Gotti matapos ang sampung minutong pananahimik namin. Sa tingin ko'y natrauma rin siya sa last na ride namin, e. "Since wala kang dalang motor mo, saan ba kita ihahatid mamaya?"

Binggo!

"Sa Warren Condos."

"Seryoso ka?" paninigurado niya.

I scratched my chin to think. And s**t, I just gave Mandy's home address

"Actually, nakitira lang ako sa ngayon. Napalayas kasi ako sa 'min and I need to save muna para sa bagong lilipatan ko so I end up living with my cousin for a month."

"So saan ka na after a month?"

"I don't know. Maybe I'll find a cozy apartment muna near my work lang."

"What's your work?"

OH s**t.

Heto na nga ba ang kinatatakutan ko. Hindi ko 'to na rehearse, geeze.

"Sa..." Hindi ko alam kung anong isasagot ko. Hindi ko rin naman pwedeng sabihin na isa akong agent sa ACEA kasi magmumukha akong bobo n'yan. "Uhm... I work as a freelancer!"

Nagulat pa siya sa biglaan kong pagtaas ng boses.

"Oh, you mean you own your workhours?"

"Yes. So nakikipagusap lang ako ng mga client from different countries and tada, dollars."

Humagikgik kami pareho at sinimulan na niyang paandarin ang kaniyang sasakyan.

"Where do you want to eat?" He asked me. "Ikaw na this time. Satisfied na ako sa mga nagawa ko ngayon."

Ngumiti ako. Since gabi naman and probably crowded sa downtown, sumagot ako. "Streetfood!"