My Lovely Peril

My Lovely Peril (1)

"May kulang ba sa inyo na naiwan dito?.. Aanhin ang ulan sa paraiso?..."

Natanaw ko agad ang kaibigan kong sumasayaw sa muli kong pagpasok sa eroplano. Gumigiling giling pa ito habang tumutugtog mula sa phone niya ang 'Raining in Manila' ng Lola Amour.

"Sakaling madulas ay dati malapit ka.. ngayon walang kahati ng init 'pag maulan.. Sana naman tumigil na ang ulan..."

Binubuksan niya isa isa ang mga luggage compartment para i-check kung okay ba ang mga ito para sa susunod na flight.

Sumabay siya sa pagkanta habang patuloy pa ring umiindak, "Kumusta ka na? Kahit 'wag nang sagutin.. 'Diba ba nawala ang kintab ng butuin? Sana gano'n ka nga pa rin..."

"Huy!" panggugulat ko nang makalapit sa kanya.

Nagitla man siya ay agad niyang inalis ang gulat sa mukha at tumawa nang nakakaloko. Inihinto niya ang tugtog sa phone niya.

"Hey bro! Today is another day!" maganang bati sa'kin ni Dos.

"Yeah, another exhausting day." saad ko matapos abutin ang pakikipag-fist bump niya. Chineck ko naman ang mga seats kung wala bang dysfunctional na seatbelts at iniayos ang pagkaka-arrange nito para maganda tignan.

Kami kasi ng kaibigan ko ang assigned crew dito sa economy unit 1. Another day as a cabin crew. To be honest, I felt the same excitement as other flight attendants felt when they were new, but now, since 1 year and a half na ako sa ganitong trabaho, mas nararamdaman ko na ang pagod.

I graduated Accountancy but I also wanna travel the world kaya full-time ako sa airlines habang part-time accountant din. I guess this is life, minsan feeling happy, minsan feeling drained. But overall, as a flight attendant, masaya naman ako sa trabahong 'to.

"Sus! Wala ka lang love life kaya madali kang mapagod!" pang-aasar ng kaibigan ko.

"Ang yabang mo talaga! Porke engaged na kayo ni Sabelle?"

"Well, sa edad natin hindi na uso ang fling everywhere. Nasa engagement stage na tayo. Tamo ikaw, nawawalan ng gana sa buhay kasi single ka pa rin. Sayang kagwapuhan mo boi." saad niya sabay halakhak.

Sinamaan ko na lang siya ng tingin. Oo na! Ako na single! But I rather be single than be in a failed relationship or marriage. Eh ano ngayon kung mataas ang standards ko? I should be with someone who will knock me off my feet and I'm still on the verge of finding her.

"Oh.. Hi, girls."

Napalingon din ako sa mga paparating na binati ni Dos.

"Hi." halos sabay sabay na bati ng anim na babae na sa business class, first class, at economy unit 2 naka-assign. One of these girls is Dos' fiance Sabelle, the one with a bob-cut hair.

As expected, they are all beautiful. Airlines will always hire good-looking guys and gals as their flight crew.

"Hi, Archer."

Gaya ng lagi niyang ginagawa, kukunin na naman ni Jinieca ang atensyon ko. I know she likes me and she's so d*mn pretty. Sa lahat nga ng nakita kong flight attendant dito ay siya ang pinakamaganda. She had won a lot of pageants all over the country and almost every single guy is drolling over her.

"Hello." I greeted her with my sweetest smile.

"This plane will have a stop over in Singapore. Maybe we can have some Laksa and Kaya Toast? or some Satay instead?"

"Sure!"

Mas lumapad ang ngiti niya, "Okay, see you later. I'll just check the deck."

I just nodded while still wearing my smile.

That girl's perfect. She is an epitome of a goddess. Pero ang hindi ko maintindihan ay kung bakit hindi ko siya makita as a girlfriend or a future wife. You can't say that she's not a girlfriend material or whatsoever because she has it all. We've dated and I even kissed her a couple of times already, pero hanggang do'n lang. Laging hanggang do'n lang ang gusto ko sa kanya. I guess I'm really not yet ready for a committed relationship and settlement. But the million-dollar question is, until when will I be like this? It sucks to think that I'm getting old.

Ilang minuto pa ang lumipas at naihanda na namin ang lahat. Ready for passenger entry na siguro 'to.

"Ano Lead Archer, oksie na ba?" nakangising tanong ni Dos.

I deeply sighed, "Yes."

Pumwesto na sina Jinieca at Cecilia sa entrance ng plane para mag-welcome ng mga pasahero. Passengers started entering from the terminal gate by the boarding bridge one by one. We are expecting 350 passengers in this flight. We began assisting them with their carry-on baggages to put in compartments, and guided senior citizens and persons with disabilities to their respective seats.

"...Downtown, kinaladkad ang QC, kami may ari nito, 1103 Hev Abi, yung syota mo ginawa kong preso..."

Napalingon ako sa tugtog na parang mula sa isang pasahero na dumaan sa likod ko. Binalewala ko na lang dahil nawala naman agad. Baka ring tone lang ng isa sa kanila.

Nasa kalagitnaan kami ng pag-aasikaso sa mga pasahero nang kalabitin ako ni Dos.

"D*mn bro, look who's here." pabulong niyang sabi habang namimilog ang mata.

"Huh?"

"The girl at the left side seating near the aisle, third to the last row ng unit natin."

Agad na rumehistro ang tingin ko sa itinurong direksyon ni Dos. A tan-skinned girl wearing a green cap, silver-framed aviator eyeglasses, black tank top, khaki six pocket jogger pants, and black combat boots. Her hair's obviously rebonded for its peculiarly straight breast length cut. May white na airpods na nakapasak sa magkabilang tenga niya.

"What about the girl?" I asked confusedly.

"Dang! You can't remember her?"

I again looked at the girl. Yes, she looks familiar but I really can't remember where and when did I met her. I shook my head.

"She's the girl you hooked up with at the bar!"

"What? When?"

"The last time we hopped.. I think that's just three months ago."

Kinuha ng isang matandang lalaki ang atensyon ni Dos kung kaya't nagpasimple rin akong tumulong sa ibang mga pasahero sa mga seats at mga bagahe nila.

Maya-maya ay muli kong tinignan ang babae. She extended the tray table in front of her and grabbed some things from her backpack, a mirror and I think a contact lenses solution and case. She removed her cap and glasses and sanitized her hands, clearly for putting on the contacts.

That's when I recalled her. Tinatabunan lang pala ng malaki niyang salamin ang kabuuan ng mukha niya.

...

"Is it your first time?"

I just nooded.

She smiled, "Then you can practice with me."

...

Those were the words I heard from her in bed before we did it. Seeing her again, those words echoed through my head and deep in my soul. I bit my lower lip as I reminisced how luscious was hers. I never had hook ups before and I never wanna do it with anyone, but I don't understand why I did it with her. I am not ashamed that that was my first time, that she was my first touch in my 27 years of existence.

"Excuse me."

Nagising ako sa pagpapantasya nang magsalita ang pasaherong Amerikano. 'Di ko namalayang nakaharang pala ako sa isang seat row.

"Sorry, let me help you." saad ko habang kinukuha ang bagahe ng Amerikano para ipasok sa compartment.

"Thank you."

I again glanced at her, but quickly looked away when I caught her also starting at me. Geez! Baka naman hindi talaga siya sa'kin nakatingin. Baka nag-a-assume lang ako.

Lumipat ako sa katapat na row para i-check kuno ang mga seats ng mga nakaupong pasahero doon sabay sulyap ulit sa kanya. Iniwas ko ulit ang tingin ko dahil sa'kin pa rin siya nakatingin. So ako talaga ang tinitignan niya? Ang gwapo ko talaga...

"Arc, have you got her name?" bulong ni Dos na hindi ko alam kung saan nanggaling.

Napaisip ako, "N-No."

"What the f*ck, bro!"

Yeah, f*cking lame.. I haven't got her name pala. But how? The next morning when I woke up after that night, I was left alone in the room. She's gone and did not even left a note of her identity. Well, why would she? That's just another hook up for her anyway. Nonetheless, I'll shoot my shot in this plane now. But for the meantime, I'll call her Sweet Heart.

It's already 5:45 PM and the take-off should be at exactly 6 PM.

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen. On behalf of National Airlines, it is my pleasure to welcome you aboard Flight A357 with service from Los Angeles to Singapore and continuing service to Manila. We are currently third in line for take-off and are expected to be in the air in approximately 15 minutes time..." pag-ugong ng boses ni Sabelle coming out from the speakers.

Other flight crew girls prepared for the safety briefing. They eventually began to form their positions in the aisle for the demo.

"...We ask that you please fasten your seatbelts at this time and secure all baggage underneath your seat or in the overhead compartments. We also ask that your seats and table trays are in the upright position for take-off. Please turn off all personal electronic devices, including laptops and cellphones..."

Nakangangang isinarado ni Sweet Heart ang MacBook niya at isinara rin ang tray table sa harap pagkarinig sa announcement. Napangiti ako, that's good that you're not so stubborn, baby girl.

"...Smoking is prohibited for the duration of the flight. Thank you for choosing National Airlines. Enjoy your flight."

We hovered around the seats to check if seatbelts were properly worn. Before coming across her seat, I stared at her face. She's looking around as if she's trying to find something or someone. If you're looking for me, Sweet Heart, I'm coming now for you.

Eksaktong nakatingin siya sa likod when I tried clanging the edge of her seatbelt, but even before my hand reached it, she immediately caught my arm and held it tightly as if she's pinning a dangerous weapon.

"Just checking if your seatbelt's fastened, Ma'am."

She looked up at me and let go of my arm. She let out a sigh of relief.

"S-Sorry."

Naramdaman ko ang kaunting hapdi sa braso kong hinawakan niya. The reflex tho.. Kamag-anak yata siya ni Jackie Chan or maybe a trained martial artist. But why does she feel so much threatened? Hmmm...

I wore a reassuring smile, "Are you okay?" I asked her.

Tumitig siya sa'kin saglit bago ngumiti at sumagot, "Y-Yes."

"Just tell me if there's something wrong, Ma'am. I'll sort it out. Just relax and enjoy the flight."

She nodded but I could still sense the uneasiness on her face, "Thank you."

Sumandal siya sa upuan ngunit kita pa rin ang maya't mayang paglilibot ng paningin niya sa paligid. Ano kayang dahilan? Babalikan kita mamaya, Sweet Heart.

Unti-unti nang umikot ang eroplano sa runway. Nagsimula na ang safety briefing demo kaya't tumabi na ako.

"Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the crew, I ask that you please direct your attention as we review the emergency procedures..."

After the safety briefing, I looked around from the back of the passengers. No unusual activities as of the moment. Since we're in Los Angeles, California, 70% are foreigners, others are OFW, either heading to Singapore or Philippines.

The captain then had his own announcement before the plane finally took off. Everything's going well for the first three hours of the flight. Flight attendants are doing the usual routine of offering edibles at certain intervals and checking on travelers. Since passengers are allowed now to use their personal gadgets, they're now having their own leisure.

Tinignan ko ulit si Sweet Heart at sinilip mula sa likod ang pinagkakaabalahan niya sa MacBook niya. The whole screen is black but there are a lot of code-like bunch of numbers and letters in it, she's typing something periodically then it will again show codes that are impossible to be deciphered by an ordinary person. I hope that she's doing a task via the in-flight Wi-Fi because if not, it will interrupt the frequency of the plane function and security monitor. Though I desperately wanna know what she's doing, I just ignored it for the reason that I don't understand those technical sh*ts.

"...Downtown, kinaladkad ang QC, kami may ari nito, 1103 Hev Abi, yung syota mo ginawa kong preso..."

The unknown music again played and I don't know where it came from. I got curious but I won't know who the hell plays it as it will stop quickly once I try to look for it.

I walked pass her seat and planning to go at the lavatory when all lights suddenly turned off. It was of course, followed by the sound of shocked reactions from the passengers. The black out was then followed by emergency oxygen masks dropping off from the overhead chamber of each seat.

Oxygen masks are automatically being released at an altitude of 14,000 feet. The captain made an announcement a while back about this, but with all lights turning off? This is very unusual.

"Bro." pagtawag ni Dos sa pangalan ko habang hawak ang isang flashlight.

"Anong nangyayari?" bulong ko nang makalapit siya.

"Hindi ko rin alam. Mukhang nawalan yata ng kuryente, hindi nagbayad ang eroplano natin kaya naputulan."

Binatukan ko ang loko. May nangyayari na ngang potential emergency, nagagawa pang magbiro.

"Stay calm, everyone. We still have an emergency generator to keep us going. Rest assured we'll get into a fastest resolution to get back to its normal run." anunsyo ko sa unit namin na sigurado akong nasabi na rin sa ibang units.

I quickly walked towards the deck. Hawak ang kanya kanyang flashlight ay chini-check na nina Captain Morales at First Officer Domingo ang status ng power ng eroplano.

"We've lost the full power source. As of the moment, we're only using the battery to keep the engines running that can only last for a limited time." saad ni First Officer nang makita ako sa loob ng deck.

"May magagawa po ba tayo so far? Ano pong cause?"

"Tsk. Ayun na nga Archer eh. Hindi namin matukoy. Maayos naman lahat na na-check kanina. Bakit naging ganito bigla? Dito pa talaga sa gitna ng karagatan." Captain said while slightly shaking his head. He again sat down at the cockpit and contacted the emergency team to inform them the current situation.

Bilang lead cabin crew, nagpunta ulit ako sa cabin para tulungan si Dos na pakalmahin ang mga pasahero. Naabutan ko siyang tinutulungan silang gumamit ng oxygen mask.

"Hey! Is this a technical problem?" dinig kong sigaw ng isang babaeng may pamilyar na boses sa bandang dulo.

I pointed the flashlight near the voice and slowly approached.

"Did you already figure out the issue?"

Si Sweet Heart pala. Nagpa-panic ba siya? Parang hindi naman.

"We're still working on it, Ma'am."

"You're not answering my question, do you already know what's causing the problem?"

Hindi ko siya masagot. Ayoko ko kasing magdulot ng panic sa mga tao.

"I'm a technical expert. Maybe I can help." agad niyang dugtong sabay tayo mula sa kinauupuan niya.

"Ma'am, we understand that you want to settle this quickly. But please relax and let us deal with it for once." singit ni Dos mula sa likod ko.

"Are you demeaning what I can do?"

Though it's dark, I know I have the same reaction as Dos. So are we going to argue with her at this time?

"Okay, I'll just sit here and let this plane crash. I'm not afraid to die anyway." she again sat down.

Halatang nilakasan niya ang boses niya para marinig din ng iba.

"Let her help, fools!" sigaw ng isang babaeng sa accent ay parang Amerikana.

Almost all passengers followed into a protest to let my Sweet Heart help. Smells like chaos if we don't let her check the systems.

Our light showed half of her face and I saw her smiling mischievously.

"Let's go to the deck, Ma'am."

She grinned more and grabbed her MacBook before standing up to follow me. I introduced her to Captain and First Officer as an aeronautics technical expert for them not to doubt her abilities. Yeah, I introduced her without a name, I forgot again to ask her name!

"Thank you for the nice introduction." bulong niya sa tenga ko bago tuluyang magpunta sa cockpit.

Naramdaman kong tumaas ang mga balahibo ko sa batok. This girl's giving me chills all over. Bulong niya palang 'yan at hindi ako lasing.

She plugged in a mini port-like device to her MacBook and connected the port to one of the wires installed in the control system. There goes again the bunch of codes running on the black screen. It's dizzying to watch that screen, so I just looked at the cockpit windows, even though I'll only see the pitch-black night sky.

We're almost not breathing as we wait for her to finish. She's doing her thing vehemently as if she expects technical errors to always happen and be fixed by her. In less than 30 minutes, all powers activated in a contagious manner.

Sinilip ko ang cabin at naabutan ang mga pasaherong pumapalakpak sa saya dahil sa pagbalik ng kuryente. Bumalik ako sa loob ng deck at isinarado ang pinto nito.

"What's your name, miss?" tanong ni First Officer.

"I'm Faye."

'Di pa sinabi ang surname eh. Apelyido ko na lang.. 'Faye Dela Peña'... Perfecto!

"T-Thank you, Ms. Faye. But what had caused the power outage?" seeing Captain's face, he's definitely amazed.

She blinked, seems like trying to find the words to say, "Just.. a grid overload. The power will surely last until we reach Singapore. I'll just leave my devices here. This plane needs a check after landing."

"Salamat ulit." nakangiting saad ni First Officer.

"No worries. I'll go ahead. Just call me if you need some help." sagot naman ni Faye sabay bow at lakad paalis sa deck.

"Pa'no niya na-resolve ang grid overload sa ganito lang? Weird but amazing." Captain blurted when Faye was out of the deck.

First Officer puzzledly stared at the MacBook's screen, "I'm also wondering, Captain. Seems impossible, but at least, it's settled now."

I again went out of the deck. My sweet heart is on her seat now. She looks so tense but I can also sense that she's trying to relax herself while doing something on her iPhone. I walked on the aisle to counter-check the passengers' condition. It's good that everything's fine now.

Before I got past her seat, she raised her hand to call my attention.

"Ginger ale soda, please." she said and handed me a small piece of paper. Hmm.. what is this for? Instructions?

"Coming right up!"

I stopped walking when I read what was written on the paper.

'7500.'

This is a distress code for plane hijacking. I quickly turned around to look at her again. She's just blankly starring at me. So what am I gonna do now? Am I suppose to let the pilot know? Not a good idea.

Pumasok ako sa Galley at kumuha ng ginger ale soda sa fridge. Naghanap ako ng ballpen at sinulatan naman ang likod ng papel na iniabot niya sa'kin.

'It has been reported. You don't need to worry.'

Dumeretso ako sa kanya sa muli kong pagpunta sa cabin. Magkasabay kong iniabot ang soda at papel.

"Anything else, Ma'am?"

"I'm good for now. Thank you."

Tumango ako bago naglakad palayo. This time ay pupunta ako sa Unit 2. Kita ko pang binasa niya ang isinulat ko sa papel, pagkatapos ay ipinihit ang katawan para tumingin sa'kin sa likuran niya. Ngumiti ako at kumindat. Agad lang din siyang umayos ng puwesto. Pshhh.. sungit naman...

I was greeted with smiles from the attendant girls assigned in Unit 2. I headed to Jinieca, who, of ourse, had the widest smile upon seeing me.

"Wazzup?"

"I'm doing great."

Akala niya yata siya ang kinukumusta ko. I'm referring to the unit's condition.

"I mean, how's the unit?"

Nawala ang ngiti niya't parang medyo napahiya. Sorry, I didn't mean to, darling.

"Ah.. okay naman. Hindi naman masyadong matagal ang power outage kaya hindi kami nahirapan. Ano nga palang nangyari kanina? Bakit ang bilis naman yatang bumalik?"

I let out a smirk. Pretending not to know anything, huh? Pretty convincing, babe.

"Grid overload. A girl from our unit saved the day."

"T-The girl? Oh.. That's awesome! She really is a clever chic."

"Do you know her?"

"N-No! I haven't even seen her! I mean, she's r-really clever since she quickly resolved the issue."

I just smiled and nodded. Okay then, just continue doing your best.

Tatalikod na sana ako para bumalik nang may maalala.

"Jinieca?"

"Yes?"

"I really wanna spend time with you in Singapore, but I also need to check the plane status because of what happened a while ago."

Bitterness got plastered on her face, "That's okay. We can do it next time." she let out a fake smile.

"Yeah, of course. I promise."

Hours had passed and everything's going well. We've reached Singapore Changi Airport after almost 18 hours of flight from L.A. Passengers exited the plane, some will just roam around the country for the 3-hour stop while some concluded their flight as Singapore's their final destination. My crewmates then followed and left.

Faye carefully unplugged her devices from the deck's control system as the airport's technicians checked the plane's overall state while being refuelled. She went back to her seat and hurriedly examined something on her MacBook. Her fingers are hastily typing as if it's timed or someone's chasing her.

I slowly walked on the aisle and sat on the seat parallel to her row. No other people in the cabin, just the two of us.

"How do you know that the plane was attemptedly hijacked?" I asked in the middle of keyboard clacks.

The noise stopped then continued again after a few seconds.

"Because I'm an IT expert?"

"Like, is that even under your scope?"

"Would you like me to explain further how the system showed it to me? Well, sorry, I will not waste my time and energy because you'll not understand the technical logic of that anyway."

Ouch! Why are you so mean to me now, baby? I know, I won't understand the technicalities, but it hurts to be belittled by you.

She looked up and scanned her surroundings.

"Will there be police or military officers to counter-check this plane? Other passengers left and I'm not seeing an investigation going on."

I smiled, "They will.. but not at this time."

"What? You said you reported it!"

"That's not how it goes. You'll not understand the logic of plane protocol for emergencies."

"Of course! 'Coz what's the logic of letting out all the passengers when someone attempted to h****k the plane? What if they do something worse outside? Or what if they try to escape? Authorities will find it more difficult to pin them down!" Tumataas na ang boses niya at natatakot akong marinig nina Captain, First Officer, at ng mga technicians ang pinag-uusapan namin.

"Sshhh.. Calm down... We've arrived safely in Singapore. If someone really has the goal of hijacking the plane, do you think we'll reach our first stop without any harm? I don't think so. Or more likely, they aborted the hijacking when they realized that there's a pretty, brave, and brilliant girl who can snag their mission." I let out my cutest smile as she looked at me.

She maintained her poker face while sharply looking at my face. Ito lang yata ang babaeng hindi nahahawa o kinikilig sa mga ngiti ko. No'ng makita ko siya sa bar noon, may kakaiba sa mga tingin niya. Hindi siya kagaya ng ibang mga babaeng nakilala ko. Hindi ko maipaliwanag pero ang pagkaakit sa kanya ay isang bagay na hindi temporaryo. Paulit ulit siyang hahanapin ng sistema mo.

"What's your full name?"

Bahagya akong nagulat sa bigla niyang pagtatanong ng pangalan ko.

"Gregory Archer Dela Peña."

"Including your middle name, please."

"Gregory Archer Marquez Dela Peña."

Mabilis ulit siyang nag-type sa MacBook niya. Nang silipin ko ito ay black screen pa rin ngunit parang nandoon yata lahat ng personal records ko at may mga natanaw pa akong previous jobs na pinagtrabahuhan ko noon. Agad niyang iniiwas ang screen sa paningin ko.

"Are you going to add or follow me on my socials? That would be a good start." I said while smirking.

"Nope. Just checking if you're one of the hijackers, an ally, or a different kind of security threat."

Me? A hijacker? Sa gwapo kong 'to? Oh my goodness gracious! I think, I'll pass out...

"Good thing you're just an ordinary citizen."

Sakit mo talaga magsalita, beh.

"Is your device really designed to track those kinds of information?"

"None of your business."

"Okay, I'll shut my mouth then. I'm just an ordinary citizen." I assented and smiled.

I stood up to check the update with the technicians regarding this plane's condition, but before I even pass the 5th row from her, she called me by my childhood nickname.

"Greg!"

I smiled and slowly turned to her, "Yes?" my babe?

"Do you have an iced matcha latte here?"

"Yes, I'll make one for you."

"Thanks!" she simply said then proceed again with doing something on her MacBook.

After giving her the request, she again requested for a tuna roll. I noticed that everytime I'll attempt to go far from her, she'll demand for something, request after request. I decided to just sit adjacent to her row. Seems like she misses me every d*mn time and though I'm getting tired of granting her requests, I'm enjoying it.

I sat still and waited for another demand but haven't heard from her for almost 10 minutes now. What if I try to walk away again? Hmmm...

I stood up and walked on the aisle again. I really walked slowly on purpose. I was about to reach the first class unit when she called me again.

"Greg." this time, she called my name in a flat monotone voice.

I again went near her and waited for a new request.

"Are you a CPA?"

I was a bit surprised by the question, "Yup." I again sat on where I was sitting a while ago.

"Then you must be earning a lot as a public accountant."

I chortled, "You might be wondering what brought me into being a flight attendant, do you?"

She nodded slowly.

"Well, the answer is simple. I wanna socialize, travel the world, and be happy."

"That's it?"

"The problem with this society is it expects too much from its people while it can't offer that much."

Her forehead creased because of confusion.

"It's always the prestige.. It's always demanding you to become someone upper hand. But what if.. I wanna do something that's out of the standard but it makes me happy? Why is this society fettering us to be genuinely happy?"

It seems like she's not stunned by what I said. She held her poker face for seconds before breaking up a chuckle.

"Is this another case of forced profession? By whom? Your mom or your dad?" she said while trying to hold her laugh.

Grabe na talaga siya. Kung hindi ko lang 'to nakitaan ng pag-aalala kanina, pinagkamalan ko na 'tong psychopath.

"Yeah, I guess you're part of this society. Easy to laugh at people's pain when you haven't been there."

She stopped laughing and wore again her poker face for a moment.

"Not everything you see in this society is real. Someone might react differently just to fool you. You should learn that." she again seriously directed her attention to her MacBook.

Napakurap ako ng ilang beses sa sinabi niya. Pero anong ibig sabihin no'n? Na hindi totoong tinatawanan niya 'ko? Na niloloko niya 'ko?

"Jesus!" muntik na 'kong atakihin nang makitang nakatayo si Dos sa gitna ng aisle at nagpapalit palit ng tingin sa aming dalawa ni Faye.

"Wow.. that's a godly reaction..." sarkastikong saad ni Dos.

I abruptly stood up, "K-Kanina ka pa ba diyan?"

"Kararating ko lang, as in ngayon lang talaga. May gano'n ka palang hugot sa buhay ah?"

"Chismoso! Alis!" wika ko sabay pihit sa katawan niya at tulak.

"Ayaw mo ba 'kong pagtrabahuhin? 1 hour na lang before the flight oh!"

"Ha?" napatingin ako sa relo ko at kay Faye na ngayon ay focus na sa kung ano mang kanina niya pa ginagawa. Parang 'di niya kami naririnig.

"Kitams? May kasama lang na chics 'di na alam 'yung oras..."

Tinulak ko ulit siya para tumabi sa dadaanan ko papunta sa deck. Mukhang patapos na rin sila sa pag-che-check ng system. Alam kong medyo naguguluhan sila dahil natuklasan nilang hindi grid overload ang sanhi ng power outage kanina. But yeah.. better to leave them clueless.