Diane’s P.O.V.
“No, it’s not me. My real name starts with the letter C, so it should be C and not K!” Karen waved her hands to disagree, but her tone wasn’t complaining. Mukhang tanggap naman niya ang kasalukuyang nangyayari. “Should we sleep now? Maaga pa tayong gigising bukas!”
“Sorry, Karen… the night is still young and please lang, ‘wag kang kj diyan! I didn’t know your real name, so K ang nilagay ko sa roulette. Had I known, C ang ilalagay ko. So, whether you liked it or not, you’re the K to whom Chef Sam will dedicate his pickup lines to,” Xielo rebutted to Karen before diverting her attention to Samuel.
“Go, Chef! Make us all proud! Sana lang ay hindi kayo tuluyang mag-away mamaya,” natatawang sigaw ni Xielo, na may pa-fighting sign pa.
“Hmm… hindi ako magaling sa pickup lin
Diane’s P.O.V.Above all, I couldn’t blame Barbie because she was right. The way Samuel looked at Karen with concern in his eyes and how he delivered those words while tenderly holding her hands—showed me that it wasn’t just a simple pickup line.There was something more to it because I could feel how it naturally came from his heart. Karen was also lost for a few minutes of staring at his green eyes before she decided to pull her hands away from Sam.“Ano bang ka-corny-han ang mga pinagsasasabi mo riyan ha? Wala na bang iba, Chef? You know what? I was expecting a lot from you pa naman like in our newspaper game, but sadly… you’ve just ruined my expectation again.”Karen averted her gaze as she hardly swallowed something on her throat. Hindi niya alam kung saan titingin na para bang bigla na lang siyang nalito kung kaya’t ipinasy
Diane’s P.O.V.Hindi ko naiwasang masamid habang nanlalaki ang mga mata kong nakatingin sa roulettes. Medyo naubo pa nga ako, but Karen was fast enough to get a bottled water from the cooler and gave it to me. Liam attempted to stand up too, but I silently signaled him not to.Nagkamali lang pala ako ng tingin dahil ang akala ko kanina, letter S talaga ‘yong tumapat sa arrowhead. But what happened was definitely a surprising turn of fate.I sighed because it was indeed the letter L. And now, I had no other choice but to be sandwiched in between the Evangelista brothers again… because only Liam and Leandro’s names start with the letter L here.Grabe talaga kung maglaro ang tadhana sa akin! Mukhang mas madali pa nga yata kung magla-lap dance na lang ako kay Sharmaine.“Wala pa nga pero mukhang nag-iinit ka na riyan, Diane ha! Kung sin
Diane’s P.O.V. Focusing my attention back to Liam—he tried to stand up, but it looked like he was fragile enough and just ended up being a statue. It just happened that he couldn’t stand on his own, like how I was stuck up in my position too. Hindi ko maiwasang lalo pang kabahan sa mga nakikita ko. I could feel nothing now but blind terror. This time, the uncontrollable fear which sank into my mind was no longer about me. It was now all about him… and Liam was much important more than anything. “W-What’s happening? Is S-Sir Liam having an allergy?” tanong ni Xielo na tila napako na rin sa kinatatayuan. Ilang saglit pa ay halos hinahabol na ni Liam ang paghinga na para siyang hinihika. Nakatingin siya sa akin habang hawak-hawak ang dibdib niya. Dahil doon ay agad na akong dumalo sa kanya para damayan siya. Pinilit kong buhatin ang
Diane’s P.O.V. Si Leandro naman ay duguan ang mukha at saka parang baliw pa na dumura ng dugo sa kanang bahagi nito. “You—you think, you know everything? Don’t act as a hero here, Samuel!” Unti-unti naman itong itinayo nina Matt, Yexel, at Peter, habang si Kenneth ay hinarang ang katawan kay Samuel na akma pang babalikan si Leandro. Karen rushed and grabbed Samuel’s wrist para agarang ilayo ito. Sa laki ng pangangatawan nito ay kayang-kaya lang namang ihagis ni Samuel si Kenneth sa malayo. Putok ang magkabilang gilid ng mga labi, namamaga ang mga pisngi, gulo-gulo ang buhok, at halos nakapikit na ang kaliwang mata ni Leandro. Sigurado akong bukas na bukas ay may black eye na rin ito. He also had a cut on his nose that might be caused by the huge gold-metallic ring on one of Samuel’s fingers. Karen helped Samuel on assisting Liam and that was when I got the opportunity to stan
Diane’s P.O.V. No matter how stressed I was with what happened tonight, I found my lips forming a thin smile sa batuhan nila ng mga salita. Hindi ko man makaka-kuwentuhan ngayong gabi si Karen tungkol sa totoong namamagitan sa kanilang dalawa ni Sam at kung paano sila unang nagkakilala, mas importante naman ang kalagayan ni Liam. I hastily opened the room with my keycard. It only took Sam and Janno a few seconds to lay Liam’s body on the bed after that. Mabilis din naman silang nagpaalam sa akin with a promise that Samuel would talk to the rest of the group—that whatever happened here should only stay here in Moulin Paradise Resort. Siguro naman ay matatakot sila kay Samuel pagkatapos nilang masaksihan ang ginawa nitong pambubugbog kay Leandro. Calling it a night, I thanked the three of them bago pa kami nag-besong dalawa ni Karen. “Don’t even overthink about Leandro’s demean
Diane’s P.O.V. Waking up with heavy eyelids made me realize that I only slept in just a few hours. Then, memories from last night started to sink in which made me feel a little bit slumber. I just couldn’t help but lean my body against the door during the dawn. Alas-tres na rin yata ng madaling-araw ako nakatulog. Para kasi akong mapa-paranoid kanina sa kaluskos na paulit-ulit kong naririnig sa labas ng kuwarto. Masyado lang siguro akong nag-iisip ng kung ano-ano at baka guni-guni ko lang pala ang lahat nang ‘yon. However, something was telling me that it was real. It was like a conversation, and what I heard was a vague voice of a mad woman—having an argument with someone over her phone. Nasabi ko ‘yon dahil kung may kasama siya sa labas ng kuwarto, dalawang boses sana ang narinig ko. Dismissing my thoughts about that ambiguous person, I looked by my side and seeing the stri
Diane’s P.O.V. Bahagyang kumunot ang noo ko. Teka, natulog ba ang dalawang ito? O dahil sa ginawang body shot ni Karen kagabi ay pareho na silang hindi nakatulog? Karen was laughing all-out loud while splashing some seawater to Chef Sam. Hindi naman nagpatalo ang huli at gumanti rin ito sa kanya. Pareho silang nakayapak lang at tuwang-tuwa habang magkasama. Halos basang-basa na silang dalawa sa walang-tigil nilang kulitan at pagtatampisaw sa dagat, pero parang wala silang pakialam kung may makakita man sa kanilang dalawa. There was also an instance where Samuel naughtily chased Karen while running on the sands and when he reached her, he blatantly carried her into his arms like she was his. Sa laki ng pangangatawan ni Samuel, sigurado akong kayang-kaya niyang buhatin ang kaibigan ko kahit isang kamay lang ang gamit. &
Diane’s P.O.V. “And how would you expect me to react, ha? Magpa-party dahil lang tumawag ka? Kung nandito ka lang eh baka nahampas pa kita!” gigil na sabi ko, pero hindi pa ako nakuntento roon. “You know what? Nagulat nga ako eh! Pagkatapos mo kasing hindi magparamdam sa amin nitong mga nakaraang araw, eh bigla ka na lang tatawag ngayon at malalaman kong buhay ka pa pala?” I contemptuously snapped at him. It was harsh, but I had to do it. Naiirita ako sa kanya, but at the same time… hindi ko mapigilan ang maawa. Pero, kasalanan naman niya ang lahat. “Hey! Do you have your monthly period, Diane?” natatawang buwelta niya sa lahat ng sinabi ko. “Can you please relax, take a deep breath, and hear me out first, okay? I’ve been trying to reach Karen ever since last night, but her cellular phone was damnably unattended. Hindi rin siya online eh, so I had no other choice but to call