PROLOGUE:

Lorraine’s POV

The ocean sounded louder than my thoughts.

Maybe because I didn’t want to hear them anymore.

I stared at the glass in my hand, watching the liquid sway every time my fingers trembled slightly. I told myself it was just the alcohol. That it had nothing to do with me. That I was still fine.

Pero hindi.

Matapos kong madiskbre ang nakakasukang katotohanan..ay hindi ko na alam kung maayos a rin ba ang pakiramdam ko.

Those that used to feel like home… now felt like poison sitting quietly inside my chest.

I took another sip.

It burned. Good. I wanted it to burn.

“Trying to drown something… or someone?”

The voice didn’t startle me.

It should have. But somehow, it didn’t.

I already felt him before I turned.

There are people who enter a space loudly… and there are people who don’t need to.

He was the second kind.

When I finally looked at him, he was already there...standing just a few steps away like he belonged to the silence between waves and music and broken thoughts.

Nakasuot lamang ito ng isang simpleng pares ng damit. Ibang-iba sa mga taong naka-uniporme sa paligid namin.

Yet, he carried some sort of authority in him while standing in front of me.

“I don’t think I’m drowning anything,” I said, lifting my glass slightly like it could prove a point. “Just drinking.”

His eyes stayed on me for a moment too long.

Then his voice came again. Calm. Low. Dangerous in a way I couldn’t name yet.

“Most people drink like that when they’re trying to forget something," dagdag niya at napakunot ang aking noo.

Then, I let out a small laugh. And ut sounded wrong even to me.

“And you?” I asked, turning my body slightly toward him now. “Do you always talk like you can read people's minds?"

A pause.

“I don’t need to read them,” he said. “They usually show me.”

That should’ve annoyed me.

It didn’t.

Instead, I felt something shift inside me...something tired, something reckless, something that didn’t want to be alone in its pain anymore.

The wind moved between us.

Carried salt. Noise. Distance.

But not enough distance.

I handed him my glass before I could think better of it.

“Then hold it for me," kalmadong saad ko, nakatingin sa kanya na may nanghahamon titig.

And without hesitation....he did. That alone should’ve told me something.

He drank from it like it was nothing. Like boundaries didn’t exist for him unless he allowed them to.

When he handed it back, our fingers brushed. At sa hindi ko malamang dahilan ay hindi ako makakilos. Hindi ko hinila papalayo ang aking daliri, animo'y mas lalo kong pinapakiramdaman ang init ng balat niyon sa akin.

“You don’t ask questions,” I said quietly, watching him now more carefully than before.

“I do.”

My brows lifted slightly.

“You just haven’t said anything worth asking about yet," dagdag niya, napamaang ako at kasunod niyon ay hindi ko na maitago pa ang isang ngising naglalaro sa aking labi.

After that, I stopped closer to him.

I didn’t know why. I just thought that maybe it was the alcohol.

Maybe it was the pain sitting too loudly in my chest. Or maybe I was just tired of being the woman who stayed broken quietly.

He didn’t move back.

I tilted my head slightly, meeting his gaze directly.

“I think you should be asking what I came here for,” I said.

His eyes didn’t waver.

“And what did you come here for?”

I swallowed.

The truth tasted worse than the alcohol.

“To forget,” I said simply.

Then I added, quieter... “Or to feel something different. Even if it’s temporary. Because I'm too tired of being righteous and perfect just to keep something for myself."

His gaze deepened at that. Not softer. Not kinder.

Just more aware.

Like he understood exactly what kind of emptiness I was standing in.

I took a breath.

And before I could talk myself out of it, the words came out.

“I’ll pay you. If that's what you're worrying about," dagdag ko sa mababa, ngunit puno ng katiyakan na tinig.

I didn’t look away.

“For tonight,” I continued, forcing my voice to stay steady. “For your time. For whatever happens. I’ll compensate you. Pero kung ayaw mo ay hindi kita pipilitin, dahil hindi ko naman ugali ang namimilit."

Something flickered in his expression.

Not shock.

But interest.

And that scared me more than rejection would have.

He took another slow sip from my glass like he was thinking.

Like I was something worth thinking about.

Then he stepped closer.

My breath caught, but I didn’t step back.

His voice dropped lower this time.

“And what makes you think I would agree to that?”

My fingers tightened slightly.

Because I didn’t have a better answer than honesty.

“Because you’re still here,” tugon ko. "At kung hindi ka interesado sa akin ay kanina ka pa umalis ay naghanap ng ibang babae."

Muling naghari ang isang nakakabinging katahimikan sa pagitan naming dalawa. Nakatitig lamang siya sa akin, paulit-ulit na binabasa ang ekspresyon sa aking mukha.

“One night,” he said finally.

And it was not a question...but a decision he made himself.

“Yes,” I whispered. "Just one night. And let's not see each other after tonight."

He smirked as he encircled his arm around my waist...pulling me closer to him and pressed his lips on mine.

TO BE CONTINUED....