17. ME 1

DELPHI

“Limang milyon. Five million. Cinque milioni. Cinco milhões.”

Cinque milioni is Italian.

Cinco milhões… that is Portuguese!

Napalunok akong napatingin kay Zeno. Italian words have nothing to do with me. It was the other language that made me… made me repeat it to clarify and asked if I was right if that's Portuguese.

And it is… at mas lalo pa akong kinausap ni Zeno gamit ang lenggwaheng iyon na naintindihan ko nang maayos. Zeno is offering me first a five million for a night, then this condo building for a week.

I’m not a hypocrite to say I wasn’t tempted by a five million offer for a night. Muntik pa nga malibre, nataon lang na kanina habang hinahalikan niya ako ay may kung ano na naman na pumasok sa utak ko kaya natulak ko siya at nasabi na hindi ko kaya.

Sabi ko ay hindi ko kaya pero ang totoo ay may mga gumugulo sa akin kanina pa. From the moment Zeno lopsidedly grinning at me to the moment his kisses went deep. I remember a man kissing me the same way at iyon an