Chapter 7: Fake It

Sipping on his hot mocha coffee with the house coffee music playing on the background, Art's phone screen reflects through the heart gradient glasses he's wearing.

user42618: sino 'yong girl? ngayon ko lang nakita??

user91726: trainee ba 'yong babae? first appearance bigating project agad!

user92275: imagine standing that close to THE Art Lee?

user12910: i'm worried, malaking project 'to and they're throwing a nobody to it

        user01928 replied: not to be that

        basher but you make sense

        user17296 replied: y'all are not

        making any sense. 'di niyo pa nga

       kilala iyong tao

       user10276 replied: lol

user20187: my tita works at LMH Entertainment, she said she never met the girl before so possible na hindi siya trainee do'n

user01828: ako lang ba o you guys also feel their chemistry?

user10281: ang cutie no'ng girl!

user82087: you guys have forgotten the list of actresses who was supposed to take the role?

user88272: may kamukha 'yong girl, 'di ko lang ma-pin point kung sino

user25617: and when you all realize we don't know who the second male lead yet, then what

        user33452 replied: i heard it's

        seAn?

        user56277 replied: akala ko rin?

        user76290 replied: sourceeee????

        user52983 replied: oomf said

Natigil lang sa pagbabasa ng mga komento si Art nang marinig ang pagbukas ng babasaging pinto papasok sa coffee shop na kinaroroonan niya. Agad siyang nag-angat ng tingin at sa wakas ay ang babaeng hinihintay niya ang iniluwa ng pintong iyon.

Art waved his hand in hope that the girl would see him quickly. She did, but her face did not show any hint of recognition. Agad na napangibit ang binata saka tinanggal ang suot na salamin saka muling itinaas ang kamay.

It did not take Rebby long to approach him. Bakas sa mukha nito na hindi siya natuwa sa huling pag-uusap nilang dalawa.

"Sit-" Rebby sat on the chair across Art even before the latter's offer. Iginala nito ang tingin sa loob ng coffee shop saka ibinalik sa kaharap ang tingin.

"Anong gusto mo?" tanong niya, umaasang may matinong sagot na matatanggap pero taliwas doon ang sagot ng binata.

"Ikaw."

Rebby could feel her face burning. Art is just too direct and bold she could not even process the genuineness of his words. Pero mas lamang ang pagkagulat kaysa sa kilig sa narinig niya. Besides, she thinks Art is playing with her.

Mabilis na klinaro ni Rebby ang sariling lalamunan saka ipinagpatuloy ang tanong niya.

"Paano mo nalaman na naka-confine ang papa ko? Paano mo nalaman ang hospital kung saan siya nandoon? Paano mo-"

"Too many questions, look at this first." Art slid his phone on the table. Saglit muna itong tiningnan ni Rebby saka muling tiningnan si Art pero tinanguhan lang siya nito.

Rebby took the phone and read the comments under the video that was released. The teaser of Even A Fool Knows. Patuloy siya sa pag-scroll sa screen habang kunot-noong nagbabasa.

"Half of the netizens's reactions are positive, half are negative. Among those are neutral reaction." Nag-angat si Rebby ng tingin kay Art saka itinuloy ng huli ang sinasabi niya.

"Kahit pa maging positibo o negatibo lahat ng komento diyan, every reaction from them in this particular video is still a reaction. An engagement of the public to the TV series not just me, not just the director, not just the other actors, but the whole production team are working hard for. Do you know what that means?"

Hindi agad nakasagot si Rebby sa tanong na iyon. She's getting the hint of it but somehow, she wants to hear it from Art himself just so she won't get too ahead of herself. Besides, she did not expect to get this much attention from the public given the fact that it wasn't her intention to have so in the first place.

Art took that silence as a sign to proceed.

"You drew too much attention from the public, Rebby. An amount of attention that exceeded what was expected. All those people," he pointed at the phone.

"... and the people who did not bother to leave a comment for whatever reason they have despite being curious, all of them will watch the show. Partly because of me," his voice sounded boastful.

"... but mostly because of you, a stranger who suddenly became a female lead of an anticipated drama. If you back out, lahat sila posibleng mawala and possibly, the show will also end when it hasn't even started yet."

Naramdaman ni Rebby ang pagkagat niya sa sariling labi. Unti-unti siyang binalot ng konsensya.

"I don't understand, what's wrong with acting on national TV? Kung ibang tao matutuwa pa sa biglaang opportunity. What's stopping you?" Umiwas ng tingin ang dalaga.

"Hindi mo talaga maiintindihan dahil wala kang alam tungkol sa akin."

"Then tell me. I'll be more than glad to hear you out, Revencee Andreas." Gulat na hinarap ni Rebby ang kasama. Ngayon ay pati buong pangalan niya, alam na ng aktor.

What more does he know? What else is he willing to do just so Rebby would accept the offer? Why is he so eager to work with her?

"Art!"

Rebby's chain of thoughts was cut when a familiar voice was heard. It's as if she heard a ghost who was long gone that made her freeze on her seat.

Itinaas ni Art ang kanang kamay niya para kumaway sa paparating na lalaki.

Rebby silently wished she's wrong. That the owner of the voice is not someone she used to know.

But Art could not grant that wish.

"Travis!"

She could not dare to look back and waited for Travis to reach her side instead. When she felt his presence, she slowly looked up and there she saw the guy she wanted to see the least.

"Rebby?" Travis spoke his recognition,  making Art confused for a second.

"You know each other?" he asked. Mabilis ang naging tugon ni Rebby nang agad siyang umiling kasabay ng pag-iwas niya ng tingin mula kay Travis.

Travis bit his lip and chose not to prolong the awkwardness. Inilapag niya sa maliit na table ang dala niyang paper bag saka naupo sa espasyo katabi ni Art.

"Well, this is Travis. He's my friend." Hindi sumagot si Rebby, blangko lang ang ekspresyon sa mukha niya.

"This is Rebby, I'm pretty sure you saw her on the teaser. I don't remember flashing her name on the screen, paano mo nalaman ang pangalan niya?"

Short silence.

"We went to the same high school," tipid na sagot ni Travis na siyang nagpa-ismid kay Rebby.

"Really? So you also went to the school where we filmed?" Nagtama ang tingin ni Art at Rebby, naghihintay ng sagot ang binata. Hindi pa man nakakasagot si Rebby ay para bang may nag-ilaw na bumbilya sa tuktok ni Art.

"Right! I remember seeing you there in the morning even before we filmed together."

Ngayon ay si Rebby at Travis naman ang nagkatinginan. Parehong nangungusap ang mga mata nila habang mahigpit naman ang pagkakayukom ni Rebby sa sariling kamay niya na nakatago sa ilalim ng lamesa.

"Guys, the silence is killing me. It's impossible you don't know each other with how you two look." Sabay na nag-iwas ng tingin ang dalawa saka nagpilit ng ngiti ang dalaga.

"Ah, iniisip ko lang kasi kung kilala ko ba siya. Nakikita ko siya sa school dati, but I barely recognize him now," sagot ni Rebby na siyang marahang tinanguhan ni Art, mukhang kumbinsido sa labas pero iba ang iniisip sa loob.

"Anyways, let's order first while we talk. Aalis rin kami ni Travis mamaya so we'll keep it short. Waiter-"

"We'll keep it short. Tinatanggap ko na ang offer." Naputol sa ere ang pagtawag ni Art sa waiter saka gulat na nilingon si Rebby. Nakakunot naman ang noo ni Travis na nakapako pa rin ang tingin sa dalaga.

Rebby gulped, unable to process the consequences what she just said.

"What? Bakit biglaan? I mean, I don't mind, that's actually what I want. Pero bakit bigla kang pumayag-"

"Wala lang, sa tingin ko naman magandang opportunity siya."

"Okay! I'll tell the director now, wala nang urungan!" Art excitedly stood up and dialed the director. He excused himself from the two and went out of the shop.

Naiwan ang dalawa na saglit nabalot ng katahimikan. Travis chose to break the silence.

"What were you thinking, Rebby? Bakit ka pumayag-"

"Travis." Rebby looked at him with watery eyes. The tears she has been keeping since she met Travis awhile ago finally escaped her eyes.

Nagpilit siya ng tawa, isang tawa na para bang hindi makapaniwala. She wiped her tears using the back of her hand and looked straight at Travis's eyes.

"Naalala mo ba ang sinabi mo sa akin noon?" Travis could not answer.

He just want to beat himself now. Seeing Rebby before her, this vulnerable and in this situation, makes him despise himself even more.

"Ang sabi mo nasasaktan ka kapag nakikita mo akong nasasaktan."

"Revencee-"

"Let's see kung hanggang kailan mo kayang tiisin na makita akong nasasaktan. Everyday, you will bear the pain of me being in that school that crashed me to death. Araw-araw maiisip mo na kung hindi ka sana nagsinungaling, baka kahit papaano masaya ako ngayon, na sana... Sana hindi ako nasasaktan ng ganito."

"Please-" hindi na naituloy ni Travis ang sasabihin nang biglang dumating si Art. Nag-iwas naman ng tingin si Rebby.

"I called Direk, we will meet tomorrow with you." Art felt something's wrong, especially when he looked at Travis whose eyes seemed to be having a lot of worries than he already had.

"Okay, magkita na lang tayo bukas." Agad na kinuha ni Rebby ang bag niya mula sa upuan saka tumayo at inilahad ang palad.

"Looking forward to working with you."

Rebby smiled.

Art shook her hand.

He can tell she's faking her smile.

***