CHAPTER FIVE

"I can't believe you are doing this."

Napatingin si Olivia sa repleksiyon ni Madeleine sa salamin. Tahimik na sinita niya ito dahil nandoon din si Anna sa kwarto. Walang ibang tao ang nakakaalam tungkol sa kontrata nila ni Andrew. Si Madeleine lang ang nakakaalam dahil ipinasuri pa niya nang maayos ang kontratang ginawa ni Andrew. Of course, it was well thought out and written by Andrew, which impressed Madeleine. May ipinadagdag lang siyang additional rules to set boundaries on what kind of intimacy she was comfortable with.

"Me too," dugtong ni Anna habang inaayos ang buhok niya. "I can't believe you're getting married, Liv!"

Ito ang nag-ayos sa kanya nang gabing iyon since iyong make-up artist na kinuha niya para sa kasal ay sa mismong araw ng kasal pa darating. They were at her wedding welcome dinner party. She and Andrew decided to hold their wedding out of town and invited a small number of guests. They don't need to make it grand, since peke naman ang kasal na gaganapin nila.

Tapos na si Anna maglagay ng make-up sa mukha niya at nasa buhok niya ang atensiyon nito kaya mukhang hindi naman nito napansin ang namagitang palitan ng tingin nila ni Madeleine.

She tried to smile her sweetest smile to Anna. Anna may be daft sometimes, pero madali lang para kay Anna ang basahin siya minsan. She swear, Anna can almost read her with a hundred percent accuracy. Or maybe she was really easy to read. Kasi napapansin din niya, parati ding parang nababasa ni Andrew ang kung anong nasa isip niya.

"You know, I really thought you hate Andrew. Halos isumpa mo na iyong tao before, hindi ba?" pagtatalak pa ni Liv. "But now, you're getting married to him? It doesn't make sense!"

She laughed nervously. See? Anna's radar with these critical things are really sensitive.

"Well...  Like they say... If you know, you know," she answered Anna, hoping she would jump off of the subject.

Anna looked at her incredulously. "You? Believe in that? I don't think so. This is so not you, Liv."

She looked at Madeleine, almost panicked. What if malaman ni Anna na peke lang pala ang kasal nila ni Andrew? What would she do? Anna is her best friend, yes, but Anna can't keep her mouth shut. At all. 

"Well, I guess it's really true what they say. You lose yourself when you're in love," shuddered Anna. "So, no, thank you. I don't want to be in love."

Olivia silently sighed. She was glad the conversation has ended. She might not want to tell Anna the truth, not because she doesn't trust her, pero mainam nang walang masyadong nakakaalam sa set up nila ni Andrew. This is also for Anna's sake. At least, when people find out the truth that this marriage is a fraud, hindi masasali si Anna sa gulong darating kung aabot man sa ganoon.

"Well, I'm all done," announced Anna.

She smiled at Anna. She checked out herself in front of the mirror, and in all fairness to Anna, she could pass for a professional make-up artist.

"You're so pretty, I could cry," anito pa habang maarteng idinampi sa gilid ng mga mata nito ang panyo nito. "I'm so talented talaga."

Lumapit si Madeleine sa kanilang dalawa. "You know, I hate to break it to you, Anna, but it's not really that special."

Inirapan nito si Madeleine. "Shut up, Madeleine. I'm not asking for your opinion."

Madeleine just laughed at her sister. Yes, Madeleine and Anna are sisters. Worse, they are fraternal twins.  Could you believe it that both of them are her friends? Her social skills must really suck. She doesn't have lots of friends. And these twins who have completely opposite attitudes were the only friends in her life.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, girls." 

Sabay silang tatlong napalingon sa pintuan, kung saan nakasilip ang ulo ni Andrew.

"But the guests have already arrived and they are already looking for you," anito na nakatutok sa kanya.

She smiled at him. She was grateful that for most of the wedding planning, Andrew was surprisingly very active. Although, hindi pa talaga nila napag-usapan ang set-up nila after the wedding. They were both very busy preparing for it, so hindi pa talaga sila masyadong nakakapag-usap.

Nagkatinginan ang magkapatid.

"Mauna na kami sa labas," said Madeleine.

"See you," sabi naman ni Anna.

When both of the sisters were out of the room, Andrew went in and slowly paced towards her.

"You look pretty, princess," komento nito, which made her blush.

Napatikhim siya. "You're not so bad yourself."

Mahinang napatawa ito. "You're not used to compliments, are you?"

Hindi siya nakasagot. Hindi naman dahil sumasang-ayon siya sa sinabi nito. She is used to compliments. Maraming mga lalaki ang nanliligaw sa kanya at nagpaparamdam. It's just that, compliments from Andrew sends a different kind of thrill to her. Hindi niya maintindihan kung bakit. And definitely, it was not she expected at all, since she disliked the man since her high school days.

"You must get used to it, Liv," anito. "I am one to give many compliments to my girl. And also, my love language is touch. So I think, you would have to find ways to adjust to that."

Napatango siya. "Don't worry. I got it."

"You do?" anito na nakalapit na sa kanya. Napatigil naman siya nang biglang hinawi nito ang buhok niya at inipit sa tenga niya.

"What are you doing?" hindi niya napigilang magtanong dito.

"Just practicing," sagot nito. "See? You still freeze when I touch you."

Hindi niya namalayang totoo ang sinabi nito. She just realized how tense her body is. 

"Kasi naman, hindi naman siguro kailangan tayo maging intimate kung tayong dalawa lang," bawi niya dito. "It is stipulated in the contract."

Napatango ito. "True. But it is also stipulated in the contract that Party A - that is me - has the right to initiate intimacy when deemed so necessary."

"Wala namang taong nakapalibot sa atin ngayon. So, I don't think that this intimacy right now is necessary," komento niya.

"Like I said, I'm just practicing you for what is about to come when we go out of the room," sagot nito. Saka nito kinuha ang kamay niya at ipinagsalikop sa kamay nito. "Come on. They're all probably waiting for us."

She took a deep breath and looked at Andrew who was just smiling at her. Tumango siya dito, saka siya hinila nito palabas ng kwarto.

__

"Congratulations!"

"Congrats, you two!"

"We're so happy for the both of you!"

They were both greeted by their friends and family that they've invited to the wedding. She just smiled at them, while holding onto Andrew for strength. Habang si Andrew naman ay parang sanay na sanay na habang binabati ang mga ito. 

She felt Andrew's hand tightened on her when they both have sat down at their table. "Are you okay?" he whispered.

She just looked at Andrew and forced a smile on her face. She then scanned the faces of the people there, and sighed in disappointment when she realized that her mother was not present.

All of this play to get revenge on her mother, and wala ito doon? Hindi ito maaari.

"My mother's not here," she silently informed Andrew.

"So is my dad," sagot din nito sa kanya.

Bigla siyang kinabahan. Para palang walang silbi itong ginagawa nila ni Andrew? For all she care, they could've just skipped all these formalities and just had a civil wedding. Wala naman pala ang mga taong siyang rason ng pagpapakasal nila ni Andrew.

"Hey, it's fine," said Andrew after sensing her tense stance. "Just enjoy the night, Liv. You don't have to act out everytime. Try to loosen up."

Napabuntong-hininga siya. Kung ganoon lang sana kadali ang lahat. But she is doing this to get back at her mother, is she? And if she's not there, what's the point of all she's been doing up until that moment?

"Liv!" Bigla siyang napalingon kay Madeleine nang nilapitan sila nito. "Your mother is here."

Awtomatikong napatingin siya sa direksiyong itinuturo ni Madeleine saka ay nakita ang mama niya. Her mother has arrived indeed. And she arrived with no less than Andrew's father. Worse, magka-holding hands pa ang dalawa. When she turned to face Andrew, she saw that his jaw has clenched. Pero hindi niya mabasa ang iniisip nito. Bagkus ay binalingan siya nito at walang salitang hinalikan siya sa pisngi.

Napatda siya sa kinauupuan. Yes, she was surprised with Andrew's actions. Again. Pero ang sabi nga ni Andrew, she must get used to it. And she must get used to these unwanted emotions that are playing in her head. She must learn to control them. 

"Liv, darling," bati ng mama niya nang nakarating ito sa table niya. Her mother smiled the sweetest smile she had ever seen in her entire life, before kissing her on the cheeks. "Hello, Andrew."

Andrew just smiled at her mother, and turned to face his father. "Hi, Dad. You're late. Akala ko hindi ka na dadating."

Andrew's father just shook his son's hand and smiled. He then turned to face her. "Welcome to the family, Liv. I hope you make Andrew happy."

She nervously smiled back. She was not prepared for this. How can she smile at Andrew's father and tell him she would make his son happy when all of this is just a play to stop his own happiness? She almost started to panic. Ngayon lang totoong nag-sink in ang lahat. She had been too caught up in making her mother miserable, that she has not taken into account Andrew's father's feelings. Wala siyang pakialam sa nanay niya, pero kung saka-sakali, mapapatawad kaya siya ng papa ni Andrew kung malaman man nito ang totoo?

"I will." She tried to act happy. She then felt Andrew squeezing her hand, as if telling her that her acting was too obvious.

Umalis na ang mga ito doon at pumwesto sa assigned seats nito. Andrew then stood up and took everyone's attention by clinking his wine glass with his fork.

"Hello, everyone," said Andrew when all of the guests' attention was on him. He smiled at her before he continued. "I would just like to thank everyone for coming today to celebrate with us even on such short notice."

Andrew looked at her and brushed his knuckles to her cheeks. She felt her cheeks flushed as he took his hand again and faced their audience to continue his speech.

"I first met Olivia many years back... she was still in her first year in high school and I was at my fourth year. That time, I had an argument with a classmate of mine because of a project that went bad, so I was really pissed off. But then, on the other side of our school building, I saw her coming out of our science laboratory... and she was smiling. I remembered just staring at her, with her smiling brightly like that, that I didn't realize that I was smiling myself. I remembered thinking to myself, 'Wow, this girl has a really beautiful smile'. Hindi ko na namalayan na na-addict na pala ako sa ngiti niya."

She was stunned. She couldn't believe that Andrew could think up of stories that fast. Parang pang-telenovela lang ang kwentong ginawa nito.

"I kept looking for her in the school hallways, at the cafeteria, or at the gates of the school... just to get a glimpse of her smile again. And when I did get to see her smile, feeling ko, kompleto na ang araw ko. Her smile is the sweetest, most unforgettable smile I have seen in my entire life. And fast forward to today, I am happy that I get to see her smile for the rest of my life."

Sabay-sabay na napa-"awww" lahat. Man, Andrew was really good. She almost believed what he was saying herself.

"So to my beautiful bride, here's a toast to you," said Andrew and raised his glass to her. "I will do my best in this marriage so I can see that beautiful smile of yours everyday for the rest of our lives."

Hindi na siya naka-react nang inilapit ni Andrew ang mukha nito sa mukha niya, at hinalikan siya sa mga labi.