A Twist Of Time

twelve

"Are you sure you'll be alright sleeping here with Margaux? Because I can sleep on the floor again, and Hisako might be uncomfortable—"

"Hisako's alright, Sergio. And so will I."

He hesitated. "No, there are soldiers that might hurt you, and that scares me."

"Hey, stop caring about me. We hate each other, remember?"

And in the background, you could hear Margaux whispering "oh really?"

"I don't hate you. It's fine that you hate me. I'm worried about you, Miss. Very worried."

I was very confused but I loved how he was talking—I guess that was the effect of liking someone. "Why? I'm just your friend, nothing else. An acquaintance rather."

Sergio looked down at the floor for a moment, as if he was thinking. Then, he finally returned his view to me. "Fine. I'll let you sleep alone." He turned to Margaux. "The three of you stay out of trouble, alright? I'll leave now."

"Goodnight, Ser," greeted Margaux. He smiled then hugged her, and right after it finished, he turned to me.

"Goodnight, Miss. Is it okay if I—if I do the same thing?"

"Do what?"

He shrugged. "What I just did to Margaux."

"Who? To me?"

Margaux was silently jumping in the background and I made a personal reminder to slap her hard later for that.

"Yes, to you." He turned to Margaux and her eyes widened. "Really, Mar? Right now?"

"No! Go ahead. Don't mind me." Margaux waved him away.

"You can hug me," I answered. He suddenly gave me the tightest hug I've ever gotten in my life. I took in a deep breath and enjoyed the hug, my hands finding their way to his back though having difficulty because of how much taller he was compared to me.

How did I feel? Like a firework that was set off into the sky and went back down to the ground and exploded again because there was still some gunpowder left. My heart beat was fast, which was embarrassing since I was pretty sure he could hear it.

He let go and left me out of breath.

"Well that was great. Goodnight, Mr. Vice President."

"Goodnight, Valerie."

Sergio left as Margaux rushed to close the door. She smiled widely at me.

"Did you hear that? He called you Valerie! Valerie! The name you've been wanting to be called ever since you arrived here!"

I rolled my eyes, but remembered the reminder I gave myself earlier. I slapped Margaux's shoulder, her whimpering. "What was that for?" she asserted.

"For showing that you shipped us!"

"That I what you?"

"Shipped; it's a term we coined in the future to say that we want two people to be together. You did exactly that; and in front of him!"

"Call me a shipper then. But come on, he addressed you as Valerie. That's just—I can't explain what I'm feeling about the two of you right now, but it's a good feeling. A real good one."

"So? That's my name. Maybe he's cancelling my case because he doesn't think I'm Raven Turner anymore. He can finally let me go and let me get shot by the Japanese or whatever."

"No!" She groaned. "You're missing my point. He calls you Valerie. If he's falling in love with anyone, he's falling in love with Valerie and not Raven Turner."

"Who knows? What if Raven Turner was the girl he used to love?"

"She isn't. Raven Turner is solely just a businesswoman who hates the soldiers. End of story. The only time they were supposed to talk was the day you confronted him. Remember? When you filled him up with your sarcasm and—"

"Okay, okay! I get it!" I exclaimed. "I'll be honest and a little bit hopeful, I think he likes me back. I just feel it. I'm not going to deny that I feel that, but isn't it impossible, though?"

"Now that just sounds very messy. Explain again."

"I think he likes me back, but it's only because I feel it. When I think about it, though, it sounds impossible. Do you get it now?"

"But do you want him to like you?"

"Lower down your voice, Mar. I—"

She squealed. "See? The two of you even use the same nickname for me!"

"It's just a shortened version of your name! How is that romantic?"

"Stop switching topics!" Margaux snapped. "Do you want him to like you or not?"

I started rubbing my arm; a habit I get when I'm nervous. And I didn't get why I was nervous in a situation where I just had to tell her how I felt. "Of course. I don't know why. I just want to be with him. I feel secure and—"

"Valerie Osmeña."

"What?" I asked though I understood what she said.

"It has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? Wait—no, it's you who'll have the ring—"

"Quit your daydreams. We're not getting married. I've only known him for three or four weeks, and nearly two thirds of those weeks, he was gone."

"Love at first sight, haven't you heard of it?"

"You sound like a romance book. I'm taking all of your love novels away." I walked towards her stacked books. She ran after me and slapped my hand.

"You're not my mother!"

"Yes, if you continue your teasing, I will technically be your mother. Now, be quiet."

Oh shit.

"Wait, what?"

"I said nothing. Like what Old Witch Maribeth says," I nervously replied. Her face formed into a scowl which I knew wasn't a good sign.

She put a hand on her hip and stared at me. "There's something I don't know, is there?"

"It was a joke! Can't you take a joke?"

"It sounded other than a joke. It's about Sergio, isn't it? I know you're hiding something."

I scowled. That was the only thing I managed to do about it. What? Admit that Sergio was her father and ruin their relationship? "Want to know what we're hiding? We're hiding Hisako. I decided to adopt her and Sergio agreed with it. There's your truth."

"Do you really expect me to believe that? The truth should hurt. And that didn't hurt me a single bit."

"Is that my fault? Is it my fault that I received the pain you were supposed to feel about the truth?"

Margaux facepalmed. "I just want you to tell me even just a single piece of explanation. I don't need the truth."

"That! I already explained it! Why won't you believe it?"

"Because that wasn't what I was looking for."

I went to the door and turned to her. "Find your truth by yourself. I know I'm telling the truth, and if you want an explanation, go and think of it. You're smart, right? Then use your knowledge. Don't waste it on pressuring people to do things they don't want to."

And I left. I didn't look back. I just went to the first place I knew I could go to. This was all because of a simple slip of a secret. How was I supposed to explain this?