The Beauty Queen And The Geek (COMPLETED)

Part Fourteen: The Choices They Make

"HI WYLDON! Puwedeng magpa-picture with you?"

Inangat ni Wyldon ang tingin mula sa iniinom na scotch patungo sa pinanggalingan ng tinig. He saw two women, probably in their early twenties, smiling giddily at him. Nasa Azalea siya, ang bar na pag-aari ng kaibigang si Cedric para malagyan ng kaunting alcohol ang sistema niya.

"Ahm, I guess..." sagot niya.

"Yey!" anang mas maliit sa dalawa. Tumabi agad ito sa kanya at humilig sa balikat niya, habang ang kasama nito ay inumang sa kanila ang hawak nitong cellphone.

Halos masilaw siya sa flash noon, lalo na't may kadiliman ang loob ng bar. Pagkatapos noon ay nagpalit ng puwesto ang dalawa. Ang isa naman ang sumandal sa kanya at ang isa ang naging taga-kuha ng larawan.

"Yey! Super thanks, Wyldon! We sooo love your show!" anang mas maliiit na babae sa kanya.

Tumango naman ang kasama nito. "We're fans! By the way, where's Aimee?"

"Ahm, 'not sure."

"You're sooo tahimik pala talaga in real life! " bulalas ng isa sa mga ito. "Good thing that Aimee could really make you kulit at the show,"

Siniko naman ang nagsalita ng kasama nito. "Girl, we gotta go. Baka single na tayo pagbalik ng table natin."

Napatakip naman ang kasama nito ng bibig. "Oh, yeah. Thanks again Wyldon! Our boyfriends are waiting for us at our table. We just couldn't resist na hindi magpa-picture. Ta-ta!"

He gave a little goodbye-wave at the two women and went back into staring at his glass of scotch.

Magmula ng magsimulang ipalabas sa MusicFusion ang show nila ni Aimee, malaki na ang pinagbago ng tahimik na buhay niya. Una, hindi na siya nakakalabas ng walang magpapa-picture sa kanya. O kaya magtatanong sa kanya tungkol sa mga susunod na episodes ng show nila, o kaya naman magkokomento tungkol sa napanood ng mga ito na episode ng show.

And he thought it was ironic that he was now known as the guys who hosted the show, than being a chess Grandmaster. Kapag lumalabas siya, ang naririnig na niyang sinasabi ng mga tao ay "'Di ba siya yung 'Geek' sa The Beauty Queen And The Geek?"

They have taped nine episodes of the show. Tatlo na lamang matatapos na ang kontrata nilang twelve episodes. But because of the spike in the ratings that their show caused, there were discussions on having another season, on having a new show with a different concept altogether, and even bringing their tandem to MusicFusion's mother network, ABC-GMN.

With all of these talks, he had not said yes to anything. Ang sinasabi niya, pag-iisipan pa niya. He thought it was better to tell them that than blatantly saying 'no' to them, especially to Velvet, Kelvin and Diana. They had been very supportive of him when he was taking his hiatus from chess.

Ngunit kailan lang ay tinawagan siya ng chairman ng Philippine Chess Federation, ang dating senador na si Heherson Encarnacion tungkol sa isang tournament sa Bangkok, Thailand. Tinanong siya nito kung sapat na ba ang naging pahinga niya at kung nagpa-practice na ba siya ulit.

He sighed and drank his scotch straight. He saw familiar builds on his left periphery. Nang lingunin niya iyon, he saw Aimee, Velvet, and Jared coming inside the bar.

---

AIMEE was surprised that in the sea of faces inside Azalea Bar, her eyes met Wyldon's in an instant. At muli, awtomatiko na naman ang naging pagbilis ng tibok ng puso niya. Pinilit niya ang sariling ngitian ito sa kabila ng nararamdamang kaba. Tumango lamang sa kanya si Wyldon.