An Interview With a Playboy Chapter 11

It’s Sunday and everyone did not have work and cla.s.ses. Even her mother who goes to the grocery store everyday did not go because it’s Sunday. They brought Dex with them to go to the church. During the ma.s.s, she can’t help but be amused at his expression. It’s like he’s being fried in a pan inside the church. It’s obvious that his parents did not teach him to attend the church.

After gathering her thoughts, she was more convinced now that Dex was not happy living alone. Jennafei thought that he was saying the truth when he told her parents that he’s looking for attention from his parents. Though she can’t see a hint of loneliness based on his appearance. And Jennafei was feeling so annoyed why she was wasting her time thinking about the guy. She does not understand why she worries about Dex.

She admits that these past few days, her opinion about the guy changed slightly. He was not as dangerous and evil as she first thought him to be. The previous night, she did not expect that she enjoyed being drenched with Dex and even shared laughter with him lie they were close with each other.

After church, the guy brought them in a cla.s.sy restaurant where he volunteered to treat them for lunch, much to her parents’ refussal.  It’s her first time eating at such an expensive restaurant where the cheapest order must be four digits and the other people dining looked rich.

Their table seemed to be the only clamorous one. All because her parents and Dex never stopped chatting. Even Jonas was joining in. She does not know what had Dex feed her family for them to like him this much. Red once told her that his friend was anti-social and did not like speaking with people so it was surprising how he looked so comfortable chatting away with her family whom he just met few days ago. She even heard him laugh like he was really enjoying talking to her family.

They went home right after the sumptuous lunch. Her father who liked singing initiated for a videoke session. Her mother and Jonas also joined in. Dex was totally enjoying watching her family making a commotion at the living room. Her father invited Dex to sing a song but her refused. He apparently did not know how to sing. (T/N: Really?! Who on earth do not know how to sing? Not everybody might be a good singer but singing even with the wrong tone still considered to be singing,right? I mean, even the worst singer can still sing inside the bathroom, right? It’s not against the law. Not that I’m talking about myself.)

“Is it okay to ask a request?”

“What song, hijo?” her father asked.

“Fei. I want to hear her sing,” Dex said, not directly answering the question.

She suddenly sat straight on the couch. “I don’t want,” her fast reply. She usually sings during their family videoke sessions but this time, she does not want to join in since she’s not used to sing in audience of other people aside from her family. Especially, when that said audience was Dex.

“Come on, Jenna. Go ahead and sing,” her father tried.

“That’s right, Jenna. Why are you not singing yet? You even used to fight grabbing the mic.” Her mother added.

“’Ma, I don’t want to. I’m not in the mood to sing.”

“Ows… you’re just embarra.s.sed with Kuya Dex here.” Jonas was teasing her again. She glared at her brother.

“Don’t be embarra.s.sed with Dex. You’re friends after all,” her mother said.

“Why will I be embarra.s.sed with him? I just don’t want to sing.”

“How about two questions for this day?” Dex said, that made her turn at him.

“Three,” she said. Ignoring the questions in the other three’s faces.

He let out a sigh. “Okay. Three… for three songs.”

She grabbed the mic from her father and started singing.

At the corner s.p.a.ce of their garden, there is a small s.p.a.ce for Jonas to play basketball. That’s where Jennafei catched a glance of her brother and Dex happily playing. After the videoke jam, she went up in her room and stayed there. She finished all her a.s.signments and by the time she walked down, there are no more people in the living room. She knew that her parents were at their own room, and heard them discussing her father’s coming departure next month.

She did not continue walking out to the garden towards Dex and Jonas. She did not want to spoil the bonding moment of these two who like basketball. She was just about to go inside when she heard Dex asked her brother.

“Do you know your ate’s ex-boyfriend?”

“Ah, Kuya Melvin.”

“That’s him. What can you say about him?”

“Very kind, corteous, patient, always smiling, but… boring.”

“Boring?”

“Because he does not play basketball. He did not even once play basketball with me, unlike you. He had other thing he liked.”

“What was it?”
“Praying.”

Dex did not answer. She guessed that Dex was surprised what what he heard from her brother.

“We thought that he was just a religeous person. But it turned out that he was that religeous because he’s aiming for priesthood.

Jennafei closed her eyes out of irritation. She will smack her brother later on because of his tongue.

“Priest?” Dex asked like he can hardly believe it.

“Yes. That’s why he left my sister four months ago. He entered the seminary.”

She did not hear anything from the two of them for a long while. So she did not know Dex’s reaction from what he learned about about her and she doesn’t know why does it seemed to matter to her what he thinked about her.

A while ago, while she was singing, she was very conscious of her voice because Dex was listening.  She usually don’t care about the timber of her voice everytime she sings in their karaoke session but because Dex was watching, she purposely did her best in singing. She usually does not care about her looks inside the house but she noticed that she was putting effort in combing and looking at the mirror lately, that she did not often used to do.

“Does your sister still love him?” she heard Dex asked. Why does he even want to know things like that?

“I guess so. From what I know, she was rejecting her every suitors because she was still waiting for Kuya Melvin to come back to her. Because he was not yet a full pledged priest. Their are still hope for him to come back from the seminary. Why are you asking, Kuya? Are you planning to court my sister?”

Jennafei clenched her fists. Jonas will get a surely get a taste later. He was giving out too much information.

“Why will I court her?”

“Don’t deny. Kuya. Do you think that I don’t notice the way you look at Ate Jenna? You feel something towards my sister. Admit it.”

Dex just gave a laugh and it sounded like a cackle in her ears. Jennafei heard a sound of ball hitting the ring. The two went back to playing. She was also about to enter the house. But her movement stopped and her step paused midway when she heard what Dex said.

“Yeah. I like her. I like her very much.”

Jennafei found her father, Jonas and Dex playing Scrabble in the living room. That’s the reason why the plan to go out has been cancelled. He seemed to be enjoying playing the board game with her brother and father that he forgot what he said last night. They already started playing before dinner and because they were all enjoying the game, they continued playing after dinner. They even asked her to join but she refused.

It was 9PM when she went down from her room to speak with Dex. She had not claimed the three questions she have for this day and she needed the answers and she’s already about to sleep. She still had an hour to do the interview.

“Jenna, come and take my place, me and your mama will now go to sleep,” said her father before bidding them good night.

With not much choice, she went to claim her father’s tiles. When she looked over at Dex who was in front of the center table, his eyes seemed to be smiling as he looked at her. Consequently, she remembered what she heard him tell her brother earlier. That Dex seemingly like her.

Of course, he liked her. He liked her as a toy. He liked to play with her. Like those girls in the campus that he got tired with in a matter of one week. But she was a special case because she was not an easy lay. Jennafei did not want to think that reason he stayed with them was his way to get her but that seemed to be the truth. It came right from his mouth that he’s not used in not getting what he wanted that’s why he he’s doing everything just to get it. She didn’t know why she felt slightly hurt about that.

“I need my three questions.”

“Later. Let’s play first.” Dex spread his tiles. Jonas counted his scores.

“We all have cla.s.ses tomorrow.” Jennafei lifted the tape recorder she was holding.

“Okay. Ask me as we play.”

Jennafei looked at her brother at her left. It seemed that Dex did not mind him hearing the interview so she started asking.

“Is it true that your family owns the biggest shares of stocks of our university?”

“I own the biggest shares,” he answered while looking at the board.

Her eyes widened at his answer. “Excuse me?”

“Sixty percent shares of the that university is mine.”

“Sixty percent?” she uttered in disbelief.

“Those stocks are under my name.”

“But… why…?”

“I told you before I could get whatever I want. When I told my parents I wanted to buy half of that university, they bought sixty percent of it for me. So naturally, part of the revenue of the university goes to me.

She can’t believe that Dex family was that wealthy and it was that easy for him to get his wants from his parents. It turned out that it was Dex who owned a big part of the school and not his parents.

When she looked at Jonas, she saw that even him was amazed from what he just found out.

“Follow-up question. Why did you buy the school?”

“Nothing. ‘Cause I don’t care about what they think about me. They can think whatever they want to think and believe what they want to believe. They won’t affect me. That’s the reason why I don’t want to be interviewed. Aside from the fact that I hate sharing my life with people I don’t even know, I also don’t want to appear as if I care about what they believed about me.”

“You don’t care even if your image at school is notoriously bad? Even when several hated you because they believe that you are an evil person?”

Dex stopped playing the tiles and looked at her. “Do you believe that I am a bad person?”

She was not able to answer right away. If she was asked the same question days before, she would probably give a quick “yes”. But Jennafei can’t deny the changes of her view of Dex since that day he protected her from the guy who mistreated her at the library. Her family liked him. And she knew that it’s not because of what her father owed him. She saw that her family was really happy in his company. Dex also did not take advantage of her.

From the informations she compiled from the guy’s character, she learned that there i a reason why he grew up this way and from there, she thought that he might not probably a bad person.

“I’m not a bad person, Fei. I don’t want you to think that I am a bad person. I know I can never be the goody-goody type of guy that you like and I know how you hate my guts but I am not a bad person,” Dex seriously said. “I care about what you think about me.”

She was totally unable to speak, thereafter. He suddenly cared about what she thought about him when he did not care less about what other people belived about him?

“Goodnight,” he whispered and stood up. Jennafei was left dazedly pondering.

I like her… I like her very much… Again, she remembered as Dex said that.

Was it possible that he was courting her? She shook her head and cleared her mind. When her eyes wandered on the scrabble board, she was stupefied as she read what was formed by the tiles.

Romantic date tomorrow night after cla.s.s.

Romantic? He must really be courting her! Jennafei didn’t know for what for the excitement that suddenly blossomed from her chest.