#CDFragments VI. How he slips

VI. How he slips The tent is cramped, Richard wanted to say as people began to fill in, sending him in the corner of their space. The smell of cookies, perfume, and sweat was beginning to take a toll on him. Surprisingly not on Dawn, though. Taking Wednesday off to attend a parent-teacher conference at Jacobo's school, she came back to work on Friday in a much better mood. She arrived with a batch of cookies that she and Ayisha made, to cheer up the little girl who had just gotten better from a bout of cough and fever. As everyone grabbed their share of cookies inside their tent, he sat in the corner watching Dawn talk animatedly to the younger actresses in their ensemble about her daughter. He could only smile watching Melissa and Julia so fixed on her story. She really just has that effect on people. And time and time again, he would realize that it's precisely what drew him to her. ~~~ Armida Siguon-Reyna approached Richard at that pre-production meeting with a smile on her face. "So, what do you think of her?" she asked, giving him a knowing look. 'Beautiful' was the first thing that came to mind, but he smiled and answered, "She's madaldal, 'no?" Tita Midz laughed. "Yeah, she is! I love her stories. And she's a damn good actress." Richard nodded. "You think you can make it work? I mean, I know she's no Sharon, but ---" He held Tita Midz's hand. "Sharon and I are over, Tita. Besides, this is work. If Dawn is willing to work through this with me, it shouldn't be hard to go around the scenes." "Love scenes." "Yes."

"The kisses." "I know." "And Richard..." "Yes, Tita?" "Do not just hit on her. She's not that kind of girl. Hell, no one is that kind of girl." She smiled and tapped his shoulder. "So all that hanky panky sidelines I've been hearing about, don't even try na subukan sa kaniya. Am I making myself clear?" "But what if I fall in love with her?" he teased. Oh, if only he knew that he really was going to. ~~~ It wasn't long before the members of the cast and crew left the tent, cookies in hand, and Dawn noticed that Richard was staring blankly at the wall again. She pointed a cookie to his lips. "Open up." She could see how he seemed to snap out of thinking. "Sige na." He took the cookie and smiled as he chewed. She sat in front of him. "Ikaw ha, napapansin ko these past weeks parang naaaning ka." "Ha?" "Lagi kang out of reach. May problema ba sa bahay?" "Wala!" A bit too loudly. She reached for his arm. "O, relax. I was just asking." She fed him another cookie. "Ayan ang sinasabi ko, tulala ka, jumpy, tapos sasabihin mo walang problema. Goms naman, ako pa lolokohin mo." "Wala naman kasi talagang problema sa bahay!"

"O, eh what's the matter nga?" "Ikaw!" She didn't know how to respond to that