[BRENT]

"NOW TELL me, who owns the voice that I heard from the only voice mail saved in this phone?" I asked Mayu seriously. I even asked it in a tone that should leave her with no choice but to tell me the truth.

I wasn't sure if that would be effective when it comes to this girl.

Mayu remained quiet for a few moments after I asked that question. To be honest, I starting to feel my arm getting numb while holding the phone since I showed it to Mayu.

If I could just shout at this girl, I would have done so earlier. She really liked doing a lot of that--creating suspense effects in some of our conversations which really prompted me to think of strangling her because of that. But I've never done that at all.

"Hey! Don't you have any plans to speak up?" I said, hoping that it would catch her attention since I thought that maybe she was already sleeping and I just didn't know that. Yes, just like an owl.

"Of course I have. I was only thinking of what to say."

Good. I thought she didn't have any plans to talk to me because of what I asked. But wait... back to the topic. I have to know the answer I needed from this girl.

"Don't think about it. Just answer my question. That's just simple, right?"

Mayu raised an eyebrow. "You know, I'm not sure what kind of craziness are you thinking and you're being demanding today. Did you eat something bad and you suddenly become interested with my cousin's caller?"

Just great! I'd be dead. She started interrogating. Couldn't we just skip that for now?

"I'm the first one who asked a question so you should be the one who needed to answer my simple question." Okay, I knew I was being demanding because of that. But I won't allow Mayu to take a step ahead of me.

And as for Mayu, there she was, sighing deeply at the moment. "Maybe for you, Brent, it was a simple question... Perhaps, it really is simple. But for me, it will never be an easy one. Especially when I knew that my cousin hadn't fully recovered. Your question might be simple, but it's not easy for me to blurt out the answer."

Seeing Mayu's reaction stunned me while I was looking at her as she said those words to me. Because of that, I finally understood the fact that something happened to Margaret that Mayu knew. And perhaps it was something quite painful.

"But... okay..." Mayu continued that put back my concentration to our discussion. "Since it was already obvious that you're taking a great interest in my ever dearest cousin, I'll do what you want."

I should've been happy because she finally agreed, but her last sentence soon registered in my mind that made me want to protest.

What in the world was this girl saying? Taking a great interest? What the heck!

"You try to deny that you're interested in her, I would tell her that you're stalking her." "

Why, this crazy woman! She really had the guts to threaten me?

"I'm not stalking her. I'm just worried about her." There. Now I ended up having a 'slip of a tongue'.

But then I guessed it was okay if it was like this. I was only talking to Mayu. Maybe she would be able to understand me. Just as long as I would tell her the truth.

"I guess she intrigued you in so many ways, huh?"

I sighed and soon leaned on the wall next to the window of that room. "You have no idea." I looked at Mayu after that. "So?"

This time, it was Mayu who sighed. It seemed that she was preparing herself before the conversation actually happened. Well, just like what she said, it wasn't that easy for her to just tell the truth.

"The voice in that voice mail belonged to Margaret's ex-boyfriend--Oliver Santiago. And that guy was the reason why my cousin hated other guys who possess attractive faces like you do."

"You mean to say, your cousin had a boyfriend even though she was an amazon? Who's more handsome between me and that Oliver person, by the way?"

You got to be kidding me, Brent Allen Villaruz! You still had the guts to joke around like that?

"To answer your second question, I hate to admit it but you're more handsome than that Oliver Santiago. As for the first question, yeah... she did have a boyfriend even though you thought of her as an amazon," Mayu answered placidly and a bitter smile soon followed. "Until that bastard terribly broke her heart to pieces just because the entire courtship and relationship was only initiated through a bet."

Now that was unbelievable! From what I knew, Margaret was smart when it comes to avoiding this kind of situation.

"And what was even worse, Oliver's so-called friends even tried sexually harrassing my cousin."

I frowned at that. "Don't tell me Margaret didn't fight back? I won't believe you if you did tell me that."

Mayu looked at me incredulously. "Do you really think my cousin would just let herself be harrassed like that? She didn't take up basic lessons in karate just to allow someone to do some nasty things to her, okay?"

"So... those jerks received more than just a punch on the face?" I ventured. To be honest, I didn't want to imagine the faces of those goons--as Mayu called them--from Margaret's fists.

"To put it simple but concrete, they were all taken to the police station black and blue."

Wow! Definitely a concrete answer. I couldn't help having goosebumps when I thought of that. Now I won't wonder why no one would dare touch that girl.

But wait!

There was still something missing.

"Don't tell me that Oliver person ended up the same way?" I asked Mayu.

I frowned when I saw her slowly shaking her head. "Margaret spared him... because she wanted to know the truth from Oliver. He told her the truth she wanted... at the expense of her heart that I guess had truly loved him so."

I couldn't say anything more after that. I don't even want to ask about Margaret's expression when she found out that everything for Oliver was just a game. For Pete's sake! I couldn't even imagine her going through that.

"Let me ask you something. Why did you suddenly become interested with the voice mail that Margaret saved in her phone that from what I knew was something she already threw away? Don't tell me you have plans to add her in the list of the girls you've hurt before? Brent, you won't just receive a punch from me if you did that."

"What? Mayu, tell me the truth. Do I look like someone who would senselessly hurt your cousin's feelings?" This was just great. Okay, I admitted that I dated a lot and even made them cry for hurting their feelings since high school. But heck! Doesn't Mayu even know the real me when it comes to this issue?

"You want me to be honest?" she asked that made me confuse.

Now why would she ask that? But I still nodded as a response. I told her the reason why I was interested in Margaret's past that made the latter so sad. Perhaps, Mayu won't fail me when it comes to the answer that I was asking from her.

She looked at me intently. It was as if she was calculating and thinking of what to do with regards to the answer I needed.

"I know... you would never play with Margaret's feelings. Aside from that, I know the real reason behind your image as a heartbreaker." After that, Mayu smiled in a sort of understanding way. "You're only doing that to the girls who--"

"Okay, okay! You don't have to blurt that out loud if you already knew," I interjected as soon as I could before anyone else could even hear."But wait, how did you know about that? Only Neilson knew about that fact."

"Brent, I'm not an idiot for me not to notice that there was something wrong with what you were doing, okay? Your brother only just confirmed my speculations." And then she just shook her head. "You're changing the topic. Now that you know the truth, what are you planning to do?"

That was when I became quiet since I didn't know what to say as an answer. What exactly was my plan?

The truth was, my only plan at the moment was to know what I could behind the voice mail--which turned out to be from Margaret's ex-boyfriend. I didn't know why I felt angry when the name Oliver Santiago registered in my mind.

But after learning all that, I wasn't even sure what should I do next. I couldn't think properly. I didn't know why.

I looked at Margaret's cellphone that I just realized I was still holding to. Until I had a "light bulb" moment because of what I thought of.

That was right...

This could be my chance to stop playing around. I actually had a chance to change everything. All I had to do was to actually put it into action.

"You just wait, Margaret..."

***

"That's right. Just wait..." I whispered to myself right after remembering that.

Honestly, I was like an idiot there as I was remembering things that I shouldn't have. But I couldn't help it. Even though I was aware that with what I was doing, I was able to prove a lot of things to myself.

It was only two days that had passed since the truce between Margaret and I had started.

I wonder what else could possibly happen in the next coming days between me and Margaret because of that truce? What else would that truce change in my life?

Maybe even to my feelings?

"To hell with that truce..." What in the world were you doing to me, Margaret?