The Wooing of Alexandra Trese

Maliksi looks up from his iPad to steal a look at the lovely owner of his favorite bar. For once, she is not hidden away on the second floor behind a wall of one-way mirrors.

She is sitting on the bar, talking to Hank Sparrow. His eyes lingered on her back to take in her slim waist and small shoulders. It pains him to think that such a huge responsibility for the underworld, the topside and the cosmos rested on such a delicate frame.

He looks away quickly because he knows that she already sensed his stare. It's a rare privilege for him to be inside the bar before operating hours.

The Diabolical usually opens at 10 AM to accommodate old regulars who come over for their strong, aromatic black coffee and delicious, unforgettable friend rice with tawilis combo.

Hank always lets him inside when he arrives through the back door to share a cup of coffee and last night's tales.

Mal likes to keep Hank company in the early hours with his humorous anecdotes and unusual stories. The Kambal usually helps out in the morning cleaning and preparation. They sometimes tease him into applying as an employee but he turns it down gently every time.

He also likes to think that the older man takes the opportunity to get to know him better. It's an open secret that he's not there for the coffee, the stories or Hank. He's only there for the lonesome, beautiful woman he admires from afar.

Mal looks down at the news on his Facebook feed. The Internet is a funny thing. He's staring at a photo of Alexandra Trese on the covers of a comic book. They're selling those things in a book convention in SM MOA and the crowds are hoarding them too. He smiles widely with amusement.

"What are you smiling at?" Trese's voice cuts through his train of thought.

Mal suddely sits up straight, spills coffee on his pristine white shirt and nearly drops his iPad. He knows he looks like an idiot. Trese doesn't even smile at his clumsiness.

He thinks about all of the girls he's wooed, loved and dated in his lifetime. (That's two centuries in human time). Those ladies were easy to amuse and to win over for late night trysts with his easy charm and soulful serenades. He's always been a ladies man. But when it comes to little Alexandra Trese, he's thoroughly stumped.

She doesn't smile at his jokes, doesn't like his offers to take her out on a date and doesn't like his karaoke singing. She orders him around when she's on a case but doesn't thank him. She's got a throng of males who think she's the pivot of their world and would do anything for her so he doesn't stand out...

But she lets him stay inside her bar before, during and after hours. She doesn't ask the Kambal to shoot him down when it's karaoke night. She sometimes eats the puto bumbong he brings her after Misa de Gallo mass with ginger tea made from his family's secret recipe.

Sometimes, after a failed attempt to ask her out, he catches a tiny dimple at the corner of her mouth. It only endears him more.

"Um, I saw a book convention in Pasay that's advocating reading for the millennial generation." Maliksi replied quickly. "Maybe we should check it out. You know, there'll be lots of kids. We should secure it so nothing strange happens to them."

Alex stared at him without saying anything. He looks at Hank who's giving him two thumbs up behind her back. He steeled his nerves and wondered if she knows that this is the 31st time he asked her out this month.

More words spilled out of his mouth. "It's interesting because there's so many new stories about Filipino mythology. The media has already picked up that it's going to be the next global thing. Maybe it will even be good enough to get a Netflix show! What do you think?"

"We'll leave after I finish my meeting with Hank. One o'clock PM." She turns her back on him to go back to the bar without another word.

He could almost swear that her shoulder-length hair flowed smoothly like a Pantene model's. The dainty scent of jasmine and sampaguita wafted over to him.

Inside her space, she doesn't need to wear her iconic coat. Her small frame is wrapped in a black cardigan and her jeans are ripped. If he doesn't know her, he'll just think that she's the modern version of a Maria Clara.

He knows this game and he plays it well. Invigorated by their plans for later, he jumps back to his feet. He gives a thumbs-up to Hank and leaves two hundred on the table. It was still an early Friday afternoon. Nobody will notice a racing Tikbalang who's running to cross the heavy traffic from Manila to Makati.

No one except, perhaps, Alexandra Trese.

Hank looks at his ward, eyebrows raised. He's cleaning the glasses, as always.

She doesn't meet his eyes and pretends to be interested on the accounting sheet in front of her. Her wire rim glasses nearly slides off her cute, button nose as she stares at the numbers in front of her.

Alex might think that she's above all of it, thanks to her great destiny, but she's still a human girl. She didn't go through puberty in the same way her peers had.

It amused him to no end that she wouldn't recognize that young Tikbalang's courtship, even if it bitch-slapped her on the face.

Her dad's reaction would be even more hilarious. Anton Trese would have fits at the thought of his unica hija being courted by a Tikbalang princeling.

"What are you smiling at?" she asked in a deadpan tone. He turns around to hide his wide grin and makes a fuss as he cleans the glasses on the counter top. "You're acting weird."

"I'm not." Hank replied as he turned around to meet her eyes. His hands are steady as he cleans the rim of the glass carefully.

He's seen her as a child, as a preteen and as a young woman emerging from the Balete tree. He's never seen her interested in anything but her destiny.

"Are you bringing the Kambal along for your trip to the book fair?" he asked cheerfully. She eyed him suspiciously before slowly removing her glasses. Only Hank's allowed to see her wear glasses. Maliksi should never, ever see her wear them or else.

Hank's grin widens at her reaction. She turned pink under his gaze. So, she's bringing chaperones. What a clever girl.

They'd raised her well enough to avoid going on a "date" without a chaperone or two. For good measure.

"I will bring them to the book fair. Crispin has been asking for new indie comics to read since Hannah introduced them. Basilio is also wanting to buy that set of books that's supposed to give him new ideas about stalking and tying up enemies. Five hundred shades of gray or something..." Alex said absently.

She treated the twins like younger brothers whom she scolded and doted on in equal parts. Wherever she went, they will follow. Except for the bathroom, of course.

Growing up in a household of men, she'd learned to assert herself, to fight for her rights among her siblings and to earn her right to sit on the table. She's raised in a hard school so she doesn't know that she's their cherished little princess.

"Well, I should get started on cooking lunch if you're going out. Do you want to have my special adobo today?" Hank asked enthusiastically.

Alex narrowed her eyes at him. The older man shrugged his shoulders and grinned at her.

She knew that he's up to something but she doesn't comment.

She nodded silently before closing the account books. She slid off the bar stool gracefully. "Tell the Kambal to get ready. We should eat before leaving for SMX in SM MOA."

Hank watched her go upstairs to their private quarters, feeling amused. He put away the glass that he's been cleaning to go to the kitchen. He'd better get started on that adobo.

Alex was still brushing her hair when she heard a knock on the door. Crispin's voice called for her in the hallway.

"What's going on?" she asked tersely as she opened her bedroom door. "I'm not done yet."

Mal was standing behind a sheepish Crispin. She stared at him with a frown.

His long, ebony hair was pulled up in a man-bun. He was dressed casually in an old t shirt, shorts and slippers. Gone was the usual well-groomed, preppy Maliksi. In front of her was a man she didn't recognize.

Her eyes darted towards a tattoo that was partially hidden in his sleeve. His arm muscles flexed as he waved shyly. It was gone in the blink of an eye. Her eyes darted back up to his face.

Did he always have that tattoo? That's new to her.

She pretended that she didn't say anything and she rounded on Crispin. "What did I tell you about allowing visitors up to our house?"

The older twin smile wavered but he managed to keep it steady. "The bar's full of people right now so I decided to let him wait in our terrace. I wanted to let you know that he's in the terrace."

Alex sighed deeply and prayed to the gods for patience. "Go on and wait for us there," she said levelly.

"Alex! Don'tputonthecoatorelepeoplewillrecognizeyou!" Mal told her really fast as she shut the door on his face. She opened the door again and looked at him darkly. His smile was sunny. "I meant to say that there are a lot of people there and it's going to be really hot today so a coat isn't a good idea."

"You're lying," she said flatly. He said something about people recognizing her and that didn't sound good to her. "What did you mean when you said that people might recognize me?"

Mal was lost for words. Thank gods that Crispin stepped in for him. "Do you remember that psychic that came out in GMA 7? He's really famous now and he talks about you a lot to the media as the special consultant of the PNP."

She resisted a strong urge to rub her palm on her face. Damn that Ed. She explicitly told him to leave her name out of the papers and the press. Damn the digital age. She closed the door on Maliksi's expectant face and locked it.

It's been a while since she went out on public. Hank and the Kambal always took care of things for her so she had more time to rest, study and investigate. Since the internet boom, she'd also learned to rely on online shopping to avoid going out of the house.

Now that there was a threat to her identity and her sacred duty, she decided to disguise herself on her first outing to a mall in a long time.

Alex found the Kambal and Maliksi waiting for her in the terrace. The three were bantering and trading jokes easily and comfortably. She figured that sharing otherworldly roots and a modern heritage gave them a common ground. It unsettled her on how much the Kambal trusted the young Tikbalang.

She didn't realize that she's been watching them for five minutes at the doorway. Mal caught her eye and she looked away immediately. His gaze was focused on her face and she felt her cheeks getting hot. "You look okay," he told her cheekily.

The young woman had tied up her hair into a low ponytail at the base of her neck and she was wearing her wire rim glasses. Her iconic coat was replaced by a black cardigan. She was wearing a t shirt, ripped shorts and Converse sneakers.

They didn't speak for a few moments. The men were so used to seeing her in her black coat, work clothes and stern demeanor that they didn't realize that she was still a young woman underneath. None of them could take their eyes away.

She frowned at them and went back inside.

The men looked at each other. Maliksi shook his head vigorously like a wet dog. He felt like the wind was knocked out of him, a Diwata charm was cast at him and a wrecking ball hit him. That was the stunning effect of Alexandra Trese on him.

The Kambal shared evil smiles as he wiped his sweaty palms on his khaki shorts.

"Don't think that you're going to have a moment alone with her." Alexandra's boys told him in unison. "Lay a hand on her and you're dead meat."

Mal prayed to the old gods and his ancestors for self-control. A young, vigorous and spirited stallion like himself was going to have a hard time controlling his urges when faced with a formidable challenge and a beautiful, haughty prize at the end of the race.

"Let's go and have lunch. Hank made his famous adobo," Basilio said casually as they got up.

"I'm sure that Racumin doesn't have any effect on Tikbalangs," Crispin joked.

"We should have stocked up on cyanide and almond milk. We could've offered tea and cookies to her suitor," said the younger twin in a pensive tone. They were walking back towards the house and left their guest in the terrace. "We could get rid of them easily and with more subtlety."

Mal didn't know if he was going to laugh or cry. Such a precious treasure like Alexandra was guarded by a dozen dragons that he must conquer one by one. Instead of feeling dejected, he felt invigorated instead.

"If it's up to me, I'd rather have some silver cleaner. It will make my teeth shine brighter," he said loudly as he caught up with them. The boys merely laughed and exchanged high fives with him.

Maliksi has never met a challenge that he didn't overcome. Wooing Alexandra Trese was going to be his greatest challenge yet and it was a challenge that he will win without a shadow of a doubt.