Buying Love (Published Under UMPRINTABLES!)

Forty Eight

A few months later.

Ram was driving to school when he noticed something odd. Bakit andaming may dalang flowers? He saw couples along the streets who were bringing flowers with them. Yung iba nga may mga balloons pa at teddy bears. That's odd, he thought. Anong meron?

Monthsaries? Anniversaries? Eh, 'di ba nagdi-demand lang naman ng mga ganoong anik-anik ang mga babae kapag anniversaries?

Pero sabay-sabay silang lahat? Imposible naman yata. Swear, andami niya talagang nadadaanang magsyotang may bitbit na flowers. They can't all have the same date of anniversaries, right. That's impossible.

What's really going on? Flowers festival? Lovers festival?

Lovers festival? The thougt made him realized something. Oh, shit. He grabbed his phone from the dashboard and checked the date. He was right.

Ngunit hindi pa rin siya nakuntento. He dialled Maryo's number bago isinaksak ang headset sa tenga at saka inilapag ang cellphone sa tabi niya.

"What's up, dude?" anito from the other end of the line.

"What day today is?" aniya while driving. His eyes were fixed on the road. May nakikita pa din siyang mag-boyfriend na may dalang flowers o balloons. Now he's starting to understand why, he just wanted to make sure he's right.

"February 14. Why?"

"And?"

"Anong and?"

"Today is February 14, alright. So anong meron?"

"Hmmm. Let me think. Valentine's?"

Napalatak siya. "I was right!" Ngayon ay naiintindihan na niya kung bakit tanong nang tanong si Hana sa kanya kanina kung may plano ba siya ngayong gabi. He said none and she pouted. Now he knew why. He feels like smiling.

Napahagalpak ito ng natawa. "So, when did you start to care about Valentine's day, huh?"

"Since today?"

Muli itong natawa. "Oh, congrats, dude. It's confirmed. Tao ka na, officially."

"Haha! Very funny!" he sarcastically said.

"Mukhang nagtagumpay si Hana na baguhin ka, ah. You have changed a lot in the past months. You started celebrating monthsaries and other bullshits only hopeless romantics do."

"Just for the record, I still don't give flowers and chocolates. We celebrate monthsaries, alright, but we don't do all those mushy stuff."

Among the several gifts he gave Hana on their past monthsaries were a new watch and a new set of earrings. And yes, a Boracay escapade last month. He wanted to bring her out of the country, like Singapore as he promised her, but he was saving it for their first year anniversary. Yes, he's willing to give her anything, as long as he can afford, but never flowers and chocolates. Ganoon pa rin ang tingin niya sa mga iyon --- 'di praktikal. Flowers wilt in what? Two to three days? And chocolate will only give you tooth cavities.