Playing For Keeps (Book 2 & 3)

3. Chapter 13.

"You don't walk into love... you fall in. That's why it's so hard to get out."

Few weeks later...

“What was that again?” Alex asked Matty who was standing beside him, while he glanced at the menu inside Happy Lemon in Bonifacio High Street.

He didn’t know anything about milk teas and either did Matty because Jamba Juice was all they knew. And now they’ve been staring far too long at the menu. Him and Matty, brows furrowed and hands on their hips, scanning deep in the recesses of their minds for that drink Drei asked them to get for her pronto! He could’ve called her but yeah, he forgot his phone at home as soon as they left the house. And out of all the drinks in the world, she wanted something from Happy Lemon! Alex grumbled in frustration. How could he forget that one drink she asked for?

“Ummm basta may cocoa, dad,” Matty responded, because like Alex, he forgot too! The petite lady behind the counter smiled at them.

“Baka po yung best seller namin, Sir…” she intruded as her last customer left the shop.

“Ano ba yung best seller niyo, Miss?” Alex knew he badly needed help and will make do of everything that he could especially after allowing all the other customers get ahead of them. Besides, they still needed to buy a chocolate cake in Banapple.

“Cocoa with Rock Salt and Cheese po, sir… yun po ba yung gusto ni Ma’am?” she asked them.

“That’s the one!” Matty exclaimed. “Yun nga yun, Dad! Cocoa with Rock Salt and Cheese!”

“Are you sure?” he asked the boy. “Baka magkamali tayo lagot pa tayong dalawa!”

Matty just nodded frantically. “Yup yup.”

“Okay, Miss, Cocoa with Rock Salt and Cheese…make it three please…” he told the girl.

“Naku sir, masarap po talaga yan, I am sure magugustohan niyo din po yan…” she smiled at them.

“It’s not for us po,” Matty snickered. “It’s for my Mom, lahat yan for her!”

“So that’s three large Cocoa with Rock Salt and Cheese please.” Alex added. The thought of Drei finishing up all the three large cups of Happy Lemon made him sigh.

***

The whole fiasco of demands started Friday morning. It was already 6:30 and they were all at the dinner table for breakfast except for Drei. He got up to check on her, only to find out that their bedroom door was locked.

“Bubba? Are you okay?” he asked while he knocked on the door.

“Go away!”

“Anong problema?”

“I said go away! I don’t want to see you!”

“What?”

“And I don’t want to talk to you!”

She was inside the bedroom the whole day, refusing to talk to him. She didn’t want to him to be near her or see his face. Alex did what he was told and stayed away from her as much as he could. But what he didn’t expect slapped his face come bedtime. Drei didn’t want to sleep with him inside their bedroom.

“Why?” his voice raised in frustration.

“Because I don’t want to!” her face was a deadpan.

“Ano ba ginawa ko?”

“I don’t want you to sleep in here tonight… kaya umalis ka!” then she handed him his pillow. “Dun ka sa kabilang kwarto.”