"Hey beautiful." Startled, I dropped the key to my car and let out a shriek. I turned my head to see him leaning against the hood while holding a bouquet in one hand. He chuckled, his laugh deep and hearty.
"Callum! What are you doing there?" I asked, putting a hand over my chest.
"Bringing you flowers." He said while walking up to me.
"What for?" I asked, pressing my lips together to stop myself from smiling.
"For being beautiful." He smiled cheekily, his eyes wrinkling.
"That was so corny." I couldn't help but laugh.
"I'm trying okay?" He frowned.
"Well atlest you tried." I shrugged and chuckled.
"How do we do this?"
"Do what?"
"This. In the Philippines the man courts the woman he likes, right? He said with a tone of embarrassment.
My brows lifted and I couldn't help but laugh. I didn't mean to laugh. I suddenly just felt butterflies in my tummy. I remember feeling this way back when I was in college. When my crush asked me out. It was nice to feel this normal again.
"Anong nakakatawa sa sinabi ko?" His face flushed.
"Nothing." I shook my head and then took the bouquet from him. "Sige na. Thank you so much for the flowers. I appreciate your effort, Dr. Francois."
"You're very much welcome, Ms. None of your business." He winked. "I hope you don't have any plans for tonight. I'd like to take you out to dinner."
"How do I know you won't be recording our conversation?" My eyes narrowed at him suspiciously.
He dug into his pocket and took out his phone. "Here you can have this while we're together." And then he lifted both his arms and grinned. "You can do a pat down search on me if you want."
"I think I''ll just keep this until later." I took the phone from him. I rolled my eyes and shook my head with a smile on my face. "I can't believe you're a professional psychiatrist."
"Let's go grab something. I'm starving. Kanina pa kita hinihintay lumabas." He rubbed his belly.
"Fine" I laughed a little. We went to a drive thru and ordered some tacos and burritos from Taco Bell and we ate at a parking lot. Nothing fancy, really. Then I followed behind his car and he took me to this cute outdoor cinema. He laid out a blanket over the grass and we sat there and began eating out Tacos.
"Too bad hindi natin naumpisahan ang movie." He said, popping the burritos in his mouth and taking a huge bite from it.
"It's fine. I've already seen this movie." I said. A Walk To Remember was the movie that was playing on the screen. A woman a few feet in front of us stood up and ran and the guy she was with ran after her. "She broke up with him. She loves him but they've been together for so long and she's starting to question if life with him is the life she wants to have for the rest of her life."
"What?" Callum asked.
"The guy and the girl." I said.
"Were you eavesdropping? How did you know?"
"I don't. I mae up stories in my head sometimes." I said. "The woman will go away and try to find herself but eventually, she'll realize that she belongs with him."
"And they'll live happily ever after?"
I nodded my head and let out a bitter smile. "Who wouldn't want a happy ending? My mom used to read us fairytales when my sister and I were little. I've always loved them. It's funny because I try to create happy endings for strangers in my head yet I can't even imagine one for myself. It just feels too out of reach, too hard to get, too hopeless."
