The Box

16. beach

Although she's lived in the city all her life, Maia was slightly unadventurous and spent most of her time organizing things. She was neat and organized that the sisters at the orphanage usually asked her to clean and organize the office. Before working for a company with Paola, Maia began working in the orphanage office as soon as she graduated ftom college. Growing up and working in the orphanage kept her rather sheltered from the 'outside world'. Even when she started working in the corporate world, Maia would only journey from her home to the office or to places near their home. On the other hand, Chuck was an explorer. Although he also liked being alone most of the time, he was adventurous. In high school, he would go hiking and camping. As his graduation gift, he traveled around Europe before finally settling in Manila.

A long weekend was coming up and Chuck wanted to go for an out of town trip to unwind. "What are your plans for the long weekend?" He casually asked Maia while he checked on the kids' school works. Maia was also busy working on some paperwork on the same table.

"Sa bahay lang"

"Do you want to go somewhere? Let's go to the beach! I heard the beaches are nice and quiet in Bohol."

"Bohol? Sasakay ng eroplano?"

"Yes!"

"...wala akong passport" Maia said softly.

"What's that?"

Looking at Chuck, Maia inhaled then said, "Hindi pa ako nakasakay ng eroplano...."

"Oh. But you've ridden on a bus?"

"Jeep, bus, tricycle, kotse...minsan angkas, kapag ma-traffic..."

"Boat?"

Maia shook her head. As soon as he thought of the beach, Chuck's thoughts travelled to scenes of the ocean, the sunrise, and the sunset. However, he immediately erased the thought from his mind when Maia said she had never travelled yet. He wanted to take her somewhere but at the same time, he didn't want to scare and traumatize her. After a few minutes, Chuck said, "Let's go to Batangas. There are many beaches there, too. We can fly to Bohol or Cebu for the holidays."

Maia quietly nodded. She was excited to be able to travel and go to a beach for the first time ever but was too shy to show it. She immediately made a mental note of what she was going to pack. "I...ilang araw?"

"2 nights? We leave on Friday morning and drive back on Sunday"

Maia nodded again. "Pwedeng isama sina Nanay?"

"Sure" Chuck smiled.

"Eh, wala akong swimsuit"

"Oh. Why don't we finish up here then we can go to the mall to shop? I also need to get some things."

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