I saw the surprised look on Rafa and Farah's face when they saw us walking together with a bit of smiling at each other. Alam kong they will be interrogating me about this. Mas lalo pa silang nagulat when I pulled out the chair for Ailee so she can sit.
"Thank you," she said to me.
From surprise ay napalitan ng malaking ngiti ang facial expression ni Farah. But I wasn't sure if it was because of my gesture or Ailee's politeness to me.
"Mukhang maganda ang gising natin ngayon Poch ah." Rafa suddenly said.
Poch? Did he just call her Poch? May petname s'ya for Ailee pero hindi ko naririnig na tawagin n'ya ng kahit anong term of endearment ang girlfriend n'ya? At nagawa n'ya pang tawagin si Ailee ng ganun sa harap ni Farah? What an ass!
"O baka naman may ginawa ka sa bestfriend ko na hindi ko nalalaman," ang tukso pa rin ni Rafa.
"Hoy ang kapal mo! Ako talaga? Ako agad ang may gagawin d'yan sa bestriend mo. Hindi pwedeng s'ya ang may ginawa sa akin?"
Tinignan ako ni Rafa na parang naghahanap ng sagot pero hindi ako nagsalita. I still haven't gotten over that thing he just did. Bumaling na lang ulit s'ya kay Ailee.
"Kilala ko ang bestfriend ko. Medyo bastos 'yan pero maginoo. Alam ko ikaw ang may ginawa sa kanya. Aminin mo na."
Ailee punched him on the arm at tapos nagtawanan sila. Nakikitawa lang din si Farah sa kanila. Are they flirting? And Farah's just watching all of this happen. Bastusan ba ito? Kung s'ya kaya n'yang makita, pwes ako hindi. Pero sino ba naman ako para makialam. Sabit lang ako sa lakad na ito. Dammit!
I looked away.
"Tara Inigo, kuha na tayo ng pagkain. Nauna na itong dalawang lovebirds eh," ang sabi ni Ailee.
I stood up and helped her up, too, pero hindi pa rin ako nagsasalita. Nauna na s'yang maglakad sa buffet table and I followed. At the buffet table ay magkatabi na kami. She handed me a plate before getting one for herself. And then she started putting food on mine kahit wala naman akong sinasabi.
"What are you doing?" I said.
"Putting food on your plate," she nonchalantly replied. "Do you want more bacon?"
"I can see. But you don't have..."
"But I want to kaya 'wag ka na pumalag d'yan."
She really is something else. Ang bilis magswitch ng attention from Rafa to me.
"You want anything else?" tanong n'ya na naman.
"Wala na."
BINABASA MO ANG
Letters to Cleo #Wattys2016
General FictionIt's hard to find true love. And it gets harder when you fall for someone you haven't physically met. This is the story of Inigo Javier's search for Cleo - a girl he has only exchanged letters with and his quest in finding true love.
