ALEXIS and the Bet

Chapter Seven: Surprises and Cupcakes

It bothered me what mom had said, about me looking older for my age that is. I stood in front of my mirror and observed my reflection. I usually wore my black hair into a one long braid that hang at my back, with bangs at my forehead that was so evenly straight, it looked like a ruler was used when my bangs were being sheared. I was never one of those fair skinned girls. I was a bit of a morena, thanks to dad and his genes. But I did have good skin, courtesy of mom and her pimple free gene pool.

I had to admit that I did look rather mature than the rest of my classmates. Maybe it was the way I wore my hair? Or maybe because I never bothered to give a thought on how I looked before? That was until Benjamin started visiting my daydreams.

I gave my head a hard shake to clear thoughts about Benjamin. I removed the braids and ran my fingers through my now curly hair. Then I tried to arrange my hair the way Bianca wore hers. But instead of the hair lying in soft curls to frame my face, my treses ended up having tendrils shooting everywhere as if I just been electricuted. This would never work. So, I gathered my mass of hair and tied it in a ponytail instead.

The following day, during one of my Saturday afternoons kulitan with my little brother, Daniel (and believe me, nothing beats the fun of a big sister pestering his kid brother), I heard someone knocking at our door. I went to the gate to check on our unexpected visitor.

"Puwede ho ba kay Ms. Alexis Salvacion?" a friendly looking man, who looked to be in his late forties or early fifties said.

"Sino po sila?" I asked. No matter how friendly looking the man was I couldn't just tell him I was Alexis Salvacion.

"Family driver po ako ng mga Lucero. May ipinaabot lang po 'yong anak ng amo ko," he explained.

Lucero. Could it be Benjamin Lucero? I was not sure. The man handed me a small package and he immediately went to the car parked in front of our gate, even before I was able to ask him further questions. I went back inside the house and inspected the package. What if it was a bomb and I just placed everyone's peril at my hands? But my imaginations usually ran wild, so I could be wrong on that one. I carefully removed the outer covering of the package and it revealed a small box. When I opened the box, inside laid a pair of eyeglasses. It was brown in color with stripe of black imprints but it looked very pretty. I removed it from its box and my eyes went wide as saucers when I saw the logo of Chanel embossed at the side. I removed my old glasses and tried the new one. Perfect fit. Perfect vision.

I then noticed a small note enclosed inside the box. I opened it and it read:

"As promised."

That was it. Only two words. But deep down in me, I knew who had sent for these glasses. Only Benjamin Lucero made a promise to replace my broken glasses. And upon realizing that, I suddenly found myself smiling stupidly. As if Benjamin had sent me a box of chocolates and roses instead. It was, I don't know, like butterflies were in my stomach and I just couldn't help myself from picturing him in my mind.

How did he know about what grade the lenses should be? He did not even have a prescription for my lenses. Did he pick the design himself? Was he thinking of me when he picked the glasses? Those were just some of the questions swirling inside my head. How much did this cost him?

Since I just couldn't resist it, I Googled for the answer to my last question. And the sample price I found made my mouth formed a big round O. The figure flashing before me from my phone was beyond my imagination. That much for a pair of glasses? And the good girl in me knew I could never accept something expensive like this. Even though it was pretty. Even though it was Chanel. So, I made a very hard decision: I would have to return this to Benjamin on Monday. But I needed to show him I appreciated his thoughtful effort, though.

I grabbed my cell phone and texted Madie:

"Mads, si Alex ito. Need ko sana help mo. Puwede ba ako magpaturo paano mag-bake ng cupcakes or cookies? Gusto ko sanang iregalo 'yon sa isang tao para mag-thank you."

Message sent. A few minutes later, Madie replied:

"Hello Alex! Sure ba. Gusto mo puntahan kita diyan bukas?"

I texted her back:

"Okay lang ba? Kaso Mads wala akong gamit dito, eh. Okay lang ba diyan na lang sa inyo?"

She replied after a moment later:

"Sure Alex, walang problema. Kung gusto mo, magkita na lang tayo do'n sa may grocery store malapit sa amin para bumuli muna tayo ng ingredients. Mga after lunch?"

I sent her another message:

"Sige. Bukas na lang, ha. Salamat!"

There. I mean, it would be okay for a girl to give a boy something as a way of expressing thank you, right? I didn't have any other intention aside from thanking him. But I just couldn't help but imagine what Benjamin's expression would be like once I handed him my gift.

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