Tonz and the rest of the team ate dinner at the conference room. He kept glancing at the door, waiting for Jacinda to join them.
He was disappointed when Ms. O said that she already left.
After a few reminders, he was free to go. He was already traversing the streets of Tomas Morato when he saw Jacinda entering a coffee shop. He knew that he should just leave her alone, but at the back of his mind, he knew he wanted to check if she's okay.
He parked his car, still thinking twice if it will be a good idea to approach her. What if she wants an alone time? What if she's meeting someone? He decided to take the leap.
He entered the establishment and approached the counter, he looked around to see where she was sitted. After he ordered, he slowly approached her. She's reading a book, a cup of brewed coffee and a slice of cheesecake were on her table.
"Is this seat taken?" he asked smoothly.
She was startled at first, but when she regained her composure, she was back to her cool self.
"Not really. You can have it."
"Thanks! You didn't join us for dinner. Would you like to order something else?"
"No thanks. I'm good." she returned to her book.
His order came, a cold brew and a piece of chocolate chip cookie. He remembered that he'd been eating carbs more often, maybe he will hit the gym tomorrow.
"You were amazing at the audition. Did you join ACZ's acting workshop?" he said, just to have a topic.
She closed her book, looked at him intently and said, "What do you want Mr. Gamboa?"
He couldn't speak, should he tell her that he followed her? Bad idea Tonz, just keep your cool...
"I just want to talk. As I've said, you were good. It's also my first time to really feel the scene during an audition."
"Did Ms. O asked you to convince me?"
"What? No, of course not."
"Ok." she opened her book again, it seems like she's not really up for a conversation. But he was persistent, so he spoke again.
"Do you come here often?"
"Mr. Gamboa, you're kinda annoying. Please, just tell we what you want so that I can read in peace."
"I just want to us to be friends, is that a bad thing?"
To his surprise, she smiled and said, "Dami pang sinasabi, drama yan?" They both burst out laughing.