"O ano sinisigaw sigaw mo diyan Val ah? Busy kaya ako. Ay nako pag 'to di importante baka masasabunutan kita." Maine asks as Valeen as the latter takes a seat across her. "Spill. Ano ba yun? Bilisan mo marami pa kong gagawin."
"There would be a company event on Saturday."
"On Saturday? What for? And how come I get to know this just now, Val?"
"Well, your tito asked me to help for the planning when you and Alden were still in Paris. Sinabi din nya saken na wag na kitang abalahin tungkol dun."
"So para saan nga ang party na yon ah?"
"I think you forgot that Victoire will arrive on Saturday. I think it's a welcoming party."
"Ahh. Iba talaga pag sikat yung magiging cover nung magazine issue. May paparty pang nalalaman yung tito ko."
"So..."
"So?"
"Who's gonna be your date at the party?"
***
"Date?" Alden asks Jerald curiously. "Di ba pwedeng ako na lang mag-isa?"
"Oh come on! As if namang wala ka pang naiisip na ayain bilang date mo. Wag ako, Paps. Wag ako."
"Ano bang pinagsasasabi mo diyan ah? Ikaw pinagtritripan mo lang ata ako e."
"Wag mo nang i-deny. It's obvious you know. Lalaki din ako. Alam ko ibig sabihin nung mga titig mo kay ano..." Alden immediately covers his friend's mouth to stop him from blabbering. There are a lot of ears in there and he can't risk anyone knowing anything especially when she doesn't even know a thing yet. Ganun yon e. May pagkamanhid ata.
"Wag dito uy. Teka halata ba talaga?"
"Oo. Ewan ko sa iba ah pero ako know na know ko. Paglabas niyo palang ng elevator nung Monday ng umaga may something na talaga sa mata mo. Actually parang may something din sa mata niya e. Anyway, bakit di na lang siya ang i-date mo sa Saturday?"
***
"Can I not just go with you and Jerald like we used to?"
"Believe it or not, Je actually asked me to be his date."
"Really?" Parang bumibreezy na 'tong si Je kay Val ah. Lakas talaga ng loob hehe. "And?"
"And I said yes. We'll go as friends." Damn!
"E di sama ko. Friends naman tayong tatlo ah." Valeen rolls her eyes at Maine.
"Maine, date ko siya. Date niya ko. You'll be a third wheel. I know you hate being a third wheel. And I know for sure there will be someone who will ask you to be his date."
***
"May something din sa mata nya? May spark ba?" Alden leans closer to Jerald with a grin. "You think I have a shot with her? Ano Je? Meron ba?" He inquires enthusiastically at the smirking Jerald.
"Hindi naman halatang patay na patay ka kay...kay alam mo na." Jerald adds the last part in a whisper.
"Patay na patay agad? I just like her a lot, paps."
"Like nga lang ba talaga? E parang iba na yan ah." Alden, with brows furrowed, straightened his body before leaning back on his chair. Jerald's smirk grows bigger as he notices the confused look on Alden's face. After a few seconds of silence, Jerald stands up and rests his hands on his friend's shoulders. "Mukhang ikaw mismo naguguluhan sa feelings mo, paps. Para masigurado mo yan, ayain mo na kasi na maging date mo sa Saturday. Sige una na ko. Pag-isipan mo yan ng mabuti." He pats Alden's shoulder before walking back to his desk.
After Jerald left, Alden swivels his chair to face the door to Maine's office on the other side of the room. Then he remained in that position, unmoving as the words that Jerald uttered kept on replaying on his head.
"Like nga lang ba talaga? E parang iba na yan ah."
"Like nga lang ba talaga?..."
"Like..."
Urrrrrrrrrrrrgh! Naguluhan din tuloy ako bigla ah. It seems like I confused the meaning of like from love. Alden continues musing with his eyes still on the closed doors of the office that houses Maine inside. What is love nga pala? Alden asks himself.
Love is when you care about someone. Do I care about Maine?
I do. A lot actually.
Love is when you give time to a person. Am I willing to give all my time to her?
I am. All of it.
Love is when you feel the need to be with someone. Do I feel the need to be with her?
Always.
Always...
Syete! In love na nga ata talaga ako. Alden concludes as he pounds his fist lightly on his desk. Kayo guys ano sa tingin niyo? Arrrrrrrgh! Nevermind. I'll have to find this out by myself. Without having any second thoughts, Alden stands up and starts to walk to where Maine is, his hands fisted on his sides and his lips pursed with pure determination written all over his face. Jerald sees Alden walk by on his desk and he couldn't contain a smile from forming on his lips. He shakes his head to his friend's gesture thinking that,
Ay nako. Iba talaga ang tao pag inalababo na.
When Alden reached his destination, he could not bring himself to open the door let alone knock on it. Kinabahan ako bigla ah. Alden starts to rub his sweating hands together as he fidgets on his feet. After a while, he finally gathers the courage to knock on Maine's door but when he is about to, the door swings open revealing Valeen.
"O Alden?" Alden feels his face starting to heat up even though it is just Valeen in front of him. Grabe pano pa kaya pag si Maine na kaharap ko? Alden opens his mouth to say something but the words fail him. He closes his mouth again and clears his throat to force the words out.
"Hi Val. Uhmm...kakausapin ko lang si Maine." Alden says before letting out a nervous laugh and scratching the back of his head.
"Are you okay? Namumula ka."
"Ayos lang ako. Medyo...medyo naiinitan lang."
"Ah okay. Sige pasok ka na." Valeen says as she goes out of Alden's way. Alden nodded at her before walking in. Valeen closed the door behind Alden and went straight to Jerald's desk to give him a high five. The two grin at each other like they just successfully cheated on an exam. "Success tayo, Je."
"Sinabi mo pa. Teamwork pa more diba?"
***
"Uyy hi. Do you need something?" Maine asks when she sees Alden standing – uncomfortably, I might add – at the front of her desk.
"Uhmm...c-can I take a sit first?"
"Oh, yeah, uhmm..." Maine stammers while flinging her hand in the air. "How rude of me. Go ahead." Alden sits down with his hands on his lap and gaze casts down looking like a child being reprimanded. Maine waited for Alden to say something but he just remained quiet so she was the first to break the silence. "So, ano na , Alden?" Maine questions while eyeing the guy in front of her suspiciously.
"I j-just...m-may itatanong lang sana ko s-sayo." Alden stutters. Ano ba naman yan, Alden? Parang first time mo mag-aaya ng date ah. Get a freakin' grip uyy! He mentally kicks himself. It took him by surprise when he heard a laugh coming from Maine.
"Alam mo nakakatawa ka. Bakit nabubulol ka dyan? Kinakabahan ka ba? Ano?" Maine says before laughing once again.
Grabe 'to! Pinagtawanan pa talaga ko?
Alden breathes deeply to try and regain his composure. Sabihin mo na ng matigil siya sa kakatawa. He thinks to himself.
"I was gonna ask you if you could accompany me to the company event this Saturday." Alden mutters hastily but Maine was able to catch every word from him.
Accompany?
Him?!
"Y-you mean a-as y-your date?"
"O bat ikaw naman ang nabubulol diyan? Kinakabahan ka din ba?" Alden asks with a smirk seemingly proud of himself that he managed to get revenge. Maine clears her throat and straightened her posture before replying,
"Oy hindi ah. Bakit naman ako kakabahan? Nabigla lang ako." She says defensively. Pero seryoso kinabahan talaga ko. Maine muses.
"Sige sabi mo e." Alden shrugs with a smile still on his face. Sarap talaga dutdutin ng dimples ng lalaking 'to. Maine mutters to herself. "So...would you be my date on Saturday?"
"Why me?" Maine couldn't help but ask. A part of her expecting – no, wanting, for Alden to say that 'she is who he wants to be with him'. She didn't even know where that feeling came from but since the words already spilled out from her mouth, there's no taking it back. Maine braces herself for Alden's answer and the disappointment that would probably come with it.
"Well, magka-date si Val tsaka si Je and beside the two of them, you're the only one who I am close with. It's my first event to attend to and I don't want to go alone." Maine let out a sigh. She still ends up disappointed even if she already knows that the answer she wants to hear from him would not be the answer that would she would get. Teka. Baket ba ko disappointed ah?
Baket?
Baket?!
[E kasi patay na patay ka kay Alden.]
Nakakainis! Sumasabat ka na naman diyan author. Mamaya na tayo mag-usap ha.
[Okay, fine. Sungit mo talaga.]
"Uhmm...Maine? Earth to Maine. Uyy!" Alden snaps his finger in front of Maine. "I kind of need an answer you know."
"Ahhhh...o-okay. Sure. I mean, I would accompany you, Alden." Maine replies with a smile. Alden smiles back at her revealing his deep dimples that Maine finds so adorable. "Yun lang ba? Do you need anything else?"
"Yes, yun lang." Alden stood up and looked down at Maine with a smile still on. "Thanks for agreeing to be my date." You don't know how much this means to me, Maine. You really are clueless.
"No problem." After hearing Maine's reply, Alden made his way to the door and gave her one last smile. Right after when he closed the door behind him, he leaned against it and took a deep breath before walking back to his desk. He heavily sat on his chair, propped his elbows on the desk, and cover his face with his hands.
I could have said that I like her then and there but I didn't. Nice move, Alden Richards. Nagiging torpe ka na. Bakit nga ba di ko sinabi na kaya siya ang inaya kong date kasi gusto ko sya. Kasi gustong gusto ko siya and I'm trying to figure out if what I feel for her is something even deeper than what I thought. Maiba ko. Earlier when I answered her question 'why', I think I saw, for a fleeting moment, a flicker of disappointment in her face. O baka assuming lang ako? Assuming because I so badly want her to feel the same for me. To like me too the way I like her. Or maybe...to love me like the way I think I love her.
Kailangan talaga may 'think'. It's because I'm still not sure of my feelings for her. I like her so much and there's no question about that. What I'm not sure of is whether I just like her or I'm already in love with her. And because I don't want to be impulsive when it comes to things like this. I want to be sure. I want to be certain that when I tell Maine what I feel, that's really what I feel for her.
"Uy, paps." Jerald once again calls Alden breaking him from his train of thoughts. "O bat ganyan mukha mo?" Je asks as Alden tilts his head upward to look at him. "Di ba pumayag si Maine?"
"Pumayag." Alden replies with a frown.
"O pumayag naman pala e. Ano inaarte mo diyan?"
"Kasi di ko pa nasasabi na gusto ko siya."
"Sus. Alam mo, paps, baka hindi pa ngayon ang tamang panahon para sabihin mo sa kanya yan. Wag mo siyang biglain at wag mo rin biglain ang sarili mo. Tsaka di ba sabi ko kanina pag-isipan mo muna ng mabuti yang nararamdaman mo kasi halata na pati ikaw gulong gulo din?"
"Alam mo Je, minsan may nasasabi ka rin palang matino no?"
"Grabe ka naman sa akin, paps. Joker ako pero pagdating sa ganitong usapan seryoso talaga ako."
"Oo na. Thank you sa mga advice, paps. At dahil diyan, samahan mo kong humanap ng isusuot ko sa party."
"Agad agad? Di ka naman excited no? Wednesday pa lang kaya."
"Di lang excited. Excited na excited talaga ako. Alam mo kung baket, Je? Kasi feeling ko may mangyayaring maganda sa gabing yon." Alden tells Jerald with eyes twinkling in excitement...
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Hiya guys!! :D Hope you liked this update. Don't hesitate to comment what you think, okay? :)
Thanks for reading :D