"Please, don't you begin the typical drama of telling me not to see my best friend because it hurts your male ego." She said it as soon as he closed the door.
Dave blinked at her,"I wasn't even thinking about that."
Oh.
Natalie looked away,"Then what was that 'remember me' about, eh?"
Dave shrugged,"I called you 5-6 times today but you didn't attend."
Natalie took out her cellphone from her clutch. She had missed 7 calls in the last hour.
"I'm sorry. We were at the fireball club and I had forgotten my clutch in the car."
"It's alright, honey. I just missed you today. I wanted to hear your voice."
Natalie raised her brows,"Woah, what has gotten into you?"
"Nothing, why?" He looked at her innocently and walked toward her, slowly.
Natalie eyed him suspiciously and slowly backed away.
"Uhh.... I don't know. You are acting a little weird today."
Dave smiled at her,"I'm being romantic, Talley."
Telly communication. A voice muttered in her head, almost making her laugh. She controlled it because she knew Dave wouldn't like it.
Natalie rolled her eyes instead,"Well, you killed the moment by calling me that."
He stopped short,"You've never had a problem with that before."
Natalie shrugged and turned away to go to the kitchen,"I never really noticed. Anyway, coffee, tea or juice?"
He just kept staring at her with an unreadable expression.
"Dave?"
"No, thanks. I have to get home."
Natalie nodded,"Of course."
"But I need to say something."
"Yeah?"
He opened his mouth, closed it, shook his head and smiled at her,"Good night."
Natalie smiled back,"Good night."
He waved at her and left her there without even hugging her.
She stood there for some time then turned to find her mom near the kitchen door.
"Hey, mom." She kissed Labana's cheek.
"Hey sweety, everything fine with him?" Labana nodded at the door.
Natalie turned her head to look at the door then nodded,"Yes, everything is just that. Fine. With him."
Labana chuckled,"What about Dave?"
Natalie furrowed her brows,"I just answered you."
"I was asking about Carmine before, darling."
All of a sudden, Natalie's face lit up and a smile tugged at her lips. Labana did notice the transformation.
"Oh Carmine? You were asking about him? He is awesome. You should have seen him today, mom. It was hard for me to stop laughing. And his dancing. Oh mommy, you have no idea about his moves. He dances so well. How come I never knew that?"
Natalie's mom just shook her head," Honey, I just hope you know what you're doing."
"What do you mean?" She looked at her mother, still grinning.
Labana sighed,"Nothing. Go to your room. You must be tired."
"Okay."
She entered her room and kicked her heels away. She stood in front of the mirror, grinned at it then twirled around the room while humming.
She pulled at her curtain and looked over at street.
She was staring at Carmine's house when she noticed a shadow pass.
She saw a silhouette of a man.
"Dave?"
That man was standing in front of Carmine's house.
Natalie narrowed her eyes at him. She couldn't see him clearly but she was sure that it was Dave.
She ran out of her room, barefoot toward the terrace.
She clasped the railing with her hands and looked at the street. There were no signs of anyone.
She didn't even see his car.
"Dave!" She called out but got no reply.
She bit her lip then shrugged and turned to head in but stopped. Someone was staring at her now. She could feel it. She gazed at the street again.
Empty.
She stared at Carmine's house. Nothing.
Natalie shook her head and walked out of the terrace toward her room.
Next morning, Natalie covered her eyes from the rays of sunlight.
She planted her face on the pillow and hugged it with her arms and bent legs with her bottom in air.
Her blanket was snatched away from her.
"Ugh! Mom, no school or college or job today. Leave me alone."
"God, if I could just have this view for the rest of my life then I bet heaven would be nothing compared to it."
Natalie gasped, rolled to her back and flung her pillow at an open-mouthed Carmine.
"You jerk! Idiot! You rascal. Get out! Get out! Get. Out." She kept on throwing her pillows and cushions at him.
"And miss the view? Are you serious? Never. You're crazy to even suggest that."
"Ugh! Carmine. Mom!"
"Aww... baby runs to Mama for help. That's real mature, my dear."
"Shut up and get out." She gritted.
"Hmm...It surprises me that you have ample time to throw things at me and show me your anger but no time to make a move to cover yourself."
Natalie looked down at her clothing. She was wearing noodle strap, yellow shirt and white panty that had a pink bow on it.
She grabbed her blanket from the foot of the bed and covered herself.
Carmine sighed,"Well now that I have no view then I'll be waiting out for you, okay?" He waved his fingers at her with a grin then walked out of the room while whistling.
Natalie came downstairs all ready and found him eating sandwiches and laughing over something Labana had said.
"Oh, here she comes." Labana nodded toward her.
Carmine turned his head toward her and looked her from head to toe then back at her face.
She ignored his look and picked up an apple from a platter and took a bite.
"And here I thought that you'd spent a year in getting ready. You proved me wrong. It only took you two hours. Well done."
He leaned in and took a strand from her ponytail in between his finger and thumb.
"Didn't you take a bath?"He asked her, curiously.
She slapped his hand away,"Of course, I did. I daily take bath. And why am I even telling you this?"
"Then why is your hair all dry?" He narrowed his eyes.
Natalie looked exasperated," I blowdried them, dummy."
"At least waiting for two hours proved to be worth it." He smirked at her.
Natalie blushed and looked away awkwardly.
"I was talking about this." He held out his half finished sandwich,"Absolutely delicious, Ana mom." He looked at Labana who hid her smile with her hand.
Natalie gave him a disgusted look,"Are we going somewhere?"
"Yes, we're going out. I'll be driving this time."
"Is Drew back?."
"Nahh... We happen to have another car. We're kind of rich."
Natalie just shrugged,'' As long as it's not mine the one you're driving then I'm okay with it."
"I'm wounded."
"You want breakfast, honey?" Labana asked her daughter while handing her a glass of juice.
"No, apple is fine, ma." She smiled at her mother while Labana just shook her head.
"Let's leave then." Carmine stood up and started to wear his jacket.
"I'll be waiting outside." Natalie said and left him with her mom after kissing her bye.
She was already sitting in the passenger seat when Carmine opened the door and sat next to her on the driving seat.
Natalie just waved at Labana who was standing in the driveway.
"So? What happened to taking the passenger seat because you loved staring at me?" She asked while putting on her seat belt.
"Ah... Trust me darling, I'd like nothing more. But you see my doing that would create a problem for you." He started driving.
"What?" She asked, curiously.
"We'll fall in love or maybe I will." He looked at her and pouted.
Natalie looked at him wide-eyed then gulped and looked ahead.
Carmine gave her a side glance and laughed,"Look at your face. One would think that I'd just suggested swimming with sharks for fun. You stab me badly with that attitude, you know?"
"It's just that you've never talked to me like this. You're different from him. It kind of catches me off guard. I really don't want anything to lead somewhere unknown."
"Woah, woah, woah. Guess, I struck a nerve there. Different, eh? I was seven kinds of foolish, wasn't I?" He smiled at her.
Natalie chuckled to cover her embarrassment,"That you were."
"So what exactly was your Carmine like? I've heard my mom's version. It was filled with me being adorable and mostly you and Natalie that or you and Natalie used to. So, you tell me your version."
Natalie looked at him suspiciously,"If you're fishing for compliments then you ain't getting any."
"Compliments? Fishing for compliments from you? The person who believes that true friends never compliment each other rather they, what was it you said, yeah right, insult each other. Right, madam? How can I ever forget that?"
Natalie looked straight ahead to ignore his amused look,"Shut up and drive, okay?"
"Aww, I wish you'd said, shut up and kiss me, Carmine."
"Gross! Cut it out or I'm going to throw up." She made a gagging motion.
"What are you? Five?" He gave her a look.
"You're the one to ask?" She raised a brow at him.
"Start already." He drawled.
Natalie sighed,"You were the silent type for people. The peacemaker. I was the talker."
Carmine scoffed,"Clearly."
Natalie ignored him,"You used to tease me all the time. Sneak up on me. Fight with me. Share with me. The one thing that always amazed me was your timing.' she looked at him,"You were always there when I needed you. Always. No matter what time. I never even had to call you. You were just... there. Except for these last three years."
Carmine furrowed his brows at her," Why? What happened?"
Natalie shrugged,"I never got to know. You seldom wrote. It was because of your postings. You guys changed stations frequently."
"What made me choose Army? I can't seem to feel any kind of patriotism now. Ma told me that some jerk did this to me back there."
"I haven't gotten in touch with your friend, Stuart. He is your closest friend there. I'm sure he'd know the whole story."
Carmine nodded,"So? Is that all you're going to tell me?"
"You loved food. I only had to bribe you with something edible and you'd be dancing on my pinky finger."
"And now, you'd just have to smile at me, sweetheart." He repeatedly blinked at her.
"Please don't do that. You look gay."
"Okay." He took a turn and parked the car,"Come on, I'm starving." He got out of the car.
"McDonald's? Why are we here?" She took off her seat belt and got out.
"Oh, I want to use their washroom. Clearly, you didn't hear when I said I was starving."
Natalie just rolled her eyes,"I thought you had already eaten in my house."
"Oh yeah, I did. But I saved some of my appetite for this." He held open the door for her then followed her inside. They were greeted with the smell of chicken and fries.
"Go find a table and I'll be back with our order. What do you want?"
Natalie glanced at the menu,"Double Cheese Burger with family size Fries and hot Fudge Sundae."
Carmine raised his brows and grinned,"Coming right up. Want a drink with that or sundae is fine?"
Natalie shook her head and found herself a table. Minutes later Carmine joined her with their food.
"Carry on with your version." He said while sipping his coffee.
Natalie looked at his mustache that got a bit of cream on it from coffee.
"Well...' She circled her knife around his face,"This is a new look for you."
Carmine wiped his mouth with a napkin then looked at her puzzled,"What do you mean?"
"You were clean shaven before." She took a bite of her burger.
"Oh yeah, I saw some pictures. I'm just not in the mood to get rid of it." Carmine put a forkful of his Hot cake in his mouth and chewed it.
"What else hasn't changed?" He took a french fry from her tray.
She slapped his hand away then pointed at his hand,"This hasn't changed. You still steal away from my plate."
Carmine glanced at her tray then at her face,"You ordered a family pack."
"For myself." She retorted.
Carmine chuckled,"And you say I'm crazy for food."
"By the way Natalie, I had a dream last night."
"It's nothing. Sometimes even abnormal people like you get them too."
"Ha ha ha. That was very very very funny."
"So what was it?"
"I saw woods. An amazing place." He whispered.
Natalie's hand stopped in mid motion,"Woods?"
"Yeah. Woods. It was like a bark or a wide branch coming off of two giant trees. Underneath it was grass then there was water. Like a pond. It was like an inner cave. But a huge one. There was a girl sitting on that branch and a boy staring at her with his back on the tree." He looked at her,"I've seen our pictures. It was us. But I haven't seen a picture of that place anywhere. Those woods held some kind of significance. I woke up and thought of asking you about it. Do you know anything?"
Natalie swallowed her bite to give herself more time. Her heart was beating fast. He dreamed about The Woods. She felt like laughing and crying.
"You could say that..."
"What do you mean?"
She put her half eaten burger back then met his eyes,"There are some things that I won't tell you about. You have to remember them on your own. At least this one is among them. The top one."
"Why?" He asked her, puzzled.
Natalie shrugged,"I just can't."
Carmine stared at her for a while then nodded and continued eating.
Natalie's phone vibrated.
She took it out of her pant's pocket.
She had a text from Dave.
Good afternoon, baby.
Natalie frowned. Dave knew that Natalie always slept late but he never texted her greetings. Something was seriously wrong with him. Could it be that he was feeling insecure? No.
Natalie shook her head. He would have shared that with his mom and Natalie would have gotten to know about it from her soon to be mother in law.
She texted him back.
Good afternoon to you too, handsome. :*
Natalie looked at Carmine. He was in his own world. Deep in his thoughts. Natalie's phone vibrated again and she saw another text from Dave.
What is my fiancée doing, right now? x
She replied back.
Your fiancée is having lunch with her best friend. xD
She got a text in a second.
Where?
Natalie raised her brows.
Mcdonald's.
She waited for his reply but nothing came. Natalie shrugged and put it back in her pocket and caught Carmine staring at her.
"Mr. Fiancé becoming insecure there?" He smirked at her.
"It's nothing like that. At least I don't think so." Even she doubted her own words.
Carmine stood up with his coffee.
"Had I been at his place, I'd be furious. Let's go." He turned away and walked out.
Natalie blinked at him then bit her lip nervously and followed him out. Her cellphone vibrated and she hurriedly took it out. She was doing that when she bumped into someone.
"Whoops! Sorry." She held out a hand.
That man smiled at her,"Apology accepted, madame."
Natalie did a double take.
"Hey, I know you. I think I have seen you somewhere before."
"I hate to think that you'd forget about it.
Natalie furrowed her brows then she remembered.
"Club. You were at the club last night."
"The one who was there to help you but you were so rude to him. " He gave her a lopsided grin.
Natalie gave him a disgusted look.
"Please get out of my way, Mr.."
"Oh, Ford. Mr. Ford."
"I couldn't care less." She walked out of the fast food restaurant without giving him another look but she knew that he was staring at her. She ignored him and read Dave's text instead.
Enjoy then. But don't forget about me. x
Natalie gave a sigh of relief then typed back.
Haw :O Thank God, you reminded me. You see, I almost did. :P
Better not, darling. You're a prize. I don't want anyone stealing you away from me.
Natalie blinked at his choice of words. Somehow, his words bugged her.
Okay, let me just say good bye before this conversation gets anymore awkward. Bye, Dave.
She got in the car and they drove away. She pocketed her cellphone. There was no reply and she didn't expect one anytime soon.
"So where now?" She asked Carmine without looking at him.
"First, I need to make a stop at a music store. Gotta get myself some songs."
"I'll choose too." She piped up.
"Sowrrry... But I don't need your feminine choice." He said it in a ridiculous american accent.
"Shut up. Nobody asked for your permission."
"So who was that guy you were talking to in there? I was in car so I couldn't see his face. But I felt for a second that there was some problem. I was about to come inside but you came out just then."
"Oh he was that jerk from last night. He has such an arrogant aura about him. I find myself unable to stand him. Strange, considering the fact that I met him last night for the first time."
"It doesn't struck me as odd. You've been acting like Hitler ever since I woke up."
Natalie gave him an annoyed look,"Funny."
They stopped at a music store and bought some CDs. They actually spent an hour over there, fighting over their collection and playing all the CDs.
They ran back toward the car and again fought on driving. Carmine wanted her to drive because in that way he'd be in charge of music whereas Natalie knew his planning and refused to give up her passenger seat. Carmine finally relented and Natalie sat at her passenger seat whereas he took the driver seat.
They drove away and Carmine kept commenting on Natalie's choice of songs.
"Don't you dare say anything negative about this song. I happen to like it." She said when he grumbled about something after she put Just Give Me A Reason by Pink ft. Nate Ruess.
"The song is okay. I'm just saying that I can sing better than this guy. Why do they put kids as singers in adult songs?"
"Carmine!"
"Okay. Okay. I won't say anything."
"Good."
"I'd just endure bad voice, bad tone and bad lyrics."
"That's it. You're dead."
Carmine laughed and held her back to her seat by his arm,"Okay. Fine, you hell cat. I won't comment on your favorite song now."
He stopped the car,"We're here. Let's walk."
She got out of the car. And he too got out.
They walked beside each other. Carmine turned his head sharply and looked back.
"What? What is it?" Natalie asked him and stepped behind him.
"I don't know. I had feeling someone was watching us. It's probably nothing. People don't come to this place."
They started walking again,"How do you know?"
"Drew brought me here yesterday. And I think I've been here before."
"I haven't." She looked around.
"I knew you used to hide things from me." She punched his arm.
"Ouch! Hey, a man deserves some privacy. Stupid now me. Poor old Carmine dig a place to hide from you and I welcomed you in it." He slapped his head.
She pushed him away with both of her hands, making him stumble then walked ahead with her hands folded. She found a bench and sat on it. After a while, Carmine joined her.
He elbowed her,"Was I normal for you today, bestie? Was I different from your Carmine?"
Natalie looked at him wide-eyed. Sure enough, today she spent her day with him as if she was actually with her Carmine. Her Carmine who remembered her.
Carmine smiled at her shocked face then put an escaped strand behind her ear with his fingers. She closed her eyes at his touch and shivered. Carmine's gaze darkened and he stared at her parted lips. Her nose and cheeks were turning a shade of pink making her look beautiful. He smiled, closed his eyes and took a deep breath then he opened his eyes...... and smacked her face lightly.
She would have fallen off the bench if he hadn't caught her arm and jerked her back to him.
"This is the old me, right?" He grinned at her angry and flushed face.
Natalie couldn't help herself from grinning back,"Yes, the idiot you who always like to fight with me."
"I do?"
"Yes, you. I hate fighting. You always start it."
"Right." He said sarcastically.
She chuckled at his look then her gaze fell on a lunch box beside his hand.
"What's that?" She asked casually.
Carmine followed her gaze,''Oh! Sandwiches. Ana mom gave them to me, she said that you'd be hungry.''
''You jerk!' she swatted his shoulder,'' You were planning to eat it all by yourself, weren't you?'' She glared at him.
''What? No! And I thought you hated fighting.'' He looked on the verge of laughing.
''Well yeah, but you leave me no choice. You are always asking for a punch.''
Carmine sighed, picked up the lunch box and held it out, looking at her with boredom written all over his face,'' Do you want it or not?''
''Give me that.'' She tried snatching it away but he held it away from her and raised his brows. Natalie reached for it again but then stopped when she saw his expression.
His eyes widened and he was trying to take deep breaths. The lunch box fell from his hand. He closed his eyes and touched his head with his hand.
"Carmine, you okay? What's going on?"
He was seeing flashback. He was seeing kids.
Handsome? Blekh! You just made the word 'handsome' the dirtiest word in my dictionary. I don't think, I'd be able to call any one handsome ever again without thinking of your ugly face first.
He opened his eyes then closed them again.
Car, it would be a wonder if you pass 2nd standard this year . And here you're talking about the military?
He opened his eyes. He wasn't feeling any pain now.
Not until you write in a paper about the color of your arrows. Green and yellow would be mine and Blue and red would be yours.
He looked at Natalie who was close to fainting. She was blinking back tears.
"I just had a recollection of us fighting over sandwiches. And to think I could have remembered about my first kiss or the night I lost my-' He didn't get to finish his complaint because Natalie threw herself in his arms and cried.
"You idiot! You just killed me, right now. Do you know that?" Her whole body was shaking in his arms.
Carmine hugged her tightly,"Hey, it's okay. I'm alright. Natalie, look at me." He pulled her back a little then wiped away her tears with his thumb,"I'm fine, sweetheart."
Natalie smiled,"You remembered a little."
He smiled back,"I did, a little."
She hugged him again and he hugged her back.
That's how they were being seen by the guy who was staring at them with great loathing.