We're here at a restaurant already dito sa QC and yup, sa QC na kami kumain, not around in Manila since sabi nila, para na rin daw madali lang nila ako ihatid and madali rin din daw sila makauwi. They also lived in QC din daw kasi, sa may Batasan Hills, na hindi naman kalayuan sa'min.
"Ang tangkad mong babae Eva, are you an athlete? or do you play any sports?" Tita Anna asks me in the middle of our eating.
"Um" I paused as I wiped my mouth with a tissue para naman pormal akong tignan. Baka kasi, all this time, may butil pala akong bigas sa bibig ko while I'm talking to Juan's Mom "..no po. I do part-time modeling"
Tita brightens up her face and tinignan niya ako na may malaking ngisi. "Oh really? That's so nice! What do you model ba? And sa'n ka nagmomodeling?"
"I work for Apartment 8 Clothing po, brand name po siya and anything naman po... what will opportunity knocks, tinatanggap ko po" Ngiti ko kay Tita.
"Oh, ang ganda mo naman talaga kasi hija. You're really fit in the modeling industry" Puri naman ni Tita sakin.
"Oo nga. What magic did Juan made to have a girl like you?" Tito Bert then joked as he joined in at nagtawanan ang mga GDL dito sa table sa sinabi ng Tatay nila. Napatawa na rin ako habang si Juan naman ay nagreact.
"Hey Dad! You're so mean!" Juan exclaimed to Tito Bert with furrowed eyebrows at ngumuso ito. "I'm not that bad naman ah"
"Yeah in basketball, dunno with the looks" Asar naman ng kapatid niya na si Jordi while laughing.
"Shut up. I'm more good looking than you" Juan told him while looking at him as if he's really confident na mas gwapo talaga siya kay Jordi.
Hay nako Juan. Don't worry. Looks don't matter to me naman. Fine, maybe slight lang hehe.
"That's just because you work out. And Wait for me lang talaga. Soon, girls will be drooling over me na. Not just my face but also my body" Salita naman nitong si Jordi that made their Mom scold him.
"Hoy Jordi! Ang bata mo pa! Tumigil ka sa pinagsasabi mo" Saway ni Tita Anna sa kanya as she gave him a stern look.
Jordi immediately apologized pero may halo iyong tawa. "Sorry"
"Sus, you guys shut up. Because I'm the one naman talaga na pinakagwapo dito" Joe then butt in as he shrug off his shoulders like he's really feeling it.
"Ew. Ang yabang! Hindi naman. Ako kaya" Javi was then next and I really can't stop giggling at the scene right now. They're so fun to watch, joking around.
"Tumahimik kayo. Ako pinakapogi dito kasi lahat kayo nagmana sakin" Saway ni Tito Bert sa kanila ending their pangyayabang sa sarili at pang-aasar.
"Pero yun nga Eva, paano ba kayo nagkakilala ng anak ko, si Juan?" Tito Bert then asks as he gazed back at me "...kasi nagtataka talaga ako e" At sinimulan na naman muli ang pang-aasar sa Tatay ni Juan sa kanya.
Wow, I never thought that Juan's Dad could be this so makulit!
"Pa! Ang sama mo!" Juan laughs and everybody laughs.
"We met lang sa campus po. We bumped off each other kasi I was hurrying to buy tickets for their game nung do or die match nila versus Adamson, baka po kasi ako maubusan and yeah, while I was tumatakbo po, nabunggo ko po siya" Kwento sa kanila reminiscing how Juan and I meet each other.
"Baka, sinadya ka talaga ni Juan i-bump para mapansin" Javi chuckles and his brothers, Joe and Jordi also chuckle while agreeing with Javi.
"Kaya pala. Sinadya naman pala e"
"Hindi kaya! That was an accident!" Juan reacted again na ngayon kunot na ang noo.
Kawawa naman tong bebe ko. Inaaway.
"Ano 'yan? Accidentally on purpose?" Joe laughs at napatawa ako doon. Accidentally on purpose. That's an oxymoron. 2 contradictory words that appear together in a sentence or phrase. Ha! I remember that lesson when I was 10th grade sa Poveda.
"Wag kang maniwala sa kanila. I didn't do it on purpose talaga" Juan looks at me and I nodded while breaking a smile.
Hay nako. Defensive masyado. Baka totoo ata sinasabi ng mga kapatid nya. Like, kailangan nya pa akong saktan talaga so I could make pansin to him. HAHAHA. Joke lang.
"Pero, diba, we didn't really got to introduce each other that time? Kasi you were hurrying?" Asks Juan as he changed the topic.
"Ah, yeah. And also po, we didn't really got to introduce, talk to each other that time po since nauna na po ako pero later that day din po, we met again kasi my wallet was lost and pinuntahan ko yung mga places na dinaanan ko and nagkita na naman po kami and he helped me look for my wallet"
"Baka si Swish kumuha sa wallet mo since hindi kayo nagkausap nang maayos that's why he took it kasi he knew you're gonna comeback to look for your wallet"
Walang tigil na humalakhak na naman ang mga tao dito dahil sa walang tigil din na pang-aasar nila kay Juan. But oo nga noh? maybe Juan really took it kasi siya rin yung nag-return sakin. Charot.
I just laugh once again and we went back to eating na naman. Then, I heard Jaime, Juan's younger sibling, talked to Juan na katabi ko ngayon.
"Kuya Swish, can you please put me with that?" Turo niya sa isang dish na Pork Adobo na malapit lang sakin kesa kay Juan.
"Eto ba?" I asked Jaime while holding the bowl. Tumingin muna sakin si Jaime, before shyly nodding at me. "Yes please"
Kumuha ako ng isang piece of Pork Adobo and puts it on his plate.
"Thank you" He beamed at me then napangiti naman ako sa cuteness ng batang ito and I responded, "No problem"
By the way, as I observed, Jaime and Javi ay yung magkalook-alike, then si Joe and Jordi naman na parehong sobrang angas ng dating and yung parang sila yung tipong bad boy kuno. Tapos Juan and Mara naman, I don't think I can compare the boy and girl version of each other. I mean, they're similar in physical appearance pero they're opposite naman in a way if we're going to talk about attitudes.
Kasi si Mara, I noticed how sweet and closed she is to her family and siblings this passed hour. She always smiles at everything and everybody just treats her as their little princess tas ang sweet lang talaga niyang anak. She's an innocent young girl.
And if, Juan, himself lang din, I'd say he's also part of malakas din yung dating. With his deep voice and built figure, nag-uumapaw talaga yung pagkalalake niya na walang halong cuteness gaya kila Javi and Jaime especially on first look basis. Yung parang first impression mo talaga for him is ang hot niya.
Matapos naming kumain which we finished at exactly 8, Tito Bert paid for our food before we immediately left at nagpunta na patungo sa parking lot.
"You good?" I heard Juan asked beside at me while we were in front of their car. It was more like a van.
Tumango naman ako sabay ngiti sa kanya. "Yep. I'm good. Ikaw?"
"More than good as ever.." He smiled.
Hinatid na'ko nila Tito Bert to my house and since himala, hindi masyado traffic ngayong gabi, madali lang kami nakarating sa bahay. Juan got out first since siya yung nasa pinakagilid before to the sliding door of the van. Sumunod naman ako sa paglabas at nagsimula na akong magpaalam sa GDL.
"Bye Tita, Tito. Thank you so much po sa dinner and sa paghatid. It was nice meeting your family po" Sabi ko sa kanila as I go to Tita to giver a light kiss on the cheek when she rolled down her window on the front passenger's seat.
"No problem Hija. I hope Juan would tag along you more with us kasi it's really nice meeting you rin. I want to get to know you more too" Tita Anna replies.
"Sa susunod sama ka na naman ulit Eva. Wag ng mahiya ah" Said Tito Bert and I let out a small laugh. "Sure po"
Nagpaalam na rin ako sa mga kapatid ni Juan, kumaway ako sa kanila except for Mara and Jaime na I really went inside again their car para mahalikan ko sila sa pisngi. I just can't stop myself to make gigil at them. Ang cute talaga nila sobra. Nakakagigil.
The both of them giggles naman after I gave them a peck on their cheeks at lumabas na ng sasakyan.
"Uy, kinikilig si Jaime.." Javi teased his little brother and nagtawanan sila. "He's blushing oh"
"Uy, Kuya, I'm not kaya" Jaime defended pero kita mo naman na namumula na yung mukha ng bata. I laugh.
"Weh... you look like a tomato na nga e"
"Parang may karibal ka na Swish... naunahan ka pa ni Jaime" Said Joe that made me laugh again.
Napailing na lang ako as I turned to Juan para magpaalam na rin.
"Congrats again Juan. You know already that I'm always proud of you and ingat kayo sa pag-uwi ah" Sabi ko sa kanya as I give him a long hug.
"Thank you so much Eva. I'll text you when we get home" Ngiti ni Juan sakin when we let go.
I nodded at him tapos pumasok na siya sa sasakyan nila.
"Take care po kayo Tita, Tito!" I said, nang sinara na ni Juan yung pinto.
"Yes, we will Hija. See you again!"
Hinintay ko muna umalis yung sasakyan nila and once they left, pumasok na'ko sa gate namin. I looked at the garage and wala pa yung sasakyan nila Mom. They called me kanina na they went to their friend's birthday party and matatagalan daw sila sa pag-uwi. Kaya, hindi rin ako nagworry na natagalan din ako sa pag-uwi. It's still 8:30 pa rin naman.
I locked back the gate and naglakad na patungo sa main door, papasok sa bahay.
"Hi po Yaya Maris" Bati ko as I entered the house and nakita si Yaya, naglilinis sa livingroom. We only have 1 helper, and that is Yaya Maris. She's on her mid 30s and matagal na siya sa'min namamasukan. I think 5 years na ata. And we're also close din.
"Uy Eva, nak, ... kumain ka na?" Tanong niya sakin at tumango ako. "Yes po, nagdinner na po ako sa labas. Kayo po?"
"Hindi pa, inuna ko munang maglinis"
"Ah okay po. Kumain na rin po kayo kagad pagkatapos niyo po" I said and she smiled "Oo, sige"
"Sige po, akyat na po ako sa taas" I say at umakyat na'ko sa kwarto ko. And also, Ate is not also home too kasi they're having a sleepover over at her friend's house.
Pumasok na'ko sa kwarto and immediately went to the bathroom to take a half bath. After that, nagbihis na'ko ng pambahay at nagpasyahang magpahinga na.
I grab my phone and just as I opened it, Juan's message came in and napangiti ako.
Text Message Notification
Juan GDL - hey, we're home • 9s
I then tap his message and replied to him.
Text Message
Juan GDL
Today 9:12 pm
hey, we're home already
okay, sige. pahinga ka na
my champ 🤣
"my champ" hmm? 😏
ayaw mo? minsan na nga
lang ako naggaganito 🙄
no! i mean, it's just new to me.
i like it ❤️
sus new raw, e dami-dami
nga tumatawag sayo nyan
it's just different when it comes
from u. first time heard u this.
kilig nga ako e 🤪
eeeehhhh, pahinga ka na. for
sure pagod ka ngayon tas may
class pa tayo tom
u don't want to talk to
me na? ☹️
not that i don't want to, i just
want u to have rest yk since may
class pa tayo tom
okay, fine. i'll see u tomor-
row?
alam mo ba we always see
each other everyday kaya. aren't u
tired seeing my face araw2?? 😂
no.
you know, ure one of the reas-
ons na why i always keep look-
ing forward for tomorrows. i
don't know Eva pero just seeing u,
makes my day complete. nawawa-
la yung pagod ko, worries, problems
whenever i see u or just hear ur voice.
i've never felt something like this
before Eva until u came.