Elizabeth
"Uhm excuse me? I'm Dr. Villanueva's daughter is she there?" I asked mom's secretary.
"Yes she's here, may patient pa siya eh" She said smiling and went on to continue assisting patients
It's about 10 am, kaninang umaga lang ang klase ko and I'm free until this afternoon, I decided to visit mom at St. Pauls Hospital
Mom's an OB, she doesn't stay much at the hospital, unlike dad. Umupo ako sa kabilang side na bakante, mga lima pa siguro ang nakapila,I looked at them one by one, until I stopped at a young girl about my age, she was alone,her stomach seems not that obvious yet. I guess she noticed that I was staring at her for a long time that she looked back at me.
"I hope she knows I wasn't judging her or something" I thought to myself,
It's been a while so I decided to kill time by scrolling through instagram
I stood up nung may dumating na isang pasyente, wala na rin kasi bakanteng upuan kundi yung inuupu-an ko nalang kaya binigay ko nalang sa kanya
Nagpaalam muna ako sa secretary ni mom at naglakad lakad sa hospital
"Elizabeth" I looked back when I heard someone called me,
"Ikaw nga!" He said,
I smiled when I saw who it was,
"Miguel!" I waved at him, "anong ginagawa mo dito?"
"Why are you here? It's still a little early" He asked,
"Vacant eh, I was just waiting for my mom" I replied,
"Right, your parents work here" he added,
I nodded back at him, his mom and my mom are friends you see,
"How about you? What are you doing here?" I asked,
"May hinatid lang ako sa superior namin"
I looked at him confused,
"Oh right, nagduduty ako dito, hindi ko schedule pero yun nga, may hinatid lang ako" he explained,
"What about Drew? Does he also work here?" I asked out of curiosity
"Drew? Sa WVSU medical center sya, sa Don Benito, he's on duty right now, then sa wednesday." He replied,
I nodded at him, while still standing beside him
"Na kwento ni Nicole na nagkita daw kayo sa Megaworld nang Sat? Sayang duty ko nun that time." He continued talking to me
"Yah, nagtaka nga ako na hindi kayo magkasama ni Drew." I shrugged my shoulder
"Ikaw ha, is there something between you and Drew that we don't know about?" He teased, tinusok tusok niya pa ang tagilirin ko,
I gave him a scowl,
"Wala ah, friends lang kami" I replied slapping his hands off,
"Yeah right, wala daw pero iba na nakita ko sa Cave last saturday eh" he added,
Oh God, did he saw...me and Drew...kissing? Honestly I actually forgot that even happened, I hid my smile when I remembered what had happened during that day.
When he asked me last time when we were at the car, did he know what had happened between me and Drew?
I gave him a look and continued to slap him cause he still wasn't stopping with the teasing and the poking, until mom saw us both.
Miguel was about to leave and wave goodbye when he saw mom walk our way,
"Sige Beth, babalik pa ako sa West" he said,
"Elizabeth" I heard mom's voice from behind,
"Hey mom" I kissed her cheek,
"Kanina ka pa?" She asked,
Her eyes moved towards Miguel as she smiled and greeted him,
"Miguel"
"Hi tita" he greeted back
"Hindi mo duty ngayon ah? Were you visiting your mom?" She asked
"Yes tita, I just went to check up on her and handover some papers to my superior " he replied,
"Did Beth gave you a hard time last time?" She added, I rolled my eyes hearing her words.
Miguel chuckled "Of course not tita, si Elizabeth pa, she was all good, don't worry" he assured.
"Well, take a good care of her then. I'll get going. Beth wait me here until 12, we'll go lunch together with your dad nag ra-rounds sya sa Don Benito ngayun so we'll meet him there" My mom said and left
"Sige beth, Sibat na ako" he said and gave a smile before he left
"Don Benito, u mean there's a chance that i would see him there?" I said to myself while smiling
We did have our lunch but I never saw Drew at Don Benito.
A week pass and its already friday, the fashion show will be later afternoon and i don't have anyone who could come with me. Is he busy? I stared at the 2 tickets on my hands and dialed his number
"Hey" i said as he picked up my call but he did not respond
"Uhm, are you busy?"
"I'm always busy tho. Why?"
"Ah..never..." i couldn't finish my words when he spoke
"But not for you, is there a problem?" He asked
"Uhm remember the Fashion show?" I asked
"You coming? With me?" I can feel nga nagsmile siya
"If its okay with you?" I asked again
"Ofcourse, send me your location. I'll fetch you"
Since it's still early and the show starts at 4:30, I decided to go home first and change some clothes. Dito nalang ako sa bahay mag papasundo kay Drew since wla naman sina mom and dad sa bahay nang ganitong oras.
Exactly 4 pm when Drew texted me that papasok na sya nang subdivision kaya bumaba nako nang kwarto at lumabas ng bahay at ng gate. I walked a little further away from our house just to avoid suspicion from our maids and guards as well.
I stopped when I saw a familiar car coming at my way, it was Drew's. The car also stopped but I didn't wait for Drew to get out of his car. I signaled him to open the passenger seat instead while trying to pull the car's door handle.
Nung bumukas ay pumasok ako agad bago pa may makakita sakin na makapag sumbong kay mom.
"Hi, I'm sorry I panicked, baka may makakita kasi at mag sumbong kay mom" I immediately reasoned out my sudden peculiar behavior.
He just chuckled while staring at me
"What? Let's go, ma lelate na kaya tayo." I also smiled at him
"Now, where to Queen Elizabeth?" he asked when he started to maneuver the car away from the house and our village
"Queen Elizabeth ka diyan, SM po tayo mamang taxi driver" I also teased him
"Sure ka taxi driver mo lang ako? Final answer mo na yan?" He asked grinning while his eyes are still on the road.
I raised a brow while facing him. Although hindi sya nakaharap sakin pasulyap sulyap naman syang tumitingin sa side ko.
"Bakit nanliligaw kaba?"
"Bakit, bawal ba? I heard you're single, so am I. Nanliligaw na ako sayo hindi pa ba obvious?"
natahimik ako bigla, gosh I can feel the heat rushes to my face and I'm pretty sure na nag bu-blush na ako kaya tinakpan ko ang mukha ko ng aking mga kamay
"And besides, I kissed you the last time. I just don't kiss and mess around Beth. Hell, I don't even mess around in general."
I don't know but I just found my self nodding with what he said unconsciously. When I realized what I did, I turned to face him and figured out he saw me.
He was smiling from ear to ear. I decided to stay quiet until we reached the mall.
After Drew parked, I checked the time at my phone pagkalabas ko ng kotse and panicked when I saw it was almost 4:30
I startled when someone grabbed my hands
"Don't worry, filipino time. Hindi pa yun mag sa-start" And he lead our way inside the mall while still holding my hand.
Luckily, hindi pa nga nag start ang show, but still wala nang vacant seat sa harap kaya we were lead to a seat a little bit further away from the ramp by an usherette.
It's fine for me though, pero sayang lang ang opportunity na makita ng malapitan ang ang mga designs na gawa rin mismo ng mga estudyante ng ISAT.
When we were seated, Drew was still holding my hand and seems that he has no plan of letting it go.
"Do you want to be a designer?" I was taken aback by his question. I just looked at him but he was not looking at me. He was now looking at my left hand with which he was already playing with.
Na conscious ako bigla, thank God I don't have sweaty hands.
"My mom wants me to be a doctor." I answered straight-out
"But you don't want to right? Does your mom knew what you really want?" This time he said it while looking at me straight in the eyes
"I don't know, she never asked anyway." I suddenly felt the sadness in me when I realized that my mom never did really asked me what I want. So I looked down and it was now my turn to play with his hands who where holding mine to ease the tension I'm feeling
"Hey, cheer up Beth. You're here to gradually figure things out. And I'm here to help you with that." He smiled at me
"How about you? Do you really want to be a nurse or are you going to proceed to med?" I also asked him
"Bakit pag hindi ba ako mag do-doctor hindi mo ko sasagutin?"
"Hangag, indi man ah." (Sira, hindi naman sa ganun.) binawi ko ang kamay ko sa kanya at hinampas siya sa balikat.
He laughed and immediately grabbed my hands again and hold it still in his lap
"Baka mag doktor rin siguro ako. Depende. I want to make my mom proud, kahit konti lang. Kaya baka tumaas pa nga ang pangarap ko, tingnan natin."
I was confused when I saw a quick hint of sadness on his eyes when he said those words. I was about to say something to him when the emcee starts talking and everything was loud when the music starts playing. So i just kept quiet.
I turned my attention to the models who where now walking on the ramp one by one.
Those dresses are gorgeous. I can't help but adore them. I wished I'll be able to design one and have my own fashion show.
The show lasted for almost an hour and it was almost 6 since quarter to 5 narin naman nag start ang show. I saw the student designers have their walk on the ramp too with their respective designs.
I also saw Nicole's friend on the ramp, probably the one who gave her the tickets. I have to say his collection was my favorite among the others.
He was waving his hand side by side as if he was a beauty queen in a beauty pageant when he saw me. I guess nakilala nya ko since ilang ulit narin naman kami nag kita before.
He signaled me to wait for him so I gave him an okay sign
"Let's wait for Miko muna." I said to drew, kaya umupo muna kmi ulit sa aming seats
After a few minutes ay lumapit din samin si Miko
"Bakla! Grabe ikaw pala ang pupunta? Hindi mo kasama si Nicole?" Sunod sunod nyang tanong sakin. Tumayo naman ako at nakipag beso sa kanya.
"No, she has class pa bakla eh. By the way, your collection was my favorite. I didn't know it was yours until you came out with your models."
"Really? I know right. I always knew that you have good eyes talaga sa fashion." hinampas nya pa ako ng mahina sa balikat.
Agad naman bumaba ang tingin nya kay Drew na nakaupo lang
"And good taste sa boys! Boyfriend mo na bakla? He asked
"What?! No, hindi pa no. He's Drew by the way" i said as i introduced Drew to him,
"Ay hindi PA? may "pa"? So manliligaw mo? Sasagutin mo?" My eyes widened when I realized what I said
Tumawa naman si Drew sa kinauupuan nya sa tanong ni Miko. I looked at him at pinanliitan ko sya ng mata at pinakitaan ng "behave or else" look.
"Ok fine Beth, wag mo naman awayin si papa Drew." Miko laughed at my situation
"Oh come on!" I exclaimed at both of them
"Oh siya, maiwan na kita Beth, thank you sa pagpunta at pag sama ng pogi." Then he waved his hand to us.
"You want to have dinner first before i take you home?" He asked while his hands is in his pocket, i smiled
"Sure, why not? Ikaw nagyaya eh" i laughed. I was stunned when he holds my hand again and started walking. Oh god!
AN: How 'bout this? While waiting for our next update, why not try checking out mommiyuki's story "Serene Night"? She's my friend and also an ilonggo writer.💓
-lovelots xoxo