Rainy Season in Manila

Chapter 19

Chapter 19

"Thank you! Here's your tip, sir. Ingat!" Rinig kong sabi ni Ate Mallory sa delivery driver. She ordered us some dinner. Ang sabi niya ay 'wag daw muna akong umuwi at mag-stay na lang muna ako para samahan sila mag-dinner. Wala naman iyon sa napag-usapan naman ni Bennett pero dahil mapilit din ang kapatid niya ay pumayag na lang din naman ako.

"She's so loud," Bennett murmured, shaking his head.

Bahagya naman akong natawa. "She's a sweetheart, Bennett. Don't rain hate on your sister."

"She's not supposed to be here," he stated. "And I don't have an idea why she's here."

"Maybe something... important?" I wondered.

He shrugged off. "I'm not sure. We're... uh, done with our session, right?"

I checked my notes and nodded to confirm his question. "Yes, we're all done for today and I'll be seeing you the next time. But just like what you've said earlier, you need to pass this quiz, alright? It's at least I would know that what we're doing is something worthy after all."

"I'll tell you, this is worth it."

"Then make me proud, Bennington."

He smirked. "It sounds weird to say my whole name, right?"

Napakunot-noo naman ako at umiling ako. "Hindi naman... it's sounds cute nga, e. Though Bennett's a cool name as well. Ma-swerte ka at hindi tunog matanda ang pangalan mo." He laughed at it. Nanliit naman ang mata ko sa sinabi niya. "O, bakit ka tumatawa riyan? Wala namang nakatatawa, a?"

"Your name does, right?" He chuckled. "That's why I started calling you Sel... well, if you hadn't noticed that, but I couldn't think of any possible name to call you so I guess that should be fine. Is it, right?"

I slowly gave him a nod. "Yes... okay lang naman. Actually, you're the first one who called me with that name."

"Oh, really? Then I must be special for giving such a unique name." Ngisi pa nito, super confident sa sinabi niya.

"Mostly ang tawag kasi sa akin ay Crisel or Isel. Minsan... ganda if bet nila."

He laughed. "That's funny—no I mean, you're pretty and that's not a joke. I'm not joking about your beauty, but your dying humor."

I chuckled at the fact he keeps defending himself. "Gets ko naman, ito naman! Minsan waley lang talaga ang mga joke ko pero may ganda naman ako so malaki ang pambawi."

He nodded his head. "I can agree with that."

"Pero teka, kailangan ko pa ba talaga mag-stay for dinner?" tanong ko pa. Medyo nag-aalinlangan kasi ako since hindi naman ako sanay sa ganitong set-up.

Tiningnan naman niya ang oras sa phone niya. "5 PM pa lang, maybe you can stay a little longer and join us today. Pwede naman kitang ihatid after, just like what we've agreed on. I wasn't just able to pick you up kanina dahi sa sama ng sikmura ko."

"I know, my fault, my bad. Okay lang pero sana okay na rin 'yang sikmura mo so you won't feel bad na."

"Yeah, thanks for caring. Anyway, I'll let you clean your stuff, and then I'll go see Mallory, alright?" I nodded to him and then watched him leave me alone in the living room.

I started putting back my stuff inside my bag and when I finished doing it, I grabbed my phone and decided to check on Archie now. Mas nag-aalala ako ro'n kasi mas naparami ang kinain no'n na street foods kumpara kay Bennett na halos tig-iisang piraso lang din ang kinain.