I Married Lasaten

Part 50

I can feel the blood rushing to my cheeks and sa totoo lang hindi ko kayang tingnan si Pat. This feels nice. I'm not really too fond of holding someone else's hand kasi pasmado ako but holding hers felt comfortable and nice. I don't usually do this, but whatever comes next after this, I know it was worth the risk.

I saw Pat open her mouth again pero walang lumabas na sound. Namumula rin siya.

"Puro ka kalokohan eh!"sabi niya sa 'kin and she tried to remove her hand, pero I'm not yet ready to let her hand go.

"Isa!"sabi niya kaya binitawan ko na siya ng konti but Pat didn't move her hand.

"Wifey. Can you please relax? Don't you think that this feels nice?"sabi ko sa kanya.

Her hands felt ice cold but it felt nice against my skin. It felt refreshing and it was soft. Napangiti ako. For a person who cooks too often for me, I'm surprised by how nice her hands were. Kung kanina iniisip ko how it feels to hold her hand, now I can definitely say na this is probably one of the nicest things my hand ever held.

Hindi ko rin alam kung bakit but I feel so nervous while holding her hand. But it was a good kind of nervous. It felt like I'm wearing my heart on my sleeves. The sensation is sending multiple weird signals to every inch of my skin. I felt Pat slowly ease a bit and I sighed with relief. Kasi if it gets too uncomfortable for her, I would let her hand go already.

To be honest, Pat's hands felt familiar. It felt as if I've been holding it for the last couple of years. I guess everything about Pat is familiar. Though it felt that way, it still felt new. We just continued to walk around habang nag-iikot kami and slowly we were both starting to relax.

"Wait, saan tayo kakain?"sabi niya.

"I know a Japanese resto here. Masarap food nila. You do like Japanese di ba?"

"How did you know?"

"Wala kasi everytime we would eat dinner with your parents, usually sa Jap resto or sa usual na Filipino resto."sabi niya and she smiled.

When we were seated at the table, napansin ko na Pat was looking at our intertwined hands kaya inalis ko na yung kamay ko nung inabot yung menu sa 'min. I guess it's starting to be uncomfortable for her.

"Sorry, pasmado kasi ako wifey."

She still wasn't talking and kinabahan ako na I must have overstepped my boundaries pero ngumiti naman na siya. I just scanned through the menu and somehow naninibago ako na hindi ko na hawak yung kamay ni Pat. I felt her hands brush mine and I had this urge to hold it again, but I'm scared na I have already pushed my luck and it would already be inappropriate for me to do it again.

Inorder ko lang yung usual na inoorder ni Pat whenever we eat dinner with her family and I ordered yung usual na kinakain ko lang din. We were eating nung napansin kong nakatingin siya sa 'kin. Madungis nanaman ba ako?

"What?"sabi ko sa kanya.

"Wala. Why?"

"You're staring at me eh. May dumi ba ulit mukha ko?"sabi ko then bigla siyang namula.

"Wala."sagot niya.

Kumain lang ulit kaming dalawa and I couldn't help but stare at her. A few months back, she was just this college crush that I would always look at from afar. I would always silently watch her when I get the off chance nung magkasama pa kami sa school and even beyond that, I would often find myself looking at her still. Napangiti na lang ako. Seven years, and yet I'm clueless about who she is.

"You know I just realized na wala akong masyadong alam about you. Like I don't even know what your middle name is, your favorites, ganyan."sabi ko sa kanya.

"Bakit mo naman naisip yun?"

"Di ba ganon naman when you go out on first dates? You try and get to know your date?"sabi ko sa kanya.

"Date ba 'to? Akala ko dinner lang."sagot ko. I chuckled. Oo nga naman. Dinner nga lang pala 'to. Why am I getting ahead of myself?

"Rimando."sagot niya bigla. Sino yun?

"Huh?"

"Rimando ang middle name ko."

"Abalos. Mine's Abalos."

"So... Maristella Agnes Abalos Reoma. Ang haba."sabi niya. I just smiled back. Palibhasa walang second name eh.

"Ang unfortunate naman ng pangalan mo."sabi niya sa 'kin.

"Bakit naman?"

"Eh kasi puro R yung pangalan mo tapos bulol ka dun."

"Gagu."sagot ko sa kanya.

Nagulat ako na bigla siyang tumawa kaya di ko na rin napigilang matawa. Halos nagkakanda-iyak na si Pat sa kakatawa kaya hindi rin ako matigil. Para kaming dalawang tanga na tumatawa ng walang dahilan. But this feeling, this feeling is worth it.

"Tawang-tawa ka ah."sabi ko sa kanya. She cleared her throat and tried to put on a straight then she drank water.

"Sorry. Nagulat lang kasi ako sa reaction mo. Bakit pala Maristella? Alam mo ba?"tanong niya habang pinupunasan niya ng tissue yung mata niya.

"Star of the sea. Pero di ako marunong lumangoy. Kaya in the almighty words of Alanis Morisette, isn't it ironic? Don't you think?"

"Well, aren't you full of irony?"sabi niya sa 'kin.

"Anong favorite color mo?"tanong ko sa kanya.

"Red. Ikaw?"

"Di pa ba obvious? Yellow."sagot ko sa kanya. She just chuckled.

"Kaya pala lahat ng gamit mo yellow."sabi niya. Natawa tuloy ako.

Nagkwentuhan pa kami ng konti and kinuha ko na yung bill. I checked my pockets para sa wallet ko pero wala sa bulsa ko. I checked all of my pockets pero wala. Luh. Saan ko naiwan yun? Inisip ko kung saan ko ba huling nakita yung wallet ko at medyo napasapo ako sa noo ko nung naalala kong naiwan ko sa counter sa condo. Tanga naman Agnes. I checked my pockets kung may pera ba ako pero mukhang wala rin. Okay, this is embarassing. Pat is now chuckling.

"Uh Pat."

"What?"

"I think naiwan ko yung wallet ko sa condo." Bigla na lang siyang natawa.

"Akin na! Budol ka eh."

"Ikaw na muna ang sugar nanay ko for tonight."sabi ko sa kanya habang inaabot ko yung bill. Nakakahiya talaga.

"Hayop ka anak."sabi niya sabay nilagay ko yung pera dun sa lalagyan.

Tinawag ko lang din ulit yung waiter and pinatake-out namin yung pagkain. Sayang kasi and may mga madadaanan naman kami na pwedeng pagbigyan.

"Alam mo hanggang ngayon iniisip ko pa rin kung paano ka nagka-girlfriend na ganyan ka."sabi niya sa 'kin. Pat was looking at me judgingly and natawa ako. Minsan iniisip ko rin, ano kayang feeling na maging girlfriend si Pat? Would she actually change or will it still be the same Pat that I know?

"Gusto mong malaman?"sabi ko sa kanya.

"O paano?"

Will I really tell her? What if she says yes? Ready ba ako? Pero ewan ko, bahala na siguro. She'll most likely say no naman di ba? But would she? Bahala na.

"Be my girlfriend."