Then, Now, and Ever After

May I?

"Were you surprised, Ate?" Risa asked when Aina called her, amidst the flurry of birthday greetings from everyone. "It was so hard to keep this a secret, and you know me, I want to tell you things right away!"

"I wasn't expecting this at all," Aina said. "Was this your idea?"

"Oh, no," Risa said. "It was all Kuya Maki's idea. Oh my gosh—I can call him Kuya now!"

Aina ended the call, and went over to Maki's side. He was busy putting the cake back in its box—strawberry shortcake, which was her favorite, she had mentioned that to him at some point— so he jumped a little when she spoke. "How long have you been planning this?"

"Ever since I asked you if you wanted to team up for the treasure hunt," he said. "Actually, no—ever since I saw the ad for it."

"So you orchestrated this whole thing?" Aina said. "You roped in Mrs. Han and Ji An so they could let us win?"

"No, no," Maki said, holding his hands up in protest. "I would never do that. I know it would take the fun out of a game for you if it was rigged. I only asked Ji An to put that piece of paper under the egg, and asked her and the others to be ready with the cake."

"So we really won, fair and square?" Aina demanded.

"Yes. We really did, honest."

"But what if we didn't win? Wouldn't that have spoiled the surprise?"

Maki shrugged. "I'd have improvised. But I wasn't too worried. I knew we were going to win." 

 There it was, that quiet self-confidence, but this time there was also something else there too—he actually believed in her.

"This is not the entire surprise," he said. He took her hand again. "Come on."

He thanked everyone for helping him, and he led her to the café outside the gym. On the door was a notice that the café was booked from 11 AM to 2 PM. In the middle of the café was a table set up with two chairs, and piled high with food. There was sisig, sinangag, calamares, and of course, since it was a birthday, pansit Malabon—all the things she had once mentioned she liked, in their conversations the past couple of weeks.

"I also was able to get in touch with your students last year," he said. "Risa helped me with this. We asked them to send messages, and I compiled them here." He handed her a small cardboard box.

"Oh wow, Maki, I..." She put down the box. "Thank you. Really. I just...I just can't believe you'd do all this, for me."

He took her hand. "You should believe it," he said. "You deserve all this, and more."

"But you're..." Aina swallowed. "You're not Mak-mak anymore. You're Maki Angeles." She tucked a stray curl behind her ear. "Mari said you looked up to me all these years. But...you've changed a lot through the years, now. And I'm just...me."

"No," he said. "All these years I've always thought of you, and how I wanted to be as strong as you. That when we meet again, I'd be a better, stronger version of myself. But now that we've met again, I realized you weren't the same Aina from my childhood memories anymore. That you had changed, too. And...I actually liked that."

He smiled. "You used to think science was boring. And you're a wonderful teacher now. You're amazing at puzzles now, too. And so many things. I really wanted to know more about you, as you are, right now."

Aina realized that was true. When they first started spending time together, they had started out reminiscing about the camp, at first, but eventually, they began talking about their current lives: their work, their family, their friends. She knew his life was definitely more interesting than hers was, because of all the places he had been to and all people he had met, and how more than once he had put his life at risk for a story, but somehow, he really wanted to know more about her. He asked about her students, her struggles as a teacher, and also the moments that made it all worth it, still. She didn't know how being a teacher in an all-girl's private school could be as interesting as the life of a reporter like him, and yet, he seemed to genuinely think so.

That was how he made her feel, whenever they were together, because his dark brown eyes were always so focused on her, like he was hanging on to her every word. When she was with him, she felt like she was interesting, and...important.

He leaned closer, and his words grew softer, but no less firm. "Back then, I was in awe of you," he said. "I still am now. But now, I think I'm also in love with you."

Aina's cheeks had never felt as warm as they did now, and it became even warmer when he placed his finger gently against her chin, tilting it up towards him.

"May I?"

"What?"

"Kiss you."

She only smiled, and closed her eyes.

His kiss was light and tentative at first, hesitant as the shy little boy Mak-mak had been. Her fingers entwined themselves around his hair as she pulled him closer to her, and kissed him back. In response, his lips became bolder, deepening the kiss.

When they pulled away, Aina laid her head on his shoulder, breathing in his scent, still unable to believe that she and Mak-mak had kissed.

No—Maki Angeles kissed her.

And he had wanted to kiss her, for who she was right now.

He was looking at her now, a hint of worry in his gaze.

Time had passed and he was no longer the shy boy she knew and remembered fondly throughout the years, and she was no longer the girl he had admired and looked up to a long time ago. They had both changed, and even their feelings for each other had changed. And she knew things were going to keep changing.

But this was fine. As long as they were together, changing with each other, it would be all right.

She leaned forward and kissed him again. She smiled as the worry faded from his eyes, replaced by a quiet certainty, like one that she felt. That here, together, was where they were supposed to be, and will be, for hopefully a long, long time.

THE END

Author's note: Hope you enjoyed Maki's story! If you would like to read more stories like this, you can read the story of Maki's older sister, Mayumi, in the medical romance anthology, "The Doctor Is In Love", through these places:

Philippines print edition: http://www.romanceclassbooks.com/book/the-doctor-is-in-love/

International ebook and print: https://books2read.com/doctorinlove