Elegant Affair

I.IV

I was busy. In fact, I still am.

My schedule this week was hell. The only time I could rest is when I sleep, na kulang-kulang din. I had a meeting earlier. There are revisions after revisions.

My plate is full and so is my head... This is why I shouldn't have time to spare thinking why I haven't heard from Matteo. This is so not like him. I'm thinking about texting him pero ano naman ang sasabihin ko?

Or should I just do it? Maybe not. He's probably busy texting some other girl. Good for him.

"Gio and I really want a small wedding," Esme sighed.

Ah, on top of everything, I also have maid-of-honor duties. Hindi naman gaanong maraming ginagawa dahil malayo pa ang kasal ng dalawa but every Sundays, Esme would ask me if I'm free para samahan siya sa pagpaplano. She would always remind me it's not required and if I want to, I don't have to lift a single finger and all I need to do is attend her wedding but the maid-of-honorzilla in me would never agree. This wedding is happening and everything has to go well.

"Then, you should." Sabi ko sa kaniya. Then things would be half-easy if they'd have a small wedding. "The parents though..." The answer, however, is obvious. Engagement party pa nga lang nila ay ganoon na kalaking event. It is expected they'd have a grand wedding or more... but definitely nothing less.

Esme exhaustingly closed her eyes and nodded. When she looked again at the wedding brochures that were given by their wedding planner, isinara niya lang iyon. We're still stuck with the decorations section. I never knew that choosing flowers could be this stressful. Hindi ko naman napapansin pag ako ang uma-attend.

"Can you believe that Gio and I have spent the whole night just thinking about how many tiers should we have for our wedding cake? I don't even like cake! I don't want to talk about anything related to weddings right now. So, why don't we talk about the guy I saw at your unit?"

"You what?" Pagtataka ko because from what I can remember, I didn't have any male guests. There's Matteo but I don't really put him in that category.

"Remember? When I told you Gio was proposing."

Oh, definitely Matteo.

"What about him?" I just asked her. I don't want to deny or tell her anything that may pique her curiosity because that road would surely be dangerous to travel.

"Will he go to the wedding with you?"

Oh, he definitely will. He's one of the best men after all.

"It's nothing serious," I told her which is also true.

"I want to meet him," she said and I just tried to distract her by going back to the topic of which flower would be best for a table centerpiece.

***

Dahil sa pagod, Esme and I just agreed to go home early than we planned to. We apparently couldn't handle five straight hours of deciding which is going to be what.

I was riding the elevator when I saw Matteo walking towards where I'm standing. Hindi niya nga lang ako napapansin dahil nakapako sa phone nito ang mga mata. Nice to know he's busy as well. I pressed the button to keep the door open and waited for him.

"Hi." Mukhang nabigla pa siya nang makita ako. Why would he be surprised when we live in the same building? Such a dumbass.

"Hi," bati ko na lang rin sa kaniya. I didn't say another word just in case he's still busy texting someone but he already put the phone back in his pocket once he's inside the elevator. Hindi naman ako makiki-chismis.

"Long time no see."

"Yeah."

We were both quiet so I was startled when my phone started to ring. Oliver's name popped on the screen. I stared at it for a moment, wondering if I should answer because I don't like him flirting with me like he would always do whenever he would contact me outside of work hours but this could also be about work so I don't really have a choice.

"Hi, Lav. Sorry for calling on a Sunday." Bungad niya sa akin. At least, he knows he's disturbing me and how dare he call me Lav when we're not close.

"It's okay, Engineer Alcantara. Why did you call, by the way?" I kept my tone professional and cheerful at the same time. I tried smiling, as usual, to make the tone more believable. When we arrived at my floor, I just quickly waved at Matteo while walking straight to my unit.

"Hindi ba pwedeng mangumusta?" This guy asked. Silly, asshole. Of course, the answer's no. I can't give him that answer so I just stayed silent. "Actually, I'm just calling to tell you I can't go to the site tomorrow. Would it be okay if we move it to Tuesday?"

I rolled my eyes. He can easily just text me this. "Yeah, sure. See you on Tuesday then." I answered, really wanting to end the call now.

"Sige, Lav. Ingat ka."

Ugh. How unprofessional.

"Co-worker?"

"Fuck!" I dropped my keys when I heard Matteo speak. "How long have you been there?"

Hindi ko siya napansin. Kanina pa ba siya nakasunod sa akin? He could have made a sound or something. Parang hangin naman kasi 'to.

"Di ba ayaw mo ng tinatawagan tuwing linggo? Was that the co-worker you said would always flirt with you? " he asked instead of answering my question.

I do hate work phone calls on Sundays. Everybody knows that but then, there's Oliver, an asshole. It was annoying but tolerable.

"You should not be asking me that question because I don't care who you call or text. Did you hear any opinion from me while you're spending time with that model?"

"Are you talking about Laura?"

"Why are we even having this conversation?" He hasn't shown his face for a week and then he pops out of nowhere asking these questions. "Are you jealous?"

"Are you?"

"I asked you first."

"I asked you second."

Fucking annoying.

"I'm not. Go spend the night with that girl named Laura or whatever her name was for all I care!" Bakit ba walang kwentang kausap itong lalakeng ito! We're asking really unnecessary questions and I want to shut the door in his face right now.

"Okay," he simply answered. Such a Matteo thing to say.

"Okay."

Good for him then.

And he remained standing in front of my door. I was waiting for him to say what he wanted to say so we can finish this conversation and go on with our lives. No big deal. However, he took a step forward. It was just one small step pero pakiramdam ko, napakalapit niya na sa akin.

Sinusukat ko lang ang tingin niya. Tinatanong ang sarili ko kung kaya niya bang gawin ang iniisip niya because I know what he's thinking. I know that look in his face. I know where his eyes are focusing.

In a blink of an eye, his face was in front of me. I don't know if he paused because of hesitation but it happened too quickly I wasn't able to get the answer to that question. I wasn't even able to breathe when his lips touched mine. But I felt like I was holding on for my dear life when he grabbed me by the waist so I could wrap my legs around him as he carried me to my room.

We shouldn't be doing this.