Chasing Endless Sunsets

Chapter 03

"Hi, excuse me. Can we get the bill please?" I asked the server.

"Oh, it's already been paid for," she explained.

"Huh?" I asked wrinkling my brows.

"He paid for it," the server said and pointed to this guy in front of me who was nonchalantly just checking his phone.

I got money from my wallet and slid it over to his side.

He looked up from checking his phone and raised an eyebrow as if asking me why I was giving him money. Nagtaka pa talaga siya. Why wouldn't I pay him?

He slid the money back over to my side and shook his head. "Consider it as my thank you for all the pastries I ate from your stash earlier."

"You already got me a slice of lemon meringue, so no... and really, I think it's too much for croissant and bottled water."

He just waved his hand and stood up so I was forced to get the money.

When I went back to the van, he was already chilling in his seat. I placed a small box and paper bag beside him.

He stared at me and wrinkled his brows.

"Since you didn't want to accept the money." I grinned.

I silently chuckled. If he thinks he could make me take the money, not so fast.

He smiled in disbelief then proceeded to check out the box and paper bag. He had this grin on his face with eyes wide like a kid in a candy store.

Gosh, is he that obsessed with food? I shook my head and chuckled.

We headed to the next stop to see the koalas in their natural habitat. I saw koalas before but those ones in the zoo... not really in their natural habitat so this would be interesting.

When we got to the park, the guides told us that we could walk around and explore the place and meet up in the parking after 30 minutes. They also reminded us of the rules, do's and don'ts, and such. They told us that we should look up at trees if we wanted to spot the koalas because they usually hangout there.

We started walking around and saw a few exotic birds flocked together on the way. We stopped to watch them from a far and also took some photos. We continued walking further to where most of the koalas were. He just told me random stories while we were walking. I just listened to his stories because they were quite entertaining. Minsan series of unfortunate events na 'yun kwento niya but he'd just make fun of it na parang wala lang sa kaniya 'yun nangyari.

"There." He pointed to one of the eucalyptus trees. "They look so cuddly. Like it's so nice to pet them," he commented and took out his phone to take a photo.

I eyed him and shook my head. I like animals to an extent... but hindi ako mahilig magpet ng animals.

Well, dogs are exception. My heart felt heavy when I had to leave my dogs when I went here for my exchange program. Buti nalang, mom told me that she'd take care of them and move them to her house while I was away. Kung hindi naman, I was sure dad would have taken them for the meantime.

"Of course, I'm not gonna do that. They won't like it and that's also not allowed." A laugh escaped from his lips. "And I know they're still wild animals." He chuckled.

We went back to the van after we've seen enough koalas already. Marami na rin kaming nadaanan. In one of the areas we passed by, we saw four koalas in a tree. Two were hugging the branches sleeping and the other two were just perched on top of the branches. They looked so chill and cute. We even saw a koala climbing down the tree at some point and I was able to catch it on video which I posted on my stories.