Cindy's Time (Ongoing)

CHAPTER 2

I STARED at his hand for what seemed like minutes until it occurred to me that he was waiting for me to introduce myself.

"Hi. I'm Cindy." My cheeks reddened. This is so not me. Get a grip of yourself, Cinderella Marie Dizon!

He beamed as we shook hands. "I take it that you're neither in Business Administration nor are you taking this class as an elective?"

My embarrassment escalated. Admitting your foolishness is not a good scenario when meeting cute guys for the first time. "You got that right. I'm a third year HRM student. And trust me, getting an investment banking class is one that I would never do willingly."

He snickered at my attempt to be witty. "To be fair, I also can't see myself in a cooking class. The last time I tried to cook," he made air quotes upon saying cook, "I nearly burned the house down."

"I guess we're living examples of the saying 'To each his own.'"

"You got that right." He winked.

I just smiled in return and redirected my eyes in front of the class. But deep inside, my heart was running a wild staccato.

"I will now be distributing the course syllabus. Please get one and pass," we heard the professor saying as he handed a stack of papers to a student in front.

When we got our copies - yes, I did get one for myself - he started scanning the document. I looked at him for a few more seconds before realizing that he might catch me ogling him. Cue in the red cheeks again.

The professor droned on and on about the topics the class will cover for the whole semester. Truth be told, complicated mathematics scare the crap out of me. My math expertise is quite limited to measuring ingredients, converting from grams to cups, basic (emphasis on basic) accounting - those sorts of thing. I checked my watch and breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that there's only about ten minutes left.

The bell rang at exactly twelve-twenty PM. Raising his voice to be heard above the chiming of the bell, the professor called, "Don't forget to join our Facebook group. The class assistant and I will be posting important announcements there."

I stood up and gathered my things. I faced him and extended my hand. I figured that this may be the last time I could talk to him so I might as well touch his hand for one last time. This silly crush is rapidly turning me inside out. "It was nice meeting you, Lorenzo. See you around?"

"You too, Cindy!" He shook my hand spiritedly. "No more entering wrong classes, okay?"

"Haha. You can bet on that."

I waved goodbye at him.

-oOo-

I JOINED the throng of people slowly making their way down the staircase. Typically I would be trying to hurry my way down but not today. I still can't wipe the goofy grin off of my face.

When I reached the ground floor, I set out for the cafeteria, which is just a ten-minute walk from my building. Even more students are milling about the university garden since it's lunchtime. There are a few food stalls located near the garden, aside from those in the university cafeteria.

Almost all tables were already filled with students and school personnel by the time I arrived there. The cafeteria building has three floors - the first and second floors house the food concessionaires while the topmost floor serve as kitchen laboratories for HRM students. Our stall is at the second floor. We serve Japanese food and other Asian meals.