I Will Take Hold of You

Chapter Twelve

Miguel shook his head. He was certain that Thomas would not overtake the two. He knows Paolo. Even so, the young man remained silent.

Meanwhile, Isa was worried about their speed.

"Slow down, Paolo or we might have an accident."

But the young man did not listen. Almost no one passes by and the trip is easier. He only slowed down when they met the armies. After they passed them, the car was again driven quickly.

Isa was surprised when instead of going straight, the young man turned into a small road.

"Where will we go?"

"This is a short cut on our way home. It will be ten minutes easier than the normal route. If you notice the road at the end of the workshop, that's where we'll come out." And the car's speed was restored to normal.

Through the light in front of the car, the girl noticed that the road they were passing through was narrow. She couldn't see the whole area because it was dark but she was sure that those were fields and trees.

They had been running for a few minutes when the car pulled over and stopped.

"Damn!"

"Why, Paolo? Why did we stop here?"

"I don't know. The engine died little by little." The young man got out of the car and went to the trunk and looked for something.

The girl looked around, all she could see was darkness.

"Great! How can I tell what's wrong with this car if I don't have a light to use?" Went to the front and raised the hood and lit a lighter. Later he lowered the hood again and entered the car.

"What's wrong, Paolo?"

"How would I know, uh, it's dark..." started the car, not biting. Over and over again, still the same. The young man stopped and dropped his arms on the steering wheel. Only moonlight is the light in that darkness.

"I'm sorry, Isa. Your boyfriend annoyed me and made me do this. If we had taken the normal route we wouldn't have been stranded like this because they would have seen us," the irritation was in his voice.

"What now? What shall we do?"

"We have two choices. First, leave the car here and try to walk. Maybe we can find a house and stay. Second, stay here and wait for light, it's half past one maybe, three hours more to go."

"Where are we, Paolo? How far are we or how close are we?" the girl asked worriedly.

"I estimate that in the time we ran here, it was about three kilometers before we reach home."

The girl leaned back and squeezed her hands. "I guess, I'd rather wait for light than walk in that darkness."

"You are my boss," his voice had a joking tone.

"I-isn't this place dangerous? There might be bad people who might..." the girl didn't finish what she was going to say because she was terrified of what she was thinking.

"Calm down, Isa. Farmers live here and the land around us is their farm. If anyone comes to us, it will be later this morning. The farmer..."

The girl did not answer. A few moments of deafening silence passed. Paolo smiled and started whistling. And leaned the chair and closed his eyes.

"Did I make a big contribution to Thomas' announcement earlier?" the young man asked softly after a while.

The girl took a deep breath and then nodded softly. The leaning young man could only see the side of her face.

"I don't want to talk about it please..." Isa begged. She and Paolo were together and she wanted to treasure those moments. She even seemed to want to thank that something went wrong with the car. At least, she will have these moments alone with him. "Why didn't you say you were a lawyer, Paolo?"

"You did not ask. Besides, does it matter whatever title a person may have?"

"No. It's just that, you can't make me wonder because..."

"I'm a mechanic and driving a tartanilla?"

The girl nodded again.

"There are many offers, Isa. Beautiful offers since I became a lawyer. And I still have a standing offer from a well-known firm and I'm thinking about it," until you came, my mind was filled with nothing but you. The young man wanted to add.

"What's stopping you, Paolo, from accepting a good opportunity?"

"Comparatively speaking, the salary offered to me is big. But I like my job, Isa. The farm, the oil, and the grease. Above all, I am my own master. And the income I earn from the shop is small only twice as much as a tie-dyed executive earns. When Dad started, his shop was in town and most of his customers are still my customers today. The shop has customers from Manila. It's been almost a year now, we started assembling..." there was pride in his voice.

"Very fulfilling. The lawyer image, the attached case, the tie, and other things were covered with grease, oil, and steel," joked the girl.

"Not yet. I could still change my mind. And over there in the other town, someone is offering me a job..."

"So?"

"When I was in high school, my literature teacher made me read, 'How Much Land Does a Man Need?'..."

"Enough to bury himself..." added the girl, accompanied by a soft laugh.

"Right. If I think about the offers, I might become greedy. I'm satisfied with the way my work is going and it's profitable plus the farm. My happiness is only superficial, Isa. Others say I wasted what I finished, I want to laugh. How can it be wasted, it's mine and nobody can take it away from me..." he laughed as he told another woman this story. To share here his beliefs and principles.

The girl did not move. She wanted to tell him that she wanted to share his dreams, to stand by him... But she knew that was impossible. The air entering the car is cold. The girl felt very cold. Close the window a little.

"It's really cold here in the field, especially since it's early morning..." said Paolo, who also slightly closed the window next to him. However, there was no change in temperature.

"I'm sorry, Isa. We don't even have a cloak. It's my fault if you caught by the cold..."

"Maybe not if you'll...keep me warm..." the girl said with courage. She was also shocked after saying that.

"What are you saying, Isa?" he asked weakly as he grabbed her neck and caressed her gently. The young man simply held that which caused her a strange warmth.

"Fine... that's warming me up. But not enough..."

"Lord, I can't stand this," said the young man holding his forehead.

"Why, Paolo, don't you want to hold me?"

The young man reached out to Isa and gently embraced the young woman and touched her face.