A Simple Etiquette (Serenity Series #1)

12

Umuwi

"Kain again. Kain is life."

"Hindi ba obvious?" I rolled my eyes. I was taking a nap since it's our uwian na, kanina pa but I woke up when I smelled beef from the kitchen.

Hindi literal na beef ang niluto niya kundi noodles beef! Her favorite, with kalamansi in it. Tapos minsan nilalagyan niya pa ng sili.

"Sponsoran mo'ko teh pag nagpatayo ako ng restaurant. Ano kaya maganda name?" I smiled when she offered to give me some but I declined since it's her very favorite food.

Actually, madami talaga siyang favorite pero number one yang kinakain niya.

"Parang maba-bunkrupt yun kasi ikaw ang madalas na kakain." She stamped her feet and sulked like a child.

"What if make your own sauce business since mahilig ka sa sawsawan?" Her eyes twinkled when I mentioned 'sawsawan'.

"Btw, we're already three weeks here so why don't we make libot to the whole place?" She pouted and laughed afterwards. I cringed when I remembered my conyo era before. Ew! I'll never gonna do that again.

***

"Ganda, ah! Naging third wheel pa nga."

"Wai-" I stopped her but she didn't listen. I already warned her not to leave me alone with him!

"Bye!" Ani Lex at naglakad na patungo sa bintahan ng mga milkshake. How dare her leave me alone for foods?!

Binuhat ko na lang si Timmy kasi parang pagod na siya kakalakad kanina pa dahil itong tatay niya ay may bitbit na mga shopping bags.

Which is, yeah . . . Lex's, but mostly were mine.

"Let's buy dog things and foods for this baby." I tried so sound casual and thankfully, I succeeded. But I knew the fact that we need to talk about what happened last week.

After that night, he made a breakfast in bed for me. He became sweeter. Tried to talk to me, give me gifts, flowers, letters, and even to serenade me! But, I avoided him. I know that was so stupid of me but, I can't help myself but to be scared.

Sobrang daming what about and if's. What about our duty? What if it didn't work? What about our ambitions? What if we'll end up hurting each other?

I don't want to hurt him.

"Thank you for coming, Ma'am and Sir!" Napabalik ako sa realidad ng magsalita muli ang cashier at wala sa sariling ilalabas ko na sana ang card ko kung hindi ko lang nakitang binabalot na ito ng cashier sa brown paper bag.

I offered to lift some of the bags since it looks like he's having a hard time but he declined it politely and told me to just take care of Timmy.

We went out of the dog store and I tried to find Lex. I saw her at the first floor, going in to a steakhouse.

"She'll go to the supermarket for her wants, next." I looked at Mohan and he's looking at Lex too. I laughed at his statement.

"To probably buy beef noodles, ice cream, canned tuna and corn beef, chips, vegetables, mini chilis, calamansi and such."

Mohan tugged my arm and pulled me somewhere I don't know. I just let him have his way and just looked around, trying to find another boutique to visit.

Tinakpan niya ang mga mata ko at maingat na inalalayan ako habang naglalakad. Napakunot ang noo ko nang makaramdam ng lamig kahit pa nakasuot ako ng knitted cardigan at pants.

"Surprise..." I gasped after seeing the whole place. It's an ice skating ring. My forehead knotted again and I looked at him, asking why there's no people aside from us.