IT WON'T STOP

8.

[ Amara’s ]

"The other reason is..." Machiko paused for a few seconds. "I want you to know who I am—the real me, Amara."

What is this? I thought to myself while staring at her side profile. She was just staring at the house.

"What do you mean?" I chuckled.

"I'm interested in you. I want to show myself to you, Amara. I don't want to waste any time; it's running out too fast. And you are leaving—"

I immediately cut her off from speaking by kissing her. I wrapped my arms around her neck; she then held my waist side-by-side, kissing me back.

We were kissing somewhere above the mountains, where the moon was so clear and there were bright stars. Our kiss wasn't meant to be aggressive or sexual; it was slow. Passionate. Full of love.

She then broke our kisses by biting my lower lip playfully, and she laughed. Her eyes almost disappeared when she smiled.

"Ano ba 'yan!" I spoke like I was annoyed, but I found her cute when she did that.

"Let's go." She offered me her hand, and I took it. We were walking to her house while intertwining each other's hands.

She had keys with her; she opened the door and clicked a switch to turn on the lights. The house inside looked vintage but modernized. It was so well designed, and I think there's a second floor. It's bigger than what I've expected.

"A lot of furniture is already taken out. My parents brought it." She spoke while looking around as well.

"It's bigger than I thought." I walked around to see the details closer. There were still pictures of her with her parents and siblings. She was a little child. There was one picture where her father was carrying her; she's so small.

"You're closer with your dad?" I asked her.

"When I was a kid, yes. Above my siblings, they would always show it that I'm their favourite daughter." I can't blame her parents; she was really adorable. Until now.

"In this house, my great-grandfather, grandfather, and grandmother lived here for a few months. Then, they passed away." She was explaining while I was staring at some of their family pictures. "My great-grandfather was a mathematician, and my Lola and Lolo were both business owners. It suddenly dropped when they passed away. My parents didn't choose to inherit the business; they chose to get the financials and work on their own." Inakbayan niya ako habang nagsasalita siya.

"Now, my parents own a law firm. They are all professionals, and I don't get why I chose this path." She smiled sweetly at me. "My Lola wanted me to become an attorney; I was her favourite. She used to explain some facts about law to me since she studied legal management for 4 years."

"When they passed away, the house lost colour. My parents were busy, as were my siblings. Everything was growing up too fast." She sounded sad when she said that. "We were old money rich, but... the money didn't buy the healthy relationship of a family. We were just... gone."

So, this is what she told me—that she wants me to know the real Machiko. She's explaining about personal stuff.

"I chose to own the property because they didn't care about this house anymore. But it was really everything to me." She smiled a little, like she was remembering some memories. "This is special to me. And that's why I brought you here; I want you to be my special person."

I didn't even realise that I got teary-eyed when she said those things to me. She was the first person to ever give me such words of affirmation. Especially, it is my first love language and my favourite love language to receive.

"Fuck," I smiled and chuckled while we were staring at each other. I knew I looked so happy.

I heard her laugh in a deep tone. "Let's do anything you want together before you go back to the US, Amara." She smiled, but I knew it was too painful for her to say. "Let's not think about the time or the people around us. Let's be ourselves." 

A few minutes later, an old song started playing in their house speaker, and we started dancing slowly. I had my arms wrapped around her neck carefully, and she was holding onto my hips. She was a smoother and better dancer than I am. 

"You're doing great." She smiled while staring at me. I was trying to match her steps.

"What are we?" The question slipped out of my mouth. I can't hold it in anymore.

"Talking stage?" She laughed. "Caily called us that way; do you think she's right?"

"Yeah, I guess," I chuckled. The talking stage sounds good. "I want to stay longer." I spoke, and my voice sounded emotional. 

"Then, stay longer, Amara. Stay with me." I can feel her stare getting sadder.

I didn't answer after that; we focused on dancing romantically. We were smiling and laughing at each other's moves. It was like I was back home every time she touched my skin.

"What do you want to do after this?" She asked me.

"I want to go to a fast food drive-through in the middle of the night." I smiled. I wanted more long drives with her.

"Okay, I'm sleepy, na, but let's do that," she laughed. So, we quickly drove away to go to the city again and ordered a bunch of meals from different fast food restaurants. I missed eating fast food; I was on a strict diet when I was still living in the US.

"I really love McDonald's french fries. Ang sarap!" I was shoving fries in my mouth with ketchup while she was driving. Then, a stoplight happened, and when she looked at me, she was laughing.

"You are a messy eater!" She wiped the ketchup on the side of my lips using her thumb. And then she playfully tasted her thumb.

"What the hell?" I looked at her, kinikilig na. Ayoko na, alam na alam niya talaga ginagawa niya.

"Ang sarap nga," Ngumisi siya, nang-aasar.

"Sira ka!" I laughed it off and looked away. She just drove away fast habang natatawa pa.

After an hour, it's already around 2 a.m. and she dropped me off at her condominium again. It was closer, so I didn't tell her to take me to my home. 

"I have another training tomorrow, baby. 9 a.m. pa rin," she informed me while closing the doors. We just got home.

"Hala, I didn't have to pagod you, nalang pala! You were sleepy, na, right?" 

She laughed when I reacted that way. "It's okay, I told you, right? Let's do anything you want together." She sat down on the sofa, leaning on it.

Napangiti ako, she was so good for enduring her sleepiness for me. I turned around to go to the fridge, just to drink water.

"What are you going to wear tomorrow?" I asked her, but she wasn't answering anymore. I looked back, and she was sleeping on the sofa already. Cute.

I sat down beside her and took a closer look at her facial features. I touched the pointy part of her nose and smiled to myself. Ka gwapa.

"I think, gusto na kita," I said in the most low and soft tone I had.