Unexpected (ON HOLD)

Chapter 10

"I told Jason that I can't make it tonight. He won a race today and he wanted to celebrate with me. But here I am. Lying to him that I had an important meeting." she laughed yet not happily. A pause came. "And you know what the worst part is?" She sighed heavily. She stroked my hair once again and brushed her hand on my cheek. "I'm not regretting any second of this."

When she touched my face it sent shivers all over my body. Wait. Did I just hear her right?

"Honestly, hindi ko din alam kung bakit. Hindi ko alam kung bakit ako tamang-tama sa-" my ringtone interrupted her. Dammit. I wanted to hear what she was going to say. Stupid phone.

She cleared her throat and gently put down my head as she stood up. My eyes were struggling to remain shut. It was a good thing that I did, though. I heard her voice and I was certain that she was in front of me. She sighed and tucked a strand of my hair to the back of my ear. The words she said came out more like a whisper.

"Ang hirap naman kasing hindi ma-inlove sa'yo."

My ears and cheeks felt hot. Oh my god. Did she really say that?

I felt a sudden pang in my heart. Knowing that this wasn't right. We can never be.

"Glai.." She placed a hand on my shoulder and gently shook me. "Cha.. Glaiza, wake up." she cooed. And since I was pretending to still be asleep, I let her call my name again.

It's weird how someone can simply say your name and make it sound so damn special.

I inhaled and shifted slightly. I rubbed my eyes with the back of my thumb as I groaned.

Well, I didn't become an actress for nothing. Haha.

I slowly peered my eyes open and stretched my arms. I looked at her and smiled. "Morning, Rhi?"

She chuckled. "Evening, Glai." and pointed to my phone. "Sorry to disturb your sleep. May natawag kasi sa phone mo."

I nodded and grabbed my phone. I looked at the screen and saw the caller ID. Benny.

Great timing Benny. Not.

I answered the call.

"Good evening, beautiful." he started.

"Hi Benj." I looked at Rhi but she looked away.

"Kumain ka na ba? Yayayain sana kita mag-dinner. My treat."

"D-dinner? Di pa nga e. Kasama sina Chynns?"

"Actually, hindi. Nasa meet and greet siya ngayon e. So.. tayo lang dalawa. If it's okay with you."

"Ah ganun ba? Sig-" a hand cut me off.

"Dito na siya kakain." Rhian grabbed my phone.

"But thank you for your offer. Have a good night. Bye." and with that, she hung up the phone and placed it in my hand. I was awestruck. Frozen where I stood.

She faced me with a look that's in between 'yeah, you heard me' and 'what the hell did I just say'. As for me, I was still in the state of shock and my mouth was slightly open. We were left staring at each other for about three seconds when she shook her head and spoke. "U-uh. D-dito ka kakain ha."

I still couldn't believe that she said that to Benny so I just nodded. Not changing anything in my position right now.

"Okaaaaaay.. Padeliver nalang tayo. I'll go get my phone." she said and quickly walked away.

I realized how ugly I must've looked, so I composed myself and sat down on the couch. A laugh escaped my lips as I thought of the situation. This woman's driving me crazy.

"Oh anong tinatawa-tawa mo dyan?" she smiled as she approached me on the couch.

"You know, you could've just told me." I chuckled referring to the dinner incident. She looked surprised.

"W-what?" she stuttured. Her cheeks blushed and her eyes were wide. I looked at her confusingly until it finally hit me. She thinks I'm referring to what she said when I was asleep. Well, fake sleeping, if I may. Haha. This will be fun.

I smiled at her. "Yeah. All you had to do was ask."

She looked down and played with her fingers. "I-i.. I-i.." she's so tense right now. How cute.

Well, I've had my fun. Back to dinner. "Tatanggi pa ba 'ko, e ikaw nag-offer? Haha. Ako na sa juice." I joked and stood up.

Not long after, the doorbell rang. She stood up and opened the door. It revealed a very nervous guy with shaking hands. Rhi politely thanked him as she grabbed the food from the delivery guy's hands. She payed him and he went off. We ate our dinner in front of the tv as we laughed and chatted. "How I met your mother" was on screen so it was pretty much one of the best nights of my life. I checked the time, 8:30pm.

I turned to face her laughing figure. "Rhi, I have to go. It's getting late."

She frowned. "Already? Ang aga pa ah!"

"Marami akong appointment bukas e. As much as I want to stay, I can't." I gave her a small smile and fixed my things.

She groaned. "Fine! Pero ihahatid kita."

I shook my head. "Hindi na. Magta-taxi na lang ako. Magpahinga ka na. Salamat."

"No way! Pano kung crazed fan yung masakyan mo tapos iuwi ka sa bahay nila tapos gawin kang-" I raised a finger at her.

"Sige na, ihatid mo na 'ko. Di ka din naman titigil e. Hahaha" I laughed. She smiled and grabbed her keys as I went out.

The ride was normal. A few traffics here and there. A drive-thru at McDo. Partying in the car. The usual. We arrived at our house in about half an hour.

I released my seatbelt and faced her. "I had a great time tonight. Thank you."

She smiled. "The pleasure is all mine."

I smiled back and got out of the car. I walked around to her side and knocked on her window. She rolled it down and smiled. "Miss mo agad ako?"

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. I looked at her and bit my lower lip. "Pakiss."

She seemed surprised by what I said. I'm sorry it just slipped out. Before she could respond I slowly leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. I guess my lips lasted for a good two seconds on her cheek before I pulled back. "Good night, Rhi. Drive safely." I smiled and walked towards my house without even looking back at her.

Oh God. I think I'm really falling now.