Little Things in a Forbidden Love

XI. CONFESSIONS OF A LOVING HEART

RICHARD GOMEZ.

Walking down the hallway, Dawn and I had a half meter of distance between us. Neither spoke a single word. The expression on her face was unfathomable. She was still beautiful though. Hearing only the sound of our footsteps, our lips remained sealed as we made our way to the elevator. Two minutes passed and no door opened, so we waited until one going down finally took its turn.

"Ladies first," I said with the gesture. I immediately followed as soon as she took her second step going into the elevator. When I made it inside the elevator, I pressed the button going to the basement where my car was parked. After I did, I gazed at Dawn, who was still speechless that time. "Ang ganda ng elevator dito noh? Ang bango ng carpet," I broke the silence and looked at the empire blue flooring. "Bored ka noh? Pati ba naman design ng elevator papansinin mo?" she hissed, looking a bit irritated. With my arms crossed, I reacted surprised with the sudden swing of Dawn's mood. "Bakit ang sungit mo na naman? Di ka kase nagsasalita kaya ako na nauna. Galit ka ba?" I asked her. "No. Inaantok lang talaga ako," she answered with her arms crossed as well.

But before we reached the basement, the lights suddenly went blinking until it totally went off. We trembled as the elevator moved unexpectedly. The image of Dawn, standing out as ever in her open-necked white shirt paired with black leggings, was swallowed up into a black wall that barely gave me perception. As darkness filled the five-person capacity room, I instantly groped for Dawn for I knew she was afraid of such scenario.

"Richard!" Dawn startled and let me pull her closer to my body with our arms then wrapped around each other. I tried to calm her down as she complained about the situation. "Ano ba naman toh? Power failure ba 'to? Hindi man lang ba power failure proof 'tong elevator na 'to? Akala ko ba maganda 'to ha?" she said then very much disgusted. "Sssshhh, relax. Aandar din 'to. Wag kang mag-alala, Dawn," I comforted her as I held her tighter. We then stepped back, carefully leaned our backs on the wall, and slowly sat on the floor. It was dark but still well enough to let me see the spark in Dawn's eyes, the bridge of her nose, and the curling of her lip. "Teka, titignan ko kung may signal. Magpapa-rescue tayo," I gave her hopes. Unfortunately, my phone did not receive any network signal inside the elevator. Realizing I needed some light enough not to scare the woman beside me, I placed my phone beside us. "Dawn, wala e. Sabi nga ni Marco, I guess we'll have to spend the night together," I expressed with a grin. Hearing that, Dawn got her hands off me and mine off her. I felt her moving and curling up into the other side of the room. "Hindi 'to nakakatuwa, Goma ha. Gawan mo ng paraan, please," she said as she sounded like a little girl having tantrums over some candy or toy. I couldn't help but laugh as those words bounced off her tongue. "Ha? Anong gusto mong gawin ko? Basagin ko tong elevator? Tatawag ako sa Meralco?" I told her sarcastically. "Relax ka lang diyan. Ang laki ng condo na 'to. For sure someone's fixing the failure," I assured her.

But contrary to my thoughts, it seemed no one was working on it. Five minutes had passed that time and we saw no signs of power coming back. "Ano na, Goma? Wala pa rin!" Dawn complained again, seriously sounding scared. I myself got nervous as well. But knowing there was nothing in the world I could do about it, I tried to calm her again. "Wala naman tayong magagawa, Dawn e. Wala kundi maghintay."

Dawn, whose knees were bent, stamped her feet on the carpet. She had a mix of emotions at the very moment. Scared, disgusted, nervous, and impatient. Though I was quite nervous, too, I had to conceal it only to make Dawn feel a little safer. "Bakit cool na cool ka lang diyan ha? Baka naman plinano niyo 'to ni Coco?" she accused. Totally innocent about it, I raised a voice a bit. "Ano?!? Wow naman, Dawn. Ganun ba ako ka-desperado sa akala mo?" There was complete silence after I said that. It bothered me, for I knew Dawn didn't like what I just said. If only I could eat those words back. "Dawn, I'm sorry. Halika na dito sa tabi ko," I told her in my relax and soft voice. "Ayoko dito lang ako," she refused with her voice cracking a bit. "Naiinis talaga ako! Hindi ka man lang ata kinakabahan! Alam mo ba kung anong nangyayari? Na-trap tayo sa elevator just so you know!" she almost growled like a tiger. "Kinakabahan din ako noh! May asawa rin kaya akong uuwian! Akala mo ba ginusto ko 'to?" I told her, defending myself. And again, deafening silence built up around us.