Back to You || Maiden/Aldub

t h r e e

"Kamusta ka na?" He asked, cutting a piece of his chicken and placing it into his mouth – eyes trained on the girl busily eating away in front of him.

"Mabuti naman." She chewed, focusing on the plate of food in front of her. "Ikaw?"

As promised, Alden had picked up Maine at seven o'clock sharp for their dinner plans to their favorite Filipino-American fusion restaurant not far from her house. It was place that held many of their memories together, from the first time they got to really know each other to the night Maine realized Alden could possibly be the one she wanted and hoped to spend the rest of her life with. The owners and workers of the place no longer saw the two as celebrities but simply as regulars that often sat towards the back.

"Ganun din." He hummed. "Anything new?"

She shrugged, this time reaching over for her iced tea to take a sip. "Wala naman. Pareho panaman since we went our own way." She laughed lightly. "Eat Bulaga six times a week, and then family bonding on Sundays."

"Yun lang talaga?" He questioned, raising his brows - his tone hinting something more.

Maine gave her friend a look, setting her utensils down. "That's been my life for a while now, 'Den." She nodded slowly.

"No love life?"

There it was. Maine thought to herself. He was never really discreet when it came to things he wanted to find out.

Since she set foot in his car earlier, she felt something was off with him – she just hasn't managed to put a finger on to what it was. Though, now it makes sense.

His uneasiness throughout the night was beginning to all connect and Maine couldn't help but hold back the urge to roll her eyes playfully at him because of his childish antics.

"Nope." She shook her head, going back to eating. "Single as ever."

"Walang ng liligaw?"

"Wala."

She technically wasn't lying, she hasn't even met Justin, let alone had a decent conversation. She simply saw him as an admirer, something she was used to - considering the fame she had achieved and how she achieved it.

Maine wasn't oblivious to the fact that there were guys out there that had an attraction to her due to her simplicity and playful personality, but she was also not cocky about it. She knew that those fellow celebrities were out there, but she wasn't the type of person to go and mess around with it. If they were to send her flowers, she'll accept it and thank them but that was it. To her it was just being polite but deep down it was something more - even if she hated to admit it herself.

She didn't want to act upon those gestures because she was waiting for something else.

Someone else.

"Okay then." He grumbled, annoyed over the fact that he didn't get the answer he was expecting to hear.

Maine pursed her lips. She didn't know whether to continue the topic or to change it, let alone be the one to strike up a conversation. "Ikaw? How's the love life?"

Alden took a deep breath, readjusting in his seat. His way of calming down from his mini-tantrum. "Ito, ng liligaw. Naghihintay."

"How is she anyways? Tell me about her." Leaned on the table, genuinely curious to who this new girl in her best friend's life was. Who was this Rachel girl that has managed to captured the heart of the one and only Alden Richards? And what is it that she was that Maine wasn't – or at least, can't be?