"Bakit ang cute-cute mo?"
Pinisil-pisil ni Lena ang pisngi ng alagang aso. Bailey had his tongue out, smiling. Kanina pa niya pinanggigigilan ang mga pisngi nito. She felt elated, and she had no one to share the bliss but Bailey. Matapos ang nangyari kagabi, hindi na nawala ang ngiti niya sa labi. Para siyang tangang kikiligin at magtatakip ng mukha pagkatapos.
Cyrus didn't tease her after the kiss. He couldn't even speak for a while! Habang nakasandal siya sa dibdib nito ay ramdam niya ang mabilis na pagtibok ng puso nito. She was glad that she was not the only one whose heart was pumping wildly.
It's unfortunate that they couldn't stay like that forever (or at least until he forgets what she did). They had to move. And when they did, his shoes suddenly became very interesting. She couldn't look up, afraid of what he might say or what she might see in his face.
"Pinch me. I must be dreaming," she remembered him say.
She was already digging a hole in the ground with her stare when he tilted her chin up. She thought that he would kiss her again, but he simply smiled and said that he wanted to look at her face for a while, which made her blush, which made him smile like an idiot. It made her want to hide again, but her feet were rooted on the ground. So she had to endure his eyes fixated on her face.
When he was finally satisfied, nag-aya na itong umuwi. At simula kagabi ay wala pa siyang matinong tulog dahil sa nangyari. Did she really initiate the kiss? Wala naman siyang sakit. Hindi naman siya nakainom. What could have gotten into her?
It's as though when Cyrus showed her his vulnerable side, she was compelled to do the same. It was not in her nature to take the first step or do the first move. She's always been the recipient. But last night, she felt like she had to do something first. It was like a cliff-dive. Nakakatakot sa una, but it's more of the anticipation and not the leap itself. Kapag tumalon ka na, wala na. Enjoy na rin.
She did enjoy the kiss... maybe a little too much.
"What do I do now, Bai?" she asked her dog. Niyakap niya ito nang mahigpit hanggang sa magpumiglas ito. She sighed and let him go. Saka siya muling nahiga. She wanted to see Cyrus again, at the same time, she doesn't want to. She didn't know what to think anymore. Her mind's still a little fuzzy.
The shrill ringing of her phone made her sit up so fast, her head ached. Kinuha niya ang phone mula sa bedside table, half-wishing that it was Cyrus who's calling and half-wishing that he wasn't. She later found out what she really wanted when she saw that it's Martin who's calling her.
"Hello?"
"Kumain ka na ba?" bungad nito. "Ang tamlay ng bati mo, e."
"Sorry. Hindi pa 'ko nagla-lunch," sagot niya. Hindi na lamang niya sinabing hindi pa rin siya nakakatulog. "Napatawag ka?"
"I just want to ask... what have you done to Cyrus?"
"Huh? What do you mean? Bad mood na naman ba?"
"I can understand the bad mood, Lena, but this? This is crazy." She could almost picture Martin shaking his head in amusement.
"Ano ba kasing problema?"
"Him! He's become a ball of freaking sunshine! It's creeping me out!"
She bit her lip and frowned. "Kapag bad mood, ayaw mo. Ngayong maganda ang mood, ayaw mo pa rin?"
"Lena, iba ang masaya lang sa parang nababaliw na. He's even singing. Listen." At first, there was nothing except some background noise from both people and machinery, and then she heard him singing Paint My Love. Natawa siya bigla. "See? I told you!"
