moirai

market

Rj left the office that late Friday afternoon still bothered by the papers on the desks of his colleagues. OF all the desks in the office, his was always the neatest. ALWAYS. He couldn't help it, he was OC about his stuff so he really took time to clear away everything before leaving. He was happy, though, because the project that Steven helped him with was now in full swing AND he would be seeing Maine again that Saturday.

It had been a week since the party. He was too busy with work that he usually got home quite exhausted. He would check on his social media feeds just to erase those notification tabs on his phone but didn't really read the content. The only time he spent a long time on his facebook page was on Wednesday evening when Ryan had posted pictures from his party last Saturday. There were several shots of him and Maine beside each other. There was even a shot of the 4 of them – Steven, Pauleen, Maine, Rj. He saved the picture and kept it in his laptop.

After dinner and a shower, he settled into bed with his laptop on his lap. He once again checked on his social media accounts. Then he remembered something. He got up from bed and walked to the door across his room. He knocked then popped his head inside, the TV was on and there was somebody lying on the bed across it.

"Ta, early pa ta ha? Mga 8.." (Tata, we're leaving at around 8 tomorrow, okay?) he said

"OK..." was the reply.

He walked back to his room and returned to his laptop while in bed. He scanned through his timeline and just scanned through all the tagged pictures of Maine. He couldn't get her out his head! Who was this girl?

Early the next morning, he greeted his Mom as he went down the stairs to the kitchen to grab a glass of orange juice.

"Good morning, Ma!" he kissed her.

"Oh, hijo! Good morning! You're early! Sabado man today?" his Mom was puzzled by his enthusiasm so early on a Saturday morning.

"Makadto ko sa Salcedo Market. Didto kami ni Steven ma-breakfast..." (Steven and I will have breakfast at the Salcedo Market)

"Si Steven? Wow! Timprano pa ni ahh..."

"Hahaha! Na-convince ko man gid sya na mag-upod maskin amo ni ka-aga...." (Hahaha! I was able to convince him to wake up early and join me for this early int he morning) he chuckled.

"Ma, i-upod ko si Tata..."  (I'm bringing Tata with me) he added.

"Ah, okay."

"Good morning, Ma" Riza, who had also come down from her bedroom,  kissed her Mom.

"Good morning Inday. Upod ka kuno kay Manong mo?" (Are you going with your Manong?)

"Yes, Ma!" Riza replied.

"Sige...enjoy!....Ay! bakli man ko sang organic nga lettuce, please...dali lang makuha lang ko kwarta..." (Okay...enjoy!....Ay! Can you please buy me some organic lettuce....wait here, I'll just get money...)  their Mom stood up to go to the bedroom.

They waited for a few minutes then their Mom handed the money to Riza with instructions as to what to buy.

"Okay, Mom! Bye!" both kids said as they went out the door.

Rj drove as Riza sat in front. Since they lived in Makati, it only took them a couple of minutes to reach BGC where Steven lived. Rj handed Riza his phone and told her to text Steven that they were passing by his building in a few minutes.

After a few turns, they saw Steven standing at the curb of his condo. He got in the back seat and exchanged pleasantries with his friends.

"Wow, dude! You live in Urdaneta which is near Salcedo but you still decide to pick me up all the way in BGC? I could've met you nalang there, no?"

"Nevermind na! You want to see her naman also, diba?" Rj teased Steven

"Who Manong? Who are we targeting this time, Manong Steven?"

"Haay naku...ask Rj...he's the one going gaga over this girl...."

"Ako lang ba? Hoy! Aren't you eyeing Pauleen, too?"

"May boyfriend ata..."

"Ata...ata....meaning not sure...."

"Eh si Maine..."

"Hmm...Maine...nice name, Manong..." Riza butted in.

Rj's ears turned red.

"Ayun na! See, dude! You can't deny it. You have a crush on Maine! You're ears always turn red when you blush! Hahahahaah!" Steven teased Rj even more.

"Basta, Tata, shut up, okay..." Rj looked at Riza and glared at her.

Riza understood what that glare meant but still gave out a naughty, knowing smile to Rj then to Steven.

At the market, the trio walked around so as not to be too obvious about wanting to see the girls right away. They then joined a small crowd of people who were at the front of the table selling cupcakes. Both Maine and Pauleen were working so they had their heads bowed down, they didn't notice the boys.

"Uhmm...how much are these?"

"Those that are on the stand are P45 each while those on the tray are P60 each" was Maine's line as she offered her cupcakes to the voice, head still bowed down. She slowly raised her head and saw him. She smiled. He smiled.

"Steven! Rj!" Pauleen had also raised her head and saw the 2.

"Hi!" Steven, the ever so bubbly one, greeted them first. "Which is your bestseller?"

Maine was a bit stunned to see Rj and Steven up close. She hadn't really heard his voice at the club because of the loud music and he looked cuter in natural light.

"Nong...I'll go over to the organic veggies muna..." a girl's voice broke their gaze as Rj turned to a younger girl beside him and nodded.

"Nong.." Maine thought to herself...he's Ilonggo?

"Uhmm, Rj...you wanna try this?....'Smores cupcake..." Maine said as she handed him a chocolate cupcake with marshmallow frosting.

He took a bite and got some icing on the tip of his nose. She instinctively raised her hand to clean it off but Pauleen was quicker to hand him some tissues.

"Hmm...this is good, ha? How much are these?" he asked in between bites and pointing to the goodies on the table.

"The 'smores are P60 each...for 6 its P350 nalang..." Pauleen enthusiastically volunteered.

"Ahh sige...I'll get, 2 of each..." Steven said pointing to the cupcakes on the tray. Pauleen then proceeded to box the 6 cupcakes.

"How about you?" Maine asked Rj

"Uhmmm...just 2 'smores please..." he replied as he reached for his wallet in his back pocket.

"Two lang?! Ay wow! Kuripot mo talaga, dude!" Steven teased and nudged him from behind.

Riza had come back with the lettuce she bought for their Mom.

"Hi!" Riza waved at the 2 girls.

"My sister, Riza." Rj introduced.

"Nong...can I get cupcakes also?" Riza looked up at him with puppy dog eyes. She was only 16 and his only sister. He loved her to bits so he couldn't resist her.

"Oookaaaaay" he looked defeated while Riza looked at Steven who was naughtily smiling.

"Choose na...pero 6 lang ha....and you better eat them or else...."

"Or else what?"

"Basta!"

So he got the 6 cupcakes of Riza's choice. The trio bade the girls goodbye and left the market soon after. In the car...

"Dude, can I stay at your house nalang first? No one's at home naman e...." Steven asked as he sat in the back seat of the car again.

"Ok! I have a new game..."
"Dude! Do you have the new Call of Duty? I can't quite seem to get past one level kasi..."

"Ahh yeah....there's a combination nga that needs to be done there..."

They reach Rj's house and the boys go to the den to play Xbox while Riza went into the kitchen with their cupcakes and lettuce.