Our first date will always be memorable to me not because it was grand but dahil sobra siyang epic fail.
We wanted to go on a short road trip so we decided na Tagaytay will be our best choice. He booked us a table at Antonio's for lunch. The plan was, pupunta kami dun straight from Eat Bulaga so Thursday of that week, plantsado na lahat.
By Saturday morning, Ma'am Jenny Ferre informed us of an emergency meeting right after the show. So Alden called Antonio's to move the table reservation for dinner. Pero since may SPS rehearsals din siya, late dinner na lang daw kami which was okay naman sa'kin para may time pa mag nap after EB.
At around 8 PM, we were on our way na to Tagaytay. Along the way, we decided to stop to get coffee from Starbucks. Mukha naman walang tao so bumaba kami pareho which, we later on realized, was a terrible, terrible move. Nasa loob kami ng store when all of a sudden, nagdagsaan ang mga tao as in hindi namin alam kung saan sila nanggaling. Naloka kami ni Alden.
Buti na lang, mabilis mag-isip yung Starbucks manager. He quickly let us inside his small office at the back of the store. Yung mga tao andun lang, naghihintay kung kelan kami lalabas. The funny thing was, instead na magsi-uwian na sila, mas dumami pa ang mga tao. Siguro we stayed there for more than an hour so we missed our Antonio's reservation. So technically, our first date happened sa loob ng opisina ng manager ng Starbucks. Not your typical romantic date but I was with him so... basta, you get the idea.
When we felt that it was quite safe for us to go out na, we had to go through the backdoor eh sobrang layo pa ng spot where Alden parked the car. Tumakbo talaga kami. Yung parang sa mga action movies lang. Tawa kami ng tawa sa sitwasyon namin.
Pero siyempre, hindi complete ang story kung walang kashungahan na gagawin si Maine Mendoza. Sa sobrang happy ko, bigla ko siyang niyaya na dun na lang kami sa condo ko mag dinner. Hindi ko alam kung bakit ko ginawa yun or kung anong espiritu ang sumanib sa akin para gawin ang isang bagay na alam kong pagsisisihan ko. Ang lakas ng loob ko magyaya pero tanging limang sibuyas lang ang laman ng ref ko. Naisip ko bigla, gawa na lang kaya ako ng onion soup? Minsan gusto ko rin sapakin ang sarili ko.
So since nabitawan ko na ang invitation, na kinagat naman agad ni Alden Richards, wala na akong magagawa. Pinanindigan ko na. Itetext ko na sana sina Ate Pat para makisuyo na magpa-deliver ng food when I heard Alden talking to Mama Ten on his cellphone. The great Alden Richards was asking his PA to bring groceries sa condo ko. Shet siya, d ba? I was so smug and so chill, confident na hinding-hindi niya madi-discover na limang sibuyas lang ang meron ako. I swear I could have kissed him at that moment.
Pagdating namin sa condo, diretso siya sa sink, naghugas ng kamay. O d ba, parang si Hudas lang? Akala ko uupo na siya sa harap ng TV pero hindi, diretso siya sa ref ko. He opened it and then closed it again. He didn't say anything. Jusko, nakalimutan kong huminga for like, 24 seconds. Then he took out his phone again and called Mama Ten. Hindi na'ko nakinig sa usapan nila. Pumasok ako ng kwarto at nagpasalamat sa diyos ng mga sibuyas.
After a while, dumating si Mama Ten. Andaming dalang groceries! May pista ba? Feeding program? Party? Kasi ang alam ko, magluluto lang ako para sa dalawang tao pero ang groceries, friend, dinaig pa ang pinamimigay ng Puregold. It turned out, pinag-grocery pala ako ni Alden.
In fairness, kumpleto ha. Solb na ang isang buwan kong groceries. Ang taray ng lolo mo, d ba? Iba siya. Na-touch naman ako-ng very, very light nga lang. Bwahahaha.
To my credit, nagpakitang gilas naman ako sa kitchen. I made Chicken Pesto Pasta for dinner tapos siya naman ang gumawa ng garlic bread. I tossed in some salad greens with vinaigrette as dressing. We had fun. Para kaming nagbabahay-bahayan lang. Non-stop kwentuhan, chikahan, asaran. Masaya.
Antonio's would have been great.
But our home-cooked food tasted waaaay better.
Kasi kaming dalawa ang nagluto.
Siya naghugas ng kamay.
Ako hindi.
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