Tamress and My Memories of Her

|Chapter Five|

Chapter Five_Bewitched

"MAN, THIS IS crazy. Miss Vice President is already an hour and a half late." Hiroki shook his head exaggeratedly. He seemed to be in a bad mood since a while ago. But knowing him, malamang nagdadrama lang siya. Padabog niyang nilamukos ang tissue na ginamit nang matuluan ng hot sauce ang pantalon niya— which was his fault because he kept on slamming his cup on the table. "Where are you getting the patience to wait, man? Are you a saint? A martyr?"

I put down my phone. "I waited for a year before I could date her. An hour is nothing," I said, deadpan.

"One and a half," he retored.

"My point is, I don't mind if Paula is taking long. O kung biglang hindi siya sisipot, I won't get mad whatever." I tried saying this half-truth without faltering.

Ang totoo, hindi ko napansin ang oras. My phone had kept me occupied since we got into the coffee shop. I would have kept checking some photos on Instagram if only Hiroki wasn't being an ass.

He sighed. "You're hopeless."

"Shut up. I am not even bothered, so why are you?"

"Hey. I care about you, man. Ayaw ko lang nakikita kang miserable."

"Do I look miserable to you?"

"Well yeah. Miserable. And pathetic."

I raised my minddle finger at him. I felt like this was becoming a habit.

"That's not true, bro," Hiromi cut in. "Jacobo's fine. It's just he doesn't feel as excited to see his girlfriend like before."

I watched with a knotted forehead as he sipped on his iced coffee with a smug look on his face. Annoying.

I would have let that comment pass, if he didn't speak again. "You're welcome."

"What?"

"Just now, you thought I'm right, diba? And you're thankful I pointed that out for you. Kaya you're welcome."

"You shut your mouth too, Carbon Copy. Nobody needs your theories."

Tumawa siya. Nagpaka-busy na lang ako uli sa cellphone ko.

But damn it. Hiromi's words kept ringing in my head!

Paula was the first real relationship I considered. I used to feel giddy whenever we would hang out on a fancy place like the coffee shop we were at, especially when she was the one to invite me– like today. It always felt fantastic all those months I dated her.

Except now. It just felt... normal. Even my latte tasted bland.

To be real, I had to give Hiromi some credits.

Something probably came up at her meeting with the other school officer. Being stood up was fine, but it was not because I had patience, or did I understand her situation.

Lately, I had been engrossed with my cellphone. Although I had accounts on different social media sites, I merely checked them. Not a fan of interacting through the internet—

But Tamress looked damn fascinating dozing off in the passenger seat last time we were together on a long drive, that I was compelled to take her photos.

"Want me to tag you?" I asked when she caught me. "Tell me your Instagram name."

"What a smooth way to gather information, Jacobo."

"I know."

I continued to take more shots of her on different scenes that day. I did not post them though, and just sent her a follow-request. Later on, scanning her Instagram account, I found rafts of tagged pictures of her taken by different people— all were candid and apparently stolen. It figured why Tamress didn't react much when she saw me angling my camera to her; it was a normal thing for her, or maybe she didn't mind at all.