Favorite Oblivion

Chapter VIII

I CAREFULLY put the utensils on the tissue. I twisted the place to be on the more appropriate place. I exchanged two glasses because I felt like that was needed. When I checked the whole set up again, I took a deep sigh.

Perfection.

"A-anong mayroon?" bungad sa 'kin ni Gelatin na pupungas-pungas pa pagkalakad papalapit sa kusina. After seeing the table setting plus the smelly food, her widened eyes gazed upon me. "Woah! Hindi mo ako ginising! Dapat ako na gagawa niyan. Nagmumukha akong palamunin sa bahay mo!"

"Hindi ba?"

"Ha?"

"I mean, take a seat," sabay turo ko sa upuan na para sa kaniya. We both rested on our seats and seconds passed, I pointed the dishes one by one. "Mashed potato, Chicken waffle and Bae Quesadillas," I enumerated.

"Wala ba 'tong lason?" pag-aalinlangan niya pero kinamay lang ang quesadillas. Napailing na lang ako.

"Taste it," I commanded. Alam kong magugustuhan niyo 'yon kasi...

"Woy! May bacon!" sabay subo ng buong slice noon. Napatigil siya na parang may naalala. She snapped her fingers and immediately stood up.

But she was stopped when I dragged a mug on her table mat. "Ginawan na kita noong milo na gusto mo," I informed her then I looked away.

"Nice!" she reacted. Umupo na agad at ipinagpatuloy ang kinakain. "Bakit mo pala ginagawa 'to? May kailangan bang i-celebrate?" she uttered.

I awkwardly showed her a smile. "Gelatin, what if I am having a weird relationship with someone and w-we... kiss... something like that?" I almost choked with my own words as I spilled them under my breath.

"Ha? Ano naman?" she responded casually.

I just shook my head, stopped to overthink again because I was kind of confused with her answer and with myself even more. Bakit ko nga ba ulit 'to ginagawa? It just stuck in my head that I needed to return her an air-favor which was never a big deal to her.

Wala nga siyang paki sa personal kong buhay. Hindi niya nga kilala si Samanta Nicole. Hindi niya rin alam ang nangyari. Saka wala siyang paki roon kahit malaman niya.

Bakit ako guilty? Shit. What a paranoid freak.

"Kumusta pala rito sa bahay? A, oo! Iyon ang dahilan kung bakit nagluto ako. Pasalamat na lang na binabantayan mo yung bahay at walang inconvenience na nagagawa ang mga aso," I blabbed, trying to keep it cool.

"Ayun yung conditions na bago kaya sinusunod ko lang." She paused as she raised her right knee again. "Magandang ideya yung palikuran ng mga aso sa likod lang mismo ng bahay. Nilagyan ko na rin ng bagay na wallpaper yung ibabang parte ng glass walls papunta sa dinning area para hindi kita ang mga aso kapag pupunta ka ng kusina. Bukas din sa likod kapag umaga para nakakagala sila sa likod at hindi nakukulob ang amoy sa bahay kung mayroon man," Gelatin explained.

I bobbed my head.  "That's good. We finally agreed with simple things. Nababawi mo rin naman ang pag-stay niyo rito dahil wala akong gastos sa home cleaning every week," I continued the discussion after I swallowed the chicken waffles I made. I picked another one and placed it in my mouth.

"Ay! Napansin kong parang mas kumintab ang vase sa center table? Naglinis ka ba?" When she raised that, I looked away and get my water. "Marunong ka pala sa gawain bahay!" she concluded without letting my speak to defend myself.