Ellie-chan (COMPLETED)

Eleven - Imaginary boyfriend

As I was reading my sister's email on my keitai (cellphone), I can't help feeling sad. She's in desperate need of money again. She was asking me to lend her another ten thousand pesos. Her little boy was hospitalized for dengue. She has not even paid me yet for the sixty thousand pesos she borrowed when she gave birth. And here again, she's asking me to lend her some money. My friends has been telling me to stop giving in to her so she would learn a lesson but I just can't. It was easy for them to say it because she is not their family. But for me...I sighed.

Because I wasn't looking at where I was going, I felt I bumped into something hard. I dropped my keitai. It brought me back to reality. Worried, I picked it up. I heaved a sigh of relief when I saw that the screen was still intact. I tested it. I went to my inbox again and checked my other emails. It was functioning alright.

"I'm sorry," I heard a guy's voice. When I looked up, we were both surprised.

"Oh, Kozuki-san!" I exclaimed.

"Ellie-sensei!" he also exclaimed at almost the same time.

Immediately, I felt my heart beat faster and louder. I swear, he could hear it. I felt my cheeks turned red at his scrutiny. I couldn't look at him.

"You looked problematic. Are you okay?"

I nodded quietly. Then, I asked to be excused. I walked away. But when I turned back, I saw him walking towards me. I walked as fast as I can.

"Ellie-sensei, wait!"

I sighed again. Much as I didn't want him to see me feeling this way, I also like to be in his company. No one made me feel like this...not after Pharaoh. This is the first time in years that I am excited again to be with a guy. But .... he's already taken.

But wait...He just came after me. Didn't that mean something? Did he realize that I am more interesting than his boring girlfriend? I wouldn't say beautiful because I admit, his girl was really a knockout. Is he going to ask me for a date? I can't help feeling excited at the thought. Just thinking about our date made me forget about my sister's financial problem. I felt my mood improved a lot. I turned towards him. This time, I bravely looked at him.

"Actually, this is about a friend of mine. He's looking for a gaijin (foreigner) date. He asked me to help him so I thought about you," he said straight to the point. He was not even blinking.

I felt something pricked my heart. My hope was crashed. I was speechless for a moment. And I remember that Senri-chuo encounter. Yeah! That was it! He saw me with Hiromi-sensei that day when we went to Sakura Matchmaking Company. He thought I was desperate to find a partner! My cheeks turned red at the thought...

"I know you don't have a boyfriend, right?"

Gathering all my courage and wit, I held my head up high and looked him straight in the eye and said, "Says who?"

He looked surprised. And confused. He recalled the Senri-chuo incident. If I had a boyfriend, he said, what was I doing in Sakura Matchmaking Company? I told him I was there to give some moral support to my colleague, Hiromi-sensei.

"Oh," was all he could say. But he didn't seem embarrassed. "Okay. Sorry about my wrong assumption. Maybe, we could double date next time?"

"Sure," I answered calmly and sweetly.

When he was gone, I kicked myself. What was I thinking? What if he was really serious about double dating? Who would I introduce as my boyfriend? Ugh! You're so stupid, Ellie! Now that he thinks you're taken, he might not pursue his feelings for you if he has one. You're not thinking!