A LITTLE MORE COMPLICATED

13 | caffeine junkie

By early evening, a dinner for the officials and athletes was hosted by the City of Dumaguete at the Boulevard.  It was followed by a street party and concert where local bands played on the stage not far from the hotel.  But I promised myself that I had to catch up on my readings every night just to make sure I cover all the materials taken while I was not in class.  I left my team mates who were still partying.

From across the street, I saw Loren seated by the window in the hotel’s coffee shop.  Looked like she was reading… probably from her IPad.  Hay naku! na IPad ‘yan.  Her team mates were also at the street party. 

When I entered Bethel, Loren’s yaya was sitting in sofa at the lobby.  Seriously, may yaya sya talagang kasama.  Nanay Nene was more like a chaperone.  She was like an unofficial member of the UST team and since we’ve been in the hotel with the Tigresses, we all got to know her. 

“Nay, kumain na po kayo?” I greeted Nanay Nene and sat beside her. 

She smiled at me.  “Kanina pa.  Bakit nandito ka na? May kasiyahan pa sa labas.”

“Kelangan ko pa pong mag-aral.  Galit pa po ba?” I gestured to the direction of the coffee shop.  I guess she understood what I meant.  “Pasensya na po sa nangyari kanina.”

“Kausapin mo na lang kaya,” she suggested.  “Mabait naman ‘yang alaga ko.”

“Sigurado po kayong hindi ako mababato o masasapak?” I nervously asked.

She laughed softly.  “Papagalitan ko kung nangyari ‘yun.  Punta ka na ‘dun.”

I peeked through the door.  The place was almost empty except for Loren who occupied a window seat.  The waiters were dozing off at the far end of the shop.  The cashier seemed to have snapped out of her dream when she saw me walked in.  I ordered coffee and some cakes. 

I stood in front of her holding a cup of coffee on each hand, arguing with myself what to say and how to say it.  This one was as oblivious to the world as anyone can get.  She didn’t seem to know someone else was here.  When she finally looked up, her eyes were droopy.  She took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes.  Her hair was loosely tied with a few strands falling down the sides.  She wore a loose UST FMS shirt and shorts. 

“Coffee?” I handed her a cup and she accepted it without any argument.

I remained standing there, not knowing what else to say.

She looked up again, and was probably wondering.  “Would you want to sit down?”

I placed my coffee on the table and took the seat across her.  “Are you sure it’s ok? Hindi ba kita naiistorbo? Do you want anything else?”  I nervously asked.

She was trying to keep a straight face but a smile seemed to have escaped from the corner of her lips.  “Relax muna.  It’s ok you can sit down.  I was about to have a break and get some coffee.  So hindi ka istorbo.  I was actually craving for some isaw.”

I narrowed my eyes.  Thinking about the last thing she said.

She flashed a big smile.  “’Di mo kelangan maghanap ng isaw.  Coffee will be fine.  Bakit ka namumutla? May masakit ba sa ‘yo?”

This was the first time I heard her say a number of sentences strung together… as in a real conversation.  I have gotten used to how noisy the Tigresses were and how quiet she was compared to the rest of them.

She was snapping her fingers in front of my face.  “Hey! Sigurado kang ok ka lang?”

“Huh?” I squinted my eyes again.  “Ok lang ako.”

“Salamat sa kape.” She held the cup close to her lips without drinking it.  She was savoring the scent.  The air was now filled with the sweet comforting smell of coffee.  “You’re staring, Araneta.”

“Of course not,” I denied.

“Yes, you were,” she insisted.

The waiter arrived with my order.  He placed them one by one on the table and left.

“Gutom ka ba?” She looked me and turned to the plates of cake on our table.  There was a slice of sans rival, two pieces of syvannas, a slice of chocolate cake and a slice of lemon pie.

“’Di ko alam kung ano ang gusto mo.  So I ordered whatever they had,” I grinned.  These looked too much for the two of us.

She took a bite of the lemon pie and her nose wrinkled.  “Ang asim.  ‘Di bagay sa coffee.”

I tasted it as well.  “Maasim nga.  Pang tequila yata ‘to.”

She laughed.

“I’m sorry about this morning,” I finally got around to apologize.  “There’s no excuse for what I said.  I won’t try to give you one.  But I am really sorry if I offended you.”

She turned serious all of a sudden.  Pinag-iisipan pa yata kung patatawarin ako.  “Ok,” she simply said.

“’Yun lang? Ok?” I wondered.

“Gusto mong sabihin kong hindi ok?” she teased.

“’Wag! Ok na ako sa ok,” I said quickly.  That didn’t sound right.

“Mag-aral ka na nga dyan.  I’m sure bumalik ka dito para mag-aral.” She went back to reading her IPad.

I took out my IPad and turned it on.  “’Di ba sem break kayo? Ano ‘yung binabasa mo?” I was curious.

“Advance reading,” she simply stated.  Her eyes glued to the tablet.

“Nerd,” I uttered.

“Look who’s talking,” she looked at me with narrowed eyes.  “Geek!” she said in low voice, wanting to get even.

I just laughed.  She then pouted… but what she did with her lips wasn’t really pouting more like a duck face. 

“Do that again.” I know she wanted to go back to what she was reading.  But I couldn’t help it.

“What!” She was acting as if she was annoyed, which obviously she was not.

“The face,” was all I could say.  I was trying to gesture with my hand to no avail.

She raised an eyebrow.

“’Yung duck face kanina,” I chuckled.

“Duck face ka dyan.”  She threw a crumpled paper napkin at me.  “Magbasa ka na!” she ordered.

I opened Thirdy’s email and downloaded the cases he sent me.  “You look adorable with the duck face… really,” I said almost in a whisper.

I guess, she heard what I said and threw another crumpled paper napkin.  Was she blushing? Nagbablush din pala ‘to.

Our window seat was actually a glass wall that faced the boulevard.  We could see what was going on outside, though the sound was muffled.  There were a lot of people walking about.  But here we were, seated inside in an almost empty coffee shop… throwing glances at each other every now and then… reading in silence.