Pagod sya. Naiinitan. Nauuhaw. Hindi sya sanay sa ganito, doing a 'menial' job of lifting heavy materials. At tila sing-init ng sikat ng araw na rin ang pag-iinit ng ulo nya. Ang dami din kasi nyang iniisip. Iniisip nya ang negosyo nya na pansamantala nyang ipinagkatiwala sa general manager nya. He'd always wanted to be hands-on but because of the volunteer work that he had committed himself into, kailangan muna nyang mag-lie low sa negosyo.
Napabuntung-hininga sya when he realized that he had carried the wrong piece of lumber dahil sa kakaisip nya.
Holy clusterfuck, I could't even focus.
He stood there, helplessly looking down at the still unusable material on the ground. Hindi kasi yun ang una nyang pagkakamali. Ilang araw na rin syang out-of-focus and it seemed to compromise the quality of his 'help'. Their team had a target date of completion to meet at alam nyang konting delay lang ay pwede nang makaapekto sa buong operasyon.
Arghhh. Nakakainis.
Nag-angat sya ng tingin at nakitang nakatingin sa kanya si Julie na agad-agad namang inalis ang tingin sa kanya. He got back to work.
.....
Bakit parang may regla na naman sya?
Ilang araw na rin nyang minamatyagan ang kilos ni Elmo. Palagi itong mukhang malalim ang iniisip at nakasimangot. As usual, hindi pa rin ito masalita at halos hindi nakipag-bonding sa mga kasamahan nila sa team. Hindi rin sya kinakausap nito. Hanggang hi and hello lang din sila.
Tseh. Suplado.
Bigla namang napangiti.
Pero ang cuuuuuute. Hehehe. Anobey.
Nagtama na naman ang tingin nila ni Elmo buti na lang ay inalis nya kaagad ang tingin nya dito.
She'd always admired his eyes. Para sa kanya, napaka-expressive ng mata nito. They way they droop when he seemed to be sad, the way they glimmer when he's amused, the way they narrowed when he's upset...Ang dami nyang 'nababasa' sa mata ng binata...To her, his eyes are like a good paperback novel that she wanted to 'read' over and over, if she were only given the chance to.
Haaaay. Diyos ko, ang laki ng problema ko. Pagdidiskitahan ba ang mata ni future husband. Aieeeeyyeee. Adik.
Nakalimutan nya tuloy ang pagod na nararamdaman. She'd also been helping carry hollow blocks and other lighter contruction materials and Elmo's mere presence had seemed to lighten up her load.
Napangiti na lang sya habang ipinagpatuloy ang ginagawa.
.....
Yosi break muna sya gaya nang nakaugalian. Again, he stood on his favorite spot under a tree. The flurry had died down as the sun began to set pero nakikita nyang may iilan pa ring abala sa mga ginagawa.
Nahagip ng mata nya si Julie. She was still busy with piling small blocks of wood at kung ano-ano pa. Di nya maiwasang matawa sa facial expression nito na mukhang gigil na gigil sa ginagawa. Napailing naman sya nang makitang sinubukan nitong kargahin sa balikat ang isang sako ng semento but failed to do it.
Tsk, tsk. They always think they're strong. Always.
Bigla naman syang natigilan nang maalala ulit ang muling pagtama ng tingin nila kani-kanina lang. It had happened for quite several times since the volunteer work started. Palagi nya itong nahuhuling nakatingin sa kanya. Muli ay nagbalik ang ngiti nya.
Haha. You're checking me out, huh.
He understands body language in general. Alam din nya kung papaano basahin ang body language ng mga babae at dahil ilang beses na nyang nahuli si Julie na nakatingin sa kanya, he had established a basis for thinking that she's having an infatuation for him lalo na dahil nagba-blush ito tuwing nagtatama ang tingin nila.
Napangiti sya. Julie is the most attractive lady in the team and based on her actions, he considers her somewhat naïve dahil sa pagiging transparent nito although she had tried to mask it with her confidence.
He could easily see her beautiful face from the comfortable distance. His eyes didn't miss the lovely womanly curves that the loose, shapeless shirt she wore failed to hide...and of course, her silken skin that glowed with tiny beads of sweat.
Julie is 'everything' that he wanted: she's pretty, she obviously likes him and most of all, she is not his type, but a good distraction nonetheless.
Be careful, Julie. Be very careful.
