I woke up early in the morning with a smile on my face. I never thought that this day would come. We survived 5 years already. As the water run over my whole body, a very good memory rushed back into my mind.
"Ma’am? Ma’am? Nasan po kayo?"
"Oh. I’m in my bar, my dear driver. Fetch me here, dali!"
I looked around as I put my phone down in the counter. My bar or should I say my business is running well. I never thought that it would be this successful at the first place. People sure do like to go to bars nowadays. Great choice of business, Julie.
I roamed my eyes one more time and stopped at the door. I smiled as soon as I saw him. I may be a bit tipsy but I know everything that’s happening around me. He’s looking for me, I guess. I waved and smiled. He turned into me and there I got my driver’s attention.
He rushed into my side before he smiled and said, “Ma’am, lika na po. Hinahanap na po kayo sa bahay.”
He tried to assist me but instead I turned to the bartender and asked him for a bottle of wine and a pair of glass. After asking the bartender so, I turned to him and said, “Let’s go.”
He let me go first. Well, that’s a sign of respect right? He placed my things inside the car (of course) and was about to close the door when I stopped him from doing so. He looked at me with all curiosity in his eyes. I smiled and said, “Join me for a while. I need someone to talk to, Elmo.”
He took a deep breath, then stepped inside the car and took the sit beside me. He’s a perfect companion because he has the same age as me. We are already 21 years existing in this world. His father was a former driver of my family but he died because of an illness. So his son has no choice but to continue what his father started.
I started drinking the wine I asked from the bartender a while ago and started asking as well, “Have you ever loved from a distance? Or let me re-phrase it. Have you ever loved a person who you think will never be yours, do you know how it feels?”
After asking so, I offered him a glass of wine too. He looks at me then he grabbed the glass. He chuckled then his eyes stayed glued to me for like 3 seconds that made my heart beat faster than it should. After staring, he started talking.
"Is the love that you’re talking about is when you think she’s heaven and you’re hell. When you’re thinking that you’ll never be good enough for her. The love when she’s too perfect and you don’t even wanna fail in front of her?”
I didn’t know why suddenly I felt so jealous of ‘she’. It feels like he loves ‘she’ so much but the only thing is that ‘she’ will never be his. He is still going on with his list and I don’t know why suddenly too, my tongue tied up.
"The love when you think that both of you are world apart? When she is the girl of your dreams while she doesn’t even see you? When she never sees how much you try just to make everything work for her? The time when she’s down and you’re there for her but she thinks that it’s only because you’re her friend? Loving a person who you think will never be yours is hard but giving up doesn’t give you results. She may slam the door on your face when she’s not in the mood or she may spill you’re most embarrassing secret to everybody but who cares? You love the person that much that you can’t even be mad at him/her. You’ll just find yourself staring everywhere thinking of that person and smiling out of nowhere.", he slightly laughed. "I think I know how it feels. Also, I think that explaining it made me love her even more."
Ouch. That broke her heart, my heart. Now, suddenly my heart was broken into tiny little pieces but why? He’s just my driver. Why does it matter anyway?
"But yeah, I love her but I don’t think that she may love me back."
That made Julie stare. Their eyes are locked to each others gaze. Are they playing a game? No. They’re not playing stare-and-win or first who melts wins, they’re talking about love; a very complicated subject. Then Elmo continued.
"Because she.. she’s.. she’s.. I’m just her driver. She just calls me when she need something, when she forgets something at home, when she wants to vent out, when she needs a shoulder to cry on, when she needs a drive to the mall which is a driver’s job but I’m so stupid because… because I fell in love with my.."
He can’t continue. He didn’t finish it. He was just looking at me the whole time and I don’t know what to do. When I guy confesses unexpectedly, what would you do? We were just staring for like 3 minutes but then he broke the silence, “I should drive you home, it’s getting late”
He handed the glass with still more than half wine and went to the driver’s seat. The whole ride back home was absolutely a bit awkward. I feel guilty and mad at the same time. Guilty because I never saw or appreciated the things that he does and I’m mad at myself for not noticing! On our way home, no one ever spoke a word. I closed my eyes and tried to get a rest but his words are echoing in my head. I didn’t even notice that we’re already home.
I continued my sleeping act even though I saw him open the door. He sighed then carried me like we’re a newly-wed couple. My mom and dad saw me in his arms but they just smiled. Wait? They knew?! He knew where my room was because he’s the only guy who ever got inside.
He lay me down in my bed gently and covered me with the blanket. Then he stayed and I’m positive that he’s staring again. He brushed off some strands of my hair and gave me a forehead kiss. He then whispered, “I love you Julie” and left.
Before I really dozed off to sleep, I realized one thing, “I love him too. I love Elmo too.”
As I finished reminiscing, I also finished my bath. I stepped out of the bathroom with only my robe on and there I saw a handsome man in my bed. I stepped closer to him and started giving him chicken kisses. So that I’ll wake him up and my face is the first thing he’ll see in the morning. He opened one of his eyes and smiled. I was shocked when he grabbed me and locked me in his arms.
I’m at the top and he’s at the bottom. “Baby, bakit ka bumangon?”, asking me with a bedroom voice.
I just smiled and then gave him a gentle kiss. “Malamang naligo, teka nga, magbibihis pa ako.”
He smiled naughtily and then looked at me from head to toe. I frowned. “Don’t even think about it.”
"Haha, I was not! Ikaw napapaghalataan ka ah. Hahaha. Ano ba gagawin natin today? Bakit ang aga mo magising?"
"Hindi mo talaga alam?"
"Hindi, joke lang. Happy Anniversary Jules! I love you."
That made my day. I smiled, the famous smile that I only use for him.
"Happy Anniversary driver. I love you too."
***
Note: For those requesting from twitter, haha. Here it goes! And I just feel like writing a story yeah. Haha! Btw, don’t ask me about the title, I don’t even know why is it entitled that. Haha. See, I’m unsure.
