FORGOTTEN

Chapter 8

Faye is truly proud of herself for having survived that dinner with Errol. After seeing that look on his face, she figured out that nothing will ever come out of this interaction that they are having. They may go out, but her heart is safe from him. Knowing that he could be holding secret affections for his childhood friends, she will not have false hopes. She just has to remind herself that falling for him, or even having a tad amount of feelings for him will get her nowhere.

"So," Faye says, giving Errol a winning smile at which he looks bewildered.

"Oh, we're not yet done. Let's take a long walk." Errol says and starts walking on the busy side walk of Gran Vía.

It comes as a surprise to Faye as she believed everything ends after dinner and that she can go to bed where she is safest and most comfortable. Watching him, however, as she moves ahead of her makes her thing otherwise.

She runs until she catches up to him and watches his features from his side. He continues walking without taking his gaze off the path before him.

"It's past ten," she reminds him.

"What are you? Underage?" His eyes turned to her direction.

"You know, my age is a touchy subject for me." Faye makes it a point that he knows she is pouting by just the sound of her voice.

Errol stops abruptly and makes a swift turn towards her. "You look 25 to me, so zip it."

"I don't care how I look to you." Faye responds.

They stand there in the middle of the still crowded sidewalk of the street without a care about the people walking past them. They look at each other, Faye with an irked expression while Errol with disbelief on his face.

"You," he starts. "You are one stubborn woman."

"Are we going to call it a night?" Faye whispers, her eyes unwavering.

"Absolutely..." the side of Errol's mouth lift to a smirk. "Not."

"Where are we going?"

"Wherever our feet take us." He answers simply.

They resume walking while talking about random things. They do not go deep into their lives but just about their countries, their daily lives and even the tedious topic of weather. It is finally around twelve when they reach the underground station.

"So, this is it." Faye says.

"It is." Errol nods at this. "Let's have lunch on Monday?"

Faye can no longer count how many times he is planning to shock her with things coming out of his smiling mouth. For the period that they have talked, she has believed that he has finally gotten bored with her and that this will be the last time they will ever see each other. It may hurt her pride a bit, but she thinks it is better than having her heart broken in the long run.

"What?"

"What what?"

"You still want to see each other after this?"

"Why not?"

"Haven't you gotten bored or something?"

"Or something?"

"Don't tell me you genuinely enjoy my company." Faye says, anxious to hear his response.

"What if I say I do?" He comes back with a question.

"Do you?"

"What do you think?" She can practically see the twitching under his left eye.

Faye feels as if this conversation they are currently having is not going anywhere. In fact, she feels as if he is just playing around with her with the way he is answering back.

"I think you're just bored."

"You're kind of repetitive." Errol shakes his head as if he is disappointed with her.

"Come on, be honest."

"Why do you think so little of yourself?" Errol comes up with a question so randomly that she gets confused for a second.

"Oh wait," Errol looks down at her with a questioning look on his face. "Is this your way of telling me off? You're saying that I'm bored when, in fact, it is you who's bored. Tell me what I should do not to make you feel as if being with me is tedious."

Faye gasps at this, unsure of how exactly she should respond. Not an inch of her is bored of being with him. If she was honest with herself, she would even admit that she was having fun. She has never had as much fun as now, especially when she is with someone who is neither related to family  nor work. That is definitely a nice change from her monochromatic days.

"No, of course not!" She says in a high-pitched tone. "I truly enjoying being with you right now!"

That sounds as much as a confession, and Faye feels like hiding under a rock for the rest of her days. Errol seems flabbergasted as well with how his jaw almost dropped to the floor. He must not have seen that coming given how he is gaping at her.

"Forget that I've just said that...please?" Faye looks up to the cloudy sky, doing her best to avoid making eye contact.

She feels extreme heat on her face and her neck. She is totally mortified of her outburst, and she wishes she could take her words back. One of the things she wants to prevent from happening is creating misunderstanding, especially between her and a man.

"You enjoy being with me?" Errol is back to his teasing self.

"I said forget it."

"This calls for another lunch on Monday." He says lightheartedly.

"No, it doesn't."

"Don't be shy, Faye. I prefer your honesty to your aloof attitude." Errol pats her gently on her head the way he did the day before.

Faye finds it amusing that he touches her head as if touching her somewhere scares him. She absolutely appreciates how much he tries not to touch her. It is so respectful. This is how exactly he imagines a man raised the right way.

She finally allows herself to meet his gaze, and she is shocked by the intensity in his blue eyes. She cannot define the way he is looking at her. It is not out of anger at all. They study each other, eyes unwavering.

He is watching her as if it is the first time he has ever seen her. She wants to deny that just a moment ago she felt her heart skip a beat. It is unbelievable because they have just met each other and she is already feeling this way. It could be for the reason that she has been on her own for half a decade and this is the first time another person of the opposite sex looked at her, as in really looked at her.

She has forgotten that her blood is warm and her heart has not stopped beating.

She remembers she is alive.