Sofia
When you get burned, your first instinct is to pull back. Not hold your finger close to the fire again.
Coming off from a break up and having my previous encounter with John still fresh in my memories, my gut told me to stay away.
A heartbreak was not easy to deal with and, while some people are willing to dive back in the dating game immediately, I wasn't. I wanted to be more careful. Besides, at this time, all I had was that one email exchange with John. It wasn't rational to make something out of it.
But as it turns out, there was an overlap in our schedules. His group of friends would be staying at the Hamptons for two weeks, while we would be there for half that time but still on the days when they were there.
"Do you want to meet up? We could show you guys around?" He asked. I didn't put too much thought into it. He was just a good host and Donna had told me he did this for all of his friends or friends of family who found themselves in the area.
"Thank you, but we're good."
It was like seeing the place for the first time. I enjoyed this trip much more because I was free to enjoy the place and not worry about being cute for someone. We found a quaint little place to eat in and settled in the booth we were given. After we placed our order, one of the girls at the table across us came over and told my friend, "You're cute."
My friend politely said, "Thank you."
"Are you guys new here? You want to join us?"
We turned to look at their companions and to my astonishment, John was walking back to their table coming from the back. "Sofia!"
"Hey."
"This is my friend, Katie," John said, introducing the lady who had walked up to us. "We're headed to the vineyards today. Kayo?"
"Not today. We plan to go around pa."
"Let's meet up for dinner?" John offered.
My friends all seemed to want to so I agreed.
At dinner, I took the seat farthest from John. He gave me a look but said nothing. (I was trying to behave okay? Suportahan niyo ako guys.) Still, before our orders were served, when my seatmate got up, John took it and chatted me up. "Kamusta ka na?"
"I'm good. Ikaw?"
"Good. May training ka ulit dito?"
I nodded.
"Until when? Wait, when did you get here pala?"
I replied to him that it was a few weeks back. "It's nice pala in winter. I mean, the park is gorgeous but walking to work is horrible. Ang lamig."
He chuckled. "Oo, yun nga lang. Have you adjusted to being back?"
"Yup. It's better this time around."
He didn't leave my side the whole night and I must admit, I also had fun with the parties they took us to. When people were taking photos, he even took the camera and took a photo of me. "Nice o! Parang may spotlight on you." He said, noting how one of the lights hit the place I sat on.
One of his friends called to ask a photo of them. He said, "The angle from here is not good. Here, ask the other guys to take it."
Okay, medyo kinilig ako pero I stomped on that feeling and scolded myself. Ayan ka na naman tapos iiyak iyak after. Walang naiinlove after just one night. AT ano? Porque maganda ka na ngayon interesado na siya? Neknek niya.
