A Close Second

Seventh

He stands there, eyes on me while my eyes are also on him.

That's when I registered his appearance.

He was topless, exposing his muscular chest and a very defined stomach. It's like Jacob's but Jake's was not that defined. I could see the contours ng mga muscles niya, like he's been working out. Little droplets of water were still at his shoulders, no doubt fresh from his shower.

Nag init ang pisngi ko, and I looked away.

"I'm—I'm sorry. Wrong door." I stuttered again. Damn it. "I—I'm supposed to go to Drei's room."
"Kabilang door pa yun, actually." He says dully.
My cheeks colored even more. "Namali lang ng pasok." I say defensively.
"Shouldn't he take you with him?" Sabi niya. "Kung ano man ang gagawin niyo dun?"

The blood spread through my entire face with what he was implying. With his raised eyebrow, he looks at me, rolling his eyes before going back into the open door, confirming my assumptions about it being a walk-in closet then taking a shirt sa isang stack from the shelf.

He puts this on, not even giving me a glance, discarding his towel in a bin inside before he pulls on some black shorts.

That ass though.

Beatrice, what is wrong with you, young lady?

"For your information, your brother is right downstairs, getting ready for dinner." I say in my defense, glaring at his direction. "And I'm going to your brother's bathroom just because I need to—"

I stop with that, but I don't know why I was having difficulty saying that I just needed to pee.

"To?" He repeats.
"To go pee." I say sabay talikod. "Excuse me."

Narinig ko siyang natawa, and I take the knob sa kamay ko, yanking the door open. I could feel the blood flood my face. Why am I such an idiot? Andrei's instruction was perfectly clear. Second door to the left. Why did I take the first one?

And to make matters worse, I didn't even know that the 'Andrew' that everyone had been talking about was that guy. Keith Andrew Medrano. I should've known about it once na sinabi nila Mommy

How much more stupid can I get?

"Well, you're welcome to pee here too." He says as I close the door hurriedly, followed by his amused laughter.

I go immediately sa kwarto ni Andrei, locking the door firmly. I leaned by the door, tempted to bang my head on the wooden surface so I can forget the stupidity that I apparently had decided to bring tonight.

Andrei's empty room comforted me for a bit. I drunk in the sight of the familiar gold basketball trophies and smiled at the sight of a drawing table present on the corner.

I easily did my business here.

Although, I have half a mind to just call Kuya Anton to fetch me, I still went out of the room, intent to find Andrei since I agreed to have dinner here with him. I faced my own stupidity and went down when I didn't see him on the second floor living room, praying I could act human with the knowledge of who 'Andrew' really was.

There was a nice table set up at the garden infront of us. It's dusk, the sky inky orange and everything. Andrei gives me a small shy smile.

Dinner was our plan, but I was expecting it to be at the dining hall, and me joining him on a simple dinner but this wasn't that.

He obviously went all out.

Flatware and silverware were there at the table, a floral arrangement in the centerpiece of the garden. The dim orange light made the mood a little nice—although for me it's a little awkward for taste. May dalawang nakatakip na cloche (the round bell like things they use to cover the food) infront of the two chairs.