To Meet In The Middle (Meet Series 1)

11. The Best Team

Kakagising ko lang at ang una kong natanaw ay ang malaking paperbag na nakapatong sa ibabaw ng dresser ko. I smiled as I stare at it from my bed. Inside of it is a black Fjallraven Kanken bag. It has the same feels of my old bag, though this one had a lot of meaning.

I closed my eyes as I try to remember a few of the patches that were sewn to it. I am sure that there were a lot of tv show-related patches and also a few cute ones but one thing that actually caught my attention was the blue french horn in the middle of the front pocket.

Classic Luke and his HIMY references.

Oo. Yung bago kong bag ay niregalo ni Luke para sa akin. It was his birthday gift for me. To be honest, ay nakalimutan ko na na may actual gift nga pala siya sa akin. I was too focused sa pinaubaya niyang bracelet na hindi ko na masiyadong naisip yung iba niya pang sinabi nung kaarawan namin.

Naalala ko na naman yung mahaba niyang pagpapaliwanag kung bakit natagalan ang pagbigay niya ng regalo. He was actually very cute that time kahit na pareho na kaming minumulto ng antok sa katawan. It took him forever to find those patches, some were even custom-made (yes, I know. I was shocked as well) dahilan para mas matagal ang shipping at delivery dito. And then nung natanggap naman niya ang mga yun ay kinailangan niya itong ipadala somewhere to be sewn on the actual bag. I'm not good at sewing, you know. Tawang-tawa pa siya habang nagpapaliwanag nun.

I was clearly surprised by it. Hindi ko talaga inaasahan yun, but hats down to him. Hindi niya kailangang bigyan pa ako ng ibang regalo pero ginawa niya parin. I wasn't expecting anything from him and most importantly, I wasn't expecting to receive it at a most unexpected time... It was when he walked me home.

Masarap na ang tulog ko sa loob ng cafe. The last thing that I can remember is that I was too focused on finishing the last chapter while Luke and his group mates were all focused on their thesis. Kung hindi ako ginising ni Luke ay hindi ko man lang namalayan na nakatulog na pala ako. It was already past 1 AM. Masiyado akong nag-alala because I was supposed to be at home by twelve!

"Kanina pa ako natutulog?" Tanong ko kay Luke habang pasimple na tinitingnan kung may muta ba ako o bakas ng laway sa gilid ng bibig. I can be gross after waking up. I'm completely aware of it.

Mukhang hindi din naman yun napansin ni Luke dahil maging ito ay inaantok na. Nakikipag-titigan lang ito sa laptop niya and by the look of it, mukhang marami-marami pa silang dapat gawin. "About an hour." Sagot nito. 

Nagsimula na akong magligpit ng gamit. I even checked my phone for messages. Sunud-sunod ang mga mensaheng natanggap ko galing kay Lilith pero ang huling text niya nalang ang binasa ko.

From: Lilith DR
Luke texted me, magpasama ka sakaniya pauwi. Wag matigas ang ulo. Kahit gaano pa yan kalapit satin, mas okay na yung naninigurado. Matutulog na ako ha. Be safe.

Hindi ko na pinaalam kay Luke ang bilin ni Lils. Wala naman talaga akong balak mng-istorbo sakanila. Gaya nga ng sinabi ko, mukhang abala pa ang mga ito sa kaniya-kaniyang trabaho. Napasulyap din ako sa katabing mesa, I saw one of the girls was already sleeping while the other two were too engrossed with their work, nakatutok lang silang pareho sa kani-kanilang mga laptop. I was also shocked to see the amount of coffee cups on both of our tables, malamang caffeine nalang ang nagpapa-andar sa kanilang mga katawan.

Nang matapos ko nang maligpit ang mga gamit ay agad na akong tumayo. Itong katabi ko naman ay sinundan lang ako ng tingin. "Uuwi na ako." Pagpapaalam ko. Tumayo din ito bago kinuha ang nakapatong na phone sa mesa. "Ihahatid kita." He said in a firm voice.