Sometime In July (2024 edition)

Chapter Five

She looked down from her window still thinking about what she had to do. The unwieldy roof of the coffee shop on the ground floor of the apartment building she lived in masked the busy scenes and deafening horns of motorists below.

Glenn came by her apartment earlier that morning. It was around 7:00 am and Yssa ate breakfast when he came. He said he would not be able to go with her to church today because he had something "important" to do. 

Well, at least I no longer have to explain to him that I'll be going to my student's birthday party later, she thought. She felt heaven actually meant for them to go on separate matters today. She did not know whether to feel worried or happy because of what had taken place. She did not expect everything to be that easy. In fact, she did not put any effort into it as the situation arranged itself providentially.

Yssa took a bath as soon as Glenn left. She got dressed and joined the usual 9:00 am Sunday worship service a few blocks away from her apartment. She attended that Christian church ever since she moved to Olongapo. It was always better when she was alone, she thought. She felt she could focus more on God compared to when she was with Glenn.

After the worship service, she stopped by a department store to buy something for Elisha. A male attendant showed her where the children's clothes were located and she found her way easily. She could sense he was flirting with her as he tried to make conversation. But she simply ignored the guy and went on her own business. 

She got Elisha a nice green t-shirt with Marvin the Martian, Elisha's favorite cartoon character, printed in front. She stopped by the store's "free gift wrap" section so she did not have to wrap the present herself.  

She then went straight home and was now sitting on her bed beside the window. Thinking. Reflecting. Every now and then she went from looking out of the window to sitting down on the bed again, her face almost red like a flustered chicken. 

She held the book and wondered whether to give it to Jeanne later. She worried Jeanne might ask her how she had a copy of it or what was she doing with a copy of it. There was no sense in lying to her so she decided just to tell her the truth, but only if she would ask.

Okay, not entirely the truth, she told herself.

She would tell her she got the book from Elisha and she forgot all about it until she saw it again inside her bag this morning. That she had planned to give it back earlier in the week, but it caught her interest so she tried to read it. And that she had just finished reading and the story was okay and blah blah blah. 

Acceptable, that's going to be it.

I'm leaving the part about Seth.

She thought it would be great not to mention Seth at all. As far as she knew, Jeanne was still not aware she had already met her brother. If she figured out that she had a crush on him and was only coming to the party just to meet him again, then she would look a little desperate. No, very desperate, she thought. 

Yssa then tried to convince herself again about the innocence of her attendance. Number one, she did not want to disappoint her students, which is a good enough reason for a teacher like her. Second, she merely wanted to know more about Seth, that was all, she thought. Besides, as Brandon had said, if it did not work out, then there would be no worries. She had not mentioned anything about Seth to Jeanne. Oh, Brandon again, she scratched her head.

At about 11:00 am, she stepped in the shower once more and took a bath for the second time that day. She wanted to look fresh. Then, as her routine, after she dried off, she put some lotion on her arms and legs. Though this time she wore a special pear-scented lotion. She wore it every time she wanted to feel confident and sexy.