Paolo
"I want crabs and shrimp and-"
"Wala nga tayong dala na container for those! Mangangamoy sa car," I reprimanded.
Today, we were at the wet market near our parents' village getting stuff for lunch. We scheduled to come home at the same time and decided to cook for our families. Bakit? Wala. Anong occasion? Wala din.
Pero good luck kung matapos kami dito. Ang kulit nito eh. I had a list of ingredients and I thought it would be a quick run to pick these up, but Arra stopped at every interesting item that caught her eye.
"What's this? Do we need these?"
"Hindi natin kailangan ng duhat today."
"These ones?"
Ganyan siya. And now, crabs and shrimps which were her favorites so alam kong hindi ako titigilan nito.
"Pong!!!! Sige na! Go home and get na lang a lalagyan. I'll wait here," she said.
"Arra, I'm not leaving you here," I warned.
"I want these!"
She won. I rushed home with our purchases, found a container we could use and rushed back to pick her up. "Come on! Come on! They're crawling na!!!! Aaaaaacccckkkk Pong don't let them get away!"
Jusko.
Akala mo naman cheetah yung tumatakbo.
We FINALLY got home to prepare lunch later than expected (and a revised menu at that), we sought the help of our yayas to make the cutting and cooking faster. Then, she rushed to her parents' house to change before coming back with her parents in tow.
Lunch was a success.
Arra prepared the salad, while I baked dessert. The main course was steamed crabs and butter garlic shrimp.
"Bakit ba kayo naghanda?" My mom asked. "Do you have news? Kayo na ba finally, hijo?"
Possible pala to choke on water 'no? I glaced at Arra as I was recovering and noticed that she blushed profusely. "Tita, hindi po."
"Mommy naman eh," I complained.
"I'm so sorry! We all thought that. Akala namin, finally those kids smartened up!"
Arra and I looked at everyone on the table and they shrugged. "Akala talaga namin. We don't understand why it hasn't happened."
Geez. So may matchmaking hopes pala yung mga pamilya namin.
"Hay nako. See you made it awkward for, Arra na. Sorry R," I whispered to her, nudging her elbow.
"Okay lang. Ano ba."
"AYAN. Ayan! Yang ganyan niyo kaya namin kayo pinagchichismisan!" Pauline said. "May pa-lunch together, may bulungan... si Kuya post ng post sa Facebook kapag nagcocoffee kayo or nag-grocery. Tapos friends? Ano yun?"
"O sige, mula ngayon hindi na. Hindi na ako magpopost."
The chatter thankfully moved on from there but I noticed Arra remained quiet. She also had a small frown on.
"Tara, kitchen," I said. Once we were alone, I asked what was wrong.
"Why do you need to stop posting? Nahihiya ka ba sa family natin?"
"I just don't want them to tease you and put you on the spot."
She still frowned. "I don't like it. I feel like you're ashamed of me."
Knowing that Arra was rarely ever a drama queen, I know that this really did not sit well with her and I appreciate that she told me. "Okay. As long as it doesn't bother you, I'll post some of our outings. Okay?"
"Some lang?"
"Yes. Hindi ko sinasama yung mga mukha kang dugyot."
She burst out laughing and then nodded. "Well done, Popong."
"We good?"
She nodded.
I opened the fridge and got something. "5 gold coins. Just in case nagtatampo ka pa."
The following day, I noticed that only her parents attended church. When the mass ended, I asked her mom where Arra was.
"Naku, hijo. She woke up with a high fever so we decided to let her rest."
"Po? Tita, can I visit her po?"
Her mom agreed and I made a quick trip to the market to get her fruits. When I got to her house, I asked permission to go up her room.
After checking that she was up to it, I was let in. "Hey, what happened?"
Arra was pale and weak but had a smile for me. "I ate too much I think."
I chuckled. "May fever ka pa?"
She nodded. "My tita who's a doctor will come by later to check on me."
"Okay. I got you fruits. Kainin mo lahat yun para gumaling ka na ha?"
She nodded. "Pong, I'll rest na muna."
"Sige. Here pala are batteries for the walkie talkie. Just call me kung may kailangan ka ha?"
She nodded then quickly dozed off.
The following day, I met up with Pauline for lunch since I was near her office naman. However, I was too distracted. "Arra hasn't replied. May sakit pa kaya siya?"
"Meron pa, sabi ni Mommy. Pero sabi naman daw ng tita niya it seems like she has the flu. She's on meds na and should be fine," Pauline said.
"Mahirap din yun kahit flu. Saan niya kaya nakuha? Sabi ko na hindi ko dapat iniwan sa palengke nung isang araw eh."
Pauline chuckled. "Cute mo."
"Ano?"
"Deny deny pa kayo nung lunch natin tapos ganyan ka magalala ngayon."
"Concerned lang."
My sister made a face. "Kailan ka huling naging ganyan ka concerned sa isang tao?"
"Cheska, Michelle... Jennifer... I mean, lahat ng friends ko!"
Pauline rolled her eyes. "Lahat ng SERIOUS girlfriends mo. Kailan ka ba kasi aamin?!"
"Pwede ba wag ngayon? May sakit nga si Arra."
Pauline conceded. "Fine, not today. I'm just saying she won't be available forever."
The following day, Arra was finally feeling better that she managed to go to work. However, I insisted on driving for her.
"Pong, out of the way yung office ko."
"Sige na! Please? Hatid na kita. Even your mom says mahina ka pa. Please? I just want to help."
"Okay. But I can manage if it's too much of a hassle ha?"
I agreed.
That week, I checked to make sure she was eating right, taking meds and went to her follow up check up. When she got clearance, we went to church and said a prayer of thanks.
Of course, we went for sorbetes after mass.
I stared at her profile as she looked at her ice cream lovingly. When she turned to give me a wide grin, a voice inside me whispered: HER.
It hit me like a ton of bricks.
I was in love with Arra.
Still.
