Niko wondered why Riki was wearing her dance attire. However, he was entranced by Riki's graceful movements when she danced. He thought the music sounded familiar. Niko quickly sat up when he thought he knew what the song was. While staring at his window and watching Riki dance, tears suddenly came to Niko's eyes.
"Beautiful" He said when the dance ended and Riki came close to her camera again (she had 'streamed' the dance but Niko was her only audience). He repeated, "Bravo! Just beautiful!" while clapping.
"Are you crying?" Riki said as she dabbed her sweat with a towel.
"Ah eh...napuwing lang...maalikabok pala tong pillows ko..." Niko said while fluffing his throw pillows.
Riki nodded. She saw how red Niko's eyes and ears were. "...nagkamali nga ako e..." she said.
"It was perfect. Kung may mali ka man, hindi ko napansin" Niko said with a smile.
"I was supposed to show it to you mamaya pa sana..."
"It doesn't matter. Now was just perfect..." Niko said.
"...let me just change my clothes and then we can eat..." Riki said as she moved away from her laptop.
---
Niko thought about the music that Riki used for her dance. The melody was quite familiar but he couldn't immediately recall where he had heard the music.
While waiting for Riki to return, Niko fixed his living room so it looked similar to Riki's bare living room. He laid out a sheet, put some pillows and lit a few candles. He got the soup 'they had cooked' which was kept warm in the oven and laid it on the floor along with a glass of the sparkling grape juice.
Riki returned and Niko watched as she, too, laid out a sheet on her floor, got the soup from the kitchen and poured herself some sparkling grape juice.
"A toast?" Niko said as he raised his glass to the screen.
"To what?" Riki replied; she raised her glass as well.
"For a very nice dance performance and..."
"And?"
"And to ask you if you will allow me to court you"
Riki paused for a split-second. She tried to recall if she mentioned anything about suitors or relationships with Niko in their past conversations. Then she remembered her conversations with Ina and how Ina and Jake were now a couple even if Ina said that she would answer Jake after the lockdown.
"It's okay if you don't answer. I've already risked it the last time, remember? When I asked you if I could call you and see you the first time?" Niko said. He was smiling at his camera.
