When Bluebirds Fly | ✔

Part Three : Chapter Nine

From the corner of my eyes, I saw Isaac striding on the opposite side of the street with his hands coolly shoved in his pockets, on his way to Bailey's Nuts just like me. He spotted me then and enthusiastically waved. I turned my head away and grumpily stomped ahead which must have confused him. Suddenly, I saw him imitating my gait and countenance and I halted, he did the same.

Why was he making it difficult for me to avoid him?

I narrowed my eyes accusingly at him and a long bus passed on the street just then. When I could ultimately see him, he was narrowing his eyes too. Flipping my hair, I scoffed and strutted ahead and he mimed me which irked me. So I stopped again and crossed my arms. He crossed his arms too, but instead of emulating my grouchiness, he was grinning triumphantly. He shouted from across the street, "How long are you going to do this?"

"Shut up!" I yelled and began jogging in an unassuming way.

He started to cross the street and I ran faster, hearing him chasing me. I nearly bumped into a passerby and was scolded at for being reckless on the streets. However, I continued running, but soon, I felt arms wrapping around my waist which made me giggle and weakly protest.

He finally let go of me when he noticed the numerous spectators around us and said in a low voice, "Why do you always keep running away from me?"

"You know . . . " I didn't find any proper explanation. After he asked me to move in with him, I was thrilled and jumpy the entire car ride home back. I didn't leave his hand like those clingy panda videos surfacing online and found ways to kiss him without causing an accident. Isaac was usually happy, but that day a serene look of contentment was on his face. When I began reminiscing, I could feel his lips on the back of my hand, hovering and kissing tenderly while he drove.

The problem came when I arrived home fortunately before curfew and when my father asked where I had been and what I was up to, I couldn't take the name, Isaac. I had naively been constructing castles in the air, not taking permission before because these days, many couldn't afford to dream. It came with the costly price of dejection which I realised as soon as I had looked at my conservative father who held a grudge against Isaac and his mother for all that had occurred. 

The only, clear solution was to avoid Isaac and hope he would soon forget about the promise.

"It's fine if you have changed your mind," Isaac said in a reserved tone.

"No," I couldn't help, but deny that, even though accepting would have saved me from tons of complications. "It's not that, I swear, I want this as badly as you do." His pale-grey eyes looked searchingly into mine, for hesitation, doubt, anything that would contradict my words, but I didn't waver. I met his eyes with strength and trust. "It's my father. I don't know whether he'll like me to take this step, heck, he definitely won't. He doesn't even know you're my boyfriend or that I'm friends with you. I don't think he'll say yes . . . He won't. But I'll try, I will."

He had a distant, thoughtful expression which was replaced by mischief and his eyes darted suggestively between Bailey's Nuts which was on the end of the street and me. I instantly understood him and without a second thought, I dashed to the doughnuts store. Isaac crossed me before I could pull his arm and he smoothly opened the door. With all my might, I ran faster to step inside before him, the complacent words 'thank you' to him unintentionally opening the door for me on the tip of my tongue like a large boulder on the edge of a cliff, waiting to plummet. However, he swiftly slid in exactly the same time and both of us struggled to squeeze in through the narrow way.

We burst out in a fit of fresh, good-natured laughter.

My knees buckled as I bent down laughing and he took the opportunity to walk in, holding his own laughter but failing miserably. I said breathlessly, "C-Cheater . . . "

"Ahem, ahem." The pot-bellied manager who we surprisingly didn't notice behind the counter fixed his frown on us. Then he opened his wide mouth and Isaac and I exchanged an appalled look. We braced ourselves for the tsunami of spit that soaked us.

*

"Isaaaaaaaac," I said in a sing-song voice, swinging our intertwined hands as we sauntering in the park.

"Anaaaaaaa," he responded, but with a chuckle.

"I never thought I would be doing this," I said in my normal tone, indicating at our swinging hands. "When I used to see couples, I would be like, nah they aren't going to last. Just wasting each other's precious time."

"Really?" he quirked an eyebrow in question. "Do you think we'll last?"

"Don't put pressure on us! We're good as we are," I said smilingly and he seemed pleased to not receive an entirely cynical answer from me.

The weather was balmy with a dense canopy of trees shading us from the rays of the scorching sun which slipped teasingly between the green leaves and long branches. We stopped at a pleasant spot where the air was cool and filled our lungs with relief from the tediousness of life. Isaac slightly tilted his head up at the sky and let the sunbeams gently touch his skin. I couldn't tear my gaze from him and he said longingly, "I want to stay here."

"The manager will drown you with his spit," I piped in and he rubbed his face with both hands in frustration.

"Come on, you have me." I uncovered his face to give him a kiss and suddenly he grabbed me by my waist with a strange urgency, pressing me to him and pinning me against the back of a thick, trunk tree. I lightly tapped his chin. "Woah, superman didn't know you were so wild."

That wrinkly smile appeared and holding my hands against the tree, he feverishly captured my lips in his and as my eyes were drooping heavily in this odd intoxication, through the slits I noticed a familiar figure on a lone bench in front us. Alertly, I started pushing Isaac away who bewilderingly detached from me. As I hastily adjusted my clothes, the figure turned around slowly on the bench in astonishment.

"Papá," I breathed, feeling my cheeks become hot and my heartbeats thumping loudly as if my heart was protesting inside the cage to break free and flee from my embarrassed body. 

My father's eyes were wide as they scrutinised a flustered Isaac and I. "Mariana . . . "

"Shit," Isaac swore unlike himself, no longer wanting to stay here anymore.