I don't know why I'm suddenly disappointed na hindi si Agnes yung nakita ko. Siguro nanibago lang talaga ako na wala kasing Agnes na nanggugulo sa 'kin kaya ako ganito. Oo nga no, ano ngang gagawin ni Agnes dito? It's not like she would come here just to see me, eh I won't even do that for her. At ano bang paki ko na hindi siya nagpaparamdam today? One, she's not obligated to check on me and second, dapat hindi ko siya hinahanap.
Bigla kong naaalala na iniwan ko si Charlie sa restaurant kaya nagmamadali rin akong bumalik. Pagbalik ko, Charlie was checking her phone.
"O saan ka nagpunta? I thought you ditched me."sabi ni Charlie.
"Sorry. I just thought I saw an old friend."sabi ko.
"I see. Anyway, are you ready to order?"sabi niya. Tumango lang ako.
Tumawag na ng waiter si Charlie and we just waited for the food to be served. Pagdating ng pagkain, nilagyan lang din ako ni Charlie at nagkwentuhan kami. I guess being around Agnes most of the time has made me feel na nanibago ako with Charlie. Sa sobrang dalas kasi namin mag-asaran at magtalo, nalimutan ko na yung feeling na seryoso yung kausap. It was a breath of fresh air and to be honest, it makes sense why after all these years, umaasa pa rin ako na at one point, magustuhan ako ni Charlie.
Habang kumakain kami, napansin ko na may sauce si Charlie sa gilid ng bibig niya. Bigla ko tuloy naalala how I wiped Agnes's face with my own hand. The thought was embarassing enough to make me blush. Pero now that I think about it, natatawa na lang ako sa katangahan ko.
"Why are you smiling?"sabi ni Charlie habang nakangiti rin siya sa 'kin.
"Ah wala. I just remembered something. By the way... ano... uh... you have something on your face."sabi ko sa kanya then I signalled where it was. Nagmamadali namang kumuha ng tissue si Charlie at pinunasan niya yung bibig niya.
After namin kumain, nagrent kami ng bike ni Charlie and we just went around hanggang sa inabot na rin kami ng sunset. Ang sarap lang panuorin ng sunset with Charlie. We used to do this before bago kami sabay na uuwi ng Laguna. Nung medyo dumidilim na, hinatid na rin ako ni Charlie pauwi ng bahay.
"Pat."sabi ni Charlie bago siya umalis.
"Hm?"
"I had fun today. Alam mo, we used to do this in college. And I really missed having to spend time with you. Sana maulit pa 'to."sabi niya. Feeling ko uminit yung mukha ko sa sinabi ni Charlie. Hindi ako makabuo ng maayos na sentence so I just ended up smiling at her but I think she gets it. Nagpaalam lang ako sa kanya at pumasok na ako ng gate. Inantay ko lang din na makaalis na si Charlie.
I missed hanging out with Charlie. Nung magkasama pa kami nung college, palagi rin kaming tumatambay at kumakain sa labas. We would often talk about our subjects and how stressful it was. Hindi man kami classmates, but we get to share funny stories about our profs. Kapag weekend, naging habit din namin talagang dalawa na lumabas at magbike. Today was a reminder of everything that we used to be and I can't help na kiligin. But when I entered the house, there was this looming feeling na parang may kulang. Baka pagod lang din ako. Pagpasok ko ng bahay nagulat ako kasi bigla na lang --
"Wifey."
