Be Mine

65

The smell of the pine trees, the chirping of the birds, and the cold breeze that is coming from the open balcony woke Lia up. She found herself alone on the bed and she was about to call Caloy when she found him in the balcony, already dressed, and is seriously looking far ahead.

What time is it, anyway? She asks herself and checked the time that is on the bedside table. It's already ten in the morning. She overslept and remembered about last night. She waited for Caloy to sleep before she drifted off. She knows that he had a bad dream, and she wonders what it was all about for him to be bothered like that. This is the first time to see Caloy to be like that. He would usually be the jolly and energetic one between them.

Lia looked at Caloy once again. He took a deep breath and leaned on the balcony railing. She stood up and stayed by the door pane, waiting for him to notice her, but it looks like he is deep in his thoughts. She wants to leave him alone until her attention was brought to what he just did. He smoked a cigarette.

She already saw a pack of cigarettes in his house when she stayed over. She didn't mind it and it wasn't really an issue that he smokes. What bothers her is what is going on for him to smoke. This is the first time that she caught him doing that and whatever is happening with him, she wants to help him. She can't stand seeing him that way.

Not minding the cold breeze, she steps out. She took a deep breath before approaching him, wrapping her arms around his waist, and placing her cheek against his broad back. They didn't say anything but Caloy immediately stubbed his cigarette on the ash tray near him. He wrapped his arms around hers and stayed silent for a couple of more minutes before Caloy took out her arms and faced her with a smile.

She smiled back. "Good morning." She greets him.

Caloy leans down and gave her a quick peck. She could smell and taste the cigarette, but she doesn't mind. "Morning.. Sorry about that..."

She knows that he was talking about the cigarette. "It's okay... You're up early, Babe..."

"I just played golf with your Dad." He says and that surprised her. Did they talk about that last night and she didn't know about it? And why didn't she notice that he woke up early for it? Her brows met in the middle with all these questions in her head.

"And to answer the questions in your head, I did try waking you up, but you shooed me away." He chuckles. "And I kept my promise... hindi kita iniwan ng wala kang alam, I whispered na aalis muna ako and you nodded. I also left you a message, just in case na magising ka at wala pa ako." He explains further, answering all her questions without really asking him directly. All she can do is nod.

"So, how was it? Did you enjoy with Papa? Who won?" she asks.

"It was fun. I tried not to win so I can get to your Papa's good side. But he warned me that I need to play fair and square. So, your boyfriend won the bet."

"Bet? You had a bet with Papa?" he nodded and kissed her hair. "What's the bet about?"

"I'm not going to say anything." He says and she pinched his waist. She wants answers and yet he is being secretive. "Aray! Ang aga-aga para maging abusive, ha!"

She raised her brow at him. "Sabihin mo na kasi." He chuckles and it made her smile. At least he is smiling already.

"Well, I can now call him Tito Leandro from now on..." That astonished her. The smile on her face became bigger at what Caloy said.

"That's great news! I think Papa really likes you." She thought it will take a while before her father will allow Caloy to call him that. She believes that his charms worked once again.