Reckless Abandon

Chapter Twenty Three

Enrico's POV

"Hale, wake up."

Nagising ako sa isang boses at ang mahinang pagtapik sa aking pisngi. Disoriented from my interrupted sleep, I panicked a little at the sight of a beautiful face waking me, only to realize it was Eureka. I felt lucky all of a sudden.

Oh, to wake up seeing her face first thing in the morning.

I rubbed the sleep in my eyes and looked around. I saw the incoming sunrise in the horizon. The sky is sleepless blue, the sea is calm, and there are still stars scattered all over the morning sky. I turned around to see Jake and Janine huddled together in a pink woolly blanket, Miles and Sandro and Alice talking nearby.

"Good morning," she chirped. "It's almost five."

Tumango ako at sinubukang ngumiti.

"It's the sunrise," turo niya sa di kalayuan. "I missed this, you know? Chasing sunsets and then waking up for sunrises at the beach." she sighs and flips her hair. The stubborn wind is keeping it all over her pretty face. She turns to look at me, and I reach out to tuck her mane over her ears. She gives me a shy smile. "My life lately has been a series of stress and anxiety that I keep on forgetting that I could still have these moments in my life once in a while."

I sat up quietly, watching her talk. Bakit yata ang talktative niya ngayon? Normally, I find it annoying when people talk a lot in the morning, but not with her. Not with Eureka. I like listening to whatever she has to say.

"You're not a morning person, are you?" tanong niya nung napansin niyang hindi ako kumikibo.

"Not really. Normally it takes two shots of coffee before I fully wake up." I admitted.

"Ganun ba? Mukhang inaantok ka pa nga eh. You better get back to sleep. Gigisingin nalang kita kapag mag-aaya na silang umuwi."

"Nope, I'm fine, Eureka. Gusto kong panoorin ang sunrise kasama ka."

She whipped her head to look at me. "It's just a mere sunrise, Hale. You can go back to sleep. We will have lots of sunrises together in both of our lifetimes."

"Well, this marks my first one with you," I declared with a smile. "So, I'd rather stay awake. Thank you very much. And look, it's coming out."

After we spent an hour or two fooling around at the beach, we decided to go and grab some breakfast. On our walk to get back to the car, I quietly observed her as she walks ahead side by side with Alice and Janine, laughing about something.

She looks over her shoulder and meet my eyes.

We both gave each other a knowing look and shared a small, reluctant smile.

I decided to drive the van for the group to look for some place to eat.

"San tayo?" tanong ko kay Alice na nakaupo sa passenger seat.

"I'm hungry, Chico. Anywhere, please."

About two hundred yards away, may nadaanan kaming isang maliit na karenderya. I pulled over and parked the vehicle on the sidewalk. Alice looked at me incredulously. "Dito tayo kakain?"

"Ang sabi mo anywhere?"

"Okay. Smartass." Alice said.

I looked at the rest of the group. "You guys good here?"

They all turned their heads to look outside. The eatery was small, surrounded by a nice garden filled with colorful flowers and potted plants everywhere. It's a shack made by bamboo stalks and other plant materials that I could not make out from here, but it looks cozy and nice enough to me.

"I think it's cool. We should try it out." Eureka spoke, her eyes meeting mine again.

Smirking, I turned to Alice. "She approves. Sabi ko naman sayo eh."

Nagsibabaan na kaming lahat at pumasok sa eatery. They were all surprised to see a mouthful of Filipino breakfast food being served and helped themselves out. Pagkatapos kong kumain, lumabas ako ng kubo para magpahangin.

I noticed a girl about ten years old carrying a huge clear jar and placed it on a table just outside the hut. Tumakbo ulit siya papunta kung saan at bumalik na may bitbit na maliit na bangko. Placing the stool on the side of the table, binuksan niya ang malaking garapon at kinuha sa loob ang isang plastik na cellophane na may lamang beads at nylon threads. I watch her pick one bead after another, her face scrunched, intently focused not to drop the micro beads to the ground.

Lumapit ako sa kanya at sinilip ang garapon. "Binibenta mo ba ang mga iyan?" tanong ko.

She pauses from her work to look up at me. She was very small. I feel suddenly awkward and huge around her. I leaned in to look closer at her finished bracelets and admired them. I gave her an engaging smile. "They're cute."

"Hey," Eureka joins me. "Ano yan?"

"Eureka, take a look at these," I say, handing a couple of bracelets in her hand. "Cute huh?"

"Yeah, I like this one." she pulled out a brown and black Aztec looking bracelet. "Benta niya?"

I nodded. "Can I have it, please?" I knelt down to tie the bracelet on her left ankle. "There. Bagay sayo."

Eureka smiles. "Thanks, Enrico Hale. Sa tingin ko bagay din sayo to," she picks up another bracelet and kneels down in front of me.

"Eureka, hey--- aww!" I yelped as we both knelt down at the same time and ended up bumping our heads.

"Ouch. Chill out, dummy." she giggles and clasps the bracelet on my right ankle. "Looks nice on you."

"Thanks... and sorry, did it hurt?" I ask.

"Ang alin?"

Tinuro ko ang ulo niya.

"No, hindi." she says assuredly and turns to the child. "Hi. Magkano po para sa dalawang bracelets, Maam?"

"Twenty... plus twenty..." the girl counts up under her breath with both of her hands before she finally answers Eureka in her small, quiet voice. "Forty."

"Nice. Great math." sabi niya. Bago pa maabot ni Eureka sa bata ang kanyang pera, I quickly handed the girl the first bill I caught inside my pockets.

"It's okay, I got it." napatingin sa akin ang bata. She unfolds the bill in her hands. I realized that I gave her a hundred peso bill. She looks up at me in wonder, unsure of what to say. "Keep the change, Maam."

"Thanks." Eureka says and looks down to her feet. She stands right next to me and closed in the space between my right leg to her left one, our bracelets touching. We both looked up and shared a grin.

Alice and the rest of the gang are watching us by the door. Lahat sila nakangiti na may halong pang-aasar. "Ooh," Alice teased. "Couple ankle bracelets are a thing now, huh?"

Tiningnan ko ng masama si Alice. "Whatever. Let's go?"