Remember That Day

Chapter 18

The weather had been inconsistent for the whole day. It was a bright sunny in the morning then suddenly it was raining outside that would possibly last again for hours. Jayda was just lucky enough not to get rained after going on a late grocery shopping.

It was six when she got to back to her unit. Just as she entered the room, she walked straight to the kitchen and put all the paper bags of kitchen stocks on the table.

“I bought them all nice,” she whispered. “I wish Faris is here.”

But instead of reminiscing a good memory with him, a face of another guy suddenly popped inside her head.

“Are you okay? Do you feel anything? Pain? Tell me...”

But instead of seeing Damek, Jayda’s eyes saw her boyfriend, Faris. To her excitement, she abruptly bolted from bed and hugged the guy tightly.

Damek froze, eyes widened. But before he could be able to utter words again, the woman whispered another guy’s name.

“Faris? Babe...” Jayda’s voice broke. As Damek heard it, his head load for a moment.

Jayda silently cried again as she wrapped her arms around Damek. She whispered, “I’m scared. I’m really scared... I had a bad dream again. He’ll kill me.”

“It’s okay, Jayda. I’m here. No one can hurt you...” Damek said softly.

Although Damek was certain that Jayda had a boyfriend, he just caressed her back to calm her down and let her embraced him.

“I’m glad you’re finally here,” said Jayda, still not aware that the guy she was hugging was another person and not Faris. “But your voice seemed a little deep and manly than before...”

“Really?”

“Um.”

“Does a sick person usually ask and notice such thing?”

Damek felt that Jayda was smiling in spite of not knowing that it was not him.

“I love your voice. Hearing it calms me. It is as if you’re a different guy.”

“I’m glad my voice helps you calm down, but yes. I’m a different guy. I’m not... I’m not Faris,” Damek whispered. Jayda didn’t move for a second, but eventually chuckled.

“Babe? What are you talking about? You’re not Faris you say?”

“Um.”

The moment Jayda let go the guy, she saw a taller figure of a man, a different face with a different voice she wouldn’t see and hear if it was Faris. She felt enlightened and surprised upon realizing that he hugged a wrong guy.

“It’s me, Damek.”

She wagged her head and slightly pinched both of her cheeks after the thought. “That’s so ridiculous of you, Jayda!” she exclaimed. “Do I need to wear glasses already? Ugh! I must’ve gone crazy!”

Jayda tried to focus, but while moving all the items to the kitchen cabinet, another memory just played. She remembered how Damek prepared her a dish last night. It made her hand to slowly lose its strength to lift a can of sausage.

Sitting in front of a small table across Damek, Jayda look over the newly heated porridge and egg rolls then smelled it.

“You cooked this?” she asked.

“I did.”

“Without asking for my permission?”

“What?” Damek looked at Jayda. “Ah, I’m sorry if I touched your kitchen cabinet and the fridge as well. I just thought it’s better if you have something to eat when you wakes up.”

Jayda pinched herself again. It was unexpected for her to think about a guy other than her boyfriend.

“Why am I even thinking about him?” she whispered and ignored the thought that was bothering her.

It was almost for dinner so she prepared the rice to be cooked and some meat for cooking Afritada. It took her a little while to make her favorite again. After a couple of washing, chopping, and everything, Jayda let it sit on a medium heat.

While waiting for everything to get cooked, watching the TV was her last resort. She was sure that after the dinner, she would sit until dawn, facing her laptop just to write the remaining word count of her novel to achieve the fifty-thousand-word update for this month.

Jayda sat just in front of the television, and it was not long before she noticed that the drama on the screen was at the park. The scene was alike to what happened to her and Damek just this morning.

“Do you hate me?”

Last two steps and Jayda halted. She had breathed when she heard him asked it. When she turned to see him, she saw him holding his knees and gasping for air.

“What?” Jayda asked, forehead creased.

Damek tilted his head and repeated himself, “Do you hate me? You’re always cranky around me as if I made something wrong with you.”

Jayda stood straight as Damek inched closer to her. He even received a serious face from her.

“No, I don’t hate you,” Jayda answered.

“Does that mean...”

“Look, Damek. I don’t have anything about you. We’re... we’re not just close.”

Damek didn’t know that it would cause his heart a little pain. He wished that he was just overreacting, but he was not.

“Why don’t you try to know me? Be friends with me?” he asked, wondering. He even smiled, trying to please her.

“I got a friend already and I’m fine.”

Damek slowly nodded his head. He said, “You got a friend, fine. But last night, you had no companion or anyone to look after you. You only had yourself only. Luckily, I was there...”

Jayda didn’t know what to react nor what to say to him. She just stare at him, waiting for her mouth to say something. Initially, she was wondering at the back of her mind why were they arguing

Damek bit his lip. “Jayda—”

“Damek,” Jayda interrupted him, “what’s with the so much concern that you are offering me?”

The two didn’t mind if they were in the middle of the city and fighting over something that Jayda couldn’t understand.

She quickly grabbed the remote and turned off the TV. Massaging her temples out of confusion about why she suddenly felt guilty, she walked around to relax.

“What’s with me?” she mumbled. “It’s not as if I have something to say sorry for. We basically don’t know each other. In fact, I didn’t ask for his help in the first place. He insisted to be exact!”

“I just want to be friends with you,” he replied, face almost begging.

Jayda let out a sigh. “Thank you, but I’m really fine. I’m okay. Thank you for the concern, really. I have to go—”

Jayda was about to turn her back to him when Damek held her arm. Her eyes automatically landed on his hand holding her then to him.

“Jayda...”

“Damek, I have a boyfriend. I wouldn’t want to worry him or to get him upset. Please, I really have to go.”

It was said to him politely, but he couldn’t deny that it was like a sharp knife that stabbed his chest. Slowly after realizing how she really wanted to go, he finally let go of her arm.

“Thank you.”

“What I did was the right thing to do. It’s better for him to make myself clear,” she had spoken to herself before she heard a noise coming from outside. It was like something was up when she heard a loud thud.

Jayda inched towards the door and was about to check what was happening in the hallway when cooking in the kitchen caught her attention more. The sound of the timer she set before she went to watch the television was already echoing from the kitchen.

“Oh, my foodie...” she hummed as she marched towards the stove.

Few minutes more and she was ready to make her tummy full. She was overwhelmed by its smell and by the feeling of missing to eat meat.

It was a great dinner for her although she was all alone.

“You got a friend, fine. But last night, you had no companion or anyone to look after you. You only had yourself only. Luckily, I was there...”

Jayda just shut his eyes by the sudden thought of him as he said those lines. She dropped the spoon and fork she was using and cupped her face, elbows on the table.

“Jayda, get a grip of yourself. It’s not a big deal!” she said, but still not convinced. “Fine. I’ll say thank you just for once and then its over.”

A long deep breath after then she grabbed a container from her cupboard. She filled it with Afritada to give it to Damek as a gesture of saying thank you.

“Give it to him, say thank you, then its over. Right.”

Just as she left the kitchen with a container on her right hand filled with her favorite Afritada and opened the door, something surprised her just steps away from her.

“Damek?” she whispered and blinked few times. She saw him outside his unit, lying on the floor, his back at the door, and looking so wasted.

Damek slowly looked to where he heard the voice then smiled upong seeing her.

“Oh, hi!” he greeted, voice obviously sounded drunk. “I think I’m lost here. I need to pee and I couldn’t find the bathroom. Can you help me?”