Love Me From Yesterday

Chapter 8 - Francis' POV

We exchanged a few greetings and sat down right after. It was very awkward, not only for me but for the both of us. I was even becoming more conscious of her nung napansin ko yung mga sulyap niya sa akin. As if she was scanning my entirety with her eyes, inside and out. I admit, I dressed very poorly. I mean wala naman akong time para makapagpalit. It was my negligence in the first place.

"Ikaw yung grab driver, diba? From last time?" she asked purely out of curiosity.

"Yeah," napaka-awkward kong sabi.

Even though I tried to converse with her, walang words na lumalabas sa mga bibig ko. As if something's preventing me from speaking. Napapa-iwas na lang ako ng tingin sa kanya sabay kalutkot sa scrub uniform ko. What's making it more embarassing was she never even tried to pretend that she wasn't looking at me. It's not merely a simple 'look' but more of like a 'piercing stare'. A piercing stare that could bore a hole if she continued doing so. I was getting restless as time passed by and my throat was starting to get dry. Napansin ko yung baso ng tubig sa lamesa. It was there as if it was asking to be grasped. My hand instintively reached out to it. Hawak hawak ko na yung baso ng tubig. I chugged it at bigla akong nabilaukan sa mga sinabi niya.

"So why is the only son of Mr. Bernaldez working as a grab driver?"

I spit out the water out of my mouth as a result.

I gasped for air as I said, "I'm sorry?"

"I'm just joking," she grinned. "Narinig ko kase doctor ka daw. Seeing you right now, I'm convinced."

"Pero for curiosity sake, bakit ka nga nagpapart-time as a grab driver? Is that a hobby?" she added.

And from there, I explained everything that happened that day. And after a few minutes, all of the weird misunderstandings were cleared.

"I should've checked the licensed plate. Let me apologize for my mistake," sabi niya.

I was flustered as I replied, "No, it's okay. You don't need to do that."

We both sincerely bowed down to each other and after nun, we decided to forget about what happened that day. Although di ko sinabi sa kanya na nakita ko yung mga nangyari after ko siya ihatid sa residence. I really don't want her to feel more embarassed so I just kept it to myself. Right after that, our food arrived.

Actually, I really don't have a bit of idea what my father arranged for today's date that's why hindi ko talaga alam kung ano yung dapat na ieexpect ko. One by one, variety of food started coming out of the kitchen. From the location, the vibe, the foods, up to the mini orchestra playing a classical song in the background; he really went overboard from what I could tell.

I briefly stole a glance at her and she looked really displeased. That made me really nervous.

"Is something wrong?" I asked.

She immediately denied what I said as she replied, "Ah, no! Kakakain ko lang kase bago ako pumunta dito. Seeing all these food, para akong masusuka."

I was alarmed after hearing that. "Would you like some coffee? Tea perhaps?" I offered right away.

"If meron kayong tea, I'll take that."

I immediately called someone from the kitchen and asked them to clear out all the food on our table. I was actually starving. Wala akong kinain bago ako pumunta dito. Seeing all the food made me drool for a moment. However, if she doesn't eat, then I won't eat either. Just basic courtesy of being the host for this date. Inalis kaagad nila yung mga pagkain sa lamesa. I then asked someone to get us some tea.

Habang nag-aantay, tinuloy niya yung pagtitig sa akin. I tried to look her way as well, pero biglang nagkita yung mga mata namin. Noticing that, napabaling agad ako ng tingin. Pero siya, she still continued fixing her eyes on me. I felt hot all of a sudden.

"I'm sorry but, is there something wrong with me?" I confronted her.

"No, bakit mo naman natanong?" she immediately answered.

"It's just that, panay tingin mo kase sa akin."

"Ah, about that. I'm just curious if you knew."

"Knew about what?"

The corner of her lip slightly raised, "You saw that, right? I mean, what happened that day."

Napaubo ako at napabaling ng tingin sa mga narinig ko galing sa kanya. I was caught red-handed. So that's why she keeps staring at me. Alam niya na alam ko ang mga nangyare that day. She was just assessing the situation.

"How did you know?" I asked.

"A guess?" she leaned on her seat and added, "You know, I can somehow read a person through their eyes."

Hindi ako nakapagsalita. I just maintained my silence as I was so guilty about what she said.

"I heard from him, buntis daw siya. I guess something wrong happened that's why he crawled his way to my residence just to blame me for whatever happened to that girl," she brushed a smile and added, "Funny, right?"

I unconsciously replied, "No, it's not."

The conversation paused with such heavy silence. We both looked down and wandered in space of our own.

I heard a heavy sigh, "Mukha ba akong masama?" she asked. "Kahit sa mata ng mga magulang ko, I looked evil to them. A parasite leeching off someone's happiness."

I couldn't answer or respond to that. Hearing her situation, I couldn't help but feel bad about it. Wala naman siyang ginagawa pero somehow, the situation always turned into something bad for her. Even if I wanted to console her, I couldn't. For her, it might looked like as if I'm pitying her that could make her feel more worse. People's feelings were more fragile than everybody thought. Kahit yung tipong gusto mo lang makatulong, sa mata ng iba or ng tinutulungan mo, it might be the opposite. That's why it's much better to just do nothing and instead, lend an ear.

Our tea arrived after that. The tea was sitting on top of the table pero wala ni-isa sa amin ang gumalaw ng baso. The tea turned cold under the intolerable silence.

I might sound as if I'm prying but I needed to say what I had to at least lessen the depressing air wrapped around us.

Although I sounded awkward, "I don't think you're like that," I said.

"Paano ka naman nakakasigurado? You don't even know me that well."

I looked at her and smiled a bit, "Ako din, I can somehow read a person through their eyes. And I know you're not that kind of person."

Nagkatitigan kaming dalawa. Seconds later, we just laughed to our heart's content.

"Should we get married?" banggit niya bigla.

I immediately halted and looked at her with such a puzzled look, "Ha?"

She smiled back at me and said it again, "You, should we get married? Let's get married, the two of us."

I was so perplexed that I couldn't even look straight at her.

"I think I heard you wrong. Anong ibig mong sabi-," I was stopped.

"If ayaw mo magpakasal then should we just sleep together at least once?"

Napalunok ako sa mga narinig ko. My eyes were shaky as I tried to reciprocate her gaze. Her eyes weren't faltering at all. She was indeed serious about what she was saying.

"How about it?" she asked.

I tried to calm myself and replied, "Wait, uhm, are you serious?"

She nodded, "Yeah, I'm serious. Mukha ba akong nagjojoke?"

"W-, why?" I bit my tongue sa sobrang kaba. "Don't you think we're getting a little bit too fast?"

"So what?" she instantly replied.

"Huh? I mean, kahit saang direksyon mo tignan, this is a bit inappropriate, don't you think?"

I was somehow lost in thought after all she just said. She was more direct that I initially thought. To think I was hesitating whether to console her or not. But still, how can she just blurt out those words without even faltering? Marriage is a sacred thing, at least for me. To think that she could just say those words as if she's buying fish in the market, how baffling.

Natahimik kami pareho. No one dared to utter a single word. I looked at her again and I immediately understood, 'this lady doesn't really think that this was inappropriate at all.'

I unintentionally let out a heavy sigh as I face-palmed, "So you're really being serious about this?"

"Yeah," she responded.

"Pwede ko ba malaman kung bakit?"

"I heard some rumors."

"Rumors?" That piqued my interest.

"Nabalitaan ko na naghahanap ng daughter-in-law si Mr. Bernaldez para sa anak niya. He's really eagered for you to get married," she casually took a sip of the tea placed in front of her. "I have my own reasons as well. But I don't think you have any reasons to decline this offer, sir," she looked at me with daggers.

"Isang taon, just for one year. Let's get married for just a year. How about it?"