Next To Me

For a little longer...

There she was smiling as she walked towards. She has broken her no dress policy as she wore a blue puff sleeve lace dress. I didn't wait for her to come to me as I walked towards her.

"I broke the rules today." She said as I held her hand and led her to the car. I can't keep myself from looking at her. I was mesmerized by her that moment. For that, I found myself opening the car door for her. I quickly got in the car and stared at her for a moment. She was not looking at me as if she was hiding something. Then I noticed her eyes. It seemed kind of puffy and it's obvious she had put on some make-up to hide it. I was waiting for her to look at my way but she didn't.

"Shall we go? Don't you think we'll be late?" She snapped as she was trying to fumble inside her bag. I decide not to be curious about it and drove along to Lily's birthday party. The party was held at the clubhouse of our village where we both lived. There are a lot of familiar faces and round eye was blending very well. She seemed ready for this. But I felt worried or maybe scared of something that might happen.

"You haven't talked that much since we came here." She nudged me and I looked at her. With her puffy eyes, she was smiling at me. Before, I could answer Lily approach us.

"It was very nice to see you again, Jody. Thank you for coming!" Lily exclaimed and she is genuinely happy seeing me with someone else.

"I just get myself some drink." Round eye excused herself all of a sudden from us and I feel she is giving me a moment with Lily.

"How are you? I haven't heard much from you?" Lily broke the silence as I stared at her. She was staring back at me and I know it's not the same stare anymore.

"I'm fine actually. I was trying to see if it hurts still with you being close to me now." I said and Lily was not ready by my words. I shook my head sadly as she held my arm and squeezed it.

"Raymond, please. Jody's here for you. I'm happy that you're happy. " Lily said as if convincing me we are both going to be fine. Maybe she does feel fine but I don't seem to feel it. I feel so confused and it's like a whirlwind of thoughts going inside my head. I was trying to find round eye among the crowd and I saw here at a corner looking at our way. When she saw me looking her way, she abruptly blend with the crowd and strike up a conversation with them. I felt that I need her to rescue me but I know I should not need one. I need to face this.

"Jody can't rescue me. I am trying to be happy. I am trying to reason out to myself on what really happened to us. Because after all this time, I still hope for us to be back together." I said and I felt Lily's hand letting go of my arm. She gave me a sad look.

"I'm sorry, Raymond. That is all I could say. I didn't mean us to be this way. I am happy now and I wish you to do the same. It is hard but I Matt help me. Maybe with you, it's Jody?" She said as she held up my face to look at her. I held her hand on my face and took it off. I held her hand tightly and squeezed it.

"You don't know how it is. I will try, Lily. I will do so." I said and smiled. She smiled back at me as Matt finally came to us. I decided to find round eye. I saw her having a chat with some of my friends that she already met. To my surprised she was drinking with them. I quickly took a chair beside her as they were all having a hearty laugh.

"Hi, guys. What's the amusement all about here?" I snapped as I put my arm around round-eye's shoulder. She looked at me laughing and she has a rosy flushed on her cheeks. I saw she has finished two glasses of margarita with her.

"Jody is so amusing! She is very smart. We can all agree that we like her!" Anna exclaimed and I seem to think she meant it coming from the girl who is on Lily' side.

"So we haven't seen you in awhile at the usual place and I observe that you are not on the PDA side here." Gregg commented and I laughed nervously. The last thing they should think about is me not behaving like a lover to Jody in Lily's party.

"We're not really on that PDA thing." Jody said attempting to drink from her glass but I held her face to look at me. She was still smiling at me with a rosy flush on her cheek. She seemed kind of cute as she leaned forward to me.

I felt like kissing her and I did. I felt her soft lips against mine and she felt warm as I held her face closer to me. I could hear the loud cheer of the crowd at our table. As I was about to kissed her more she inched away from me. She has that astonish look on her face and her rosy flush seemed to turn red. The crowd hadn't stop cheering by then.

I feel light-hearted as we decided to leave the party. It was a pretty emotional ride that evening with the talk with Lily and the unexpected kiss with Jody.

She was soundly sleeping at the passenger seat and I don't know if I should wake her up or what but I need to. I don't know where to take her. I stopped at the sidewalk and looked at her. I decided that Jody is pretty and without a doubt smart. With all the books as her companion and her notebook in tow, everyone can say that she is really smart. She really has soft, full lips and as I look at her face right now, she has long thick lashes that frame her really big, round eye. I found myself pulling back some strand of her hair away from her face and I was startled as she moved and finally woke up.

"I'm sorry if I overslept. You can drive me to the jeepney stop now." She said as she fixed her dress and sat up straight. I was just looking at her and she snapped her fingers in front of my face.

"Oh! About the kiss. I didn't mean to do that but they are having doubts you know." I said explaining myself and she smiled at me.

"It's alright, I probably won't remember it as I was drunk right now. Sorry for being like this tonight. I hope I did a good job on making them believe that I was really your girlfriend?" She asked and stared at me.

"I think they won't make a fuss about it anymore. I was able to talk to Lily while you're drinking those margaritas, you know." I told her and she moved closer as to listen to my story intently.

"I think that went pretty well, don't you think? So what's the next step? I think we need to break up now?" Jody commented and I know I can't do that yet.

"We can't do that just yet. I need to be in this story longer." I answered as I started the car and drove to the jeepney stop.

I opened the car door for her and she thanked me as we stood there waiting for a jeepney. It's late in the evening so a jeep would take time to pass by on where we are. I decide t take off my coat and wrapped it around her. It' a very mushy move and I didn't know why I did that. These passed few days when it has to do with Jody, I am always surprising myself with some gestures. But, I was disappointed when she took it off and gave it back to me.

"You really don't have to do this. I am good like this." She said as a jeep finally stopped and before she got inside she managed to kiss me on my cheek. I could never feel so light-hearted that night. As reached home, I called her on her phone. She was home safe by the time I called her.

"I can't stop this time. I am still a poor soul." I said and I could hear her let out a deep sigh. She just said that it's fine and said goodnight.