Accrued Interest

Chapter 15

NO CITY LIGHT could ever compare to the brightness the full moon provides tonight, Lea thought. Although she adores the soft glow of the city's tallest buildings, she can't seem to take her eyes away from that round celestial object as they drive along the highway. As she continues with her fascination with the moonlight spilling on cars and skyscrapers, she discovered what's odd about this ride- this is not her way home. 

"Aga! Saan tayo pupunta? You know hindi ito ang daan pauwi. Don't tell me you're using a shortcut cause God forbid, the last time I used a shortcut, which was like 30 minutes ago, my tire exploded. So plea---"

"Shhhh. Calm down, Lea. We're not taking a short cut. This is actually the long cut." Aga said in his most serene voice. 

"You've got to be kidding me." Lea huffed. "It's late at night and you decided it's best to drive on a longer road? I thought you want to take me home?" Lea said, suddenly irritated. 

Lea saw Aga stole a glance at her, probably surprised that she snapped at him. She immediately felt bad. It's not fair for him. She asked him to come and get her and he did, willingly. "I'm sorry," Lea said. "I just had a very long day. I just wanna go home and I feel like you need to rest too."

"It's fine," Aga said.

Silence.

"You know the reason I took the long road is that I thought your eyes need a refresher. You spent half an hour stuck on a very dark road, surrounded by shrubs and trees. I want your night to at least end with lights and colors." Lea stared at Aga. He's just magnificent tonight. She snapped at him and he didn't deserve that. He's so patient with her and he just melted her heart by making a gesture of driving her through "lights and colors". How thoughtful. She agrees with him, it's such a good idea to take this road, now she can stare at him being bathed with the same lights and colors. What a sight for sore eyes. 

Lea saw him suddenly smile mischievously. "You're staring," he said. "I'm not!" She immediately diverted her gaze to a different direction. Well, she was. Lea sighed. "Thank you, Aga. For coming... and for this," she gestured towards the skyscrapers in front of them. They looked at each other for three seconds and then Aga forced himself to look ahead. "Well, this actually benefits me more than you," Aga said. "I got to spend more time with you tonight." Lea turned her face away to hide her smile. "Still, thank you for saving my day." She said softly. 

Who would imagine that her day could turn like this? Twelve hours ago, she didn't know she'll be sitting in Aga's expensive car. She really had a long day. She saw her reflection from the side mirror and was shocked by how disheveled her hair is. She tried to subtly fix the loose bun but her efforts did nothing. Eventually, she just gave up and pulled the pins that were holding her thick hair together and allow it to cascade over her shoulders. For a second she thought she heard Aga gasped but then that wouldn't make sense at all and why would he do that? or maybe he saw something on the road but she was too busy combing her hair with her fingers to even look in his direction. 

"You know, since this is our first date---"

"This is not a date!!!" Lea was shocked to the core. She turned around so quickly just to gaped at him. How did Aga even come to a conclusion that him driving her home tonight is a date? 

"Right. This is just a warm-up date. We would probably be up there in one of the skyscrapers having dinner for our first date with a star-speckled sky for a background." Aga said smugly. Lea thought that Aga's idea for their first date is ridiculous but no matter how ridiculous it sounds, it still melted her heart. She's not the type of woman who goes on dates. Well, yeah, she's a different type of woman. "This is not a date, Aga Zamora," Lea repeated but calmly.