HIDE AND SEEK

CHAPTER 16

ANNA'S POINT OF VIEW

Remembering what happened these last few weeks makes my heart skip a beat and a smile always forms on my face unwittingly. To be honest, being with him again and feeling his care, the feelings for him that I buried a long time ago in a very deep part of my heart, are now climbing their way out, just like zombies in horror movies.

I think I still have feelings for him after so many years of being apart. These feelings for him never leave me and start to hunt me again. He even asked me to hang out if we have free time, it feels like dating in some way. I don't know if I can call it a date since it's just me and him.

He always treats me, shops with me, eats with me, and does crazy stuff with me. I think I'm still in love with him and that love is getting even stronger and deeper now that he becomes more manly, gentle, and caring. I feel my face heating up when I recall those days with him. I wish we could be like that, forever.

I was lost in my thoughts that I didn't realize that someone was standing beside me. That person suddenly kissed me on my cheeks, when I turned around to confront the culprit, a paper bag appeared in front of me. "Surprise!" the person exclaimed. It was George Lewis; he is my friend from way back in college.

He went abroad this year and he didn't say anything when he was coming back. The last time I asked him, he said it was a secret and now, he is standing in front of me with so much stuff from abroad. "George!" I hugged him so tight that he could barely breathe.

At first, I hated his behavior of kissing me all of a sudden but I got used to it afterward. I pushed him gently and touched our foreheads. "When did you come back?" I pushed him back again to see his face. He is about 160 - 170 cm tall, with chestnut brown hair and chocolate brown orbs. His skin is as smooth as a woman's and he loves wearing lipsticks more than I do.

"Yesterday. I went to your clinic first but the nurses there said you were on a date so ..." he explained but I was surprised at what he said. Those nurses in the clinic start to make rumors again.

"Date? But I'm not dating anyone," when I remember the word 'date', I can feel my face burning like a pan on the stove. I felt embarrassed when George saw my face so I covered it immediately with my hands.

"Not dating anyone, huh? Then why are you blushing like you were slapped a million times?" He teased me. I hate it when someone is making stories about me and they will use it to make fun of me. "I told you, it's not a date. We're just hanging out," I defend myself with my arms on my chest. "Hanging out with whom? Is it Elaine?"

I'm about to answer him when a familiar female voice came out. "It's not me. It's a man," she said as she wiggled her eyebrows. She has thin brows so she has to draw on them to make them look thick and all I want to do is to erase those fake brows of hers now.

"Ohh!" he covers his mouth with his hands, then holds it to me after he recovers from the shocking news and drags me to sit down. I know what's going to happen next, he's going to interrogate me. Sometimes, I hate Elaine being talkative. She knows that Kyle and I are just hanging out but she told George that we were dating.

He entangled his hands with mine. "Tell me everything," he demanded excitedly while holding my hands tightly but gently. "What should I tell you?" I don't want to tell him everything because I know he will do anything just to get me a man.

I'm just 24 years old, I'm still young. Ever since I left the town, I never went out until I met Elaine and George. They arranged blind dates for me but I didn't attend any of them until they gave up. "Everything. And when I said everything, I mean from his looks, his profession, his likes and dislikes," I know it, it is an interrogation. Instead of telling us what he has been when he's not around, he is much more interested in Kyle.

"Fine!" I sigh heavily, surrendering. "Remember what I told you about my childhood friend? He's here in the city working as a manager at a big company," I said. I also told him about Kyle helping us in the clinic and the café and about our hangouts. His eyes widened as big as a saucer after hearing those pieces of information about him.

"Oohhh! So, he left the town to work in the city and to find you," it's not a question but a statement. He made a conclusion using my sentence.

"What are you talking about? He's here in the city for work, to have a better life, not to look for me. He maybe wants to forget the past since he suffered a lot back then. That's why he left the town and went here in the city."

"How did you say that?" He gave me a questioning expression. I think of him as an investigator rather than as a world-class culinary chef.

"Because he and his girlfriend, I mean ex-girlfriend broke up again because the girl cheated on him for the second time. It hurts him so much that he decided to leave the town," I guess that was the right reason why he left and of course about his parents.

"Did he say that or did you just guess it?" When I think about it now, he didn't say his reason for leaving the town. We didn't finish our conversation that day because I cut it off and changed the topic to cheer him up. And when we were on the cliff, I just asked him about his parents but he didn't say that they are his reason for leaving.

I remained quiet for a long time, thinking if he said something. "See!" I came back to my senses when George started to talk again. "He didn't say his reason because he was looking for you," "But why will he look for me?" I can't think of a reason why he would look for me.

I told him before that I will always be on his side but I left him afterward. So, he doesn't have any reason to look for me after what I did. "Because he likes you," his words shake my mind. Does he like me? Impossible. He always sees me as his friend, as his sister.