Truly, Madly, Crazily

Chapter Eighteen

"It's fine. Let's just eat there" tinignan ko yung tinuro niya. Karinderya. I parked my car at pumasok na sa loob.

As soon as we entered, we were greeted by the aroma of different Filipino dishes. We approached the counter at tumingin sa mga ulam na nasa loob ng sneeze guard, mukhang lahat masarap. I approach the server

"What's your bestseller?" The server by the way is a young girl, at the age of 18 or 19 i think. Nakatulala lang siya , that's why I snapped my fingers in front of her to maybe bring her back to her senses?

"Sorry po. Ang bestseller po namin ay adobo, sinigang, at kare-kare," she answered, iniipit niya ang ilang hibla ng buhok sa tenga niya, anong ginagawa niya? Lyric pulled the hem of my shirt getting my attention.

"You can proceed and choose a table for us, ako na bahala. I know you're tired.." she said. She's looking at the counter, but there was something off about the way she stared ahead. Is she angry about something? Lilingon pa sana ako pabalik sa counter kaso tinulak niya na ako kaya no choice ako kundi umupo na sa may bintana. Dito na ako pumwesto para mahangin

After niya magorder lumapit na siya sa akin at umupo sa harap ko. She's using her phone and I'm just watching her. I watch as her face changes expressions, her lips would curve into a smile, and then contort into a frown just moments later. Her eyes were darting back and forth across the screen, and she even rolled them in exasperation. But it was the way her eyebrows moved that really caught my attention. They would furrow in concentration as she read something, and then shoot up because of surprise and amusement. Tapos sometimes, they would meet in the middle in a thoughtful expression, as if she was pondering something deeply. Angry bird..

Maya maya dumating na yung order namin. She ordered all 3 dish, 2 bowls of sinigang, 1 order of adobo for me and 1 order ng kare-kare for her and 2 cups of rice on our plates. She can still remember my allergies hmm? Suddenly naramdaman ko na lang ang pagsakit ng ulo ko..

"Sa lahat ng malilimutan mo, gamot mo pa!" The pain in my head intensifies, causing me to wince. I took a deep breath, trying to steady myself.

"Are you okay?" Lyric asked, I look at her and was about to answer nang mas sumakit pa ang ulo ko. I closed my eyes tightly

"Alto.. go back to the casa and please seek help, come back here and bring the injector!" As I opened my eyes, si Lyric ang sumalubong sa akin. Lyric.. Alto..

"Jan? Are you okay?" I sighed deeply then nodded at her. She's not convince kaya nilagay ko na sa harap niya ang mga pagkain. Effective dahil nadistract na siya hehe

I watched in awe habang gumagawa siya ng sauce, I guess? Kumuha siya ng maliit na bowl and poured a generous amount of patis, 3 pieces of chili followed by a few squeezes of calamansi. I raise my eyebrow as I watch her mix those 3 together. She started pressing and crushing the chili with the back of her spoon. Can she handle those?

Napansin niya atang nakatingin lang ako sa kanya kaya tumingin siya sa akin and she raised her eyebrow, "You know, you might have gone a little overboard with the chili," I said, teasingly.

"I can handle it.." She then poured the mixture onto her sinigang and started to mix it in. Nakatingin lang ako sa kanya as she took a spoonful of the soup and tasted it. Napangiwi ako habang inaantay ang reaksyon niya, she took a deep breath and shook her head. "I can't, here you can have it. Palitan tayo.." she said habang pinagpapalit yung bowls ng inorder naming sinigang. Patay kang bata ka

I just let her switch it and watch her enjoy my bowl of sinigang with patis and calamansi without chili this time. I nervously took a spoonful of the soup and the moment I swallowed it, my throat burned with a fiery sensation. I coughed uncontrollably, trying to reach for a glass of water, pero langya wala! I tried to stand up para kumuha ng tubig nang may inilapag si lyric sa harap ko. Chuckie with the straw already in it, I quickly took a sip, feeling the coolness of the chocolate milk soothe my burning throat.