MaiChard AU: Never The Strangers [Completed]

Two Strangers

She tapped away on her laptop finishing a draft for her food blog. Today she'll be posting a recipe on how to make a small batch of buttery flaky croissants in 24 hours instead of 3 days (yup, it takes that long). This is routine for her, day job on weekends, friends on Saturdays, blogging and dinner with the family on Sundays.

"Colleen. Napatawag ka? Paalis na ko dito for our dinner in a bit."

"Menggay, Asan ka?"

"Dito sa mall, sa Starbucks. Bakit? Anong nangyari?"

"I rushed Nanay to the hospital. Dito kami sa St. Lukes na----"

*toot* *toot*

Shit. Low batt.

Maine hurriedly gathered her things and rushed down parking lot to get her car. She was panicking, on the verge of tears while these run inside her head:

What happened to Nanay?

Lord, please please please, save her.

I hope it was nothing serious.

I hope she's okay.

Alam na kaya ni Tatay?

She frantically looked for her car in the parking lot, pacing back and forth totally forgetting where she parked it. She kept clicking on her key fob but was too distracted to place where the honking response of her car was coming from.

RJ was putting his groceries (well mostly junk food and soda) into his car's trunk, carefully organizing them when he heard a noise. Someone just opened the door into the driver's seat. His body tensed when he heard it and quietly grabbed a baseball bat from his trunk, one he always keeps for situations like this.

"Come on please. Ano ba? Bwisit naman oh." She's been trying to put her key into the ignition but failed miserably, now bursting into tears as she hit the steering wheel with her hand repeatedly.

He tiptoed towards the driver's seat with his bat ready to hit whoever was trying to steal his car. Then he heard it. Or her. Someone was crying inside his car while shouting at his steering wheel.

What is she doing in there? She doesn't seem to plan to steal his car. She's lithe and looked harmless to do so. Convinced, he eased his grip on his baseball bat, left it on the floor, took a deep breath and forcefully opened his door, his left hand on the handle and his right hand on the car roof, successfully startling Maine.

"What the--Hoy, anong ginagawa mo? Get away from me kundi sisigaw ako!"

"Ahm. Miss, this is my car."

"What the hell are you talking about? Of course this is mine. I'd know if this is my car or not!"

"Miss, this is my car." RJ repeated calmly, pointing at the windshield of his car. There sitting on the dashboard is an Iron Man action figure and on the windshield, an Iron Man plushie. Nope, this is definitely not her car.

"Oh my God! I am so sorry." She apologized profusely as she hurriedly grabbed her purse and laptop from the passenger seat and got out of the car. RJ still hasn't moved from where he was standing so as Maine stepped out of the vehicle, she hit her forehead with this.

"Ouch!" they exclaimed in unison, each of them putting a hand over their foreheads, wincing in pain.

"Oh my God. Ano ba naman to. I am so so sorry. Nasaktan ka ba?" As she reached for his face, checking if there were any bumps. He was quite surprised that Maine touched her, but he didn't let it show. She has soft, warm hands, he thought.

"I'm fine, Miss. Ok lang ako. Bakit ka ba kasi natataranta? I'm RJ by the way.", he observed seeing her crying and distressed.

"Maine. Sorry talaga. Akala ko kasi kotse ko to, same model and color e. Pasensya na talaga. Nagmamadali ako, e. I have to get to the hospital, sinugod daw sa hospital yung nanay ko. Here's my card, just in case may nadamage ako sa loob ng kotse mo."

"Ahm, thank you. Mukhang wala namang damage. Anyway, if that's the case, halika na, ihahatid na kita." He offered.

"Wag na. Hanapin ko na lang kotse ko. Alam ko sa floor naman na to nakapark yun."

"I insist. Hatid na kita. Matatagalan ka pa sa paghahanap. You were already held up because of this. Baka kung anong na nangyayari sa nanay mo as we speak. Sige na, ihahatid na kita."

"Wag na talaga, nakakahiya. Tsaka pano kung rapist ka?"

"Ako? Rapist? E akala ko nga carnapper ka e. Hahaha. For someone na umiiyak at natataranta, naisip mo pa yan ha? Ganto na lang. I'm Richard Faulkerson, Jr. Laguna, 24, may dimple sa kaliwang pisngi. Here's my calling card. Eto din calling card ng daddy ko. Pag may ginawa akong masama sayo, isumbong mo ko sa tatay ko." He proposed as he reached for his wallet and handed her 2 calling cards.

"Fine fine. Grabe sya, Sige na nga. Bilisan mo magdrive, please. Sa St. Luke's daw sya dinala ng sister ko.", she said, giving in, albeit reluctantly. She realized he was right. She must get to her mom immediately but she probably wouldn't be able to focus on driving because she's too distracted anyway.

"Tara." He led Maine to the passenger side and opened the door for her. Maine mumbled a thank you as she got in. He closed the door and jogged back to the driver's side picking up the baseball bat he left on the floor and putting it back in the trunk before getting settled in the driver's seat.

Continued on the next chapter