A Gentleman's Kiss

Of Sketches & Rain Kisses

Of Sketches & Rain Kisses

September 7, 2013

9:17pm

We’ve been together for several weeks already. We talk regularly, we meet often, and we were slowly planning for free days ahead. We’ve been both busy with work. My work has been exhausting and was requiring too much of my personal time. He meanwhile had too much overtime, staying up at work until wee hours past midnight, and still needing an hour to drive back home.

I am usually asleep when he’s just about to go home, while he was still asleep when I am awake and preparing for work. There came a time that we weren’t able to meet at all because of our busy schedule. We also had a few disagreements every now and then but since we miss each other, we easily resolve it and agree to meet up instantly when time permits.

We do talk, but not like the usual couple. He’s mostly reprimanding me for my bad habits while I keep reprimanding him for his habit of smoking when he’s tired and stressed. He reminds me not to skip breakfast and eat dinner early, I remind him to eat every lunch time even if he has a meeting. He also keeps nagging on me to never forget my umbrella, because I always do.

I remind him to bring a jacket so he won’t be cold when he drives home very late. He was like the girl in the relationship: overly caring and sometimes paranoid. He hates it when I don’t get home early, he wants to drive me home but he can’t leave his work and he also can’t make me wait up for him too long.

I have to admit that I am not conscious of the small details for safety. Maybe because I got used to being alone and responsible for myself, I hardly blame anything or anyone whatever happens to me. But that wasn’t the case now.

I got a bit cross as the weather got worse; it was extremely difficult to get home early. He meanwhile couldn’t do much as he was also commuting to avoid flood and having more problems with his car. We’ve had random fights every now and then. We’d sleep over the argument hoping to clear our heads but unfortunately the misunderstanding gets carried on the next day and we’d talk in a plain or neutral tone. We haven’t met for more than a week; I was starting to doubt what was happening to us and where this was leading us. I was about to meet up with him to talk out things seriously, I didn’t like how things were going on especially we just got in the relationship.

Until the typhoon came, and that utterly changed all the cards I’ve been playing.

It was raining as if the sky was falling. It seemed night the whole day: the clouds were gray as dusk, the sun was wiped out from existence in the sky, and the raindrops were the size of lemons. Literally anyone could get soaked in the rain in three counts. The weather condition in the metro was all over the news; work was even suspended for the private sector and people were advised to stay at home for safety. Luckily the electricity wasn’t cut at our area and I was enjoying the weather: relaxing and keeping warm.

And then my heart sank, I missed him so much.

I dropped my pride and tried to talk with him. “Good morning, Mr. A.R.” was the usual greeting I do at around 10:00am the moment my eyes pop open and I reach above my head for my phone. To my surprise his greeting was also an opening for a conversation: “Wake up sleepy cat. Quit skipping breakfast.” I smiled widely as I felt he also wanted to start talking calmly.

I was sensing he was in a calm mood and I asked how he was. But I was wrong. He started talking about how the weather was screwing up his work, how his deadlines were pushed, and how most of his clients cancelled and rescheduled their trips. I wanted to soothe him with words, but I was really surprised when he said: