OXYGEN

45 - My Story isn't Over Yet

I could feel Forrest's eyes drilling into me. Underneath the table, he grabbed my hand and it was the comfort I needed. I gave a weak smile and answered his father's question. "Well, my mother is not in my life, and my father . . . He passed away."

Marites furrowed her brows in concern. "Oh, no," she murmured while her husband said, "I'm so sorry."

"No," I slightly shook my head, "don't worry about it. Things are okay now."

"If you don't mind me asking," Ernesto continued, "who are you staying with? Or do you live on your own?"

"I live with my grandfather. He retired years ago, but he used to work as a sales representative for Moondust, the wine company."

"That's nice," he remarked. Not really, I mentally muttered. Being around wine so much led my grandfather to become the alcoholic he was now, which was a shame. "Well, I work at Golden Crowne Inn - as a butcher for one of the restaurants. And this lovely lady here," he wrapped an arm around his wife, "is a teacher at Finegayan Elementary."

"I teach the third grade," Marites revealed, beaming. "Stressful, but worth it."

"Her students are always the cutest," Forrest added. "They love me whenever I visit."

As time moved, the conversation remained on simple topics and stayed away from personal ones. All of our orders eventually came, and they were all better than expected. Forrest and I shared some of our meals with each other, and at some point, I realized that this was the first time in a long time where I was eating with a family.

Gratitude filled me more than the food.

***

"Do you think Jho'nae will like this?" Ivy muttered as she held up a floral-print shirt.

"How am I supposed to know?" Forrest exclaimed.

We finished eating lunch twenty minutes ago, separating from their parents. Since Ivy needed to go shopping, I decided to follow in case there was a dress worth buying. Forrest wasn't very satisfied since he - like every other male in the universe - found shopping extremely tedious. "What did I ever do to be tortured this way?" he wondered out loud.

We were in La Confianza, which was Spanish for confidence. It was possibly one of the hottest boutiques in the mall, and Ivy seemed to be a regular. So far, there were a good number of people here, and the majority of them were female. We passed by another couple, and Forrest shared a look of understanding with the guy.

Ivy sighed. "She loves flowers, but . . . this is boring. Never mind." She put the shirt back on the rack and walked over to another one. "Oh, this looks cute!" She examined another shirt and then glanced at the price tag. "Yikes. Never mind."

Forrest's eyes widened in panic. "Please," he pleaded, "end my misery."

I laughed. "Be patient. Or if you want, you can go and check out another store."

He pouted. "I don't need to buy anything, though."

"Then I guess you're stuck here." I started looking through one of the racks, but nothing really caught my interest.

We walked around the store more, and after fifteen minutes, I gave up on trying to find a dress. Most of them were either too revealing or too costly; I would try again in other stores. Meanwhile, Ivy and Forrest were bickering about the current shirt she was considering on buying.

"Are you serious?" Forrest scrunched his face in confusion. "Twenty dollars for that? It doesn't even cover your stomach! Wouldn't Jho'nae get cold or something?"