Psychosis (ToLine FanFiction)

XI

C A R L O S

"Pwede ka bang ayain kumain sa labas?" I asked her.

Masyado yatang formal at hindi naka sagot si Celine agad. Should I rephrase it?

"I mean if yo—" she cut me off.

"Ngayon?"

"Dinner sana at 8 PM, my treat." I shyly answered. I tried to smile, to suppress this feeling. I'm shy na kasi. Buti na lang I managed not to stutter, or else halatang nahihiya ako. Although I can feel my voice shaking.

Gusto niya kaya? Like, we never talked "personally" ever since our encounter on the beach weeks ago, — except those short conversations, like this one — we facetime each other, when we both have free time. Both of us went on to get-to-know-each-other. That's what new friends do, di ba? I mean, seriously, you don't talk to your friend without knowing what they like or not.

"Sure, why not? Where should we meet?" She asked me.

I smiled, unconsciously.

"I'll just text the place? If that's okay with you?"

"Yeah sure. That will do." She smiled back. "Una na ako, may team meeting pa sa dugout e."

That's when I realize that I was staring at her for a few seconds. What the hell? Stop staring into someone's face, Caloy! Just because they smiled at you, doesn't mean you get to stare at them, y'know.

And that, I was never able to bid my farewell to her. Agad siyang umalis e. Iniisip ko kanina if early dinner with her, but since ang aga natapos nung game, at hindi pa lumulubog yung araw, maybe its better if dinner na lang.

Agad akong umalis sa venue and drove back sa condo. Prepared myself kung ano susuotin ko. Anuna self? Yung sangkatutak na damit mo sa cabinet, mapapasabi ka pa rin ng "wala akong maisuot". But then, you ended up wearing the same clothing you just had last week. Hello, Mr. Washing Machine and Ms. Laundry Soap.

~

So eto, kabado ako like hell. Ewan ko kung bakit, maybe on how we'd physically look like? Kasi she texted me before 8 PM on what type of clothing should she wear. I told her anything that's casual and she's comfortable with.

Kanina pa mabilis tibok ng puso ko, pinagpapawisan na rin ako ng sobra. Sayang outfit! Kaasar!

Nung makarating na ako sa restaurant, — na pinareserve ko umaga pa lang — I thought mauuna siya kasi sobrang traffic from condo papunta dito. But I was wrong, mag isa ko pa lang for almost 10 minutes.

I was playing something on my phone, tapos nung na-out ako, muntik na akong magmura ng malakas. I remembered nasa public pala ako. I was sitting facing the direction of the restaurant's entrance when I saw a familiar figure came into my view.

She was wearing a beige loose fitting spaghetti top, ripped jeans and a pair of sandals that matches the color of her top. She had her hair dance in the rhythm of the wind as it blows. She slowly comes into sight after few waiters passed by.

"Sorry, it was traffic kasi. Kanina ka pa?" She asked.

"Not really, maybe ten minutes ahead of you." I answered.