Fidelity

23

23 | Girlfriend

"Mr. Bernardino?" Malaki ang ngiti ng babae na nakatayo sa may podium sa amin. She looked at Shed and then me.

"This way please," she ushered us towards a VIP room with a small table. Hindi lumagpas sa akin ang tinginan ng mga tao roon. Why am I even surprised, Shed is a big name in the industry.

Nang makarating kami roon, tinanggal ni Shed ang kan'yang sapatos at lumuhod para tanggalin ang sapatos ko.

I swear my cheeks heat up, at agad akong umiwas ng tingin para pigilan ang sarili kong tumalon talon doon dahil sa tuwa.

The woman in uniform caught me blush, and so she smiled at me. I bit my lip. Inalalayan pa ako ni Shed para makaupo sa floor because I was wearing a pencil-cut skirt for Pete's sake!

Shed went ahead and ordered different Japanese cuisine, pero hindi ko pa rin siya matingnan ng diretso. My head was still in cloud 9.

"Your friend is really..." he chuckled. "Fierce."

Agad kong naalala ang pagsampal sa kan'ya ni Hillary. I don't know if I should say sorry or what, Hillary was just looking after me.

"I deserve that anyway," Shed uttered.

Napangiti ako. It was a start for him to admit his mistakes, na nagpakagago nga talaga siya sa 'kin. That was enough for me.

"Musta gigs niyo?" Pag-iiba ko sa topic.

"Empty without you in it," aniya sa seryosong tono na parang hindi niya alam ang epekto nito sa 'kin.

I rolled my eyes to conceal the kilig I was feeling. "Niloloko mo na naman ako."

"Hindi. Seryoso. Na-mimiss na kita. Pero kung kailangan kong maghintay para pagbayarin ang ginawa ko, handa ako."

I inhaled a sharp breath and blinked many times. Kung hindi pa dumating ang order namin, siguro nagtitigan lamang kami roon.

I immediately stuffed my mouth with different food that's unfamiliar to me just to ease the awkwardness. I need to get a grip, damn it! Kaya kahit hindi ako kumakain ng sashimi, ayun, pinilit ko na lang din sa sarili ko.

"So paano mo nalaman kung saan ako nag-tatrabaho?" I asked because he was never really interested about my life.

"LinkedIn," he answered and grabbed a chopstick. "Google is a mystery."

Shocks, oo nga pala. Sino pa bang magtataka, this era is an era of information, where everyone gets to know what everyone else is up to.

He asked me about my work, and I was actually enjoying the attention he was giving me. Ang tagal na naming magkakilala, pero ngayon lamang siya nagtanong tungkol sa mga nangyayari sa buhay ko, and I was willing to fill him the details.

That night was the first time we ever had a proper conversation.

"Bukas ulit?" Tanong ni Shed nang itigil ang sasakyan sa harap ng bahay namin.

"Ha?"

"Pwede ba kitang masundo ulit bukas?" He asked again.