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The sky is now covered with
dark and thick clouds. I look at my watch and it is already five minutes past
three. I am already late. Lench may be waiting for me and I can now imagine his
wrinkled forehead and twisted lips when he sees me. I cross the streets as tiny
raindrops start to fall. I barely cross busy streets but not showing up to
Lench is a great motivation to brave the threatening skies.
I look at some of the stalls
and establishments in front of me and I finally see the name of the coffee shop
Lench sent in my SMS inbox. I stand in front of the sliding door and fix my
clothes. I hold my hanky and smile at the guard on duty as he slides the glass
door. The aroma of brewed coffee welcomes me. I close my eyes and take a deep
breath. I see people enjoying their cups of coffee. I let my eyes wander and
scan the area. I think sipping a hot latté warms every person’s cold body. Then
I see Lench. He is sitting on a leather couch at the far corner of the shop. He
is wearing green shirt and brown pants. His eyeglasses are clouded with steamy
smoke while he sips his hot coffee. When he sees me, he frowns but immediately
smiles as he waves his right hand calling my attention. I give him a smile and
nod and I walk towards him.
“Hey!”, he calls.
“Why the sudden call?”, I smirk.
“First, you’re late! Next, it’s because I got
intrigued by your Facebook post last night.”, he answers.
“My post? What post?”, I say.
“Don’t you want coffee?”, he asks.
“I do.”, I simply answer.
“Then go to the counter and grab your coffee. Of
course, get blueberry cheesecake. A slice will be okay for me.”
I do not answer. I look at him to know if he is
kidding but he is serious. I nod, go to the counter and get my hot latté and
blueberry cheesecake.
“Who is he?” he starts asking.
“Who? Who is this he?”, I immediately answer.
“Don’t act like you don’t know what I am talking
about.”, he answers back,
I see wrinkled forehead. I know that when Lench
does that, he is already irritated.
“Okay! Okay! I think I am inloved.” I reveal.
“You? In loved?” You must be kidding me.”, he
answers back.
“No! I am dead serious.”, I manage to say while
sipping my hot coffee.
“How long have you known this guy?”, he keeps a
steady look at my face. “How did you meet?” Where?”
Lench questions are like dart piercing my ears. I
do not know how to answer them. Lench words are echoing in my ears. I look at
him after another sip, put down my cup and I start telling him my story.
Last night was an instant. It
happened so fast. I was actually on my way home when I realized I hadn’t taken
my dinner yet. I dropped by the nearest convenience store to grab some food to
ingest. The security guard greeted me with a smile. I entered the area with
high expectations that I would get a delicious treat for myself.
It was a long and tiring day at
the office. It always was. Aside from the unending blabbering of Homer, our
superior, the air conditioner was not even useful at all. Our department was
like a huge sauna. Heads were hot, patience was nowhere to catch and the
temperature was not cooling at all. I wished I could blame our maintenance
supervisor but he was nowhere of sight. I heard his wife was giving birth so he
took a day off and rushed to the hospital. Homer, on the other hand, wouldn’t
stop talking. He was complaining about his messy station. Well, it was his
fault anyway. He could have easily purchased an organizer or a file cabinet.
His files were piled up on his table. He always screamed when he urgently
needed a file but couldn’t find it. I just gave soft sighs. That was life in a
call center.
After swiftly moving from aisle
to aisle, I finally found what I wanted to devour - a hotdog sandwich. I took a
bun and carefully pulled one cheesy hotdog from the steamer then filled my
glass with iced tea. I initially wanted instant coffee but I worried that
caffeine would snatch sleep from me.
When I was about to go to the
counter, I bumped into a man in black coat. I said sorry but he did not
respond. I thought he was upset but I did not turn back to repeat my apology.
After paying, I sat on the farthest seat from the main door and enjoyed my
food. I was half way eating my sandwich when an uncommon voice caught my ears.
“Can I seat here?”, said the
main in black coat pointing at the chair in front of me.
“Sure!” I said
“Are you alone?”, he asked.
“Yes.”, I thriftily answered. I
looked at him and he was in fact talking to me without looking at me. He was
busy using his smartphone while drinking his coffee. The aroma of brewed coffee
instantly registered in my system. I suddenly felt the urge to throw away my
iced tea and fill a cup with coffee instead.
“Is there dirt on my face?” he
suddenly asked. I got caught. I felt my warm blood boiling up in my cheeks.
“Err. Nothing. I just wanna say
sorry for bumping into you a while back.”, I softly answered.
“No problem. It was my mistake,
honestly. I was not looking at the people around me.”, he answered and again,
he was not looking at me.
I took a quick glance at him.
God! He is perfect. His red lips, thick brows, deep-set eyes, pointed nose and
rosy cheeks. Plus he was wearing eyeglasses.
“Anything?”, he said.
“Uhh, no, no. I am done and I
have to go.” Wait, why was I saying these things to him?
“Okay.”, he answered.
I honestly did not want to go
home yet. Instead, I bought a pack of cigarette and went in front of the store.
I took a seat on one of the bleachers and lit one stick. The cold crisp air was
crawling on my legs. God, it’s freezing
cold.
“Can I have a light?”
The man in black coat.
“Sure. Here.”
He lit his cigarette and the
soft glow of fire from the lighter illuminated his face. I couldn’t help but to
stare at his being. He sat beside me and steadied his gaze at his cellphone.
“May I know your name?”, I
asked.
“Greg. And you?”
“An…” I did not finish because
my cellphone suddenly rang.
“Yes? Mom! I will be home in a
minute.” I pressed the end button and put my cellphone back into my pocket.
“Guess I have to go”, I said.
“Where are you heading? I can
drop you off. Or do you have a car?”
“No, I can manage. I have to
call for a tricycle.”
“No, I insist you have to ride
in my car.” He was pointing at his black Altis.
I did not want to go with him.
I was afraid he might be someone who would snatch everything from me or even
dump me on the highway after thrusting a sharp knife in my neck. But my body
wanted to open the car door, get inside and just go home. I followed the
latter. I said yes and we both went inside the car.
On our way, he kept talking and
asking things about me. I gave short answers. I pretended not to be interested.
Until he asked the inevitable question.
“Do you have a boyfriend?”
“No, I don’t.” I answered.
Suddenly, he slowed down his
car. He parked in a dark place where the lamp posts were broken. There were
chills in my body. I started to panic. I looked around me and I saw no houses.
My heart was racing and my mind was clogged.
“What are we doing here? Why
did we stop?”, I asked nervously.
“No need to worry.” After
saying that, he quickly grabbed my face and kissed me in the mouth. I was
stunned. I couldn’t move my body. I barely took a breath. Then he released his
hands from my face.
“Why did you do that?”, I
screamed.
“Didn’t you like it?”
“Err. I…”
“Don’t lie to me. I saw you
looking at me a while back. There was something in your eyes.”
“I..do..”
He unbuttoned his cardigan, got
naked and unzipped his pants. Everything was so sudden. He kissed me and this
time, it was harder. I opened my mouth and welcomed his tongue. I opened my
eyes and even in the darkness, I saw his face. His eyes were closed. I closed
mine and my hands were on his neck. He gave soft moans and I was totally turned
on. I was not thinking of what might happen after this at all. Then he stopped
kissing me. He looked at me and said he wanted me badly. I did not say a word
anymore. I pulled his face and torridly kissed his lips. I bit his lips and
licked his tongue. I let my tongue explored his face. It was his turn. He stuck
his tongue on my neck. I wanted him so badly. I took off my clothes and
together we reached paradise.
After that fast-paced and steamy
act, I looked at him and asked him to drive me home. After dropping me off, I
took the courage to ask for his cellphone digits; instead he answered.
“What for? Hey, that was just
for fun. I do it for fun.”
After saying that, he drove
off. I was left standing on the sidewalk, touching my neck and lips. I felt
empty. The sex was great but my mind said differently. I wanted him more. But
how? I did not even know his full name, his address, his cellphone digits or
even his car plate number.
After standing for about ten
minutes, I mustered my courage to enter our house. I was still in shock. I
opened my laptop computer, logged in my Facebook and posted my status – “It was
one night only. – feeling empty.”
“Is that it?” Lench asks me.
“Yes.” I answer back.
“God! And you said you’re
inloved? To a stranger?”, he is already raising his voice. I calm him down
because other people are looking at us.
“Yes. But I do not think this
is alright.”, I say.
“Of course it’s not alright!
You met him in a store, shagged him then he dumped you. That is definitely not
alright!”, he screams.
“Correction. He did not dump
me. He dropped me off. And please, no screaming.”, I almost whisper to his
ears.
“It’s still the same. The
problem with you is that you easily fall for a person; a person you just met!
Then you will feel in loved blah blah blah. This is the same old story. How
many times do I have to wait for you in a coffee shop and listen to your stories?”,
he yells.
“I’m sorry I had to disturb you
for this. Can I go to the toilet?”, I say.
“Yeah. Be very quick, I have
other things to attend to.”, he answers.
I grab my bag, fix my shirt
then go to the toilet. Lench is right. I am the same. I tell the same stories.
I tell the same dilemmas. I am boring. I assume everything.
Lench is already at the
doorstep talking with the guard when I come out from the toilet. I am about to
call him when I see this familiar face emerging from the entrance. It’s Greg! I start to panic but I don’t want
anybody to notice it. There’s cold feeling in my spine. He gets closer and
closer to me. He looks at me and I smile. He walks directly to the counter as
if he doesn’t see me. I hear him saying to the attendant, “Cappuccino for two.”
After saying that, someone yells his name and Greg looks at the direction where
the voice comes from. An unfamiliar person approaches Greg then hugs him and
gives Greg a soft kiss in the lips.
I barely see everything. I see
tears clouding my eyes. Lench calls me, I grab his arms and we walk toward the
exit. My knees are wobbling. Lench is asking me if I am okay and I simply nod. “Let’s
go”, I weakly say.
