Eto po yung continuation ng special Valentine’s Day story ko. Sorry kung natagalan, busy kasi ko these past few days. Alam nyo na, Valentine’s week eh. Haha. Chos lang, as if naman may pinagkakabusyhan nga. Date nga wala eh. Haha. Oh well, salamat na lang sa mga magbabasa! 
Warning: This story contains NON-erotic contents. Haha. May hang-over pa rin sa araw ng mga puso eh.
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“We’re here.” sabi ni Enzo ng makarating kami sa restaurant.
I don’t know what happened pero mukhang bumalik na naman sya sa pagka-snob nya. May split personality kaya ‘tong mokong na ‘to? Parang kani-kanina lang eh inuulan ako ng asar dahil sa pagka-NBSB ko, tapos ngayon wala na namang kangiti-ngiti.
Me: “Honestly Enzo, kinakabahan ako eh, kasi wala kong kaalam-alam when it comes to writing restaurant reviews.” nahihiya kong amin sa kanya.
Napatingin lang sakin si Enzo, and raises an eyebrow in comment. Gosh, mas mabuti pala kung di ko na lang sinabi. Parang lalo lang nagkadahilan ang loko para i-snobin ako.
Nagmamadali syang bumaba ng sasakyan, akala ko para pagbuksan na ko ng pinto this time, pero para kunin lang pala yung tripod nya, his camera, and yung bag nya containing all the equipment na kelangan nya sa pagkuha ng mga pictures. Napailing na lang ako, at binuksan ang pinto. Then sabay na kaming pumasok sa loob ng restaurant.
Enzo: “That’s the manager.” sabay turo nya sa isang matangkad na guy who looks about 30, his features seemed of Spanish descent, buffed, suntanned, and well…cute. Haha.
Me: “Uy, he’s kind of cute.” halos pabulong na sabi ko.
Enzo: “Sus, cute daw.” Nagulat ako na narinig pala nya yung sinabi ko, eh ang hina-hina na nga ng boses ko. But what made me wonder ay kung bakit parang hindi maipinta ang mukha nya sa sobrang pagkasimangot at pagkakunot ng noo nito. Pero hindi ko na lang pinansin and I walk towards the manager, Mr. Cuevas, and he led me to a seat. Enzo takes the seat next to me.
Me: “Hi, I’m Phec—Maria Katerina Alphecca Juliana Magdulayo…” Natigilan ako nang ma-realize ko na I’ve told him my name in the wrong order. “Oh, shit, I mean, Maria Alphecca Juliana Katerina Magdulayo. I’m a writer from Bellissimo.” Tapos I handed him my business card.
Mr. Cuevas: “Wow, what a long name! How do you manage to remember all that? Have I got it right? Maria Juliana…”
Me: “Phec would be fine.” I said quickly.
Mr. Cuevas: “Okay Phec.” He smiled, showing off his perfect white teeth. “Shall we get started?”
Pagkasabing pagkasabi nya nito, waiters with black aprons brought in the food, presented with very little servings, at mukhang mamahalin. Si Enzo naman, set up his lights and tripod, and takes the pictures of the food habang nakikipag-usap ako kay Mr. Cuevas.
I know that Thai food are usually spicy and I expected the worst, pero pinagpawisan agad ako pagkagat ko pa lang sa sausage appetizer nila.
Me: “WOW.” tanging nasabi ko, as I looked around for some water. Gosh, ang anghang! Buti na lang Enzo is sensitive enough to give me a glass of mango shake. Maalalahanin naman pala ang loko.
Mr. Cuevas: “So what do you think?”
Me: “Of the shake? Sweet.”
Mr. Cuevas: “Oh, I meant the appetizer…”
Me: “Ah, uhm, interesting.” Napilitan kong sabi.
Then, for the main dish, they served a very spicy chicken and curried goat. Geez, GOAT. Nakasubo na ko nung sabihin sakin ni Mr. Cuevas na kambing pala yung kinakain ko.
Mr. Cuevas: “So what do you think? How was it?” he asked expectantly.
Me: “It’s, uhm, interesting.” I smiled politely, habang sinusubukan kong lunukin yung karne. It was sort of hairy, actually. Eeeeeewwww!
Enzo smiled, yung super tipid na tipid na ngiti, and handed me my shake. “Here.”
Me: “Thanks.” I drank nonstop, hanggang sa mawala yung lasa nung mga kinain ko. Umalis sandali si Mr. Cuevas para kunin yung dessert.
Enzo: “So, masarap ba?”
Me: “Huh?” Napalingon ako sa kanya.
Enzo: “The food, masarap ba?”
Me: “Well…not really. I’m not a fan of spicy food eh.”
Enzo: “Pansin ko nga. Nahalata ko sa mga comments mo.”
Me: “Halata? What do you mean?”
Enzo: “Well, you kept on saying the food was ‘uhm, interesting’, which were the same lines you said about my loud music na sabi mo eh ayaw na ayaw mo.”
I can’t help but smile nung sinabi nya yun, because that means he’s paying attention to me pala. I smiled widely and after a while, he smiled back, na ikinagulat ko pero hindi ako nagpahalata.
Finally, sinerve na rin yung dessert which was just a teeny tiny little cup of ice cream, pistachio flavor with heavy whipping cream.
Me: “Wow.” nasabi ko na lang, while looking at the teeny tiny cup at nang mapatingin ako kay Enzo, napapangiti sya na napapailing. Nung pangalawang subo ko na nung ice cream, I accidentally spilled it. Shit, dyahe! Bakit kelangan pang mangyari sakin ‘to in front of two handsome guys? Hay. May lumapit na waiter and cleaned the spilled food. After a while, nagpaalam na rin kami kay Mr. Cuevas and thanked him.
On the way back to the office, Enzo didn’t turn on his CD player (to my relief), and we just enjoyed the silence. Hindi ko na sinubukan na kausapin uli sya. Baka sungitan na naman kasi ako. But then, he suddenly says, “I’m sorry I was a jerk about my music.”
Napaawang ang bibig ko, unsure of what to say. Tapos he glanced at me, then said, “Sorry ah, mahina ko sa ganito eh, alam mo na, being apologetic and humbly recognizing my fault, so sana make it less difficult for me?”
Me: “It’s fine…saka may kasalanan din naman ako sayo early this morning. I shouted at you because you almost ran me over but it was my fault pala kasi I was jaywalking.”
Enzo: “But still, I’m sorry for being terribly rude.”
Me: “Sige na nga, if you really mean your apology, buy me a drink tonight, ayy, kaso may pasok pala kinabukasan. Sayang.”
Enzo: “Aba, nagpalibre pa. Eh di sa Friday night, I’ll treat you to a drink.”
Me: “Yey! Manlilibre si Enzo!” I shouted happily like a kid, but deep inside, my heart was secretly happy as well, as I anticipate being together with him this coming Friday night.
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On Friday night, as promised, dinala ako ni Enzo sa isang bar sa Makati to treat me a drink. As I sat next to him at the bar, I looked around and saw that a band on stage called “BroadBand” is performing and the cute vocalist of the band introduced himself as Haring Araw. (Note to readers: I don’t know a band called “BroadBand” in real life, alright? I just made up the band’s name, an effortless one, kaya nga broadBAND. Haha. Parang hindi pinag-isipan. )
Anyway, I was too busy checking out Haring Araw. He looks so animated habang tumutugtog. And normally, ayoko ng mga ganitong kind of music, which was very loud, with guitars that seemed to scream, pero in fairness, magaling sya kumanta. Plus, did I mention that he was cute? Gosh, kahit pa I’m not a fan of loud music, I’m going to buy multiple copies of their CD! Hahaha.
Nahuli ako ni Enzo na nakatingin kay Haring Araw, and he raised his eyebrow at me, saying, “Don’t tell me, you like him?!”
Me: “Baket? What’s wrong with him?” kumunot yung noo ko.
Enzo: “Tsk, mga ganyan pala type mo. Madungis.” sabay tumingin sya kay Haring Araw at umasim ang mukha nya.
Me: “Hindi kaya. That was just his style, dungis-dungisan. Haha.”
Actually, Haring Araw was pretty clean-cut, except for his goatee, sideburns, and dreadlocks. He was wearing a green and yellow shirt, khaki mid-calf pants, and black sneakers. May tattoo sya sa braso. In short, he was the exact opposite of Enzo.
Me: “Gosh, he’s soooo cute…”
Enzo: “Hmp! Lahat na lang cute.” nakasimangot nyang sabi. He looked like a child having a tantrum. I laughed at the thought.
Me: “Lahat nga, which means kasama ka. Cute ka rin, if only you wouldn’t make a scary face like that. Haha.” Napansin kong napangiti sya ng konti.
Enzo: “Etong mukhang ‘to, cute lang? Don’t ever classify me with a guy who has a weird name. I mean, Haring Araw?! What kind of name is that?”
Me: “What? Cool nga eh!”
Enzo: “Cool sayo yun? Madungis at weird? Wala ka palang taste when it comes to guys.”
Me: “Aarrrgh!” I am so frustrated with Enzo kaya hinampas ko sya ng hinampas sa braso.
Enzo: “Hoy! Ano ka ba? Sira ka talaga!” sabi nya, moving away from me. Parang natauhan naman ako.
Me: “Hey, sorry…masakit ba? Eh kasi naman ikaw eh, alam mo minsan Enzo, you can be very annoying!”
Enzo: “Me? Annoying? Ah ganun ah!”
Me: “You didn’t have to insult Haring Araw! And so what if he’s cute? Cute naman talaga sya eh!”
Enzo: “Sinasabi ko na nga ba eh. May gusto ka dun.” sabi nya, habang nakasimangot.
Then we heard the waiter standing between us, laughed. Napataas yung kilay ko, and said to the laughing waiter, “What?”
Enzo: “Oo nga, what are you laughing about?”
Napakamot na lang ng ulo yung waiter and said, “Wala po, sir at ma’am. Ang cute nyo lang po kasing dalawa.” sabi nya na parang pinipigil matawa.
To be continued….
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Up next: The (happy?) ending! Supposedly, sasama ko na sana yung ending sa post na ‘to, kaso masyadong mahaba so pinutol ko na lang. Anyway, thanks for reading! 