The past few days made Mari very happy. Happy because of the constant communication between her and Yosef. It was fun exchanging ideas with someone like Yosef. His thoughts are matured, logical and full of sense. For Mari, his maturity was contagious! She learns a lot from him, but she had no idea if Yosef had learned anything from her.
Yosef also felt happy for the past days. Inspired, to be more exact. His love for music came back to life. His guitar, which has long been dumped, is back in service. Everynight, he would try to make his own composition for Mari.
For about a month, they communicated thru mobile phones, E-mails and Instant Messages (IMs). Until such time Yosef made an offer. “Have you ever been to Cafe Austriano?! I heard they serve good food.?!”, he told Mari through an IM one morning.
“I’ve been there before. But that was sooo long ago! When I was in elementary, I guess! haha! “, she frankly told Yosef.
“Oh, I see..Uhmmm.. If you’d allow me, I.. I would like to..ummm.. take you out for a date! That’s if.. if.. it’s okay with you.”, he asked politely.
“Huh?! A date?!?.. When would that probably be?!”, she asked, to make sure if he’s really serious of what he’s saying.
“Depends on your availability! I’ll leave to you the decision.”, Yosef answered.
“Okay, maybe we could set that on the 16th.”, she immediately said, so that Yosef will no longer have any chance to back-out.
“Okay! See you then!”, Yosef said.
And so their first date was materialized as it was planned. They met up at Cafe Austriano at Six in the evening, on the agreed date. While waiting for their orders to be served, Yosef tried to open a topic because Mari seems to be so quiet and shy. She was not the person who gladly opens up with him when they text.
“So, how’s school??”, he asked.
“Urgh!! My sked is not so good!! I hate it.. I have to go home very late! haha..”, she said.
“But why’s that?!”, Yosef asked as if he’s so interested.
“Our prof’s a part-timer. She’s only available after 5pm”, again, she answered.
“Oh..’part-time lovers..’ haha”..he commented.
While they were eating, it’s time for Mari to ask the question that’s bothering her for a long time. “You said you’re going to resign..Where.. are you going to work after?!”,she asked nervously.
“I might go to Manila..great job opportunities are there!!”, he said in a very serious tone.
Mari got speechless and found her food so difficult to swallow. But still she swallowed hard so it wouldn’t cause her to choke. Unintentionally, she gave out a shocked but sad reaction. And Yosef was able to get that! Yosef smiled and asked her, “Why?! Are you going to miss me?”
Mari let out a sigh, smiled shyly at Yosef and avoided his gaze. She wanted to say yes because that’s the truth, but she’s too proud to admit it! She knew she was falling but she doesn’t want to cry again when it’s time for Yosef to leave for Manila.
Both of them enjoyed the date! The night couldn’t have been better! It was Mari’s very first date in her entire lifetime and she was happy because it went well. It was “Superb”!
After the first formal date, couple of dates followed. Movie dates, lunch dates and simply hanging out together at the mall. They were like long lost friends.
Sad by the fact that Yosef will be leaving soon, Mari swore to herself that she is going to cherish and make the most out of the time that Yosef is spending with her. They shared more personal ideas and laughed hard when they crack jokes at each other.
Yosef admits that he has a budding feeling for Mari, but as the days passed by and the more he spends time with her, his feeling grew deeper and deeper. That was the time he realized that he is giving up with Rhianne. However, even though he wanted to pursue Mari, he doesn’t want to disturb the girl with her studies. He plans to wait for her until she graduates.
One time when they were dating, Yosef took the courage to tell Mari, “You know what, I think I’m falling..”, he said nervously.
Surprised, Mari reacted, “Huh?! Falling?! To whom?!”, she asked as if she doesn’t know that it’s her that Yosef was referring to.
“To you!!”, Yosef said frankly and let out a sigh of relief.
“Oh really?!?! Hahahahaha..”, she said and laughed!
“I’m not joking!! I’m serious..”, Yosef said. And with Mari’s reaction, which seems that she doesn’t believe what he said, he decided to counter his plans. He is going to ask Mari to be his girlfriend! “Okay, okay! Can I be the one?!” With his question, he was able to stop Mari from laughing.
“What?!?!”, Mari asked again.
“I said..if it’s okay with you..I would want to be your man..”, Yosef said, laying it all to her.
“It’s like you’re asking me if, ‘pwede ikaw nalang?’”, she asked again.
“Yup!”, Yosef enthusiastically answered.
“But why it’s “nalang”? And not, ask a firm ‘pwede ako na?’”, she jokingly asked.
Then he answered seriously, “Because you might have another option! There might be some other guy that you find better than me”.
With that, Mari then said in a serious tone, “No.. you’re the only option I have..”.
Then there was silence. After a few minutes, Yosef broke the silence by saying, “Think about it..Just tell me when you’re ready”. And gave Mari his most beautiful smile.
0 comments:
Post a Comment