CHAPTER 3 - CAR KEY
I groaned hearing my blaring doorbell first thing in the morning.. I waited for whoever that is to stop but seemed like they didn't plan to back down. I groaned again as I stood up to take my robe on the rack and went out of my room to meet that uninvited ass.
My blood boiled when I saw in the peephole who the culprit was. "DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS?!" I snarled while opening the door. Seeing his whole appearance had my hand automatically went on my hair to untangle it. Really? You just thought of it now when he already saw you?
"Yes, it's 15 mins after 11." He calmly answered while looking at his watch. "Oh! And you're late." He chirped sarcastically.
What? I automatically looked at my wall clock to see if he was telling the truth.. Unfortunately, he was. My eyes widened when, as if on cue, it changed to 10:16AM. Fck!
"Fck. I'm late!" I growled.
"I know." He answered in a 'told-you-so' tone.
"Thank you." I mumbled as I was about to close the door but he put a hand on it to stop me from closing it.
"Thank you? That's it?" He smugly said, making me roll my eyes.
"What do you want?" I spat.
"Brunch!" He chirped, raising a breakfast casserole. But that was actually not the one that made me hungry.. It was him. Part of his hair was brushed up, while the other side were just laying carelessly over his forehead. His pale pink lips were attractively thin and his blue eyes that smiles just like his lips. Everything about his face was just so perfect.
It took me awhile to start speaking. I narrowed my eyes at him as a cover up for the moment I spent ogling at him. "Couldn't remember agreeing to this." I grumbled, still keeping my distance since I haven't brushed my teeth yet.
"Well, you opened the door so.." He smugly said before shrugging and pushed the door slightly open, creating enough space for him to enter but I stepped in it, blocking the space so he couldn't.
"Nope. Nope. You're not entering my place. You cannot fool me, just so you know." I said, raising my brow and pouting my lips.
"Why? Are you afraid you couldn't control yourself when we're in the same room.. Alone?" e playfully asked, drawling the last word. I gasped seeing his toothy grin on his face. How could he be so beautiful?
I was caught off guard! I zoned out for a second before I realized that he was slowly leaning his face on mine, lips puckered as if he was waiting for me to meet his lips.
I gulped and averted my gaze on the casserole that he was holding and took it from him. His eyes opened so I hid myself behind the door so he wouldn't see my flushed face. Thankfully, he didn't interrogate or infuriate me further and just strutted his way inside.
He sat on the stool, leaning towards the counter as he watched me pull out the plates and prepare on the table. Once I was done, he just smiled at me, and I rolled my eyes in return. "You can eat now, Your Highness."
He put out the lid of the casserole and I gasped at what I saw. "Is that tortang talong?" I asked.
He looked at me as if something just hit him. "Was about to say eggplant omelet, didn't know I was talking to a Filipina here."
"Wait.. Are you a Filipino or something? You sure didn't look like one." I said, judging his physical attributes. I wasn't being a racist here, but he just really didn't have that touch of Filipino look in him.
"Made in Baguio." He kid, making me laugh.
"I was born and raised here but my mom's a Filipina."
He chuckled, "What a small effin world."
We started eating and talked about Filipino stuffs. His family always gone to Baguio every holiday break and to Boracay every summer. He told me about foods like Putobumbong, purple rice cake steamed in bamboo tubes, which he only got to eat every Christmas season. We also talked about his family and mine, though I couldn't share a lot since I've never been there and never met my fam.
The sparks in his eyes as he shared me those stories somehow gave me glimpse of how happy he was in his hometown. It's been what-- 20 yrs since I was born and not even once I was able to step on it's land. Thankfully, my mom still spoke the language sometimes at home so I was somehow familiar with it and she cooked some of the Pinoy dishes like adobo, lumpia, sinigang and etc.
When we both fell silent, I realized something. I didn't really know him. I mean, the Clarence I was talking to was different from the Clarence yesterday. Gone are the cockiness and elitist. He looked shy and more gentlemanly right now. Like a real Filipino guy.
"What did I do this time?" He asked, a bit conscious.
I smiled at him. He was still a mystery though. "Nothing." I stood up to bring the used dishes to the sink.
I felt him following me so I gave a him a side glance. There he was, carrying his dishes, as he followed me to the kitchen. "Come on, tell me. What is it?"
I groaned and said, "Nothing." before stomping my way to the bathroom. But before I could even close the bathroom door, I heard him shouted..
"Don't forget to brush your teeth.. I can smell your breath from here."
I slammed the door closed, making sure it created a loud bang. And the guy just guffawed at what I did. This day couldn't get any worse.
I took a bath as quick as possible since I'm chasing my 1PM class. My first was a three-hour class then lunch break. I'm pretty sure I can get there before the second one starts.
I wrapped myself in a towel after taking a bath. I was about to leave the bathroom when I heard the sound of the tv from the living room. He's still here!
I tiptoed, making sure I wasn't creating any noise so he wouldn't caught me in this very vulnerable moment-- me wearing nothing but a towel. Nope, not a good idea.. Not even close.
But then I heard him said, "A few moments later."
I didn't realize I guffawing at the scene in front of me. He just mimicked Spongebob and I couldn't believe it. I mean there was nothing wrong with that, but.. It was just so rare and.. cute.
Realizing how loud my laugh was, I stopped and found him looking back at me. Ghost of a smile was visible on his face but I couldn't be oblivious to his red ears. I watched as the lump on his throat moved as he gulped, and I knew.. I created quite a scene.
I opened my mouth to say something.. But no words came out of it.
"I-i'm watching." He stammered before turning his back on me and awkwardly trying to keep his focus on the television. Then I realized, I was wearing nothing but a towel in front of a guy I barely knew.
"Y-yeah." I croaked then continued walking.. Once I passed by the living room, I started running to my room and closed the door behind me. I exhaled the breath I didn't know I was holding. What the fck just happened?
Once I was done prepping myself up, I found him still comfortably sitting on my couch, watching TV. Movements from my direction might've caught his attention so he looked at me and turned the tv off.
He stood up from the couch, without averting his gaze and it suddenly made me so conscious with how I look. He didn't say anything, and so did I. We were both silent until we reached the parking lot and separated to get in our own cars. I was grasping my bag for the keys and started to feel that mini heart I get attack whenever I lost something.
Then it hit me.. I forgot to take my keys from the rack since I was too wary of him being around me.
I was startled when someone honked. I looked in front and found the dark blue G Wagon in front of me. The window rolled down and his playful smile greeted me.
"Oh yeah! I forgot to tell you about the keys on the counter. Sorry!" He said, feigning a remorseful tone and look. "I'll give you a lift in return." He then opened the shotgun door, waiting for me to take the bait.
I just glared at him, thwarting myself from kicking his Wagon, which I'm pretty sure was insured. I was about to shout at him when another car honked from behind his. We both looked at the driver..
"Come on! You don't own the fcking driveway!" The driver behind us shouted and honked again, a longer one this time. My dad partially owns the fcking building just so he knows.
I looked at Clarence who was now smirking at me. "The bomb is ticking."
I, on the other hand, was pressured knowing there was someone waiting for us to move, so I sprinted to the shotgun and got inside as quick as fcking possible.
We made it to the University in about an hour. I still have like 15 minutes for my next class and we were both rushing to the building, but the stares and whispers we were getting was making me quite uncomfortable. I knew what they were thinking especially after that live..
Good thing I was able to delete it last night as soon as I saw it, but with thousands of views that it got, I know it'll escalate faster than light itself.
"See you after class." That's all he said before he took my hand and pressed his lips on the back of my palm.
I was caught off guard to the point that I didn't even notice him left.. But once I got recovered, I realized that he also left something cold in my palm..
My car key!