Iritableng sumunod si JV sa dalawang kaibigan. Matt and Thor has been pestering him all morning. Maaga pa lang nasa opisina na niya ang dalawa. He has a lot of work to be done pero binulabog siya ng dalawa. Wala namang rason kung bakit naroon ang dalawa. They just wanted to hang out.
Thor was there dahil sa girlfriend nitong nasa 3rd floor ng building ang opisina. While Matt tags along dahil naboboring ito sa sariling opisina. Pinipilit siya ng dalawa na lumabas but he really can't today. But then, it was lunch. Hindi na niya matanggihan ang dalawa sa kapipilit. Thus, they headed towards Elai's office at the 3rd floor para yayain itong kumain.
Sanay na ang mga empleyado ni Elai sa kanila. Thor was there almost everyday. And he owns the building. So kilala na siya nang mga tao roon. Dire-diretso lang sila papuntang opisina ni Elai. Thor knock on Elai's door.
"It's lunch, Babe! I won't take no for an answer," bungad ni Thor nang makitang nakasubsob pa si Elai sa lamesa nito. Nauna itong pumasok kasunod si Matt.
He was the last to enter Elai's office and he first saw the familiar face sitting on the opposite table beside Elai. He knows who this is. He can remember her well.
Napatingin din ito sa kanila as they come in. Hindi na niya nagawang pumasok ng tuluyan. He remained standing on the door. But he can't stop staring on that beautiful face. Si Matt ang unang bumati sa babae. It took them awhile bago nila maalala kung sino ito. But he remembered her the moment he saw her. How can he forget?
.....
"Dude, she's too naive. Do you think she would say yes?" tanong ni Buboy sa kaniya as they look for potential candidate na magmumuse sa team. They were given options but she had always been eyeing Alliah.
He met Alliah during the first day of class in his 3rd year. Nakasalubong niya ito sa hallway papasok ng female dorm. Hindi niya alam kung bakit but she had caught his attention ever since then. Nung una he thought nagagandahan lang siya sa dalaga and there a lot of beautiful girls in the campus. But as he learned about her, he became really interested.
Paunti-unti he learned about her. But since he has this image as a Warrior Five, he got scared to approach her. Besides, Alli seemed never showed any interest on him katulad ng ibang mga school mate nila na harabas kung magbigay ng confession sa kaniya. So he just stayed admiring her from afar.
His chance happened nang mag-top ito as most beautiful girl in campus na ginawang ranking ng mga IT students. He grabbed this opportunity para kunin itong varsity muse. That's his first move to get closer to her. But Alli was really too naive and aloof kaya't hindi niya alam pano uumpisahang pormahan ito.
"Akong bahala," he insisted. This will be his first move he has to do it.
He knows where Alli usually hangs out on campus. She's a freshman. Madalas itong nasa library. Inabangan niya ito isang araw sa library. Pasimpleng inalam niya ang schedule nito. And when he saw her come in, he took his chance.
Alli sat on an available table beside the window. Naglabas ito ng notebook and libro akmang mag-aaral. He approached her. Umupo siya sa harap nito.
"Alliah," he called her. Nag-angat ito ng tingin. Bahagyang may pagkagulat ang reaksiyon. Ngunit mabilis din nitong ipinaling ang tingin sa paligid. Some students are looking at them. Nakaramdam ito ng hiya.
"Mabilis lang. I don't mean to scare you. But we need a muse for the varsity meet, I hope you'll accept the offer. Please talk to Dean Paredez." He doesn't know how he sounded. Maybe it was too formal or too platonic but nevertheless, he wants her to say yes.
"What?" nagulumihanang tanong nito. Was he speaking too fast?
He chuckled. Natawa siya sa reaction nito. 'Very pretty..'
"I'm sorry," he said almost giggling. "Was I blabbering too much?"
Napangiti din ito sa kaniya. Saka umiling. "No, I mean I get what you said. But, I don't know... Ako mag-mumuse? I don't even join beauty contests sa probinsiya namin. Magkakalat lang ako dun," she said.
Lalo siyang napangiti. She is definitely naive. Hindi ba nito alam kung anong klaseng cahrisma ang meron ito? She make any man fall in their knees kahit wala siyang gawin.
"Well, it's not like you'll sub for us in the game. You just have to be pretty and walk nicely," aniya. He wanted to emphasize her being pretty but he got shy.
"That's the problem. I don't think I'm that pretty," anito na napayuko to hide her shyness.
Naitukod ni JV ang siko sa lamesa and tinakpan ang mga labi to hide his grinning lips. Nakagat pa niya ang labi to hold his giggles. He really find her cute for acting shy and humble. She's an angel by far.
"Let's put it this way then," aniya. "You heard about the beauty ranking done by the IT students di ba? It has been around lately. Well, we looked into it and you're number one."
Sinalubong nito ang tingin niya in a slightly side eye. Tila nililimi kung totoo ang sinasabi niya. Wala itong sinabi but she keeps looking at him. Nakipagtitigan din siya rito but he find it hard to look at her kung ganito ito kaganda. Tinaasan baba niya ito ng kilay as a way to hide his admiring stares. Ito na ang unang nag-iwas ng tingin.
"Can I at least think about it first?"
He shrugged. "Suit yourself. Puntahan mo na lang si Dean Paredez once you're decided," sagot niya.
"You're confident that I'd say yes," she said sarcastically.
Nginitian niya ito saka tumayo. "I insist on it. I won't take no for an answer," he said. Saka kinindatan ito and left. Pinigil niya ang sarili na lingunin pa ito hanggang sa makalabas ng library.
She did accepted to be the varsity muse. Naging scapegoat niya iyon para palaging kausapin ito o kumustahin. But it was more of a platonic encounters. Hindi talaga siya makahanap ng opportunity to soft alunch his true intentions.
Eventually he found out na meron pala itong boyfriend. He saw the guy na palaging bumibisita rito sa campus during holidays. Eto rin ang sumusundo sa dalaga kapag magbabakasyon. With that, iniwasan niya na rin ito.
******
His friends and Alli are kind of reminiscing about the past. Nakinig lang siya. It may be a different past ang naalala ni Matt and Thor towards Alli. They don't have the slightest idea what this girl had done to him in the past. Nahiya siyang aminin yun kahit sa mga kaibigan.
"Hui," tawag sa kaniya ni Thor. "Don't remember Alli?" tanong pa nito.
He changed the topic. "HIndi pa ba tayo maglulunch? I thought we came here para ayain si Elai."
Niyaya na rin niya si Alli. He wanted to keep staring at her for a while. He missed that face. Somewhat it brings out the old spark.
They headed to their favorite restaurant. It was a steakhouse. They sat at a round table na malapit sa glass wall. Alli was seated beside Elai on her left and JV on her right. Matt was on JV's left followed by Thor who is seated on the left of Elai. Namimili sila sa menu, but since the four are regular here, tila kabisado na ng mga ito ang madalas na kainin. She ended up reading the menu on her own.
"Try their Garlic Tbone Steak, Alli. It's really good," suggestion ni Thor.
Napangiti si Alli. She's allergic to garlic. That's one of her flaws - severely allergic to garlic. Even the slightest garlic in her food can cause severe allergies. Ayaw niyang ma-hospital sa unang araw niya.
"You're allergic to garlic, right?" biglang sabad ni JV. Automatic na napatingin sa kaniya si Alli as well as his friends. It's too late for him to buckle up. He smirked. "Naalala ko lang. There was this one incident nung college after the basketball opening, someone played a prank on you. Pinakain ka ng garlic peanut and you swell hard that they had to call an ambulance."
Napatango-tango si Alli. She was surprised that JV can remember it.
"Yeah! I remember that too. Your dad came in the next day and gustong ipa-expel yung mga nag-prank sayo," dugtong naman ni Matt. "But you let it go... too nice."
"Oh, sorry. No garlic for you then," apologetic na turan ni Thor.
"No worries. That's one of my flaws. Anyways," hinarap niya ang waiter. "I'd like to have ribeye steak."
"Make sure to tell the chef not to put any garlic please," dugtong pa ni JV sa waiter. Alli looked at her fully amused. "What?! We have to make sure na hindi ka mahohospital ngayong araw."
She sniggered.
He also saw the mischievous grin on his friend's face. MInatahan niya lang ang mga ito. Was he making it obvious this time? Nahuli niyang napailing-iling na lang si Matt and Thor has this suppress giggle that silently teasing him. Elai was also smiling pero hindi ito nagsalita.
Yes, he remembers Alliah so well. Her beautiful angelic face. She had this secret admiration towards her in the past na hindi niya nakuhanan ng oportunidad. He might have gotten over it but seeing her again made all the difference. He'd like to think of it as destiny. But it's too soon to tell. Besides, hindi siya sure if Alli is still single and available.
Nevertheless, he's happy to see her again...