“Are you ready?”
David asked me the moment his car pulled over in front of the building where his friend’s free medical mission and feeding program was taking place.
“Yup,” I replied with a nod, smiling as I unfastened my seatbelt.
“I’m sure he would be surprised to see you,”
“Do you think so?”
“Yeah, he told me he wanted to introduce you to his wife,”
“Whoa! Wait— he’s married?”
“Yes—”
“How are they getting along?” Even though I was shocked, I still asked it jokingly, which caused me to earn a hearty laugh from him. “Oops! Just kidding!”
“Don’t worry; I have that same question, though!” He said, still laughing.
“But seriously, I’m happy to know that he’s already settled down. At least he won’t grow old alone like we used to tease him about before.”
“Yeah, I agree; I couldn’t believe it either when he first told me about it, especially when he said that he was getting married.” He said, his expression suddenly changed as he stared at me.
“Yeah?”
“Hmm.” He nodded. “I’m happy for him too. He already found the woman he wanted to be with for the rest of his life.”
-‘Ow!’- I gulped. “But you’ve also found the one— I mean, the right woman for you, didn’t you?” I felt something heavy hit my chest when I asked that question. “So you should be happy too,” I added but to my surprise, the only thing he gave me as a response was a smile. A smile that didn’t even reach his eyes.
I couldn’t help but frown. Is there something going wrong in his relationship with Tanya? I wanted to ask him, but I held back because if I continued, it would be like I was the one stabbing myself… and that hurts more.
“Hmm…” I heard him hum a few seconds before staring at me again.
At that moment, I felt like the atmosphere had thickened, and the silence stretched between us at the same time. We were just there sitting next to each other and staring like it was the only thing we could think and do.
“Uhm… shall we go?” I asked, trying to break the spell surrounding us before I could think of something that I might regret later. I also knew that in a few more seconds, my heart would explode due to the excitement and awkwardness I was feeling at the same time.
Excitement… because God knows how much I prayed for this thing to happen again… to see the longing in his eyes every time he looked at me and how he smiled every time he talked to me… but then there was awkwardness. Awkwardness… because I knew no matter how excited I felt at that moment, that was the only thing I could and should feel for him because he’s no longer mine and I know he will never be mine again.
“Yeah, let’s go,” he nodded slowly, flashing me a half-hearted smile that I didn’t get to know why and what for as he had already exited and closed the door to his side.
“Whew!” My hand automatically rose to my chest as I blew the tension out of my body.
I was about to open the door but then I was surprised when he had already done it for me. I didn’t even notice how he walked to that side.
“Thanks,” I smiled before slowly getting out of the car.
I checked my dress as soon as I came out… yeah… because that was the only thing I knew how to do at that time to avoid making eye contact with him.
Even though it was wrong, and it was embarrassing to admit it, deep down, I hoped it was me… I hoped there was no Tanya in his life… and that he and I were still together.
“Let’s go,” he said smiling that brought me back in reality.
“Yup!” I copied his gesture and headed towards the building entrance.
~~~~~`~~~~~`~~~~~`~~~~~
“Ohh… whoa! Look who’s here!”
“Francis!” I couldn’t help but chuckle when Francis Smith, David’s friend screamed the moment I entered the room they had temporarily occupied to become his office.
“Wow! Samantha Soriano— is that really you?” He stood up in his chair and walked slowly to greet us.
“Of course, it’s me, silly! The one and only!” I replied, excitement laced in my voice.
“Oh, jeez! It’s been a long time! How are you?” He asked, grinning as he hugged and kissed me on the cheek.
“Well, I’m fine as you can see,” I returned his gesture.
But then I frowned when he suddenly glanced at David and then at me before curling his lip into a mischievous smile.
“Oh, yeah? Uhuh… I can see that!” He shrugged, his smile widened.
I wanted to say something to correct what he had in mind because maybe he thought David and I were dating, but I don’t know what happened and no words came out of my mouth. Probably because deep inside I wanted it too. I didn’t hear anything from David either. He just stood there smiling and watching us.
“How about you? David told me you were already married!” I asked, trying to change the subject so I could exclude myself from the conversation.
“Yup!” Excitement filled his voice along with his eyes. “Your friend here is one damn lucky guy now!” He proudly stated that it made us laugh in front of him.
Yeah, still the Francis I knew back then, I thought.
“Lucky? But who is the unlucky girl?” I couldn’t help but ask to make fun of him. “Who is this unfortunate woman who agreed to marry you and be with you for the rest of her life?”
“Damn! You are really the Sam I knew two years ago!” He said laughing as he shook his head.
“Of course, duh!” I rolled my eyes. “But seriously, congratulations!” I screamed excitedly.
“Thank you”
“I’m happy for you, Francis,”
“Oh, you do?”
“Of course! You’re a good man so you deserve all the happiness in this world.”
“Ahh… thank you, Sam, you deserve it too!” He said genuinely but then gave David a quick glance. “Anyway, when did you go back to New York? I was surprised when my friend here told me you were back.” His gaze passed over my shoulder as he winked.
“Uhm… a few weeks ago,” I simply responded.
I couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow when I turned around and saw David having a fake innocent look on his face.
“I thought you would never come back to New York after your break up with David.” This made my mouth hang in mid-air. I was taken aback, but somehow I felt relieved when I heard David speak behind me.
“Shut up!” He threw him a playful glare, but Francis wasn’t even affected.
“Why? Did I hit something— I mean, a wound from the past?”
“Do you still love your life?” A question he often asked whenever Francis was playing around.
“Oops! I’m sorry!” He pretended to be shocked. “I didn’t know that there was still a part of the wound that hadn’t completely healed yet.” And he actually managed to laugh despite David’s warning.
“Why would you think I wouldn’t come back here?” I tried to interrupt hoping to change the subject, but it was no use because Francis was so insistent on talking about our past.
“Ahh… that means you two have already moved on!” He ignored me just like what I did a few minutes ago.
“You know what, I wonder what your wife would say if I told her you still check out sexy girls on your phone and every time you have meetings abroad!”
“Hey, hey, hey! Don’t you dare tell her even single word!”
“Then, shut up!” David exclaimed, a sinister smile playing against his lips.
“Fine!” Francis glared at him while I remained grinning watching them. ” Anyway, let’s go outside, I want to show you how we carry out the medical mission and how we help the foundation.”
“Oh, sure! But wait— aren’t you going to introduce your wife? I want to see her— I want to meet her!”
“Of course, I will introduce her but please…” he paused. “Pretend you didn’t hear anything from your ex-boyfriend, huh?”
Imagine the laughter that David and I shared after hearing what he said.
“But why? What did I hear?” I asked, couldn’t help but laugh again.
“Just— just do as I say, Sam! Just pretend you didn’t hear anything!” He pleaded, his eyes filled with anxiousness.
“Okay, okay! Let’s go,” I nodded. “But seriously, why are you still checking out on some other girls when you’re already married?”
“Hey, don’t believe what your ex-boyfriend had said! It’s not true! They’re not true!”
I was about to ask him again but David beat me to it.
“So are you saying I’m lying? And why the hell do you have to mention the word ex-boyfriend everytime you talk to her?”
-‘Right!’- I agree deep inside.
“Why? Isn’t it true? You really were her ex-boyfriend, weren’t you? So what’s wrong with it?”
“I know but you don’t have to mention it every time you talk or ask her!”
“Ohh… am I peeling again the old scar?” Francis once again asked, but this time David just shut his mouth and didn’t respond.
But to our surprise, he suddenly grabbed me by the hand and dragged me with him towards the door.
“You know what— let’s go! Let’s just find other places to enjoy! I think it’s wrong that I brought you here!”
“What?” I suddenly got confused whether he was serious at that moment or was still joking to get even with his friend, but even so, I couldn’t get to pull my hand out of his grip… because why would I when I felt so secured at excited at the same time.
“Hey, wait!” Francis ran after us and blocked David’s way. “You don’t know how to separate a joke from a serious matter, do you? I was just kidding, bro, come on!” He continued to block our way.
I was grinning while watching them. I know David was not serious about leaving, he was just trying to tease his friend to get even.
“Kidding my ass!”