Behind Every Man (COMPLETED)

Chapter 06

Chapter 06

"Why are we here?" tanong ko nang bigla siyang huminto sa harap ng isang grocery store.

"To buy food."

"Why?" I asked, a bit confused. Nagsabi ako na pupunta kami. The place was stocked with food. We just needed to reheat them. We could also always call the on-call chef.

"Para hindi tayo magutom?"

"Do you think of me as a bad host?" I asked. "Of course there's food there. I even told them to prepare your favorite meal," I said as I explained to him na naka-handa na lahat ng pagkain namin doon. The wine cellar was even restocked dahil halos maubos iyong laman nun nung huling pumunta rito iyong mga pinsan ko. If ever there come a time na kukunin ng gobyerno ang ari-arian namin, siguro iyong Tagaytay rest house iyong pinaka-huling ibibigay namin. It just held a lot of memory for us. It's easy to go there, so whatever minor inconvenience we feel, that's our go-to place.

It just felt like us.

"Oh."

There was a look of disappointment on his face.

"Why?" I asked. This was the last kind of reaction I expected from him. I thought he'd be delighted since we'd have more time for the... fun things.

"Nothing," he said, shrugging, as he started the engine again.

"What?" I asked again. "Come on. Tell me," I urged him. "How will we fall in love if you won't tell me things?"

Umirap siya. "Stop telling me that we'll fall in love. Makes it feel ingenuine."

Umirap ako pabalik. "Fine," I said because I didn't want to argue about this. I was already feeling hungry. "But why do you look upset na may nakahanda ng pagkain?"

He shrugged. "Just thought cooking would be a nice bonding for the two of us," sabi niya.

"Really..." I said, looking at him. "Do you look cooking?"

"Sometimes," he replied. "It's a nice way to destress."

"Are you a good cook?" muling tanong ko sa kanya. Sure, sometimes naaabutan ko siya na nagluluto sa condo niya, but I never really tried whatever he was cooking. At first, he never really offered (which was rude of him) and then later on, tapos na akong kumain kapag pupunta ako sa condo niya, so I'd refuse (which was rude of me).

Together, we're just two rude people.

"I try," he replied.

"Fine," I said as I unbuckled my seatbelt.

"San ka pupunta?"

"Grocery."

"Akala ko may pagkain na don?"

"Yeah, but let's just buy food. We'll cook later or whatever," I said and then I saw his reflection on the rearview mirror. Napairap na lang ako nang makita ko siyang naka-ngisi.

He's annoying, sure, but he's also annoyingly easy to please.

We got inside and it looked like he knew what he was doing. He grabbed a basket tapos ay lumingon siya sa akin.

"What?" I asked.

"Hand."

"What?" I asked again, my forehead creased.

Instead of answering, lumapit siya sa akin at inabot iyong kamay ko at hinawakan. Bahagyang nanlaki iyong mga mata ko sa pagkagulat sa ginawa niya. He's being very weird today.

"What? Is it wrong to hold my girlfriend's hand?"

Umirap ako. "No," I replied, "But we don't have to hold hands."