“You’re not talking,” he said.

She looked up from the swirling melted chocolate sundae in the plastic cup she had been playing with since they sat down. His braces looked a little more metallic in the bright lights of Jollibee Cebu City. She expected the fast food to be a little different from the ones back in Manila but she was disappointed when they stepped in the store. If it weren’t for the people chattering in a dialect unknown to her, she would have felt as if she was still in one of the many Jollibees that were scattered in Manila.

“Huh?” She tried to look indifferent but she knew it was hard to gaze into his small almond eyes without looking like a lovesick dog.

“You’re not talking,” he said again in between mouthfuls.

She just stared into her plastic cup. While feigning great fascination with her sundae, she looked deep in thought.

When she looked at him once again, he was watching the people also dining there. She wondered if he was expecting to bump into someone he knew. As for her, it was most unlikely for her to find a familiar face even if she walked around the whole city. She was gawking at him when she noticed that he was staring back at her.
        
“Why aren’t you talking? Aren’t you hungry? You want me to get you a cheeseburger or something? I don’t want you to complain about ulcer pains. You know, that sundae isn’t exactly dinner.” He focused on her chocolate sundae instead of her eyes.

She just shrugged. “I’m thinking.”

“Oh. What are you thinking?” As if he was some schoolteacher asking a preschooler what she’s holding and hiding in her hands.

“Nothing.”

Her eyes wandered around the place and found a couple sitting right next to them. They were talking animatedly and were gazing fondly into each other’s eyes. Time was going too fast for her. She thought about everything she was willing to do just to spend a little more time with him.

She expected their meetings to be like the romantic dates in movies. In her mind, she saw enchanted nights with him. After a fun dinner, they’d take a stroll on a breezy night. He would hold her hand as he walks her to the entrance of her hotel. He’d look deep into her eyes and kiss her good night before he lets her walk away and disappear behind the elevator doors.

She didn’t get her stroll on a breezy night or her daydreams of him holding her hand during the first two days of her stay in Cebu. This was possibly their last night together and she wished so hard for any of her expectations to come true. While they were making their way to Jollibee to get something to eat though, he told her that he had to go home right after they have dinner. So much for a final dose of quality time.

“Shit,” he muttered. “I’m going to ask for another fork, you want me to get you something? No? You sure?”

The silence was driving him nuts so he was fairly glad for an excuse to leave their table for a while. He held up his broken plastic fork to one of the crew at the counter as he asked for a new one. While waiting, he couldn’t help but wonder what was going on in her head. Obviously, something was bugging her. But what exactly?


“Who exactly is she?” his friend had asked him just a few hours ago.

“What?” he had abruptly turned around that his nose was just a few inches away from his friend’s face.

“Who is she?”

As if on cue, her face floated to his mind – the familiar dark brown eyes that look at him through the few stray hairs that refuse to be combed back. Her laughter has always made him feel like everything was going to be fine.

“We’ve known each other for a long time. We hung out a lot when my family still lived in Manila. She’s my… she’s a very good friend.” The truth was he wasn’t sure who she was to him.

His friend smirked and waved him off mumbling, “Right, right.”


She was looking at a girl eating alone in a corner when he returned with both his broken and new fork. He put the broken fork on the empty tray beside their table and sighed.

“You were talking a lot yesterday and the day before that. You were talking a lot ever since you got here. Why aren’t you doing so now?”

She looked at him blankly, wondering if she had pushed him too far. “But I should be the one who’s upset. He should know why I’ve suddenly gone mute,” she thought to herself.

She looked at his eyes and saw the same sparkle that swept her off her feet the first time she gazed into them. She, too, sighed and tried to smile.

“Do you want me to scream or make a commotion here then?”

“You can if you want to. No one here knows you anyway. Besides, you’re leaving tomorrow. These people won’t see you again,” he said while he tossed a ball of crumpled tissue next to the broken fork.
      
“Yeah, I’m leaving tomorrow. These people won’t see me again. I might not see you again,” she sadly thought to herself.

She watched him while he finished his meal. He was wearing a black trucker cap that failed to cover the rest of his shoulder-length unruly hair. His braces pushed his lips back in a half smile. There were few blemishes on his skin but she still could not find a single flaw in him. He hasn’t changed a lot since they last saw each other.

She leaned closer just so she could catch a whiff of the sweet smelling combination of his sweat and his perfume. Then she gazed at his arms, he was lean but not lanky. Her eyes strayed to his hands. Clean nails and long fingers with a strong grip - the hands of a guitarist. She could not help but keep looking at him as if it was the last time she’d be able to do so.

She stifled another sigh as she looked at his guitar on the chair next to her. She watched him play that guitar a half hour ago. It was his band’s first gig and she went there to watch him.  They both didn’t think she’d be able to make it but she had.
  
A few minutes before his band went on stage, he asked her to move her chair closer to him. She saw him wiping his hands nervously on his jeans so she held his hands and leaned her head on his shoulder. Unfortunately, he was too busy being nervous to notice her efforts to calm him down.

Not having enough money for a plane ticket didn’t stop her from going to him. It would be her first time to ride a boat but she didn’t care. Never mind about her fears of sinking ships and sharks, she had to see him play his guitar. She didn’t know how to make her way around the city but she thought he could tour her around the city anyway. She didn’t know anyone else in Cebu except him but that didn’t stop her either, she had to see him. How else would she find out what he really meant to her?

“Are you okay? Say something.”

She purposely let out a sigh and muttered  “Yeah.”

He was going to say something else but he caught himself before he said anything. He put his spoon and fork together and placed it neatly on one side of the styrofoam plate. She counted the number of times he looked at his phone to check the time. She had to say something soon.

“What time do you have to be at the pier tomorrow?” He said after taking a few sips of his drink.

She was startled. Panic was welling inside her. Her heart started beating a little faster and breathing was becoming a chore. After mustering all efforts to keep calm and keep looking indifferent, she finally said “10:30 am”.

He stared down at the leftovers on his plate. She looked down at her plastic cup.

Her panic was growing more intense by the minute. She knew if she didn’t say something, she’d regret it for the rest of her life.

She coughed a little and said, “Will you stay with me a little longer tonight?”

He looked at her confusedly as he tried to make up his mind.

“I can’t I’m sorry. I have to be home early today. I have the house key, I’m not sure anyone remembered to bring the spare with them.”

“Oh.”

“I’m really sorry. I’ve been coming home too late since you got here. I’m sure my dad would blow his top if I come home late again tonight. I might see you off tomorrow anyway…”

“No, no. That’s okay.” She smiled sadly. Her heartbeat slowed down as she scraped the chocolate off the side of her cup. He was saying something else but she couldn’t hear his words anymore.

He had promised her that they would see each other again. But they both had two more crucial years to go through in college. It would be almost impossible for them to find time to see each other. She wasn’t so sure if he could, or would, come and visit her in Manila. She wasn’t sure, if in five years, he’d remember that he made her a promise.

She could almost smell the sea again. She could almost hear the loud laughter of the people on the ship. She could almost remember feeling free with the air blowing against her face. She could almost feel it, because in a few more hours, she’d be sailing from Cebu back to Manila. This time, she was sure she would no longer feel excited about finally getting off the ship.

Until that moment, she couldn’t keep herself from smiling when she remembered that she crossed the ocean for him. But never mind that it was her last night there, he had to go home.

“Look, just tell me the truth, are you sure you’re okay?” This time, the sigh came from him.

“Yeah, I’m good. Why?”

“Nothing. So… It’s getting a bit late. Are you done with that?” He looked at the brown mixture in her plastic cup.
  
“Uh, yeah. I guess so.” She put the almost-empty cup on the tray beside the broken fork and crumpled tissue. There was no stopping him from cutting the evening short.

He picked up his guitar, helped her stand up and walked beside her to the door. The happy voices inside Jollibee faded as they stepped out into the parking lot. It has just stopped raining but there was a cool breeze blowing that night. They stopped for a while in front of the fast food and looked around.

“So… Where are you off to now?” He was busy wiping off the gravy stain on his shirt that he didn’t see the look of disbelief on her face when he spoke.

“I dunno,” she muttered, trying to keep her cool. “Somewhere maybe.”

“Oh.” He was staring at several cab drivers who were looking at them expectantly. “How about your hotel? You should rest, you know.”

She just shrugged.

They silently made their way to the sidewalk, not sure what they were waiting for. He sat on the gutter, resting the base of his guitar on one foot. She kept standing with her arms crossed.

They stayed there silent and still for some time. They watched cab drivers slow down and stop in front of them and drive off after a few seconds. White cabs, black and yellow cabs, green and white cabs passed by but they still didn’t move.

“Hey…” he looked up at her. “Seriously, where are you off to now?”

She let her arms fall to her sides in an act of exasperation. “Well, since you’re going home, I might as well go home. Shouldn’t I?” She was staring at the passing cars but she wasn’t really looking. Her mind was elsewhere; she didn’t want to look at him.

He stared at the road as if he was thinking. Then he looked at the direction of a glaring headlight coming from his left.

“There’s a cab…”

Not one of them moved.

He let out a loud sigh. “Why are you so quiet? Why don’t you want to get in a cab? Where are you going?”

She looked at him suddenly and just stared. She stared for a long time obviously trying to hold her emotions in. She stood there motionless, looking down at him for a few minutes, a volcano ready to erupt.

“So…? Where are you going now?”

“Where am I going now? Where am I going NOW? Of course I’m going back to the hotel! I don’t know a single thing about this place for crying out loud! I can’t even find my way back to the hotel without a cab! Where did you think I was going to go? A fancy restaurant? A bar? With whom?! My friends here? I don’t have any friends here! I don’t know anyone here except you! I came here for you! God, is that so hard to understand?”
She was breathing quickly now. Her voice had been loud enough to cause the other people passing by to stare at them with curiosity. She bit her lip to stop it from shaking.

She was hoping to get any form of reaction from him when she saw him looking at the road again. He avoided her eyes while he picked on the tip of his sneakers with his fingers.

She spoke again while she shifted her eyes to her feet. This time, her voice was much softer. “I just want to spend a little more time with you. Tonight might be the last time I get to see you. Why can’t you stay with me longer?”

“Oh.” He just kept looking at the road.

She fought back her tears as she sighed in defeat. “You know what, forget it. I’m going home. You take care.” She hailed the first cab that came and opened the door.

He looked up from his shoes and watched her open the door. He checked the time on his phone and saw her get in the cab.

She silently berated herself as she climbed in the car and told the driver the name of her hotel. All the while, she was thinking so hard of happier things just to push back that lump in her throat. She was thinking of the three days that she spent with him and how all of it was going to end now. Just like that. She was thinking about the next day when she would be on board a ship that would take her back to Manila, away from him.

She was pulling the door closed when a hand gripped the handle and forcefully opened it. She stared at him with her mouth open as he got in the cab, sat beside her, pulled in his guitar and closed the door. She was still gaping at him when he gave directions to the driver and felt for her hand.

He told her how her dark eyes matched the rest of her face. She tried not to look like a lovesick dog when he smiled at her, gave her hand a little squeeze and leaned his head on her shoulder.