Since his arrival at the province, this day has been Arjay’s happiest day. Not only he saw Diana, he even sat with her, and the best part, they talked and became partners! It’s just sad that the day has been nearing its end.
“So, that will be all for today. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with the group and thank you for listening. See you again tomorrow for the last session.” The resource speaker said and the seminar ended.
They all stood up and went out of the venue. Diana headed out first. When Arjay turned to Diana, she’s nowhere to be found. Arjay rushed outside and saw Diana leaving already.
“Diana! Wait up!” he called out.
She stopped walking and slowly turned around. He smiled and ran towards her.
“I’m sorry if you got offended a while ago. I didn’t mean to.” he said when he’s finally beside her.
“It’s fine. I don’t hold grudges.” She smiled at him
They continued walking.
“So, still seatmates tomorrow?” Arjay suggested.
“S-sure. Why not?” she stuttered.
He smirked but Diana did not see it.
“Don’t worry, I’ll be early tomorrow. It’s getting late. I can drop you to your house on my way home if you’d like.” He offered.
“Actually I –“
“Diana!” someone called out.
They both turned to where the shout came from. There’s a man walking towards them. Arjay recognized the man: it was the man he saw with Diana last week. His smile vanished. When the man finally reached them…
“I was waiting for you. I actually texted you but you didn’t reply. You have company…” the man said, more on Diana.
“Sorry, I haven’t checked my phone yet. By the way, Sir Arjay, this is Albert Esguerra, a friend of mine since high school. And Albert, this is Sir Arjay Altamira, the son of the owner of the Altamira Learning Center.” Diana introduced the guys.
“It’s nice to meet you, sir.” The man said and offered a handshake.
Arjay accepted the handshake.
“As well.” He simply replied.
“If you’ll excuse us, sir, we’ll go now.” The man said.
“Yeah, sure, I don’t mind at all.” Arjay said.
Diana smiled at him and she went with Albert. He just stood there and waited for them to go. When he can’t see them anymore, he walked to his car.
“I don’t mind at all.” He repeated and opened the car door. He went inside the car and closed the door with a loud thud. “I really don’t mind.” He repeated.
He drove off and went down the main road.
“He’s just a friend, Arjay. A friend… is he only a friend, though? For Diana, maybe, but for the guy? I don’t think so… what was his name again? Albert… yeah, that’s his name. I really think he’s up to something. Maybe he likes Diana. Is he courting her?”
He groaned. There’s that burning acid in his throat again. Jealousy strikes him once more. He really hate this feeling. He groaned again.
“Focus on the road, Arjay. You’re driving. You don’t want to get into any accident just because you’re jealous.” He said to himself.
He breathe in and out three times to calm his nerves. Finally, he arrived safe and sound at their house. He went out of the car and went inside the house. His parents were in the living room, watching tv.
“Hi, son! How’s your seminar?” his mom asked.
He went to his mom and kissed on the old woman’s cheek.
“It went well, mom.” he replied.
He got his father’s hand and tap his forehead at the back of the old man’s hand.
“God bless you, son.” His father said.
“Go and change now so we could eat together.“ His mom said.
“Yes, mom.” he said and went upstairs to his room.
When he’s already inside his room, he slumped his body to the bed and stayed like that for a couple of minutes.
He remembered Diana and Albert. Did they go on a date after the seminar? He hoped not. But there’s a possibility. Albert won’t pick Diana at the venue if he didn’t plan on taking her to a date.
He was taken back to his senses when someone knocked on the door. He immediately took a seat. The door opened.
“You haven’t changed your clothes yet.” It’s his mom.
“I rested for a couple of minutes, mom. I was about to change.”
“You seemed so exhausted. We’ll just wait you in the dining table, son.” His mom smiled and closed the door behind her.
It’s good that she didn’t suspect anything. Now that his mom mentioned it, he’s actually exhausted. He just noticed now. Well, he’s preoccupied, how would he notice.
He sighed and changed his clothes. He went downstairs to join his parents to dinner.
“Come now, son. Let’s eat.” his mother called him.
He took his seat across his mom on the table.
“So, how’s the first day of the seminar?” his father asked.
“Boring at first, but the activity was great.” He simply said.
“Well, that’s your first seminar. Wait until you’re fed up with a lot of seminars. It becomes much, much more boring than the first time.” His father laughed. He smiled.
“Ferdie!” his mom exclaimed in disbelief.
“What? I’m saying the truth. What do you want me to do? Sugarcoat seminars?” his father said and shook his head while smirking.
“I’m saying, don’t brainwash your son about seminars.” His mom rolled her eyes.
He laughed at his parents’ lover’s quarrel.
“You really looked great together.” He remarked.
His parents looked at him. They both smiled at him.
“Well, we won’t last this long if we weren’t made for each other.” His father said.
“Oh, honey, that’s so sweet.” His mother replied.
“Yeah… I guess we should eat now before the ants would gather around the table because you’re so sweet! I’m having a toothache now.” He laughed. His parents laughed on the joke, too and they continued eating.
After dinner, he went straight to bed but he wasn’t able to get a good night’s sleep yet. He wanted to text Diana but he forgot to ask for her phone number. Should he just message her on her sns? Maybe she won’t mind, right?
He opened his sns and searched for Diana’s name. When he found it, he opened the chat box and started typing.
HI DIANA! IT’S ME. I FORGOT TO ASK FOR YOUR PHONE NUMBER A WHILE AGO. IS IT OKAY IF I ASK FOR IT NOW? – He chatted.
She’s not online. He waited. He checked his phone every 5 minutes if there’s a reply. Unfortunately, there wasn’t any until it had been an hour. He still waited.
He went to the bathroom to take a shower, hoping after he had taken shower, he would get a reply. Maybe the presence of Albert a while ago had jinxed him so he need to wash it off.
He was still in the shower when he heard his phone chimed. He was covered in soap! He immediately washed off the soap and went out of the bathroom. He checked his phone with wide smile but into his dismay, it wasn’t Diana.
It was just a group chat. He checked it. It’s the teachers’ group chat, and he was added into it. He muted the group chat and went to open the closet and grabbed a pajama and a shirt.
He changed into his sleeping clothes and finally turned off his phone. He will just asked for Diana’s cellphone number tomorrow. Anyway, they will be seatmates again tomorrow. What’s an eight hour wait, right?
He was on that state of mind when finally sleep has taken its toll on him. Tomorrow is going to be another exciting day for him.