Albert made up his mind. He will confess his feelings, whether Diana already knew or not. If she rejects him, then at least he could move on and do not regret anything. He just wanted to know if he has a chance on her or none. He heard the door creaked open.
“A-Albert?!” she exclaimed.
He looked at Diana and smiled. He walked towards her. Diana met him halfway.
“W-What are you doing here?” she asked when they met on the pavement. She continued walking. He walked with her.
“I’m worried about you, that’s why I am here. To check up on you. You keep rejecting my calls. You don’t reply to my messages. Did I do something? Or is there something that I said that hurt your feelings?” he asked, because he is curious as hell.
“I’m sorry, it’s just that, there are a lot of things going on in my mind right now… and no, you didn’t do anything or said anything that hurt my feelings.” She answered him.
She continued to walk past his motorbike so he grabbed her hand which made her stopped walking.
“I’ll take you to the school.” He said and let go of her hand.
He picked the helmet and handed it to her. She wore the helmet and they both get on the motorbike. When they arrived in front of the school gate, she took off the helmet and handed it to him. She got off.
“Thank you.” she said and turned her back to him.
“Diana…” he called out, which stopped her from walking away. She turned around.
“Yup?” she asked.
“Can I invite you out to dinner, tonight? I just wanted to talk to you… intensively about things.” he said.
She nodded. He smiled and went off to go to work. When he arrived at the municipal hall, the ambience felt weird. He went to his desk. He was just about to turn on his computer when Beth came to him.
“Albert, have you heard the news?” she asked. He shook his head. “Vice’s Wife died just this morning. Chronic Bronchitis. They said the doctor diagnosed it as acute bronchitis but turns out, he was wrong.”
He suddenly felt coldness entered his body. Beth went to him and touched his forehead.
“What happened to you? You look pale! You’re cold, actually. Did I say something?” she asked.
He shook his head.
“Don’t worry about me. I’m fine. I didn’t eat breakfast so that’s probably it.” He lied and smiled a bit to cover up his lie.
“Do you want me to get you some snacks? I have snacks on my drawer. Do you drink coffee?” she asked, still worried.
“It’s okay Beth. I’m okay. Don’t worry about me.” he assured her.
“People who said they are okay are not really fine. Wait for me, I will just get some snacks and a cup of coffee.” She said and left him.
What if he has the same case with the Vice’s wife? Does that mean he won’t last longer than he expected? He was back to his senses when Beth came to him and put down on his desk 2 cupcakes, 2 biscuits and a cup of coffee.
“I don’t know what you like so I just brought different biscuits and cupcakes. And here, drink some coffee. If you need anything, text me, okay?” she said and left him.
He ate one of the cupcakes and drank the coffee. He decided to make himself busy. He was startled when Beth knocked on his table. He looked up.
“Lunch. Would you like to come with us?” she asked. He frowned.
“Who’s us?” he asked. She smiled.
“Hi Albert!” Carlo said nervously and raised his hand to say hi.
He looked at Beth and smiled meaningfully. Beth winked at him.
“So, are you coming with us?” she asked again.
“Is it okay if I join? You know, it should be your time together.” He said.
“Totally okay, bro. Actually, Beth said you’re her best friend here and she wanted us to meet and really talk.” Carlo replied.
“Okay, cool! Let me just fix my things.” he said and he just piled the papers on his table. He grabbed his phone and wallet. “Let’s go.” He said.
The two nodded and they went out for lunch. When they are already at the restaurant near the municipal hall, Beth volunteered to order their food.
“So Carlo, I know we don’t really talk but Beth is my best friend so, I want to know your intentions.” He said when they were both seated.
“I really like Beth ever since I started in the Municipal hall. I actually thought you two were a thing then so I didn’t pursue her. But Deo came along and as you know he’s a bully and he has a jock-built body. And he always threatens me with violence whenever Beth and I talk, so I coward, but when Beth showed that she’s also interested with me, I grabbed the chance so here I am. My only intention is to show her that she didn’t choose the wrong guy; that I am worthy of her time, and if by any chance I got lucky, her love.” Carlo said.
Albert nodded. Beth went to them.
“We’ll just wait for the food. So what did you two talked about?” she asked.
“I asked him what his intentions are.” Albert said straightforwardly. Carlo was surprised.
“And…?” Beth asked excitedly.
Albert looked at Carlo but he is already looking at Beth with glow in his eyes. He’s in love. Beth chose the right man.
“It’s a man thing. We don’t say what we talked about.” Albert said. Beth pouted her lips.
Their food came and they ate silently. After eating, Albert excused himself and went ahead. The new love birds needs to enjoy each other’s company, and he doesn’t want to be a bother. He made himself busy the whole afternoon.
When the bell rang for their time out, Albert fixed his table and turned off the computer. He fixed himself and went to the school where Diana teaches. When he arrived there, the students are already going home. He waited outside the gate. When the last group of students came out from the school gate, he checked his watch. He had been waiting for an hour!
He called her cell. The phone rang but she didn’t answer. He went inside the school and walked towards the faculty room. The lights were turned on so he continued to walk towards the room. When he arrived there, Diana was busy doing something, she didn’t even notice him walking towards her.
“What was---“
“WHAT THE HECK! ALBERT!!!” she yelled at him while she’s holding her chest.
“I’m sorry, you were too busy to notice me.” he said and shrugged his shoulders.
“Don’t you know the word knock??? You almost gave me a heart attack! Geez!” she sneered at him and continued what she was doing. “Anyway, how long have you been here?” she asked.
“An hour…?” he said.
She immediately raised her head and looked at him.
“Why didn’t you call me??? You should have called me. I’ll just fix my things then we’ll go. Gosh Albert, you should have called me.” she said while fixing her things.
“I actually called you but you didn’t pick up. That’s when I decided to check on you and you’re still here.” He said.
“There. Let’s go.” She said and they both went out of the room.
Diana turned off the lights and the ceiling fan and she pulled the door closed. They walked towards the gate where the motorbike was parked. Albert handed her the helmet. She put it on.
“So, where are we going?” she asked when she had put on the helmet.
“I found a new barbecue stand near your place. You told me last time that you don’t like fancy dinners so I thought I could just take you there. Anyway they have a table and couple of chairs for the customers.” He said.
“Let’s go there then! I am craving for isaw and Betamax.” She said.
They both get on the motorbike and they drove to the barbecue stand. They picked their food to be roasted before they went to take a seat. They have been sitting for a few minutes now and Albert doesn’t know how to start the conversation so he kept his silence.
“I thought you’re going to say something.” Diana began.
“Yeah, but I think we should eat first.” He smiled a bit.
“Mmm—kay. Whenever you’re ready.” She said.
“When you said that, it felt like I need to recite in class.” He laughed.
“Whatever. I’m just trying to ease you out. You look tensed.” She rolled her eyes but she smiled at him. He sighed. “What’s with the deep sigh now?” she frowned.
“Nothing. There’s our food. I’ll just get it.” He said and stood up and went to the grilling area. When he came back, he has their food on a plate and some vinegar as dip.
“Oohh~~ I love the smell. I missed eating barbecue.” She said excitedly.
“When was the last time you had one?” he asked.
“I don’t know. It’s been a while actually. This is my first barbecue this year.” She said and picked the chicken intestine on stick.
Albert picked the barbecue. While eating...
“So, what were you doing a while ago?” he asked.
“It’s for the JS Prom.” She said. Albert frowned.
“I thought they abolished that in the system since they started K-12 Program.” He stated.
“Yeah, that was 3 years ago. Ma’am Mayo thought she could modify and implement it again because she read it on a magazine column.”
“And…? If she wanted to implement it again, why were you doing it?”
“Well, she made me the head committee. So I need to do it. Plus, she needs to see the plan on Wednesday.”
“Then why are you rushing it? You could have made that during the weekends.”
“That’s the point, she just gave the memo this morning. Anyway, enough me. How about you? How’s work at the municipal hall?” she asked.
“It’s good. No pressure at all. By the way, have you heard the news?” he asked.
“What news?”
“The Vice mayor’s wife died.”
Diana stopped eating.
“THE Vice mayor’s wife? The event we just attended 2 weeks ago?” she asked, confused. He nodded.
“That was sudden…” she remarked and they continued eating silently.
When they were done eating, they just seated there.
“So… are you ready to talk now?” Diana asked Albert.
“Well, it’s now or never, right?” he asked.
“I guess… what is it that you want to say anyway?” she asked.
“You need to promise me that even if I told you this now, nothing will change.” He said and looked at her intently.
“O—kay. I promise. You’re making me nervous.” She laughed a bit.
“I’m nervous, too. My hands are sweating actually...” he said and laughed too.
“So what is it?” she asked.
“Uhm… I know you already knew I like you, right? I really like you a lot, but…” he stopped and looked at her to see her reaction.
“But… what?” she nervously asked.
He sighed.
“I think this is not a simple infatuation anymore… I think I have fallen in love with you Diana Pangan.”