THE MORNING, it was still dark when I woke up for reasons I don't know or maybe because of the excitement I was feeling because today Zandy and I were leaving for Quezon Province for a two-day vacation that his family had prepared for us. According to them, this is our honeymoon because we didn't do that when Zandy and I got married.
Time flies and I didn't realize that Zandy and I have been married for a few months and I didn't expect us to reach this point in our marriage. This is far from what I expected to happen.
I smiled because of the strange pity I feel. It's still dark outside but my system is wide awake. I sat on the bed for a while just looking out the window. Suddenly, what happened the other day at Zandy's restaurant came back to me. After that incident, I could hardly look at him. I feel special when I'm with him. I also ask myself why I agreed to kiss him again. And why is Zandy showing and making me feel like that?
Should I hope that maybe Zandy already has feelings for me? I couldn't help but think about that because of the sudden change in his treatment of me. I saw and recognized him, the real far from the first time I met him. Whether I admit it or not, I know that I feel something strange about him, but I can't say that I have fallen for him.
I stayed in that position for a few minutes and thought about the strange change in Zandy and me before I decided to stand up and leave the room. Zandy and I have already discussed that we will leave early for Quezon to a resort there that is said to belong to a friend of Zandy's family. I also thought that maybe I need to relax at least once in a while.
I hadn't even made it down the stairs when I smelled delicious food being cooked in the kitchen. I smiled. I knew it was Zandy. He was quick to wake up. Is he also excited about our vacation?
When I got to the kitchen, I saw Zandy facing the stove wearing a pink apron with a ladle in her hand and busy flipping the ham in the pan. I can't help but smile because of what I see. Every time I see Zandy cooking, I can't help but admire him. At first, I didn't expect him to know how to cook, but the truth is, that's what he really wants to do.
"Oh! You're awake."
I blinked when I heard the voice of Zandy. I didn't realize that he was facing me. I avoided looking at him while I was at the counter. I felt the nervousness and tension again. I feel my cheeks getting hot again.
"Yeah! I woke up because I smelled the fragrant food," I said with a smile.
I saw a smile on his lips. "It's just a ham, Miles," he said. "Well, you came down right, I'm done cooking so, let's eat," he said to me.
Zandy turned to the frying pan again and took it off the stove, then turned it off. He started to prepare the food on the table. I immediately smelled the fried rice with something mixed in it. Does that have vegetables? There are also eggs and ham on the table.
I approached the table and sat there while still looking at the food. "Seriously, you put vegetables in the fried rice?" I asked in surprise. It has carrots, cabbage and also meat.
"Why not? I made it healthy," he answered simply before sitting in the seat opposite me. "You need to eat healthy food, Miles for your health," he added.
I nodded. "Ok," I said and started putting food on my plate.
"By the way, have you finished packing your things?" asked Zandy.
I looked up at him. "Yeah! Just last night," I said.
"Good. So, finish your food and after a minute, we'll be leaving."
I just nodded and started eating. I nodded as I savored the fried rice cooked by Zandy. It's delicious and doesn't taste like typical fried rice. The vegetables also gave a unique flavor. It's not greasy either.
"Wow! You're good at cooking, Zandy, so I won't be surprised that the restaurant you build will be successful," I said.
I saw a slight smile on Zandy's lips, but he immediately wiped it away. "Stop talking, Miles you're eating. Eat before you talk," he scolded me.
I smiled. "Sorry," I said and continued eating.
After we ate, Zandy and I immediately got ready to put the things in his car. The sun has risen.
"Are all your things there?" Zandy asked me.
I smiled and nodded. "It's like you're moving house, huh?" he said smiling. "You brought a lot of things," he commented.
What he said made me smile. Did I bring a lot? It was just one suitcase and two backpacks. "I'm a woman, Zandy, and need more than you guys," I reasoned.
Zandy shook her head. "Ok, fine," Zandy said. "Then, let's go?" he asked.
I nodded and smiled. He walked to his car first and I followed. Even before I got close to the car, I saw the car stop in front of the house. I frowned and was even more surprised to see Roven get out of the car.
"Roven? What are you doing here?" I was surprised when he approached us.
There was sadness on his face. His eyes were also dark as if he was talking to me. It seems like in just a few days, the size of his face changed. He had lost a bit of weight and it was obvious that he could hardly sleep because of his big eye bags.
"I'm here to talk to you, Miles," he said gently. I saw the slight shock on Zandy's face when she faced Roven. "Please, give me a chance, Miles, give me a chance to enter your life again," he added seriously.
I don't know how to react to what he said. Honestly, I'm not that angry with him anymore. I'm willing to forgive him but to let him back in my life, I don't know if I can.
"Roven, Miles doesn't have time to talk to you. We're busy, we're going somewhere. If you want to talk to her, wait for us to come back," said Zandy, looking seriously at Roven. He turned to me. "Let's go, Miles."
Zandy opened the car door and grabbed me by the arm, then he pulled me into the car. I looked at Roven again and I couldn't help but feel sorry for him and something in me told me to talk to him.
The inside of the car was filled with silence as Zandy and I traveled to Quezon. I still remember Roven's face when I left him in front of the house. I see the pain there and I admit that I feel sorry for him. There's a part of me that wants to go back to talk to him but I know I shouldn't. When I get back from vacation, I'll sort everything out with Roven and clear it up.
"Do you still love him, Miles?" Zandy broke the silence.
From outside the car, my eyes flew to him. My face was serious and immediately looked away. "I don't know, Zandy. I don't know what I feel for Roven. Whether it's love or pity," I answered. "All I know is, he's still part of my heart."
"Did your heart beat every time he's near you? Do you feel the same happiness and feel the way you felt before?" asked Zandy.
I looked up at him again. Does my heart beat faster every time I see Roven? Is this the feeling I felt before when we were still happy with each other? I didn't answer right away because as far as I know, my heart was beating faster with Zandy and not with Roven.
"I don't know either, Zandy. Maybe, when I forgive him and get rid of my anger for what he did before, I might feel my love for him again. He's still the man I loved before and it's not unlikely that it will happen again. Maybe my anger overshadows the love I still have for him," I said with a serious face.
"Are you saying that maybe you still love him? That you still have love left for him? He wants to have you again and you will let him do that?" Why doesn't he seem to like that? Isn't that in his favor?
"It's not like that, Zandy, I'm not saying I'm going to let him come back into my life because that won't happen. It's not possible anymore. I'm married to you, Zandy, and one more thing, a lot has happened for us to bring back our past." Why am I explaining to him? "You, Zandy, when Beverly comes back and gets back together with you, will you accept her even if we're married?" I asked him again.
I saw the surprise on his face because of my question. He didn't answer immediately either.
"W-what if I say no because I am happy with my life, a married man, as a husband? I'm happy with you," he answered.
I was stunned by what I heard. Is that all correct or did I just mishear? I looked at Zandy. Our eyes met but he immediately turned away to turn to the road. I can see the seriousness on his face. My heart started to beat abnormally and there was something wrong with the tickling.
I couldn't find the words to answer what Zandy said, so I chose to remain silent and hide my embarrassed face that I felt was already red.
There was a deafening silence inside the car and I could only hear my heart beating. Zandy didn't say anything and just continued driving.
The trip from Manila to Quezon also takes a few hours so I thought of taking a nap first to avoid the strange tension that had developed between Zandy and me.
I don't know how long I was asleep when I woke up when the sunlight hit my face and immediately disappeared. I slowly opened my eyes and I was surprised to see Zandy's hand blocking the sunlight while he was outside the window.
"Let's eat, Miles, I know you're hungry," he said to me. He opened the car door. I couldn't move immediately because of my shock. I don't even know how to react.
"Where are we now?" I ask.
"We're still in Laguna, Miles," he answered.
I looked away from Zandy before getting out of the car. I thought we were already in Quezon, Zandy just stopped over to eat. I'm really hungry. We have been on the trip for some time.
Zandy took me to a restaurant near where he parked the car. It was simple but it looked very clean and the food looked delicious. There are also many people eating there. The restaurant serves Filipino food.
After Zandy ordered the food, we waited in silence for it to be served and when the food arrived, we ate in silence.
Based on my observation, the food at that restaurant was really good so I didn't realize that I ate a lot and we finished all the food that Zandy ordered.
"I loved their food. There's a unique taste in every dish that they serve," Zandy praised the food served to us.
I nodded. "You have a different taste when it comes to food, Zandy. You know what's delicious or not. Because every time I eat, when I like it, it's delicious," I said with a smile.
"That's the taste, Miles, when your tongue likes it, it means it's delicious and popular with your taste," Zandy said.
I smiled. "Maybe you're right, that's why my mouth always likes the food you cook because it's delicious." Zandy just smiled, showing off her cute tan that I always wanted to see.
After we ate and paid the bill, we immediately left. Zandy even took out Milk tea for the two of us which was just right because of the heat of the weather.
Our trip to Quezon Province has started again. Why did they choose this vacation in the province? There are a lot of places near Manila, which are closed for vacation.
"You can take a nap, Miles I'll wake you up when we get there," Zandy said while driving.
I turned to him. Our eyes met and I saw him smile. I couldn't take my eyes off him because of his beautiful smile. It's like I'm being magnetized by it.
"Don't look at me like that, Miles I'm driving, and don't distract me with that kind of look, I might not be able to stop myself," Zandy said with a smile and looked away from me to return it to the front of the car
That's when I realized. I blinked quickly and looked away from him. I just turned around outside the window as I felt my cheeks turn red. I suddenly felt nervous as my heart rate quickened. This strange feeling that I don't know why I feel every time our eyes meet is here again.
Why do you have this effect on me, Zandy? Before, you were just not with me and I didn't care about your presence, but now, it's very different. Do I have feelings for you?