Tuesday, October 12, 2004
He stood undecidedly before the glass window, surveying the various
food-flavored lotions and shower gels, shifting his weight from one
foot to theother. He had always hated shopping. But he had to.He
knew Natalie would kill him (and probably glory in it) if he ever
went to her without a gift. She actually sent him off on this errand
specifically.
"Go na, hon, and buy a gift." She waved him away imperiously, even
before he crossed the threshold ofher garage. "Mamaya, it'll be too
traffic na and you might be late."
"Okay," he sighed, bussing her forehead. "What do you want ba?"
"Basta get me something that would be for me lang ha?" She smiled
greedily, "Not for both of us."
"Fine," he said, and giving her one last hug, went back into his car
to go to the mall. Two minutes later, he received a text from her.
Ups, sori,hapi vday pla J!
He chuckled now as he thought of the love of his life. He knew Nat
since way back but only realized he loved her a few years ago. Which
was really stupid of him since he couldn't imagine life without her.
Deciding against the raspberry bath confetti he picked up at the
counter, he put the glass tube down and went out of the store. She
probably had one already.
Walking randomly, he passed a video store and thought of buying her
the extended version of her favorite film: The Lord of the Rings. He
knew the movie quite well, remembering the first time they watched
it. She was burrowed in his arms while she swooned over the male
leads (whom he privately thought were a bunch of fairies). It was
after watching that movie when she confided his friend Ron had been
making moves on her.
"Well, you're pretty kasi eh. Does he bother you ba?" he had asked,
just a teeny bit concerned but making a mental note to talk to Ron
if she said he was making a nuisance of himself.
She shook her head, looking pensive. "No, it's fine." Then she
smiled brightly at him. "Carry ko
naman eh, me pa?" So he decided not to talk to Ron.
Suddenly remembering his buddy, he picked up a T2 dvd (Ron's all
time favorite film) and paid for it. He was out of the store when he
realized he hadn't bought Natalie anything. He shrugged and decided
to have a look around first. If he couldn't find anything special,
he'll just come back for pansy Legolas.
He sighed again, looking at a vast array of jewelry. The rings
would look really good on her small hands. But then Natalie isn't
really fond of jewelry. Being quite accident prone, she either lost
them or got cut by them, and he wasn't going to risk it. Besides, he
thought that the ring she'd be wearing soon would be quite enough.
Running his hand briskly through his hair, he frowned at the shop
windows. It's hard enough for a guy to find the perfect gift, but
for such a special lady. He knew what he wanted to find. Something
that would tell her how much he loved her BUT without being mushy.
Natalie hated mush.
"Ickle, Jake, you know I hate 'prom' music." She grimaced as she
furiously jab bed at the buttons of his cd player. "Don't you have
real music here?" She flipped through his cd case in disgust. "When
I get married, I'll have head-banging music. And anybody who
requests for anything 'senti' can go plan their own wedding!" He
just smiled and nodded. He was quite prepared to let her do whatever
she wanted.
It was when he decided to take a breather when the idea finally hit
him. He sprinted over to Starbucks and looked at the thermos
collection. Being coffee addicts, he and Natalie frequented the café
and once, she pointed at the small silver flask they had on sale.
"Dream ko yan." She sighed.
"What? The thermos?" He asked, puzzled.
"Yeah."
"Then why don't you buy one?"
"Kasi, it has to be given. You know, I have this romantic dream.
That before I go to work in the morning, just when I'm about to step
in the car ha, my Prince Charming will come over from the shadows
outside our house and he'll give me a thermos full of café __mocha
to take to the office. Di ba romantic?" She gazed dreamily at the
silver flask. "Basta I'll marry the guy who does that."
He picked up the silver thermos and approached the lady at the
counter with his request. Fifteen minutes later, he was driving
along the highway to meet her but the traffic jam was horrendous.
She had texted him twice already. Wru na? Ur l8. Grrr. He texted her
back. Sori hon. I'l follow nlng s hotel. C u!
Later when he was walking up the staircase to the restaurant where
she was waiting, he wondered whether he intentionally tried to be
late. Holding his gift so tightly, he told himself that it's too
late to have cold feet.
Then he saw her and felt the butterflies in his stomach morph into
dragons. She's so beautiful in that white dress.
"I'm going to look like Galadriel," she had told him after she
shopped for her dress.
"You'd give Cate Blanchett a run for her money." He answered fondly.
And she did. He walked slowly towards her until she looked up and
saw him. Her face lit up in a lovely smile.
"Jake! Hay, I thought you'd never come eh. I'll never speak to you
again if you stood me up today of all days."
"I had trouble finding you the perfect gift eh. O, eto na." He
handed her the flask.
"Oh," she said, staring at the thermos in her hands. "Oh." She
looked up at him, blinking back tears. "I don't know what to say."
"No need," he whispered, brushing his fingers against her
cheek. "Basta be happy ha?"
She nodded. Then she turned and beckoned to Ron.
"Darling, Jake is here."
"Uy, pare, how come you weren't there sa church? I had to drag a
cousin to be my best man tuloy." Ron grinned at him, throwing an
arm around his bride.
"Sorry, pare, super ang traffic." Then Jake shook his friend's hand.
"Congrats. I'm happy for you. Take care of Nat ha?" Take care of her
for me.
- blah blah blah!!
by Gjefferson @ 8:35 AM
