I didn't noticed that it's actually a salon, the usual one. Maraming single couches na nakahilera at sa dulo nito ay ang full length mirror sa buong dingding kung saan ang pagupitan.
Dylan led me to a couch then sat beside me. A lady sat in front of me, named Patricia on her name tag. On the other hand, a guy named Zach sat in front of Dylan.
We greeted each other good mornings before they adjusted their seats down. I just realized that we'll be having a manicure, pedicure and foot spa service when they pulled out a box underneath their seats.
I felt awkward when I realized that Nanay Tessy, Tatay Henry, and two other personnel were standing there, watching us. Parang ako ang napapagod para sa kanila, lalo na 'dun sa dalawang matanda, nakatayo lang kasi sila don.
"Nanay, Tatay, okay na po. Ako na po bahala." Dylan said with a smile. They obliged with what their Master said. The woman placed my things on my side table before leaving.
Sinimulan na nila ang pagfo-foot spa sa amin. Using a small machine, we were able to let our feet rest for more or less 30 minutes. When it was done, Patricia showed me a basket full of nail polish shades and some nail sticker accessories.
"What would you like to have, ma'am?" She asked.
I searched for a shade of my choice and a sticker perfect for it. Ang hirap mamili, lalo pa't halos lahat ay magaganda. And then suddenly, I remembered something..
"You look.. nice, pinky."
So I ended up choosing a pastel pink and told her to do nail arts with glittery silver polish for my hands. For my foot, I chose a black and gray shade of nail polish. Pinasimplehan ko na lang since hindi naman ito madalas nakikita. Sinimulan na din kaagad niya ang nail polish ko at inuna ang sa paa.
"Katherine." I heard Dylan's voice. I just hummed as an answer since my eyes were closed and I was leaning comfortably on my seat.
"Gusto mo ba makinig ng mga kanta?" I opened my eyes when he asked that and saw that he was giving me an iPod.
"Thank you, Mr. D." I teased before getting it from his hand. He gave me a small smile before closing his eyes. Nililinisan na rin siya ng kuko sa paa.
I wore the earphones and scanned through the playlist. Almost everything was my type of music. It had songs by The Carpenters, Air Supply, Anne Murray, The Corrs, Bee Gees and many more. May mga OPM classics din, halos lahat ay gusto ko. I had a hard time choosing the first song so I played it randomly.
Patricia finished polishing my feet and it looked simple yet lovely. Sinimulan niya na rin kaagad ang sa kamay ko kaya pumikit na lang ako at nakinig sa mga kanta.
It was weird but I heard camera shots while I was listening to Restless Heart's song, When She Cries. I looked around but saw no one taking pictures. I went back to my comfortable position. I almost fell asleep but good thing, Patricia called me to say that she's finished, 'ganon din si Zach kay Dylan.
Ipinasok muna nila ang mga kamay namin sa isang machine para mas mabilis matuyo ang mga nail polish. After that, nagpaalam na din kami at nagpasalamat. Nagbihis muna kami ni Dylan sa shower room, syempre magkahiwalay, bago kami naglakad papunta sa kung saan. Sinusundan ko lang siya dahil alam niya naman ang lugar na ito, it's theirs anyway.
Lumabas kami sa isang maliit na back door, lumihis kasi kami sa main entrance door, na nagdala sa amin sa isang garden. Walang masyadong tao, kami lang ni Dylan. We passed by some beautiful flowers until I found a wooden bench swing in the middle. I looked at Dylan in disbelief before running towards the unoccupied swing, he chuckled at that.
"Wow, this is cool! Ang ganda rito!" Sabi ko pag-upo, siya naman ay nakatayo lang 'di kalayuan sa akin.
"Oo, maganda nga rito." He simply said with a small smile.
"Bakit walang masyadong tao?" I asked when I confirmed that it was just the two of us in here.
"I'm not sure, maybe because it's a little bit hidden?" He shrugged at that. He slowly walked while roaming his eyes around, looking like someone on a music video.
"Bakit nakatayo ka lang diyan? You can sit here, oh." He looked at me when I asked that, then to my hand which was tapping the seat beside me.
"It's okay, the seat is for you, miss." He said before strolling again.
If he said so..
I leaned my back to the swinging bench, letting myself relax with the flowers and plants around. Somehow, I can also hear the beach. It was overall calming, I closed my eyes to relax myself.
Hindi ko alam gaano ako katagal nakapikit pero naalimpungatan ako pagkatapos ng ilang minuto. My eyes immediately caught the figure of a man standing not too far from me, arms crossed in front of his chest while his right hand was playfully brushing its thumb to his smiling lips.
"H-Hi, I'm sorry I took a nap." I said before fixing myself.
He chuckled with a wide smile before shaking his head. "Nap?"
And I just innocently nodded.
"You were asleep for an hour and a half." He bit his lower lip to stop himself from smiling so wide.
What?!
Tiningnan ko ang oras sa phone ko at nakitang 12:49 PM na. Agad na lumapat ang kamay ko sa noo ko dahil sabi ko ay idlip lang, lintik.
"Oh.."
He walked closer to stop my hand from slapping my head, and was already holding my wrists when he checked on my forehead. He was so close that his manly scent slowly filled my nose.
Gwapo na mabango pa..
I felt how my heart beats faster than earlier when he did that. Binitawan niya rin naman ako kaagad pero mabilis pa rin ang tibok ng puso ko.
"Namumula." He pointed at my forehead.
"I-It's o-kay." Fuck, why am I stuttering?!
"Are you hungry? It's past lunchtime already." He looked at his phone to check the time.
"Hindi pa naman-"
I was cut off from speaking when my stomach growled, and Dylan chuckled when he realized what that was.
Kahit kailan talaga naman oh!
"Let's go?" He gestured to me the way so we could start walking back.
Bumalik na kami sa hotel at umakyat sa 2nd floor. Hindi muna kami doon pumuwesto sa balcony dahil katanghalian pa lamang at mainit pa, sa isang table for two kami naupo sa loob.
When the waiter arrived, I just ordered a mushroom soup with garlic bread slices, creamy pasta naman ang kay Dylan. We ordered fruit shakes for the two of us.
"It looks cute.. pinky." I looked at Dylan who was now staring at my newly nail polished hand on top of the table. Nakapahalumbaba naman ang isa.
I knew he would say that.
"Nasa nagdadala." I playfully rolled my eyes, which made us laugh.
Ang gwapo niya talaga tumawa!
"What do you wanna do next?" He asked out of a sudden.
"Why me? Dapat ikaw ang magdesisyon." I tilted my head a little to the left.
"I'm already relaxed." He said while still directly staring at my eyes.
Shit, it felt dangerous.
"Then maybe we should head back?" Baka lang gusto na niyang matulog o magpahinga sa kwarto niya since na-relaxed na naman pala siya, eh.
"Too early for that, miss. Kaya nga ikaw ang tinatanong ko, ayoko pa bumalik sa kwarto." He shrugged at my suggestion.
"Maybe we can just go to the pool?" I remembered I saw an infinity pool earlier.
"Okay then, do you want to swim?" Ginaya niya na din ang paghalumbaba ko pati ang anggulo ng ulo.
"Nope, lulubog ko lang yung paa ko, that's already calming." He nodded so I gave him a small smile.
When our food arrived, we started eating our late lunch. Nag-kwentuhan pa kami tungkol sa mga kinain namin kahapon. He told me that he spent the night searching for Bicol Express and Laing's recipe, napaka-cute!
"Pagbalik talaga natin ng Silang, pag-aaralan ko 'yun!" He said with full determination in his voice.
"You can do your own version of it then you can add that to your catering services." I suggested.
"I will! Well.. can you be my taster? I can't really decide if my food is fine unless someone tells me honestly." He said.
My heart beats fast again. It was beating excitedly like I heard some good news.
Niyayaya ka lang bilang taster, hindi ka niyaya makipag-date!
"Okay, sure. Just tell me when." I smiled.
We finished eating our late lunch so we headed to the pool area. Kaming dalawa lang rin ang tao, baka dahil mainit pa rin. Naupo kami ni Dylan sa tabi ng pool at inilubog ang aming binti. It almost reached my knees so I fixed my dress so it won't get wet.
Dylan excused himself and went somewhere, naiwan ako doon at nakipag titigan sa pool. Naiilang ako dahil medyo hinahangin ang palda ko kaya pinatungan ko na lang ng isang kamay, at ang isa ay nasa gilid.
"Use this,"
I almost jumped out of my seat when Dylan came back with a bathroom towel in his hand, inaabot niya ito sa akin. Nang hindi ko ito nakuha kaagad, naupo siya sa tabi ko, tiniklop nang medyo may kalakihan pa rin ang tuwalya, saka niya ipinatong sa lap ko. Dahil sa towel, hindi na hinahangin ang dress ko.
My heart was pounding like crazy because of what he did. Nginitian niya ako nang matapos niya iyon kaya mas nagwala 'yung pagtibok ng puso ko.
"There." He said after doing so. Natatakpan din nito ang dalawang gilid ko kung saan kita ang konting balat.
What a gentleman, really! Huhu!
"Thank you." I looked away, feeling shy.
"You look beautiful, by the way." He smiled before looking away and playing with his feet with the water.
I became speechless, ramdam na ramdam ko kung paanong uminit ang magkabilang pisngi ko at mas bumilis ang pagtibok ng puso ko dahil sa sinabi niya. Is he aware of what he's doing to me?
We stayed in the pool area for the odds knowing how long, I didn't know exactly. I was in the middle of an argument with myself about my feelings for Dylan when he said something.
"Katherine." He called out. I looked at him and he was looking at me too.
"Do you want to stay here any longer? I want to show you something." He nodded.
"Let's go, then." I said with a small smile.
Ngumiti muna siya bago tumayo nang walang kahirap-hirap. Samantalang ako, nahihirapang makatayo dahil hinahangin ang dress ko kapag tinatanggal ko 'yung towel.
"Let me." Dylan's hand is asking for the towel so I gave it to him, my one hand replaced it on my lap.
Ibinuklat ni Dylan ang tuwalya at hinarang sa tapat ko, halos sumasayad na ito sa tubig, at dahil 'don, hindi ako makikitaan kapag tumayo na ako. Tumango muna siya bago umiwas ng tingin mula sa direksyon ko.
Ang gwapo niya maging gentleman..
With one hand, I gathered the hem of my dress before standing up. Kahit nakatayo na ako at ayos na ang damit, hindi pa rin nakatingin si Dylan. I had to tap his shoulder to tell him I'm done.
Gladly, hindi na gaanong malakas ang hangin habang naglalakad kami. Dylan was holding the towel while walking, nasa likod niya naman ako at sumusunod. A few more walks and we arrived at a small rock bridge in the middle of a garden-like place, meron ding pond sa ilalim ng bridge.
I looked at Dylan in disbelief when I saw large fishes on the pond. Iba-iba ang mga ito at meron ding gold fishes. I took a lot of pictures of them and the surroundings. Dylan volunteered to take pictures of me, kinuhanan ko din siya at kumuha kami ng litrato nang magkasama. Pinilit ko pa siyang gumawa ng wacky poses dahil puro ngiti lang halos ang nasa pictures.
Ang gwapo pa rin ng wacky niya! Ang unfair!
We stayed there for a few hours, talking about random things, until the sky was painted orange. We went back to the hotel to have dinner, and the two of us ordered a seafood pasta and a smoothie.
Nagkukwentuhan lang kami tungkol sa kung gaano ka-enjoy ang araw na ito. Maging sa pagkain ay ang daldal namin pareho. Dylan looks cute when he showed me his bloated cheeks and pout, ganon daw kasi siya 'nung bata. Pareho kaming natawa sa ginawa niya. Napaka-cute!
Umakyat na din kami sa mga kwarto namin pagkatapos kumain. Nasa harap na kami ng mga pintuan namin nang tawagin ko si Dylan. He looked at me and tilted his head, waiting for me to speak up.
"Nag-enjoy ka ba?" I asked him.
He chuckled at that and a very genuine smile showed up on his face. Napaka-gwapo!
"Of course, I enjoy every moment with you." He winked before getting inside his room.
Fvck.. Ang gwapo niya kumindat.