Chapter 58

"I swear, Kuya. If only not because of that smoothie, I might not be on this board meeting." Ria is currently having an online meeting with her cousins. She is on her executive chair, and the people she's meeting with are shown on the screen of her Mac on her wooden desk. "You're not really on this board meeting," said the guy that Ria talked to. "I have no time, okay? Hangover, remember?" Ria explained. "Okay, Ri, but I think we need to make a lot of studies before we manufacture that smoothie. The effectivity of that is because of the fresh ingredients. If we will sell that commercially, it might not work if it will be stored in the warehouse for months," said a woman who is also on the boardroom shown on Ria's computer screen. "Well, you have a point, Ate... Take your time. We're not in a hurry on this one," Ria told the woman. "You're the only one who gets drunk after drinking one bottle of lambanog!" joked the guy that Ria was talking to earlier. "Ha-ha!" Ria answered sarcastically. In a distance, Carla smiled as she watched Ria meet and banter with her ‘business partners.' Remembering their conversation last night, she concluded that those online are Ria's cousins. So Ria is also a part of the lambanog business? "Well, I guess that's it?" Ria asked her cousins. The meeting of the cousins ended as those online said their goodbyes, as well as Ria. That's when Carla thought of approaching her. "Ri..." Ria looked at her. "Oh! Good morning! How are you feeling?" "Bad..." Carla grimaced. Ria smiled. "Here. Take this smoothie." She poured some smoothie from the pitcher on her table to an empty glass. Carla took the smoothie that Ria gave her. She immediately tried it. "Hmn! What is this?" She liked what she tasted. "Mom made that. As recommended by my cousin who is a drunkard." Carla smiled. She then looked around the room. "Is this your home office?" Ria looked around as well. "Kind of. I inherited it from my grandfather." Carla looked back to her. "This used to be his office. But when we started living here in his house, when my parents separated, he had an access made leading to my room. He said it's because I'm his favorite grandchild." Ria smiled fondly. "He said I will be the one who will inherit his books anyway. But what he really meant is he wanted me to take care of his books when he dies." "So, this is all your grandfather's?" Carla asked, referring to the books. "Almost. I have a few, maybe two or three shelves. Most of them are textbooks from school." "But you love books, right?" "Of course. But, do I still need to buy books when my grandfather lets me read his prized possessions? And I mean, prized." Ria went to a bookshelf and opened the glass enclosure. She carefully took a book out, and when Carla saw what it was, she understood why the book was handled with utmost care. "Noli Me Tangere. First edition." Ria showed Carla the book with pride. Carla gaped at the book. It is indeed a first edition Noli! The book said it was published in 1886 in Berlin, Germany. "Although, I haven't read that because it's in Spanish. But, we have this." Ria took another book from the same shelf. She read what was written on the title page. "Dr. J. Rizal. Noli Me Tangere. Novelang wicang Castila na tinagalog ni Pascual H. Poblete. This was–" she looked at the date it was published. "–Oh! Maynila, unang araw ng Junio ng taong isang libo siyam na raan at siyam... June 01, 1906. The first ever Filipino translation of Noli." Carla just looked at the book with awe. "We also have a Shakespeare, but–" Ria looked at one of the shelves on their right. "It's not a first edition, though it's one of the oldest editions." She looked back at Carla. "Yeah, my grandfather is addicted to books. First editions. Old editions." Rich people, Carla thought. So that's how the affluent people spend their fortunes? "So, are you feeling better?" Ria returned the book she's holding on the shelf. "Yeah, I think I am," Carla answered. "Because of the smoothie, or because of the dust in that book?" Carla giggled as she gave the book back to Ria. The latter carefully put it back to the shelf. "By the way. Joshua came here earlier." Carla was stunned. "He wanted to talk to you. He kind of knew how you felt about the almost kiss." Carla completely lost her tongue. Actually, panic started creeping up inside her. "I'm sorry, Carla. I accidentally called him last night. I didn't mean to. I was drunk." She wants to get mad at Ria, but Carla felt the sincerity of her apology, and that she knows she really did not mean doing what she did last night. She is also at fault to begin with. "I shouldn't have told you. It's also my fault." "No. Actually, you can tell me everything, just not when I'm drunk." Carla just sighed. "But, you know. I think you should give him the chance to talk to you. There might be something that you need to know," Ria said to Carla. "What for?" asked Carla. "He'll apologize because I felt that about him? Wait... Did you tell him about how I feel?" "No...! I think I didn't. He didn't tell me anything about how you feel. All he said is that I told him that you thought he wanted to kiss you and you were quite disappointed that he didn't..." Ria's voice faded as she finished that sentence. Carla felt embarrassed again for the very same reason. If only she can hit herself for being stupid. Why did she even felt like that in the first place? "I need to go home now." "Are you sure?" Ria asked. "Why don't you have breakfast first? Although, it's already ten. Almost. It's brunch already." "No, it's okay. I'll just eat at home," Carla refused. "Okay. I'll ask Kuya Reimund to drive you home." Carla did not refuse. She also don't want to commute with her condition right now. Although, she can conveniently get a Call-A-Taxi, it's still better that Ria would take her home. And the best part is, it's free. But the free fare is the least of her reasons. She looks disheveled as she did not bother fixing herself up before leaving. She didn't even bothered rinsing her mouth. Good thing is that lambanog does not smell. Or else, she would be reeking of alcohol. But she realized that's not the worst that could happen to her today. She just arrived at their house, and Ria's car has not gone far when Joshua arrived. Carla felt like she wanted to cover herself to hide the mess she was at the moment. But she thought it might be more shameful if Joshua sees her doing such, so she just stood there and waited for him to see her most undesirable look. Though, that didn't matter as Joshua nervously walked towards Carla. He's more consumed as to how glad he felt when he saw her than how she looks like. Now he's nervous as to what might happen in their encounter. "Carla–" "Did Ria tell you I'm here?" Now, she's beginning to be really pissed off with that classmate of her. Joshua was surprised at her question, but he immediately recovered and answered. "No... No, she didn't. I just happen to come to their house, and she told me that you already went home. I just wanted to see you very badly so... I came... here..." Joshua looked like he doesn't know what to say. He is starting to panic inside because he really wanted to say a lot of things to Carla, but he just doesn't know how. He's worried she might get mad, but he's also wondering if she will like what he'll tell her. He's just so confused. "Go away." Carla turned her back on him as she started walking away. "Wait!" Joshua managed to hold her arm and stop her. Carla immediately pulled her arm from his grasp. "Let's talk," Joshua said. "We don't have anything to talk about." "There are a lot that I want to say." "Like you can't fall in love, so I'll just suppress whatever I felt for you during that Daebak fireworks display?" Joshua was dumbfounded. "Do you know how humiliated I feel right now?" Carla asked. "You know how I felt, and you slap me with that you-can't-fall-in-love reason. I think I should just have died." Carla was about to enter their house, when Joshua suddenly shouted. "I love you!" Carla stopped on her tracks. "Carla, I'm in love with you... Just like how I felt for you back in high school... More than what I felt for you back in high school. And I know I was stupid to tell you that I can't fall in love, but I had my reasons and I regret saying it. So now, I'm telling you how I really feel. I'm telling you what I should have told you at the gazebo last night." Joshua caught his breathing because the whole time he's confessing, he felt like he's not inhaling enough air. He feels so out of breath without doing anything. Well, maybe confessing your love is considered everything. And his anxiety grew when Carla turned to face him again. What will she say? Will she tell him that she also feels the same way? Heck, that's what he's praying she'll say! Will she tell him that she doesn't believe him and that he has to prove how he feels? He'll do everything just to make her feel his love for her. "Joshua..." Carla started, and Joshua felt more nervous. He feels like his heart is going to burst out his chest. "Go away," Carla suddenly said. Joshua was stunned. "If you don't leave, I'll ask the police to take you out." Carla continued entering their gate. Joshua could do nothing but follow with his gaze as she slammed the front door of their house shut.