Page 27 of Chasing Mr. Prefect

Good thing Cholo’s house was only fifteen minutes away by foot so I had time to shower and I got there just as the last of the kids with the balloons were leaving. I carefully approached the gate but seeing Cholo wasn’t there I decided to take my phone out.

“Hi!” someone said and I looked up to see a tall woman on the gate smiling at me. “Are you one of Cholo’s orgmates?”

“Ay, yes,” I said, smiling back.

“Come in, come in,” she said, leaving the gate open for me and calling out, “Choleng!”

I tried not to laugh as I passed her. Cholo ran out of the house and his eyes widened when he saw me.

“Ate Ania talaga!” he said, shaking his head and approaching me, his ears red. “Hi, Vinnie.”

“Hi,Choleng,” I teased.

“I’m never hearing the end of this, am I?”

“Absolutely not. Here.” I handed him the present.

“You can give it to her. I’ll introduce you,” he said.

Thankfully, that went well without me making a fool out of myself. I met his niece, Risa, and she was so happy with the gift that she actually hugged me. Not being used to affection, I was taken aback, but nobody took any notice with the awkward pats I gave the kid in return.

The lady who let me in, Ate Ania, was Cholo’s sister-in-law, and she thanked me profusely for the present. Cholo then introduced me to his brothers, Kuya Chip and Kuya Chan, who both shook my hand and welcomed me.

They had other family over so nobody minded when we excused ourselves. Cholo seemed a little tense after some titascommented on his weight (“You’re so skinny, anak, kumakain ka pa ba?”) so I followed him out of the living area.

He only seemed to let out a genuine breath after we reached the kitchen.

“I’m just getting more ice,” he said, panting. “Do you want a beer?”

“I don’t drink. I’ll help you with the ice?”

“Oh. We have cola and ginger ale up here,” he said, opening the chiller door. “Get what you want.”

“Canada Dry! I love this,” I said, getting a can and thanking him. Cholo now opened the freezer and tried to pull out a whole bag of ice. As he struggled to unstick it from the rest of the freezer contents, I noticed his ears were red and a vein was showing on his neck.

“There we go,” he said with a grunt, breaking the bag free. His face was flush with the effort.

“You seem tense,” I commented. “Come on, let me help.”

“No, it’s not even five kilograms,” he said with a laugh. “It’s just the titas.”

The smile on his face looked forced. I got the impression that he was wearing this smile all day, and that he maybe needed a small break.

“You can take the mask off for one minute,” I told him.

Cholo, who had been staring at the floor before this, caught my eye and let out a huge breath of relief. I felt so bad for him all of a sudden. Leaning on the counter, I watched him close his eyes and set the bag of ice on the counter.

“Thanks. I really needed that. Those titas don’t like me very much.”

“Really?” I replied, unable to believe that. “You have good grades, top of your class, student leader, and all that. They still don’t like you?”

Cholo let out a laugh and I realized how inappropriate I was being.

“Sorry.”

“Why apologize?”

“‘Di tayo close.”