Page 42 of Chasing Mr. Prefect
“We’re laughing now but I can imagine how hard that was for you.”
“Yeah. But enough about unpacking my baggage. Tell me about you.”
“My baggage? It’s an entire conveyor belt, are you sure you’re asking?” he teased and I threatened to pinch him again. “Well, like I said, my family treated me well. So I’m not sure what to tell you exactly.”
“Do you know where your biological mom is?”
“And whoop, there it is. Look at you immediately landing the important questions,” Cholo said with a funny face, making me double up in laughter. “I did ask Dad after I found out. His answer was ‘nawala sa SM.’ Ayun. I learned not to ask any questions after that.”
“Seryoso ka?” I said, unsure whether to laugh or not. “So when did you find out?”
He looked down and sighed.
“Remember that Sustagen Quiz Bee? The one you won?” he asked, avoiding my eyes and easing away. He even took his arm off the back of my seat again, making me realize he had been keeping the spot warm.
“Yes. My mom was still around back then. You found out that day?”
“Yup! My, um, other mom—she and Dad had a huge fight that morning. He had something important come up at work and made her skip half a day off instead so I would have someone to cheer on me. When we got home, she was angry. They argued again just before dinner and she brought up how he made her skip work for someone who wasn’t even her own kid and couldn’t even win a minor quiz bee.”
“WHAT?”
“I know. It wasn’t pretty. She was angry at my dad, though, not me. She apologized for that profusely. Made it up to me andnobody in the family ever mentioned it again. But yeah, it wasn’t the same after. I couldn’t look at her in the face until now. I still feel like an outsider. My brothers and our parents did everything to make sure I didn’t feel out of place, but finding something like that out is not something you could easily brush off.”
“Gosh. I’m sorry.”
“You should be! It’s all your fault. If you just let me win, none of that would have happened,” Cholo said, his pilyo smile making an appearance again.
“Gagi, is that why you started… Oh my god,” I said, falling right into the teasing again. “That’s why you couldn’t forgive me? You know what. I’m taking my indignation on your behalf back.”
He let it go after that but I still wanted to hit myself over the head with a hammer. If Cholo, whose family did nothing to antagonize him, felt this way, what could Liana have been feeling after everything I did?
“Hey, enough of the heavy stuff. We’re supposed to be celebrating,” he said now. “Anyway, to answer your question, I got the internship I wanted in BGC.”
“Oh my god, you mentioned that. Is it the consumer goods one?” I asked, and he shyly nodded. “BIG TIME!”
“They’ll probably just make me photocopy stuff and brew coffee but I’m happy about it.”
“Then you’ll have more time to play those games on your phone. That’s fine. Nothing you can’t do,” I teased but deep down, I was genuinely happy for him, too.
He drove me home after that. I removed my seat belt as he brought the car to a stop. I was about to thank him when he got out of the vehicle and walked over to my side.
“You really shouldn’t let me get used to this,” I said as he opened the door for me.
“Don’t worry. Not doing it again,” he joked.
I shook my head. “Thank you, Cholo. For driving, dinner, and talking to me again,” I said, awkwardly tapping his shoulder. “And thank you for telling me about these things. You can be assured I will take it to the grave.”
He stared at me right in the eye and smiled—one of the most heartfelt I had seen from him.
“Thank you for trusting me too, Vinnie. It means a lot.”
I had this overwhelming urge to hug him but he got there first. His arms were strong and warm, and I felt safe as he held me close to him.
He lingered for I did not know how long. I just closed my eyes and hugged him back, enjoying every second. He was so warm that I would not have minded staying like that forever.
“You need to go home now, it’s late.”
“Yeah. Potato’s probably at the gate waiting for me now.”