Thirteen
The ambush of texts from my cousins come all at once as I’m eating lunch on Wednesday afternoon. I’m tempted to let all three of them in on the ruse, since they’re all like siblings to me. Yet, the rules flash before me, and I quash the urge instantly. I have to stay loyal, stay true to our agreement, no matter how much it bruises my ego. I reply to each of them, reacting with a giggle emoji to Kuya Peter, expressing enthusiasm to Kuya Joseph’s double date idea, and apologising to Stephanie for not letting her know.
Only Stephanie replies. What is she doing, texting me in the middle of a Wednesday anyway? Isn’t she supposed to be at school?
I take a searing hot shower after lunch, hoping the water will wash away the utter cringe.
The rest of the week actually flies by pretty normal.
Marlon and I’s schedules only sync up on Monday and Tuesday, meaning that Thursdays are free for me.
Surprisingly, Mum has been pretty tame. She hasn’t started booking churches for our wedding or anything, though, I wouldn’t put it past her and Tita Regina to have had whispers about it behind Marlon and I’s back.
The only thing that’s different is Marlon and I actually text now. We finally exchanged numbers on Tuesday, but other than the occasional random meme and Marlon trying to interrogate me about Rafayel, we don’t really chat . Other than that, everything is business as usual. University has started ramping up the workload, though, so when Saturday rolls around, I couldn’t be more relieved. Our mornings are spent deep cleaning the house, with my family dividing ourselves into different stations, with me manning the downstairs vacuuming and Ria taking care of upstairs.
Dad puts on his throwback 90s playlist so we have something to energise us. I bop my body to TLC' s Scrubs, syncing my vacuuming movements with the beat.
When Poison by Bell Biv DeVoe comes on, I already know what’s coming. It’s my parents’ favourite throwback song, and no matter what they’re doing, they always stop to do the old dance routine they had back in the day.
I observe with amusement as Mum drops the broom, running to the centre of the living room to start the routine, my Dad following suite from upstairs. They perform their routine flawlessly, while I clap along.
When they were young, my parents used to dance together to these 90s r&b, hip hop songs, even performing them for Filipino fiestas.
I pretend to barf when Dad reminisces about how it took him only one dance to realise Mum was the one he wanted to dance with for the rest of his life.
Once we’re done cleaning, we settle in the living room to watch the latest cheesy action movie on Netflix as we eat the kare-kare Dad had cooked earlier this week.
It’s when he calls for an intermission halfway through the movie for a bathroom break, Mum asks, “So, you and Marlon had no plans this weekend?”
My whole body freezes.
It is a Saturday, and isn’t it the norm to be going out on the weekend, especially if you're seeing someone? Heat rushes up my neck as I scramble for a response.
“Oh um, of course we do!” I reply, a little too enthusiastically, “I totally forgot to mention it.”
I pray they don’t hear the nervous edge in my chuckle. Seemingly, they don’t, because Mum’s eyes light up.
“What are you guys doing?” she asks.
“He said it’s a surprise.”
Dad comes back, a smile on his face, and I know he’s overheard the conversation.
“You know, I used to take your Mum out for surprise dates all the time,” he says, taking his seat beside her, “Even if it wasn’t a weekend, I’d just call her landline, tell her to get ready and see where the night takes us.”
I manage a smile. The last thing that Marlon had texted me was a meme about L from Death Note, one that particularly concerns his toes. Far from the romantic spontaneous date they believe, so he definitely owes me one for painting him in this glorified light.
“He’s picking me up around 6, but I don’t know where we’re going. He wanted it to be a nice surprise.”
Wow , I deserve an Oscar for the performance I’m improvising right now.
Mum and Dad exchange a glance, and from their softened smiles, I know they are remembering their own courting days.
“Well, I’m excited for you Lene! Your first date with Marlon!”
“And first date overall,” Ria adds. “Make sure you send pics from where he takes you.”
If I could throw the pillow at her face right now I would.
“Yeah, I’m so excited,” I say with the best smile I can muster.
Once the conversation dwindles, and Dad presses play on the movie again, I rapidly text Marlon of the new development.
He takes five minutes to respond.
If only he did have basketball…that would’ve made everything so much easier.
I refocus my attention on the film again. It's only when an intense gunfight occurs on screen, that it hits me.
No matter how fake it is, I’m going on an actual date.
With Marlon Salvador.