LUKE: The First Save
I should have left it at that. What happened was a little embarrassing after all, but once I replayed the entire scene in my mind while continuing my task in assisting the voters, I could not deny that I wanted to see Mace again.
Volunteering during the Presidential elections meant we would be staying late at night as we needed to help in counting the ballots and tallying them for the final count. My assigned room was in another building so I had no way of seeing her since the afternoon break. When it got dark, I found myself wondering how she was and if her partner was helping her with the assigned tasks.
A quick look at my watch showed that it was 15 minutes past 7:00 PM. Is she going to have dinner already? I stood up and told my partner that I’d head out to eat. He nodded absent-mindedly, leafing through a number of ballots. I started walking back to base, where we were instructed to gather for dinner.
I craned my neck for any glimpse of Mace but she was nowhere to be found. Where is she, I wondered. Could she have forgotten to eat? I quickly got in line where our packed dinner was handed out.
“How many?” came the booming voice of the somewhat harassed lady in charge of distributing food.
“Two,” I promptly answered.
She looked up. “Your companion?” she asked peering at the line behind me.
“Oh, she’s coming,” I answered with a smile. “I’m just getting her food ahead as her building is quite far from the base. I’m going to reserve a seat for her.”
The somewhat harassed lady shrugged and quickly gave me a tray with two styropor packs and two bottles of water. I made my way toward the tables and chose the one nearest the entrance, where I was sure to see her once she came in.
I sat down looking at the tray I placed on the table. What am I doing? I thought. How sure am I that she’d want to eat dinner with me in the first place?
I scolded myself for doing something impulsive and contemplated on returning the food and water I got for her. But after checking my watch and saw that it was almost 8:00 PM, I decided not to. She would be coming anytime now. For sure, she would be hungry and the line was way longer than when I arrived earlier.
As much as I wanted to wait for her so that we could start eating together, my stomach was already growling; so, I reluctantly opened my pack and started digging into the food prepared for us, volunteers: rice, fried chicken with gravy and a macaroni salad as the side dish.
About five minutes later, she finally walked in. Seeing the look dismay on her face when she saw the long line, I said a prayer of thanks to God for giving me the enlightenment to order her food in advance. I waved and called, motioning her to come to the table.
She looked up then looked behind me, unsure if it was her I was calling too.
“Yes, you!” I said loudly.
Mace’s look of dismay turned to that of surprise, but she walked up to the table.
“What do you want?” she asked.
“Here, I got your food and water,” giving her my most cheerful smile.
Her eyes widened. “Woah!” she exclaimed. “This is totally unexpected! What got into you?”
I was quite surprised with her reaction. “Why shouldn’t I?” I asked genuinely curious. “We’re friends, aren’t we? And we’ve known each other for some time now.”
She pulled out the chair across from me and sat down while I pushed the tray in front of her.
“Yeah, we’re friends,” she answered accepting the tray. “But we don’t really eat together since you mostly hang out with the guys.” She opened her pack and eyed the food appreciatively. “It’s also the first time you’ve done something for me, so it’s a surprise.”
When I thought about it, what she said made sense. If I were in her place, I would probably be wondering the same thing too. “It’s just that I wasn’t sure if you’ve already eaten,” I replied trying to keep my voice nonchalant. “I didn’t see you when I got inside.”
She looked straight at me, her glasses now blocking the beautiful brown color of the eyes I’ve glimpsed earlier. It looked like she wanted to say more but then, she just shrugged her shoulders.
“Thanks a lot though,” she said giving me a cheeky grin that lip up her entire face. Taking a bite of the chicken, she gave me a thumbs-up sign. “You’re my savior tonight. I’m absolutely starving!”
There it was again. The erratic tempo of my beating heart. In answer, I gave her, what I hoped, was a casual and confident smile. As we continued eating our dinner with her leading the conversation, I found myself enjoying each second immensely.
And I asked myself, why haven’t I done this with her sooner?