10 Strawberry Frappe

Days passed by as it turns to weeks. I have been staying in sir Maiko's residence since then and I grew to knew his preferences bit by bit. Gaya ng ilang kutsaritang asukal ang dapat hinahalo ko sa kape niya, anong klaseng tea yung paborito niya at iba pa. He isn't that half bad but still cold and overbearing most of the time.

I don't really mind though, I grew how to handle him in my own way. Habang dumadaan yung mga araw, natutunan kong maging mas matatag sa harap niya. Medyo nabawasan na din yung hiya ko at napapansin kong minsan napagsasabihan ko pa siya sa mga anong dapat gawin gaya ng mga platong hugasin na di niya lang dapat iniiwan sa lamesa.

Si sir Maiko yung tipo ng tao na gising sa gabi pero halos tulog sa umaga. He often spends a lot of sleepless nights typing his manuscripts and takes his break during daytime. Good thing is that most of my schedule may vacant time during lunch till three in the afternoon kaya nakakauwi ako to make sure he eats. Maliban sa Monday and Thursday schedules ko na masyadong loaded, during the remaining days naman nasasamahan ko siya. Unti unti ko ding napapansin na he has grown accustomed of me waking him up to eat breakfast and lunch. I even think he gained weight, hindi naman sa obvious ito dahil sa lagi ko siyang nakikitang walang pang itaas lalo na pag galing shower. Ehem!

"Sir Maiko! Gising na po, kailangan niyo pong kumain bahala na't matulog ka po ulit pagkaalis ko ng bahay." Gising ko sa kanya habang niyuyugyog ko yung braso niya ng bahagya. Di po ako chansing, sadyang mahirap lang po gisingin madalas yung tao at malalate na ko. Thursday pa naman ngayon, kahit papano makakain siya ng agahan.

I heard him groan and face the other direction. "Stop bothering me, kid." Pagtataboy niya sakin.

"Sige ka po, hindi talaga kita tutulungan mamaya niyan sa manuscript mo. Bukas pa naman deadline niyan." Call me thick skinned to threaten my own boss. Lately kasi I have been helping him proof read his manuscripts for him and share my opinion sa mga naisusulat niya. Sir Zen has gone to his homeland kasi may emergency and he'll be gone for some time. "Sir Maiko sige na, gising ka na po. Malalate na ko oh, bababa na ko ah? Intayin na lang po kita sa kusina at baka handa na po yung kape niyo." Sabi ko at iniwan na siya sa study. By the time I prepared everything on the table, nakita ko siyang naglalakad patungong kusina habang nagkakamot ng likod niya, his eyes still have closed.

He seated himself across me and grabbed the steaming mug of coffee from the table. "Ingat! Mainit pa-"

"Fuck!" And that made him fully awake. Opo, he scalded his tongue dahil sa mainit na kape.

"Eh, ayan kasi ba't padalos dalos ka." Sabi ko while I poured him a glass of water saka inabot sa kanya.

I quickly ate my breakfast so I could still catch up with the bus. I was brushing my teeth nang bigka siyang magsalita. "What time will your class end today?"

I rinsed off my mouth and answered, "Five pm, bakit po?" Tanong ko habang nagpupunas ng bibig.

"Alright then, I'll wait for you on the school gate. Napansin kong we're running out of supplies and food. Since I happen to finish the work last night and the only thing that is left to do is the proof reading." Sasamahan niya ko to do grocery? Anong nakain nito?

"Kaya ko naman po, wag na po kayong mag abala sir Maiko." I answered as I waved my hands frantically in front of me as I refused his offer.

"You can't possibly carry a sack of rice while carrying the other stuffs you bought, can't you?" Napalunok nalang ako at napailing bilang sagot. "See you at five then. You can go now, you're running late aren't you?"

"Ah, oo! Sige po sir Maiko, see you later po!" Pagpapaalam ko as I grabbed my bag and sprinted out of the house to catch the bus to school.

My day was pretty tiring dahil sunod sunod yung klase ko. The good thing is nothing big really happened today and just some few activities during classes and discussions. My last subject happened to be a minor and Alesandra and I got to be with the same class. A few minutes after five the bell rang and the class was dismissed.

Alesandra and I walked together towards the school gate when she asked me to go to a certain café to try some new stuff on the menu. "Sandra, I'm sorry pero di kita masasamahan ngayon. May lakad kasi ako eh." Pagtatanggi ko.

She linked her arm on mine and smiled widely. "Edi samahan kita saka punta tayo sa café after?" I smiled awkwardly.

"Ayun na nga, di kita masasamahan kasi may kasama ako." I answered as I bit my lower lip out of habit.

"Eh sino kasama mo? Ikaw ha di ka na nagkekwento sakin!" She detached herself from me and folded her arms across her chest, putting on a tough front.

Nako po. "Hindi! Ano kase yung ka-" I was cut off mid sentence when a familiar voice suddenly called out to me.

"Kid." I automatically faced the direction of the voice and there I found him, Maiko, I mean si sir Maiko. He was wearing a plain white shirt, a casual black leather jacket on top of it, and black jeans paired with white sneakers. Looking dashing even in casual clothes with some of his jet black hair draping on his shoulder. A cup of coffee was on his right hand as he took a sip from it. "Let's go, shall we?" He handed me a strawberry frappe and said, "I don't know what you young one's like so I bought this instead. Heard its new on the menu."

Bigla naman akong napatingin kay Alesandra and saw her mouth the words 'I-can't-believe-you', uh oh.

"Sir Maiko, teka po saglit lang kausapin ko lang po yung kaibigan ko." I turned to Alesandra again and dragged her just a few steps away just so my boss won't hear us.

"Alesandra, I promise I'll go out with you next time, sadyang di lang talaga kita masasamahan ngayon." I said apologetically.

"Who is he?!" She asked in a hushed voice. "Wait dont tell me, that's-"

"He is." I butted in.