Chapter 7

Tracy...

I woke up to someone running their fingers through my hair, and I smiled. "Jealous of my hair again, Cal? Why don't you try going straight?"

"Huh?"

I opened my left eye because I still felt drowsy. I grabbed his golden curly hair, saying, "I said, why don't you go for a straight hair like your cousins?"

He just smiled. "I got these curls from the Criebo side, from Mom's side. I like my hair this way."

I turned away from him and yawned. I couldn't stand being too close to him for too long, especially when he was already awake. I was afraid he would figure out what was on my mind and in my heart.

"We ended up sleeping here because we were tired. Do you want to have breakfast now?" He nodded, and I went to the kitchen. He took a seat at the bar counter and watched me prepare breakfast.

I cooked fried rice with eggs and beef tapa. In the years we'd spent together, I had memorized all his favourites, from colours, foods, places, songs, and more. That's why I knew he loved Beef Tapa and Caldereta. Caleb said his mom often cooked these dishes for him when she was still alive. That's why I had been frequenting the Criebo house—I wanted to learn how his mom cooked because I wanted to cook for him. I knew he missed his mom just as much as I missed my parents.

"This is the best beef tapa!" He exclaimed happily while we ate together. "You know what, Trace? I adore you. You can do everything, from cooking and cleaning the house to handling office work. You're brilliant, smart, full of positivity, caring, and... beautiful."

I stopped in my tracks at his words. Did he just call me beautiful? I looked at him, and he was staring back at me.

"That's why I wonder why you've never had a boyfriend. Has anyone ever courted you?"

"W-Well, yes." I smiled.

He furrowed his brow as if worried. "Really? I haven't seen or noticed any of them. When and where did this happen?"

"It was a long time ago, and I don't really let myself be courted. Even if someone invites me to dinner, I decline."

"Why not?"

'Because you're the one I want, not them,' I thought, but I couldn't say that out loud. "I'm busy. I prefer to focus on work."

"You're always busy, and you might even be richer than I am."

I laughed. "If I'm richer than you, why am I still your secretary?"

"It's because I can't live without you." I was startled, and he fell silent too. There were a few moments of silence between us, and all I could hear was the pounding in my chest. I was taken aback when Caleb suddenly held my left hand, which was resting on the table. "That's true, Trace. These past five years probably wouldn't have been easy without you. I mean, you're not just my secretary at work, you handle everything here at home. You cook for me, fix this messy house, my clothes, my things, even when my mind is a mess, you calm me down. I don't know how you do it. You've trained me to always have you around, so how could I live without you?"

I rested my hand on his, the one he was holding. "Come on, Cal. When we first met, you were an independent guy who could do everything. If the day comes when we're apart, I'll have my own family, and you, you'll be with the man you like. I know we'll both adjust. Maybe it'll be a bit challenging at first because we're so used to being together, but with time, it'll be okay. You'll get used to it."

"It doesn't seem like it."

"What doesn't? Don't tell me you've become dependent on me?"

"Of course, I can't stand not seeing you or being with you. When you speak, it's as if you think that if we ever separate, we'll never see each other again. F.Y.I., girl, if I could, I'd want to be neighbors, so I could pester you every day. I'd do that, and I'd be at your house with your husband every day, and he'd be so attracted to me that we'd get married."

I sighed.

"But on second thought, how about I marry you instead?" I choked on what he said, so he quickly gave me a glass of water, which I drank immediately.

"What are you talking about?! You're saying all these things out of the blue, and I'm getting shocked. What's gotten into you?"

"I was just thinking." He smiled and continued eating.

"That's not possible because you're gay, right? Besides, I want to have my own children. Do you think you can give me that?"

He looked at me. "Why not adopt?"

I furrowed my brow. "I want my child to be biologically mine." 'Ours.'

"Well, we could do artificial insemination."

"AI? You mean Artificial Intelligence?"

He rolled his eyes. "No, you dummy! Artificial Insemination."

"In-sem-insemination?" I stared at him because I was really confused, and it took a moment for his words to sink in. "I'll be inseminated? You really thought of that, huh?"

"Yeah, just so you know, it'll be your child and mine." He even raised both his eyebrows, thinking it was a great idea.

"Caleb, do you hear yourself?"

"My ears are perfectly fine, babe."

"And now you're calling me babe?! Wait a minute! Has the tapa you ate gone bad?"

I took his plate and stabbed a piece of tapa, then I took a bite. It didn't taste bad.

"You should get used to calling me babe since we're getting married."

I pushed the plate back to him. "Stop it with your jokes, they're not funny."

"Who said I was joking? When we're married, in that way, we'll never be apart. Don't you want to be with me forever, baby?" He said with a flirtatious tone that annoyed me.

"There's no forever, girl. We're not immortal, and besides, I want to have children the natural way."

His eyes widened. "So you're saying that you want us to have sex? Oh my god, Trace! How long have you been fantasizing about me?!"

"Wai--what?! What are you talking about?!" I threw him the table cloth that I was holding, and he immediately caught it while laughing.

"Okay, fine, if you want me, you just have to admit it. Then I'll think about if we'll have sex to make our baby." He looked at the ceiling as if in deep thought, like he was really thinking about it. "What now?"

"What is it?"

"Are we going to have sex?"

"Caleb! What kind of question is that? What are you saying?!" I grabbed his shoulder and made him face me while patting his face, "Wake up. Have you lost your mind?"

He smiled and slowly unbuttoned his polo shirt, I looked at his muscular chest and my eyes widened.

"C-Caleb what are you doing?" I looked at his face and he just smiled mischievously in response. I backed away as he slowly approached me, "C-Cal, what? T-That's not a good joke."

"You don't want Trace?" I looked at his gentle face and bright eyes. Did he just use a manly voice? It sounded sexy.

"C-Cal, your name suits you, you're pure Cal-landian(Filipino word for flirtatious). Stop it," I shook my head and he just laughed and went back to his seat.

"My seduction won't really work on you, will it?"

"Not really!" I said while laughing, I went back to sitting. I know I'm being tempted, but I know it's just a joke on Caleb's part, so I wasn't buying it, that's why I'm really annoyed when he teases me like that, because I feel like he's playing with my feelings for him, even though he doesn't really have any idea about how I feel. "You know? Let's hurry up here because we still have a lot of work to do."

"Go ahead, take care of things. I'll handle this, including cleaning up after our meal."

"Are you sure?" He smiled and nodded.

"Alright, I'll go ahead." With that, I turned and headed to my room to prepare for our day at the office.