Later that day, Arjay called Diana. After a few rings, she finally answered. He felt the excitement rushed through his veins.
“Hi!” is the only word that came out of Arjay’s mouth.
“Hello sir, you called. Did you forget to remind Janwill about something?” Diana said on the other line.
“Uhmm… no, actually, it was you whom I wanted to talk to.” he said.
“O-kay… is there something you want to say?”
“I want to invite you to lunch tomorrow, will that be okay to you?” he asked.
“Tomorrow… I’m not sure, though. Sometimes our Principal give short meetings during lunch break of Mondays…”
“Well, if you do have a meeting, then can I invite you to dinner? We can go for an early dinner if you want.” He suggested.
“You will not take no for an answer, I suppose.”
“As much as possible, I won’t.”
He heard her sigh from the other line.
“Early dinner it is.” She replied.
“I’ll come pick you up tomorrow.” He said excitedly.
“Okay then. I guess I’ll have to wait for you.”
“I promise you won’t.” he said happily.
“So, is there anything else you want to say sir?” she asked.
“Just wondering… if you don’t like what I did last night, I have a very nice suggestion. You can return it back.”
There was a loud thud and then silence from Diana’s line.
“Hey, Diana are you okay?” he asked worriedly.
“Yeah um fine!” she said.
“See you tomorrow then?” he asked.
“Yeah, see you. Bye!” she said and ended the call.
Arjay put his phone down and smiled. He can’t wait to see her again tomorrow.
Diana fell on her bed as soon as she remembered the kiss and it was embarrassing enough for her to know that Arjay heard her fell down. She can feel her heartbeat raced from her chest. Is this the start of something she was hoping for in a very long time?
She laid back on her bed. She threw her phone beside her when it rang again. She reached out for it, and it’s an unregistered overseas number from Canada.
‘Nez!’ she answered the call. “Hello?”
“Diana! Oh my gosh! You won’t believe what I will tell you!”
“What? Tell me then!” she demanded, laughing.
“Hi Diana! How are you?”
She was stunned.
“A-Albert?” she asked.
“Yeah, sorry for not contacting you. I was busy preparing my papers.”
“Hey, give me that! I was the one who called her, not you!” she heard Nez on the background.
“I’ll just call you later, she’s already grabbing the phooooone.”
She could hear Albert’s struggle from the other line. She laughed and felt her eyes water a bit. She snuffled.
“What? Are you crying???” Nez mockingly said.
“No!” she exclaimed.
“Did you know he’s going here?” Nez asked.
“I have zero idea. He said he will just be out of town for a couple of weeks. He didn’t say that out of town will be out of the country and that couple of weeks is actually a couple of years.”
“Well, I want to tell you but, I will just let him tell you about it. He mentioned something though.”
“And what is that?”
“Arjay Altamira Jr. So, what’s the scoop between you two?”
“What did Albert say?”
“Diana and Arjay sitting in a tree k-i---“
“Did he actually say that or Justine told you?”
“What? Pfft… Justine no… wait! So Justine knew and I didn’t! Now I know where your loyalties lie!” she can hear from the sound of Nez’s voice that she felt betrayed.
“Then how did --- oops.” She immediately cut herself. ‘Too much, Diana.’ She castigated herself.
“Oh my GOSH! So you did K---“
“Ssshhhh!!!”
“When? Where? How? Oh my gosh, give me the details!” she can hear her excitement from the other line.
She told Nez what happened last night and just like what happened when she told Justine, she had to remove the phone from her ear. When she can’t hear Nez’s scream, she put the phone back.
“Are you okay now?” she asked.
“Diana, this is my ‘what if’! It’s finally happening. I am crying now. I am so happy it’s finally happening. Please make it happen. I am begging you.”
“I will try. Let’s hope it will work.” She said, silently praying it would actually work.
“Talk to you on messenger. I need to go to work.” Nez said after a few seconds of silence between them.
“Wait how about Albert?” she asked.
“Well, I will be endorsing him to the coffee shop I always go to. I hope he gets even just a part time job there.”
“Tell him I said good luck.”
“I heard it. I’ll inform you when I got the job.” It was Albert on the line again.
“Good. You owe me a story.”
“And you owe me one, too.” He laughed.
“I’ll tell you soon, don’t worry.” She smiled even though she’s aware Albert won’t see it.
“Talk to you soon. We have to go somewhere.”
“Bye.” She said and ended the phone call. At least she could say that Albert and she is in really good terms now and she won’t feel guilty anymore.
She woke up with the constant knocking on her door.
“Sis! You’re going to be late. Wake up!”
She stood up from the bed and check her phone. It’s 15 minutes before 7!
“I’m awake! Are you trying to destroy my door? Geez!” she said and rushed to the bathroom.
After all her morning mantras, she went out of her room, still combing her hair.
“Pa, I will just ---“ she stopped mid-sentence when she saw a man holding a bouquet of sunflower in front of his face.
He took a peek from behind the bouquet.
“S-sir Arjay...”
“I already asked your father’s permission yesterday. Flowers for you, by the way. I hope you like it.” He said and handed her the bouquet.
She took the bouquet and smiled sheepishly.
“Thank you. Aren’t you going to be late? By the way, have you seen Janwill?” she asked as she put the flowers on the available vase.
“I told him he should just ride with us, but he insisted on going ahead to school. So, shall we?” he asked.
“Yeah, we really should.” She said and they went on their way.
When they arrived at the school gate, Diana unbuckled her seat belt and attempted to go out but Arjay went out of the car and opened the door for her. She smiled.
“Thank you, sir.” She said and went out of the car.
“Can I have one request, please?” he asked.
“As long as I can do it, sure. What is it?”
“Don’t call me ‘sir’ anymore. Just call me Arjay. Or you can call me love, whatever suits you.” he smirked.
Diana furrowed her brows.
“I think I will call you Arjay.” She laughed.
“Okay…” Arjay sighed and looked at her. He laughed at her expression. “So, see you this afternoon?” he asked.
“See you.” she said and went inside the school premises. Arjay left and went on his way.
They both became busy the whole day. As soon as the day ended, Arjay fixed himself and went to see Janwill. Janwill was still cleaning when he went to look for him at their classroom.
“Janwill, can I have a minute.” He called the kid. Janwill walked towards him.
“Yes sir?”
“I will be picking up Diana at school. Would you like to ride home with me?” he asked.
“Will that be okay with you sir? I know you will have a date and I don’t want to be a bother.”
“It’s fine. I insist. I will wait for you at the parking lot, okay?” he said.
“Yes sir. Thank you, sir.” And Janwill went back to finish what he was doing.
Arjay went to his car and called Diana. After a few rings, she picked up.
“Hi, are your classes done for today?” he asked.
“Yes sir, I mean Arjay. I was just fixing my things. Are you here already?” she asked back.
“I’m still waiting for Janwill. Take your time. See you in a bit.” He said smiling.
“See you.” Diana said and ended the call. She fixed her things and fixed herself and waited patiently.
She picked up a bundle of activities and began checking. She was halfway through when someone cleared their throat. She looked up and saw Arjay leaning on the doorframe.
“How long have you been there?” Diana asked and started packing.
“Long enough to admire you from afar.” Arjay said and smiled. He walked towards her.
“You just confessed to me the other night and I just agreed to have dinner plans with you but you’ve been working on your lines already.” She laughed, her gaze still on the table.
“Well, just to see if they work but so far, they’re not.” He crinkled his nose.
She smiled a bit.
“So, where do you plan to take me to dinner?” she asked when she finally looked at him.
“I reserved a table at Mark Paul’s, but we could just choose another place. Your pick.”
“It’s a great choice.” She said nodding.
“By the way, I already gave Janwill a lift home so shall we go now?”
“Yeah, let’s go.”
And they both walked towards Arjay’s car.
“I hope you don’t mind me asking, but why Mark Paul’s?” Diana asked when they are already inside the car.
“Well, I am considering this as our official first date together so I want to spend a lot of time with you, and Mark Paul’s a fine pick for a fine young lady as yourself.” He said and looked at her. He smiled.
“That’s very thoughtful.” She bit her lips and gazed away.
They went on their way. As soon as they arrived, Arjay went out of the car and went to her side to open the door for her. She thanked him and they both went to the door. When Diana pulled the door handle, there was a lady standing on the doorway about to go out. They both looked at each other and were both startled. Arjay was startled, too.
“Hanney.” Arjay remarked.