Marven’s First Novel, chapter14

     One afternoon, Greta, showed up at Aldo's door and he admitted her. He asked her what her visit was about as he bade her sit down. She replied thus:

     "It seems that our friend, Dr. Michal, is missing you. Can you believe it?" She sat down on the bamboo sofa.

     "Really?" Aldo replied puzzled. "Yes, that's unbelievable." He made his way to the kitchen. "Tell me about it."

     Greta heard the sound of the spoon clanging against the cup, and she guessed what Aldo was doing. "Don't bother, Aldo. I won't be long. I still have to cook." She said this because she was on the same errand as before and was actually carrying large paper pouches of ingredients.

     "It's the least that I can do considering the good news you're about to break to me." Aldo reappeared at the living room carrying two cups of coffee, one for Greta and one for himself. That's the only way to explain it in case you're wondering why. Then he handed one to Greta and sat opposite her carrying the other. Of course that's how it would go. "So?" he started.

     "Michal was at my house yesterday and at another time before that."

     Aldo flinched a little bit at hearing this as he was sipping from the cup and looked as if he regretted missing the instances Greta just mentioned. "Oh, was she?."

     "I wouldn't come to talk to you if those were just normal, ordinary days and I didn't notice something. But I did. There was something different in her. She seemed a little disconsolate and listless lately, which made me a little bit concerned."

     "Oh... Really? Poor Dr. Michal. I wonder why."

     "Maybe it has something to do with you."

     Aldo almost spat out the coffee in his mouth as his lips were on the brim of its cup. "About me? How?"

     "I don't know. Maybe you had a little quarrel... lovers' quarrel, if I'm seeing it right."

     "I wish," he said, smiling jestingly, as he slowly placed the cup on the table. "I mean, it would be an honor for me to affect someone like her in such a way. But maybe it's not about me. Maybe she's just going through something. Maybe she has a problem at home. Maybe she's just stressed and tired at her routinely work because, as you know, being a doctor can be a little bit monotonous as far as I can understand... Someone as beautiful and intelligent as Michal? Why would I matter to her?"

     "Right. Yet, apparently, you do because Michal is nice doesn't want to offend any person. Plus, you too have been talking to each other... and have become close, as I've observed, to the point that she's now wondering why you don't seem to want to be anywhere near her anymore."

     "That's awesome. But no. I ain't got no problem with her. She ain't got no problem with me. I just got busy, I think." Aldo would have announced that he now has a love life with a woman named Mauricia, with whom he just got reunited. In fact, he has started visiting her in her house and they're now off to a brand new better start. But he decided against it and continued, "I'm not avoiding her. I don't hate her. In fact, I like her."

     "I know that," Greta quickly caught him at his word and paused to look smilingly at him.

     Aldo realized too late that he worded his last sentence rather loosely, that it could be biasedly interpreted, if not twisted, by Michal's fellow woman which is his cousin. "What? No. I didn't mean it like that. But well, okay. You win. You got me."

     "I don't know the half of it to be honest, and I'm not intending to pry."

     "I mean, who wouldn't have a crush on her? I'm just being a typical male in response to such a beauty. But I seem to be the only one who can handle such a beauty for some reason. I don't understand. Maybe I'm the right one for her."

     "Anyway, I'm getting concerned. If her recent behaviors have something to do with you, then you need to fix it."

     Aldo frowned. "How? What should I do? What does she expect me to do?"

     "Just reassure her. Make her understand whatever your reasons are for being long absent in her life."

     "Are you going to convene us again in your house?"

     "No. She said that in the past, you've been trying to get to her stubbornly. And at one time, you even devoted a whole day visiting her at work."

     "Okay? So what?"

     "Well, I think that's what you need to do again no matter how embarrassing."

     "No matter? All right. If that's what you think is right."

     "Just be friendly and civil about it. Okay?"

     "Yes. You got it."

     They talked more about other topics; and after that, Aldo led her outside the door.

     "Be kind to Michal. Okay?"

     "Yes, I will."

     Days passed. As soon as Aldo found time, he set out and did what Greta advised him to do. On his way, he became extremely self-conscious of what the people outside might think of his errand as he makes his way to where he's going. Before, he was very numb to these. He was crazy. Now, he's feeling the pinch of every step. All he could say was that this errand is utterly stupid.

     After a minute or two of walking down the sidewalk of the main road, Aldo finally reached the gates of the community hospital and stood by its concrete and steel fence facing the street, trying to appear as if waiting for someone he would meet up with on the road. He felt as if he would melt with each passing moment; but then he scolded himself, regathered his thoughts, and concentrated on the fact of that this person, Michal Roberto, is whom he chose to love and care for. He may have ceased feeling it passionately now, but at least he still does so objectively.

     Fast forward to a few minutes afterwards, Aldo was still there exactly where he stopped and stood. Then he heard Michal's voice calling out his name, and he turned around. After covering a few meters, she stopped on the other side of the fence and faced him.

     "Are you just okay there? Would you like to come in?" she started.

     "No. I'm fine here. Thank you."

     "I'm glad to see you finally taking time to talk to me again."

     "You know that I'd love to talk to you any moment of the day. It's just..."

     "Liar. That's not what I'm seeing."

     "I hope I'm not disturbing you."

     "Definitely not. Your presence here is a nice distraction."

     "A nice distraction. I'm not used to that. My presence in any given place is usually obnoxious."

     "It's been a while."

     "Yes, it has. I found a little bit of difficulty in finding time for personal matters, including my still unfinished woodworking project."

     "Angelica mentioned something about that."

     "She did? That's true. How's she, by the way? Is she there?"

     "Yes. Do you want her to join us?"

     "Nah. Maybe next time."

     "Next time?"

     "Yes. Unless I'm already becoming obnoxious here and you don't want me around anymore."

     "No. Come back here any time you're vacant."

     "Sure, I will. I mean, we're friends. Right? The three of us."

     Michal was surprised and dumbfounded for about five seconds. Then she replied, "Yeah. We're friends."

     "Thank you. It's nice to have friends. We gotta."

     "I was afraid you would no longer show up because you got angry at me again."

     "Why would I be angry at you?"

     "Because I think I remembered insulting you. I uttered harsh words to you which you may not have expected to come from me."

     "Do you want to know the truth?"

     "Yes."

     "I couldn't thank you enough for what you did to me. You did me great service. It didn't come the way you thought it did, unfortunately. Sorry."

     "So you're not angry at me?"

     "No. That's silly."

     "Okay. Thank you." Michal looked down.

     "Listen. I'll never get angry at you. Not today, not tomorrow. Stop worrying about it. There's nothing in you that can ever cause any resentment in me. I'm realizing that now more and more as the days went by. To be honest, I wish to get near you again in the same way that I did before, but now I feel I'd just rather stay here outside."

     "What?  Why? What do you mean by that?"

     "I don't know. I don't know why I even said that. There's just something in you that I can't quite put in words yet."

     "Like what?"

     "I don't know. I can't find the words to describe it."

     "Was it something you've said before?"

     "No. I don't think so."

     "You don't think so? Okay... I think I know what you're talking about." Michal looked away and gazed abstractedly.

     "Tell Angelica I came here today and that I might visit her any time."

     "Yes, Aldo. I will."

     "I just came here to check up on you and see whether you're still healthy."

     "Thankfully, I still am. Thanks for your concern for me."

     "Of course."

     Days passed. Aldo made true to his word as he again found time. Now he was seen walking Angelica back to work on a brightly-sunny noon. When they came at the gate, there was Michal standing at the front yard near the benches staring at them with blazing eyes.

     "Angelica," she shouted reproachfully.

     "Yes, Michal," Angelica replied good-naturedly.

     "I've been searching for you. Where have you been? I need to talk to you."

     "Oh. Sorry. I was just gone for a little while. Aldo was with me. What is it?"

     Aldo interposed, "I'm sorry I didn't see you earlier, Michal. I tried but I couldn't."

     Michal neither responded nor looked at him. Then addressing Angelica again, she continued, "Now, come here. It's important."

     "Okay," Angelica replied humbly and started stepping towards her. "By the way, Aldo said he wanted to show me around the neighborhood this afternoon.

     "What was that? I didn't hear you."

     Angelica smiled, understanding the sarcasm. "Yeah. I know. But I've been working here years, and I haven't done it. I mean, why not? Aldo seems very eager to show me.

     "That seems to be all he knows to do."

     "Would you like to come with us? I think it would be better if it's the three of us."

     "What?" Michal smiled disdainfully. "That's exciting. But no, thank you."

     "Hey, you've changed," Aldo commented without being heard.

     "Okay. I'll still go on with it, though, for a change." Then turning to Aldo, she said, "Bye, Aldo. See you later."

     "See you later, Angelica. That was very nice of you. Bye." Aldo turned, chuckled, and walked away. But then he remembered forgetting about Michal, and he apologetically and proactively said goodbye to her. "Bye, Michal," he said, looking at her and waving his hand.

     Michal neither replied nor looked at him but fixed her fierce eyes on the approaching Angelica. But this only lasted for as long as Aldo's eyes were fixed on her too. As soon as Aldo looked back before him, she chased him with a remorseful gaze until he went out of sight. As soon as Angelica got to her, she asked her an important question about work.

     Later that afternoon, Aldo took his friends Angelica and Michal on an afternoon stroll around the community plaza. It's a central park of sorts where communal activities are held and is mostly enclosed by a steel fence except in the vehicle terminal areas. There are two, and one is located near the basketball court. Aldo got his friends to circle around it counter-clockwise. Yes, friends, because Michal finally agreed to join Angelica in going along with Aldo's trip. Angelica was walking beside Aldo, and Michal beside Angelica but a little bit aloof.

     "It might just help if you know the area where you work in case your services would be needed in homes. Am I making any sense?"

     "A little," Angelica replied.

     "Or I'm simply proud of and want to show off the place where I grew up because as you can see, this place is a little too well-planned for us poor people. It actually felt like a maze to me when I was straying around here as a child. I mean, as an impressionable little boy because I'm still a child."

     "This isn't actually bad," Angelica commented sincerely.

     "Thank you," Aldo acknowledged bashfully. "Is this the first time you ever saw this area too, Dr. Michal?"

     "Yes," was the languid reply of the person addressed.

     During the entire stroll, for the most part, Aldo talked to Angelica because she was the one beside him while Michal constantly kept herself a little aloof and excluded herself from the conversation and just looked quietly at the movement of people and objects in the surrounding.

     When they were done circling around, Aldo took his friends to the terminal; sat and waited with them on the waiting bench for another minute more; and then stood up, said goodbyes, and walked away towards home. As he was going farther away, Aldo said to Angelica:

     "I forgot to mention something to Aldo. Kindly save my seat. Will you?"

     "Okay. Sure," Angelica replied naively and servilly.

     Michal ran towards Aldo; and when she saw him walking peacefully down the sidewalk, she shouted, "Aldo," at him reproachfully to his ridiculous nape.

     As a result, Aldo turned around like the headless horseman. "Oh. What is it, doc," he said.

     "I just want to make sure you're okay too."

     "What? Why? I'm very okay." Aldo carried himself in a way that convinced Michal.

     "Oh... Okay. You seem to be. Good."

     "Yeah. Listen. I forgot to tell you guys that I may not be able to get back to you right away because I will have to attend to many things in the days to come, including my still unfinished woodworking project. Please tell Angelica, but not right away and not directly."

     "I will."

     "Thank you."

     "Why are you doing all of this, anyway?"

     "Why am I doing what?"

     "This. All of this... pretentions."

     "Pretentions? I'm not pretending. Or maybe I'm pretending a little bit. But I'm just doing what needs to be done, what I think is right."

     "Which is..."

     "This is me not giving up on you if that's what you're trying to get at."

     "Oh." Michal was perceptibly dumbfounded.

     "So you understand now."

     "Yes. Thank you."

     "There you go."

     "So what you said to me remains true?"

     "It remains true to the present day, up to this very moment. Nothing changes. Stop worrying about it."

     "Okay. Thanks for clarifying."

     "No problem. Let's not talk about it anymore. It's already a given. It's past being a point of any debate. But I still have to be away for a very long time. I think I'm done with pestering you."

     "What? You're not pestering me. You never were pestering me."

     "Well, I thought I did. Especially based on what I heard."

     "Who told you? No. Maybe I just exaggerated, but you were never pestering me. You never pestered me. Let me make that clear too."

     "Okay, fine. Thanks for clarifying too. So are we okay now?"

     "Yeah, we're okay," Michal replied looking down, gathering her thoughts, contemplating. Then looking up, smiling, she added, "Yes, Aldo. We're okay. You don't realize how happy you made me today."

     "Anything for you, girl. I guess my errand today was a success."

     "I believe it was, whatever that means," Michal replied, still smiling.

     "So goodbye?"

     "Yeah. Goodbye. For now. Because I hope to see you soon. Okay?"

     "Take care of yourself. Will you? There's only one like you in this world."

     "You too."

     "Bye, Michal."

     "Bye, Aldo."

     Michal was consistently smiling in each of her replies to Aldo's languid remarks. Then the two of them almost simultaneously turned their backs, he to go home after a long day and she to rejoin her friend, Angelica.

     Aldo didn't just say these things to make an excuse to avoid Michal because back on normal weekdays, his day job proved to be rigorous, exacting, and backbreaking. For the past couple of weeks, all of them on the second floor no longer looked like normal people but robots. In fact, one particular weekday, Aldo received a call from the desk of his female colleague, putting him in another extra pressure. After he put the phone down, he turned his head around towards his colleagues and said, "I need to go."

     By the way, during those couple of weeks, Aldo chose, as his outfit of the month, loose long sleeves spread all the way down but folded on the arms up to near the elbow coupled with either slacks or jeans and black shiny shoes or sneakers, a some kind of an upgrade from his usual collared shirt and the usuals that come with it. And that was the get-up he was wearing at that particular moment, standing up. Prompted by the call, he sprinted downstairs.

     Back at home, Aldo resumed his woodworking project in earnest on Saturdays and Sundays, wanting to finish it as soon as possible. But he also didn't rush but paid attention to details because he didn't want to settle for a mediocre finish. He did his work mostly in their front yard and then further outside into the street. However, near the end of his labors, on the last Saturday he allotted for his project, he still met with some misfortune. He had an accident that injured his knee. It happened that while immersed in deep thought, he knelt amidst the rubble he has created on site to pick up something. He didn't realize that he forgot to remove a nail from a plank he just detached from another plank because of a mistake and didn't notice it lying face up, point on top, amidst sawdust and wood cutouts. He just woke up, from reverie, to a shrill pain of being pierced in the knee when he knelt directly into it. His natural reaction was to recoil and immediately check his wound. It didn't bleed but just left a red dot. He just ignored it and continued working but became extremely cautious afterwards. After a few minutes, he felt an abnormality in his blood flow and felt his veins bulge and his head hurt. He paused and considered what might have happened to him. Then he started to worry. Nevertheless, he kept working, ignoring the slight vertigo, and finished what he could during that day. The next day, he devoted the whole daytime to totally finishing and wrapping up his work. And he did. When night came, about seven o'clock, he already cleared the rubble he created in their front yard and what now lay before him in his room were fine-looking shelves, a closet, and a table with drawers. He took particular delight in testing his drawers and how they smoothly moved and fitted in the table.

     The following day, Monday, Aldo could now be seen sitting alone on a bench facing the river, again wearing his outfit of the month, thinking seriously. After a few minutes, he stood up, picked up the smooth and shiny pebble he has spotted earlier on the ground, hurled it spinning sideways with all his might while shouting in exasperation, watched it bounce at least three times before it precipitated in the water, and then turned and sat back on the bench clasping his bowed head with both hands as his elbows rested on his thighs.

     The next day, Tuesday, back on the second floor, at about 3:50 p.m. or ten minutes before four in the afternoon, Aldo could be seen still seriously tackling the papers on his desk. Suddenly, the phone again rang in his female colleague's desk. The latter picked it up and answered it. After speaking a few words quietly, she put it on hold in her lifted arm, turned to where Aldo sat, and called his attention and said that the call was again for him. Aldo rose up and went to her desk. Once there, she handed the apparatus to him which he then stuck beside his face.

     "Aldo speaking," he said.

     To which, a gentle and pleading voice of a woman on the other side of the line answered, "Hey... Aldo, is that already you?"

     Aldo was a little puzzled and said, "Yes, this is me. Who is this please?"

     "It's Michal," said the gentle and pleading voice on the receiver.

     "Michal? Really? Is that really you?"

     "Yes."

     "Woah." Aldo's face turned both confused and jubilant. "Well, this is a great surprise. I'm happy to hear from you."

     "I'm happy to hear from you too."

     "What brings you to call me here? This is quite unexpected."

     "That's right. I wanted to surprise you... just like you surprised me. Surprise, surprise."

     "Right. What's up? Is there a problem? Every time I pick up this phone, it's usually a problem."

     "You're asking me if I have a problem? No, I don't have a problem. I'm quite okay. In fact, I'm happy."

     "That's good."

     "How are you yourself?"

     "I'm fine. Thank goodness I'm still healthy. You?"

     "I too am still healthy... and happy."

     "Great. Excellent."

     "Is the woman I talked to earlier by any chance your friend?"

     "Kind of."

     "You seem to be having a good time there. I heard you both giggling."

     "Yeah. We're a cohesive team here. I couldn't ask for anything more. But we're just strictly friends if that's what you're trying to say. Because hello? Who would want to date a co-worker? It's career suicide."

     "Okay."

     "And besides, no comment."

     It took Michal two to three seconds to understand the joke and laughed. Then she said, "You rascal. You shouldn't be talking to people behind their backs. You're so bad."

    "I'm sorry. I was just clarifying. I wanted you to understand."

     Michal groaned. "Yeah," she said after three seconds. "I might just have gotten deceived because her voice sounds too good. You both sound good on the phone."

     Aldo frowned. "What are you talking about? Listen. This line can really get very busy. I'd hate to break our momentum here, but I really have to hang up now. If ever, we can just continue this conversation on Saturday. I'll go to you on Saturday. I'll be there."

     "Okay."

     "Bye." Aldo waited for Michal to hang up before he did, but she didn't. Then he heard her again venturing to speak.

     "That is still a very long time."

     "It'll just be fast. Trust me. I'll keep you in my thoughts... and dreams. Bye."

     "Forget about Saturday. Why wait many days when you can see me now?"

     Aldo was surprised. "Huh? Really? How?"

     "I happen to be here in the city. I went on an errand here somewhere around España boulevard. I'm done here and I'm about to go home. That's why I called you."

     "Oh. Great. Exactly where are you?"

     Michal answered factually.

     "I'll go to you there. I'll be out of here in five minutes. Wait for me."

     "Okay."

     "Bye. I really have to hang up now." Aldo again waited for her to hang up, but she again ventured to speak.

     "Wait. What if I just come to you instead? Give me your exact address."

     "No. I'll come for you. Be a little patient."

     "No. I'll come for you. Wait for me."

     "All right."

     "See you soon."

     "I'm excited." Then Aldo did as told and afterwards put down the phone and thanked his female colleague.

     The work day ended; and Aldo could now be seen on the ground floor wearing his get-up of the month. He was chatting with the guard at the reception area, resting his arms on the desk, while gazing towards the street from time to time to wait for Michal to show up.

     Moments later, a firm, erect, and elegant female form wearing red long sleeves in thick and coarse cloth with square designs, denim skirt, and brown leather boots with a heart-shaped opening made its appearance and came approaching the corner door. Then the figure who turned out to be Michal smiled said hi as soon as she came face to face with Aldo who now turned and faced her. Then she stopped.

     "Hi," Aldo said smiling. "I was thinking of introducing you to my co-workers, but they already left. I thought they were going to stay longer. I didn't tell them yet that I was going to introduce someone to them because I wanted it to be a surprise."

     "Maybe it's not yet time for me to meet them," Michal replied smiling. What's important is that you're here and I see you."

     Aldo and the guard looked at each other comically. Then turning back at Michal, he said, smiling:

     "Let me at least show you around this neighborhood where I sit still breaking my back and also move around all day during weekdays. Come."

     Okay.

     Aldo went out to Michal. Once beside her, he said, "Oh, by the way, Michal, this is..." Aldo introduced Michal to the guard and vice versa.

     "It was nice meeting you," Michal said, delicately waving her hand towards Aldo's friend the guard before looking before her as she and Aldo now started moving towards the street.

     Once there, Aldo guided Michal in crossing it. As they did so, the light of the setting sun directly hit their entire forms and highlighted their outfits. As they ascended the steps of the riverwalk, Michal noticed Aldo straggling. When she looked back, she saw him having difficulty lifting one of his legs.

     "Are you okay?"

     "I'm okay."

     Michal went ahead of Aldo, and he shortly afterwards joined her. Now walking westwards side by side, their entire forms being directly hit by sunlight, their conversation started.

     "How did you get here?" Aldo asked.

     Michal replied, trying to sound as stupid as possible, apparently to make herself wretched before Aldo's eyes, "My sister took me. I said I'll only have some papers processed, but she volunteered to drive me and accompany me and insisted that I change into this kind of dress. After you and I talked over the phone, I requested her to take me here. When we got here, she left and said she would just come back for me."

     "You are fortunate to have an older sister looking after you."

     "No. She just visited us at home. She's married now. She just got married. She's younger than me."

     "Oh." Aldo was struck and looked up in the sky, wondering.

     Michal already noticed that Aldo couldn't swing his one leg as well as the other and was obviously limping. Therefore, she already addressed him seriously. "What's wrong?"

     Aldo also noticed that she already noticed and said, "It's nothing."

     "You have a sprain or something?"

     "Something like that."

     Michal halted and said, "Will you pull up your pants, please?"

     Aldo also had to halt, seeing Michal did. Then he did as told and lifted a pair of his black slacks up above his knee and, in doing so, revealed his somewhat-hairy leg, white sock, and shiny black shoe.

     "A wound?" she said, looking at it surprisingly and afterwards up at Aldo's face.

     "Yes, it seems," Aldo replied.

     Michal slightly bent down, sliding her hair to the back of her ear and resting her palms on her knees, and looked at the wound again and saw that it still swelled and even had a pus. Then she stooped and finally totally bent down, crossing her thighs accordingly and fixing her eyes on the wound.

     Aldo was quick to bend down too to not let her be alone in that position, his wounded leg on the forefront.

     "You never attended to this at all, didn't you, ever since you got this?" she questioned.

     "I thought it would be gone in only a few days."

     "I have a kit in the car. When my sister arrives, I'll get them; and we'll dress this wound. What happened? How did you get it?"

     Aldo related the incident that led him to having such a wound.

     Michal replied, "Shouldn't you be wearing a protective gear or something before setting out to do that kind of work? I'm just wondering."

     Aldo sighed apologetically and said, "Yeah. I should. I didn't think it was that important."

     "Now you do."

     "Yes. I'll be very careful next time."

     Michal looked away, sighed exasperatingly, and looked at him again. "Are you really hopelessly an accident-prone child?"

     "I don't know. Maybe. Maybe I shouldn't be doing carpentry anymore. But I got preoccupied. I got unnecessarily careless."

     "You got preoccupied." Michal took one last look at him and then looked down, lifted the garment above his knee a little bit more, softly touched his knee, and slithered her fingers on the surrounding skin of the wound. "Then you should always pay full attention to what you're doing and not daydream, or you will put yourself in danger," she said, still looking down. Then she looked up at him, touched his face, held it as her head reached out to his, and then kissed him on the lips. Then she detached, stood up, walked towards the balustrade by the river, and rested her hands on the concrete handrail, and looked far at the walls of Fort Santiago.

     Aldo pulled himself up, still feeling the pain of his swollen knee, looked at Michal, and found her, whose right side were illumined by the mellow afternoon sunlight, on a meditative mode. He approached her and placed himself beside her, and faced her, resting his rib on the balustrade.

     Michal, feeling him beside her, looked to her right at his face and said tearfully, "I'm sorry if I just went ahead and kissed you."

     "It's okay. Definitely okay. Thank you. Not bad, by the way."

     "Not bad? You mean, awful."

     "No. It was excellent."

     Michal looked before her. "I think I just made an ass of myself."

     "No. You nailed it. Speaking of nails..."

     Michal faced him. "Then you won't mind if I tried again?"

     "No. Sure. Go ahead."

     Michal took a step forward, placed her hands softly on his shoulders trying to place herself, transfered her hands to his cheeks clasping them, bent his head downwards with her hands and lifted her head to aim for his, and then went in. She prolonged the kiss for as long as she could and even wiggled.

     Aldo sometimes opened his eyes and wondered.

     When she got tired, she let go, drew back pushing him gently, smiled, and said, "So? How was it?"

     "Better. Now let me try."

     Aldo, in turn, took a step forward fixing his eyes on her. First, he clamped his hands on her forearms as he looked into her eyes sparkling with mild tears as her face got directly hit by the light of the setting sun. He smiled at her, and she did too quickly with a some sort of sad smile. He prolonged this moment that they're staring at each other. Then he slithered his hands upwards, stopping intermittently at her shoulder joints, shoulders, neck, and finally the back of her head and a portion of her face. Her hair was currently dancing with the gentle wind, and Aldo brushed them upwards towards the back of her head to probably clear her face of obstacles until what remained protruding were a few stubborn hairs on her temples which unfortunately seemingly naturally run in a downward direction. These he caressed with his thumbs as he gazed at her affectionately and not anymore playfully. At that moment, Aldo was already deeply engrossed in her beauty and Michal, by his looks at her.

     Then came the moment when Michal knew and felt that Aldo was about to reciprocate, and so she gently closed her eyes and got herself ready. Aldo bent his head a little; and after about three seconds, he came down and pressed her lips upon his in a firm and soft manner. Michal already learned from her first two mistakes and now naturally parted her lips in the same time and extent as Aldo did. It is by this time that their lips met perfectly in a way that they may not be able to repeat afterwards. It is at this moment that Aldo got a full taste of Michal's lips, like sipping honey or apple, and felt the bliss of her soul who has known no other love than his. Michal also fully understood the love he has for her which, for many days, weeks, and months, she had thwarted, hindered, and stifled. Tears that had been welling up her eyes now trickled down her cheeks. Her delicate hands were on his back, and his arms were wrapped around her shoulders. After those questions that they both had been asking themselves ever since they met were settled, they detached, gazed tenderly at each other, and engaged again, this time way better but not as perfect, pure, and pristine as its immediate precedent. Then they did the same thing again, this time less energetic, serving as those moments' conclusion. After that, they embraced, closing their eyes. Michal sobbed uncontrollably.

     Time will tell whether Michal was right in what she chose to do on that particular Tuesday afternoon.

     Next thing, Aldo and Michal could be seen sitting on the bench facing the river, basking in the sunset rays. Michal crossed her left leg onto her right, wrapped her right arm around Aldo's shoulders and her left on her thighs, and placed her head closely next to his.

     "What's your sister like?" asked Aldo.

     "What is she like? Uh... caring, kind, dependable"

     "Is she anything like you?"

     "Uh... We're a little different, I think."

     "It's very nice of her to accompany you."

     "Yeah."

     Aldo eventually met Michal's sister the three of them walked towards the car. Michal's sister went ahead, while she and Aldo lagged a little behind together. As soon as she saw her sister get busy readying herself to take the wheel, Michal motioned Aldo to stop, held him by the head, and gave him a goodbye smooch. The way she did it was very picturesque. She was now very good at it. She now turned away; but after taking a step, she felt Aldo's hand in hers——because they lingered on each other for as long as they could——detaining her. Her natural reaction was to draw herself in towards Aldo.

     "What?" she asked smiling.

     "You've been kissing me too much. Now it's my turn again."

     "Okay," she said smiling.

     Aldo pulled her with one hand and held the other. Then, lingering to each other's fingers, both of them aimed and then went in for the kiss. Seventh time's the charm; and by this time, they have perfected the art... and the form... that it already looked naturally beautiful. After that, they let go and Michal ran towards the car staccato-like like an idiot. Once by the door, she looked back at Aldo and shouted:

     "Get well soon."

     "I will," he shouted back.

tentatively titled, “Simply Visiting”

from The Simple Adventures of a Simple Simpleton

by: Marven T. Baldo