"Get in," the man invited Andrea, who was standing beside a red Honda car.
"I'm not getting in there no matter how much you insist, even if you've got four wheels," Andrea replied.
"You really don't want to?" the man inside the car asked.
"I said I don't. You're so full of yourself—just because you have four wheels, you think I'd fall for you!" Andrea said snappily.
Andrea kept glancing into the distance, waiting for her ride—a guy on a single motorbike. The man rolled down the side window, but Andrea didn't even look at him. Next, he opened the car door so she could get in.
"Tsk! I'm not easy to get, you know!" Andrea said irritably.
The man finally stepped out of the car and leaned on the car door.
"Hey! Isn't he coming?"
"Why would you—ahhh…" Andrea stopped mid-sentence and her attitude faded. She was stunned at what she saw, unable to believe it.
"You have a car? You know how to drive? You have a license?" Andrea asked in rapid succession. She found it hard to believe what she is seeing right now in front of her is so real.
"Is this really yours? It's not for hire? Is this real? I'm not dreaming, am I?" Andrea even slapped her own cheeks to wake herself up.
"Oh my God!!!" Andrea screamed. "This isn't a dream!"
The man just nodded at her repeatedly.
"You know, Cyrus, you never introduced yourself properly. I thought you really weren't coming and that someone else was trying to court me," Andrea said in a suddenly sweet tone.
Cyrus just smiled.
"So, you're not that easy to get, huh," he teased.
Andrea pinched him. "You're so annoying," she said.
"Ouch! Don't do that, I'm driving!" Cyrus replied.
Cyrus had asked his mother for money to buy a car because one time, while he was giving Andrea a ride on his motorbike, they got caught in the rain. Andrea ended up catching the flu and missed three days of school.
When they reached Andrea's house, Cyrus opened the car door for her and handed her a bouquet of flowers. But he was also carrying another bouquet, which Andrea had been wondering about the whole trip—who was it for? She started suspecting that Cyrus might be courting someone else, which is why she stayed quiet, overthinking.
"Aren't you going to invite me in?" Cyrus asked.
"Well, you always leave right after dropping me off, even when I invite you in. Even that one time it was raining and we were both drenched—you still refused to come inside," Andrea explained.
"All right, come in," Andrea finally said.
As soon as they stepped inside—
"Ma! I'm home!"
Her mother came to greet her.
"Good thing it didn't rain. Who was that who dropped you off last time and just left you there in the rain?" she asked curiously.
Cyrus immediately greeted Mylene Buenafe, Andrea's mother.
"Good evening, ninang (godmother). These flowers are for you," Cyrus said, handing her the bouquet.
"Oh my, I'm even prettier at night," Mylene jokingly said.
"Of course, I take after you," Andrea chimed in, putting her hand under her chin and acting cute.
"Thank you for the flowers. It's been so long since anyone gave me something like this—I actually missed it," Mylene said. She glanced at the flowers in Andrea's hands, then looked back at her godson.
"So, who are you courting, me or my daughter?" she teased.
"Of course…" Cyrus swallowed nervously.
"Of course, who?" Mylene pressed.
"Of course, Andrea," Cyrus answered.
"I knew it! I've always suspected you had your eyes on my daughter," Mylene teased again, then walked over to the cabinet in the living room.
She called out to their helper, "Inday! Get Cyrus something to drink."
Andrea went upstairs to change.
The helper approached Cyrus. "Sir, what would you like? Milk, coffee, or juice?"
"Water's fine," Cyrus replied.
When the helper came back, she brought him a glass of soda.
"You gave me options but none of the above was the answer. Bonus, huh," Cyrus commented.
"Yes sir, it's a bonus. Here's the bottle—buy 3, get 1 free. I just poured it into a glass," the helper explained.
A moment later, Mylene returned with a photo album. She showed him a picture of a winking baby.
"That's you when you were one year old," she said.
"Do you know who you were winking at?" Mylene asked.
"Uh… no," Cyrus replied.
She showed him the next picture—the full shot. Cyrus was being carried by his father, while his godfather Maxwel was holding another baby.
"That baby your godfather is carrying—that's Andrea. And look, winking wasn't enough, you even tried to reach out and touch my daughter," Mylene narrated.
"Daughter, come here and look at this," Mylene called out.
Andrea hurried downstairs, wearing short shorts and a tank top, her curves clearly showing. Cyrus glanced at her and wanted to shout "Wow, perfect!" but held back in front of Mylene.
"Look at Cyrus here—he was mischievous even as a baby," Mylene said, pointing first at the close-up of Cyrus, then at the other page showing the full shot with their fathers holding them.
"Yeah, you're right," Andrea agreed and pinched Cyrus' cheek.
"Ouch!" Cyrus yelped.
On another page, Mylene showed Andrea as a flower girl, followed by a photo of Cyrus as a ring bearer.
"And here's where you first held the hand of the baby you winked at back then," Mylene said, turning the page to a picture of the two children holding hands and smiling.
"That was at Emelyn and Ricky's wedding," Mylene explained.
"You two even insisted on a solo picture together. When your fathers saw it, they said, 'Looks like there's a future couple here,'" Mylene added.
"You two were so cute back then," she said.
"Even cuter now, Ma," Andrea insisted.
"Of course," Mylene agreed.
"So, Ma…" Andrea began.
"So? What?" her mother asked.
"Can I have a boyfriend now?" Andrea asked.
"Well, as long as it's Cyrus, why not?" Mylene replied, and Andrea hugged her.
Cyrus swallowed hard. He felt hope rise in him—he was sure Andrea would say yes to him any time now.
"As long as it's Cyrus, and not like that other guy who left you in the rain last time," Mylene added.
"Uh… that was me, sorry ninang. It won't happen again," Cyrus admitted.
"So you were that shameless brat!" Mylene exclaimed, pinching his side.
"Ouch!" Cyrus yelped again.
The hope he felt earlier was now overshadowed by dark, heavy clouds.
"I take back what I said earlier—you can't have a boyfriend," Mylene insisted.
"Ma, come on!" Andrea protested.
"All right then, you can leave now!" Mylene said angrily.
"I'm really sorry, it won't happen again. It just suddenly poured, and we were only one block away from your house," Cyrus explained.
"Fine, fine, go home now," Mylene said.
"I'm really sorry," Cyrus repeated.
"What? You don't want to leave? You want to sleep here instead?" Mylene barked.
"Well, I could sleep in—" Cyrus began to cracked some joke, but Mylene cut him off.
"Hey! In the maid's room maybe, you naughty boy!" she snapped.
"Oooh, I like that. I'll get to sleep beside handsome here," the helper whispered, loud enough for Mylene to hear.
"You! Another flirty pest! My God!" Mylene shouted.
"Ma, your heart," Andrea cautioned, knowing her mother could go on and on once she got started.
"Cyrus, there's always another day," Andrea told him.
"Okay ninang, I'll go now. Thank you, good night," Cyrus said.
Andrea walked him to the door and gave him a thumbs-up as he stepped out of the gate. He returned the gesture.
"Good night," he said.
"Good night too," Andrea replied.
"Thanks for bringing my daughter home," Mylene added, giving a thumbs-up too. Cyrus was confused—he couldn't tell if she was okay with him for her daughter or just pretending, or if she was really mad.
Back at his apartment, Cyrus got a call from Alfred.
"Bro, how's your courting of your godmother going?" Alfred teased. He had been the one to advise Cyrus to win over the mother if the daughter was hard to get.
"Bro, it was fine at first, then she got mad, and in the end I don't know if she's okay with me or not," Cyrus explained.
"You're so vague, bro," Alfred replied.
"Anyway, next week I'm going all out. Let's go with Plan B—convince our classmates to help me," Cyrus requested. They were both studying at the same university in Manila.
"Sure, bro, I got you," Alfred said.
"Okay, I'm going to bed now, I'm yawning already. Good night," Cyrus said.
"Good night, bro. I love you," Alfred teased.
"Bro, don't say 'I love you' to me—someone might get jealous," Cyrus joked back.
"Well, Andrea can't hear us," Alfred replied.
"All right, night," Cyrus said sleepily.
"Night night, bro," Alfred replied.
Sunday came—the day Cyrus had been waiting for. The day for everything to be clear. Early in the morning, Cyrus called Andrea.
"Hello, loves, let's meet at the mall," Cyrus invited.
"'Loves,' huh," Andrea replied.
"It's true, I do love you," Cyrus said.
"All right, let's meet—but you come here at 4 o'clock. Sorry, I can't pick you up, I still have something to do," Andrea said.
"Which mall?" Andrea asked.
"I'll just have Mama drop me off," she added.
"At our usual meeting spot," Cyrus replied.
"You mean your godmother will come with you?" he asked nervously, knowing his plan would be ruined if Mylene came—he feared she might turn into a tiger again.
"Probably not," Andrea said.
"Okay, it's a date. I expect you to be on time—don't be late," Cyrus said.
"Of course, when have I ever been late?" Andrea replied.
"Okay, bye, I love you," Cyrus said.
"Bye," Andrea answered simply.
Andrea was still thinking carefully whether she should say yes to Cyrus or not. She was sure her father would understand, but when it came to her mother—she wasn't so sure, as her moods often changed.