Ayisha glanced at Simon and caught him eating his burger while she focused on her rice.
"Are you really not going to eat rice?" she asked, her mouth still full.
Simon chuckled. "First, don't talk while your mouth is full. And yes, I'm only eating a burger. Don't worry. I'll eat rice later." He smiled.
After finishing her food, Ayisha took a sip of her Coke and hesitated.
"I want to ask you something…"
"Sure. Go ahead."
"Why did you stay in the Philippines?"
"Well, at first I was just here to travel," he replied. "But I started to love this country, so I stayed."
She nodded, accepting his answer.
"By the way," she added, "what's your full name? Your name on social media is different."
"Oh… uh. It's a really long name."
"I don't care," she said. "Just tell me."
"Ugh… fine." She sighed. "It's Princess Ayisha Denise Ain De Leon."
Simon immediately choked on his drink, coughing as he wiped his lips with the back of his hand. "That's—wow. That's a long name. Why did your parents give you something that long?"
"Di ko nga alam eh," she muttered.
"So when you write it—"
"Yes," she cut in irritably. "I write it in full."
Simon laughed.
She sighed in frustration. "What about you? What's your full name?"
"Simon River James." He smiled.
Ayisha hummed.
"That's it?" he asked.
"Yeah."
Simon shook his head, amused. "You're not going to say 'good name' or 'such a beautiful name'?" he teased.
Instead of answering, Ayisha kept talking about nothing and everything. Simon listened. His eyes lingered on her lips as she spoke.
Her hands moved as she explained something, and his gaze followed then returned to her eyes.
She noticed.
Ayisha paused mid-sentence.
Simon slowly looked away and cleared his throat. "So… what's your job?"
"I'm working as a waiter," she replied.
He looked back at her. "A waiter, huh? Do you want to work at my restaurant? I can pay you double."
"No, thank you," she said quickly. "And I don't want you bossing me around, old man."
Simon raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Fair enough."
*Still,* he thought, *it would be nice to have her around.*
"Speaking of work," Ayisha said, "what time is it?"
Simon checked his watch. "It's already 2:46 p.m."
"2:46?!" She stood up abruptly. "What the hell? Why does time move so fast?!"
Simon grabbed her wrist gently. "Where are you going?"
"I need to go to work. I'm already late."
"Let me take you there."
"Huh?" She hesitated. "Um… okay."
He let go, and she walked ahead. Simon picked up his helmet and noticed the money tucked underneath.
He remembered how she insisted on paying earlier.
Chuckling to himself, he slipped the money into his pocket and hurried to catch up with her.
"You know," he said, "you didn't need to sneak the money there."
"Oh, shut up." She rolled her eyes.
They stepped outside, walked to the motorcycle, and climbed on. Simon inserted the key and handed her the helmet. She put it on, wrapping her arms around his waist as he started the engine.
She guided him through the streets.
________________________
Simon turned off the engine, and Ayisha hopped off. "Thanks for the ride," she said, handing him the helmet.
Simon hesitated, his eyes fixed on her. "Will you… hang out with me again?" His voice softened. "If you—uh…"
It cracked.
He cleared his throat. "If you want to."
Ayisha laughed lightly. "Sure. I want that." She smiled. "See you next time."
She turned and went inside the restaurant.
"Sino 'yun?" one of her coworkers asked. "So that's why you're super late today," she teased, nudging Ayisha's shoulder.
"Good thing the boss isn't here," another worker added while wiping a table. "Otherwise, you'd get lectured or worse, fired."
Ayisha sighed. "Yeah, I know."
She headed toward the employees' area, but Marie followed closely behind.
"Come on," Marie said. "Who is he?"
"He's Simon," Ayisha replied as she put on her apron. "Just an acquaintance."
Marie raised an eyebrow, a smug smile forming. "You sure he's just an acquaintance?"
"Yeah," Ayisha answered nonchalantly.
But for some reason… her heart felt a little louder than usual.