Marigold
“OH my goodness” Eliza cooed
“are you serious?”
I exhaled “yeah. Yeah I am. I’ve been giving it some thought and I realized I actually have feelings for him. I can’t deny it anymore” I confessed and tucked my hair behind my ear
“gosh! This is like my dream come true. I’m so happy for you. Hey, you have to tell him immediately” she said and dropped Goldie in her basket
“that’s my problem. How I’m I gonna tell him? Should I walk up to him and say, Will I love you now” I stated and bit my lower lip, I felt nervous.
“now you have to release all the flirty tactics in you. It’s easy, just ask him if he’s still interested in you. If he says yes, smile at him and tell him you have his answer now. He would ask you to tell him then you’d just say.. Yes” she blinked her eyes like a pretty Barbie princess and I chuckled
“are you sure I can do that?” I asked and she took my hands in hers
“Marigold, I know you’re the timid, shy and reserved type. But love can change your whole being. It makes you do things you normally wouldn’t do and you become so free with the person you love. Come on, you can take this first step.” she assured me and I let out a big smile then nodded
“okay, I can do this” I said and she smiled
“that’s the spirit. Don’t worry, you and Will are going to be perfect together because there’s love. Okay?”
“okay” I said and hugged her. We stayed in that position for five minutes without saying anything else but just smiling
“hey, let’s go eat some noodles. I brought some” she said and we disengaged from the hug
“cooked one or we’re cooking it here?” I asked as we stood up
“we’re cooking them here. What’s that white plastic can?” she asked while pointing to it on the table
“OH, that’s Goldie’s milk. Will made me buy some dog food and toys for her”
“oh, is the milk drinkable by man?” she asked and walked to the table then lifted up the white jerrycan
“seriously? Eliza it’s dog milk. Milked from dogs. Ugh!” I said
“eww” she said and dropped the can. We laughed and left the room
“so how’s my auntie doing?” I asked as I waited for her to pull out the noodle bags
“haven’t seen her for days now” she replied and walked into the kitchen. I followed her
“you haven’t seen her for days? Really? She doesn’t pass by?” I asked
“she used to. But not recently. Maybe she went out of town” Eliza said with a shrug
“yeah, maybe” I muttered and brought out a pot. I rinsed it and set it on the stove then lighted it
I added little water and watched as Eliza emptied the noodle bags into the pot
“should we make it spicy?” I asked
“of course we should. I brought some peppermint and cinnamon. Which one do you prefer?”
“cinnamon” I answered
“my mom actually gave me a big pineapple to give you”
“really? She did? Where is it?” I asked with excitement
“in my bag. We could eat it later in the evening if you want”
“yeah that’s perfect. You have to thank her for me” I said and a knock came on the door. I gasped
“Wilbur” I said
“you’re sure it’s him?” Eliza asked as she covered the pot
“of course it has to be him. He’s the only one that could visit” I said and ran to the living room. I stood in front of the door, heaved a deep sigh and tried to look calm. I opened the door and the smile I planned to smile just turned into a frown
“hello Miss, are you Marigold?” the man who was obviously a delivery man asked
“yes I am” I answered
“I have a package for you” he said and lifted the big white bag he has been holding
“I didn’t order anything” I said
“the person who ordered said it should be delivered to this address to Miss Marigold Cruz” he said and I hesitated a little before I collected the bag
“but who ordered it?” I asked
“Mr Wilbur Sanders” He brought out a book and a pen then handed it to me
“sign here please” he said and pointed at the place I should sign. I took the pen and signed
“thank you miss” he said
“thank you too” I replied and he left. I entered inside and closed the door. I sat on the couch and Eliza came out of the kitchen
“hey what’s that?” she asked immediately and came to sit beside me
“Wilbur ordered it for me. I don’t know what it is” I said and ran my fingers on the nylon bag
“well open it. Let’s see” Eliza said and I opened the bag and pulled out a large and flat white box. There was a tag on it and I picked it
It said I’M TAKING YOU OUT TOMORROW NIGHT, WEAR THIS AND GET READY BEFORE 7PM
“he wants to take you out. Perfect!” Eliza exclaimed and took the paper tag from me
“but he didn’t say anything about taking me out when we met days ago. Besides, he said he was going to be really busy throughout this week and next week. He also said he was traveling to Bantayan island for a week” I said as I watched Eliza reread the message
“OH come on Mari, when you love someone you make time for them despite your busy schedule. Now, open the bag and let’s see the dress” she said that last part with a giggle. One could tell she’s even more excited than I am
“okay” I mumbled and gently opened the box. There was another white bag in it and I pulled it out and undid the buttons. I afterwards pulled out a sea green dress
“whoa” Eliza half whispered as we stared at it
I stood up and pulled it out completely from the bag. It was a long mermaid dress with a little slit in the right side of the lower part of the dress. It was quite heavy and thick. Obviously quality material.
The hands were off shoulder and a little bit wide
“gosh” that was Eliza again
I smiled. The dress was magnificent. It had very tiny silver stones at some parts of it.
“I like it” I said
“I love it” Eliza giggled and jumped up
“I wonder where we are going that the dress has to be so exotic” I said
“definitely somewhere exotic” Eliza said and took the inner bag where I pulled the dress from
“could it be an award show? He said he had award shows to attend” I said and sat down
“there’s another little bag in here” Eliza said
“really?” I asked and stood up after dropping the dress neatly on the couch
“yeah” Eliza answered and brought out two more bags. One was bigger than the other
“shoes?” I asked as I opened the bigger bag.
“wow” I said as I stared at the silver heels.
“this one are earrings and a pendant. And a hair clip with a green flower on it” Eliza said
“wow… Wilbur bought all these? This is serious” I said and Eliza laughed
“you’re gonna look so good in these. Thank God I’m here, I’ll dress you up” she said and I giggled
“and you have to use tomorrow’s opportunity to give Will an answer” she said and I sighed
“hey, get that nervous spirit out of you. It’s tomorrow or never” she snapped her fingers and I smiled
“okay. It’s tomorrow or never” I repeated
“good, now let’s pack this up and keep them inside”
We arranged everything back into the box and dropped them inside. We met Goldie biting her tail
“awwn look who’s awake” Eliza cooed and quickly bent down and carried her. I dropped the bag on the bed and brought out Goldie’s bowl then poured out her milk. She should be hungry
“you’re so cozy and warm” Eliza said and hugged the pup
“I’m beginning to get jealous. Enough of the cuddling already” I said and sat on the floor then dropped the bowl. Goldie ran off Eliza and immediately started drinking the milk
“should she be drinking from a bowl? Didn’t you buy a feeding bottle?” Eliza asked
“I did. But she kept biting the tube instead of sucking. It already has holes in it” I said and we laughed
“wait… Do I spell something burning?” I asked and we both sniffed in then our eyes widened
“the noodles!” we both said at the same time and ran off to the kitchen
I quickly uncovered the pot and turned off the stove.
“is it bad?” Eliza asked and I took a spoon to check
“thank God, it’s just the underneath that got burnt. The middle and upper part is still good” I said and took out two plates
“great… I’m starving” she said and took cups to fetch water
While we were eating, we were talking about school professors and Goldie was playing with a squeaky toy
Eliza decided to turn on the TV and she found out it was connected to the DVD player
“were you watching something?” she asked as she pulled out the disk
“yeah. It’s a movie I bought that day I followed you to the movie store
“oh what movie?” she asked and put it back into the DVD. She pressed start and the movie began
“You Only?” she asked
“how come you know every movie?”
“it’s a little something called interest” she said and returned to her plate
“I was watching the movie when Will and a girl kissed. I got angry and pulled down the television. It got destroyed” I said and dug my fork into my noodles, then I picked up a large amount and opened my mouth and pulled it all.
“the old television? You were the one who spoilt it? Because you were jealously angry” Eliza said and laughed
I wanted to speak but there was no single space in my mouth for air to penetrate and come out. No matter how much I chewed, I felt like it was increasing. What made me take so much into my mouth?
“gosh, you look so hilarious” Eliza said and laughed
I continued to chew and chew until it was all gone. My mouth was already tired and on fire because it was hot and spicy
“hahhhhhhh” I breathed with my mouth, trying to cool my tongue
“you should take water” Eliza advised and I gulped down all of it, including hers
“hey it’s not that spicy” she said
“try eating it in a large portion then” I said and ran up to my room. Goldie ran inside with me. I took a candy and quickly unwrapped it then began to lick it
I sighed and looked at Goldie who was looking up at me
“better” I said to her and picked her up. We went to the living room together.
I took my plate again and found out it had reduced and Eliza’s own had increased. I knew she did something
“Eliza please fetch another water” I said
“I smell chocolate” she said
“because there’s a chocolate bar in my mouth” I said
“oh” she said and dropped her food then took the cups and went to get water. I quickly took some of her looted noodles and sat like nothing happened. I removed the candy and I dropped it on the table then began to eat
She came back and glared at me
“what?” I asked
“my noodles reduced” she said and dropped the cups
“so did mine earlier” I said and she pouted and I laughed
*
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“and the final touch is lip gloss” Eliza said and took a neutral colored lip gloss up
“why not lip stick? I thought you have a pink lipstick” I asked
“I do but, Wilbur might kiss you tonight and I don’t want him to have lipstick on his lips.” she said and uncovered the lip gloss tube
“but isn’t that romantic?” I asked
“awwwn, my baby’s coming up. It’s romantic but I think it should be something private. I’m sure you’re going to a public place” she answered and gently applied the lip gloss for me
“and we’re done… Come on, let’s check the mirror” she helped me up and I gently walked to the wall where my medium sized mirror was hanging
“wowwws, don’t I look like a celebrity?” I said excitedly and hugged her
“of course you do. You’ll soon be one Mrs Sanders” she said and we laughed
“thank you so much” I said as I stared at my hair that was packed up and pinned. Two strands of my hair were left in the front and Eliza curled them through the local way of curling. Rolling them up and putting it in hot water.
“make sure you bring some takeaways home. I’m sure you guys might have dinner before going” Eliza said
“okay, I will”
__Wilbur__
I opened the door to my car and was just about to sit in when Eduardo drove in. I stood still and watched him step out.
“where are you headed?” he asked as he approached me
“a party” I answered
“I heard you were seen hanging out with a girl on Monday. Who’s that?” he asked and I was glad he didn’t ask about the party
“a girl” I answered him and he scoffed
“do you think I don’t know it’s a girl? I asked who the girl is!” he yelled and I noticed something was wrong
“what’s wrong Eduardo? Why are you overreacting?” I asked
“overreacting? I’m overreacting? Are you crazy?”
I sighed and didn’t answer him
“now, tell me who the girl is?” he asked again
“do you remember my cousin Jay? That’s her younger sister who came back from the States” I answered and he nodded and walked back to his car, entered and left.
What is wrong with Eduardo tonight
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To be continued
