CHAPTER 36 "YOU CANNOT AVOID ME"

"WHY you are early huh," Jenny said when he went to see her in her cabin first thing in the morning.

"Of course, I don't want to miss our first date," he replied, putting his arm around her shoulder but quickly removing it from there.

Jason just laughed softly at what the young lady has done and then looked at Jenny from head to toe in amazement. As usual, because it's cold in Baguio and she's wearing a red hoodie jacket, tight jeans, and rubber shoes.

"Oh, why are you looking at me like that?" even though the intense discomfort was obvious in her voice and tone of speech due to his open observation, Jason still did not hold back.

"Nothing, I just find you so beautiful, and sexy," he made the last adjective he used teasingly and meaningfully so that he thought Jenny got the meaning because she quickly blushed.

"Stop it, the day has just started and I don't want to be annoyed," she told him then left him and started walking.

He followed Jenny with a smile. "Tell me, how long do you plan to stay here?" he asked as they walked.

"My plan is for two weeks, but Mama said I can extend it if I want," Jenny replied.

Jason liked what he heard so he couldn't help but be overjoyed that became very obvious in the tone of his speech when he spoke.

"Really? Then why don't you extend it? I'll just spare your stay here so you can save money, I'll pay mom," he said.

Jenny looked up at him with surprise. "Are you courting me?"

He did not expect that question from the young lady but in the end, he also thanked her for asking him that.

"Shall we sit down first?" when they got close to a familiar bench where they used to sit, Jason decided to invite Jenny to sit there so that they could have a good conversation.

"Okay," Jenny agreed.

"Isn't Baguio your dream?" he asked shortly after they sat down.

*****

JASON asked that question, an indescribable pleasure mixed with trembling caressed the young lady's heart.

"Do you still remember about that?" she said turning to Jason for a moment and then returning her gaze to the tall pine trees on the side of the road.

"I haven't forgotten anything about you," Jason replied to her.

Jenny felt the sincerity of what the young man said and even though she did not admit it she knew she was thrilled because that was the feeling that drew her heart. But since she was once hurt because of what happened to her and Jason, although as she said last night she forgave him, somehow there was still a pinch of hesitation in her heart to believe everything he said.

"You haven't answered my question yet, eh," that's what she preferred to say instead.

"Which question? If I'm courting you?"

Jenny nodded. "Yes," she said.

"What if I say let's just be together again, is that okay with you?" Jason asked her.

Jenny was surprised when the young man asked her that question. "W-What did you say?"

"I'm asking you if it's okay for you for us to be together again? Let’s just continue with whatever we have left."

"Are you crazy Jason? It's been ten years since we separated. In fact, we're strangers to each other now," she replied.

The young man just shrugged. "Okay, but I'll get you back," he said in a tone that seemed absolutely certain.

"It's up to you, but I'm warning you, it won't be as easy as before. I'm different now, I'm smarter and braver," she laughed at the young man afterward.

The corner of Jason's mouth lifted at what she said and she acted. That's why she was surprised about what he did next. He grabbed her by the nape and then kissed her hard.

"See?" when Jason let go of her lips after a while that was what he told her between her, gasping for air.

"W-Why did you do that?" she asked unable to hide the intense redness on her face because of Jason's sudden kiss on her.

"I just want to prove to you that if you say everything will not be easy for me well, so will it be for you," he said teasingly running his index finger over her lips.

"W-What do you mean?" he asked her.

"It won't be easy for you to avoid me because you can't do that," Jason's tone of voice still seemed to be very sure of everything he said and deep inside Jenny knew that was true.

She really couldn't avoid Jason but she didn't need to tell the young man about it. It would be better if he somehow guessed or tried to read her. Even though she knew that Jason knew how she thinks because he knew her so well, she would still choose to let the man experience how to be confused and doubt even once.

"Let's go home, I'm already hungry. Then what time will Mama Loida and Malou arrive?" she asked preceding to stand.

Jason shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe they'll be here before lunch. Do you want to have breakfast at home or just there?" he pointed to a coffee shop.

Jenny suddenly felt her stomach growl after smelling the delicious aroma of coffee as they approached the coffee shop.

"Just in there? I'm suddenly hungry," she said with a soft laugh.

Jason just nodded as his eyes glisten and then placed his hand over her shoulders and guided her to the pathway that would take them to that cafe.

The young lady can say that that breakfast was fun compared to the dinner they also shared last night without anyone speaking and only the sound of cutlery could be heard on the table. But now, the atmosphere is lighter between the two of them even though in fact it is also inevitable to talk about the past because the two of them are already part of it.

"I'm sorry to hear about that," Jason sighed after she confessed to the young man the real reason why she moved into a different school after they broke up.

"I didn't really go back to school then except when I took exams. I suffered from depression and that's what Mama said was the reason so my teachers agreed to give me special exams. But my average in maintaining grades that a full-scholar like didn't work out either so I moved to a different school. At a state university, I graduated of course, as Magna Cum Laude," she said smiling when she saw the gleam of intense admiration in the young man's eyes for her.

"I'm so proud of you, do you know that? Even though I know I'm the reason why you stumbled, you still tried to get up and you really made it.You fulfilled your dream even when I wasn't by your side," Jason said in an apologetic tone.