Forty-Three

ERIC raised his head and his whole face was animated.
“So we’re truly together now? Boyfriend and girlfriend, you and I?” He even pointed at himself and at her. “This is valid now, clear and committed?”
She was nodding before he could even finish, and he was kissing her again, and she wanted to laugh because he was such a big man but he was being silly like a child just because she said she loved him.
He raised his head again, and his eyes on her face now looked overcome. “I’ll spoil you. I’ll protect you and do good by you and I’ll make you so happy you will never think to unlove me ever.”
“Eric…! I don’t want you to spoil me.”
“I know but I can’t help it. I’ll do anything you want. I’ll—”
She kissed him.
She loved this man. She couldn’t help herself. She wanted to spoil him, protect him, too… and love him with everything that she’s got.
But before she could do all that, she had to be better. She had to work to be the kind of woman who could give him back everything she wanted to. To become his equal in everything else.
When their lips parted, he frowned at the look on her face.
“What is it? You look… are you sad, baby?”
She took a deep breath. “I am happy. I’m relieved I can say it. I just… not everyone will believe I love you just because… I can’t even say exactly. You just…” She stared at his face. “How can I not love you? You make me feel everything. You make me happy. You make me want to do more than I know I can do before and you make me want to dream of more than I used to so I can be with you.”
“And what’s wrong with that? I want you to dream for yourself and your family. I’m all fine, baby.”
She shook her head. “No. When I think about my future now, I think of how I can be worthy for you—”
“No!” He looked stricken. “I don’t want it like that. I’m going to be part of your future, Arianna. But you’re more than worthy for me. You are everything that I want. You are good and kind. You love too much. You are brave and you protect fiercely and carelessly that I always feel like I need to be there so you don’t have to do this much.” Then he smiled. “If you’re thinking about the wealth, don’t sweat it. I am wealthy for the two of us. If that’s not enough, my father will shoulder can easily shoulder the rest. I can’t understand why this is a problem.”
“You are crazy…” Yna groaned as she shook her head. How could she make him truly understand when he had never been poor before?
His hand caressed her cheek, combed through her messy hair, and raised her chin so he could kiss her lips. Then he lowered his forehead to hers as he closed his eyes.
“What is wealth for but for family? For people we love, and people we care for, Arianna. Please don’t hesitate to love me because I have money. It’s not my fault I was born into a wealthy family. I’m not a bad person. I just want to love you. Please…”
She kissed him back and impulsively threw her arms around him. And they held each other like that while her understanding of the universe took a different turn.
She took a trembling breath in, then lost it, and she buried her face to the side of his neck, breathing him in and filling her lungs of him.
Loving him meant protecting him from herself, her own prejudices.
She could do that.
“Alright. Okay. If it makes you happy to spoil me, you can. Just not too much, okay? It’s not my fault that I was born poor, too. My parents taught us to work hard for what we want. And I’ll be happier if I earn what I got. Just like my brother.”
He raised his head. “We can always discuss it. We can always talk.”
She nodded.
He grinned. “My girlfriend. You’re my girlfriend now.”
“And you are my boyfriend now…” she replied, in a daze. “Goodness gracious.”
“I’m all yours. Everything of mine is yours. I love you so much.”
She nodded, was able to squeeze in how much she loved him, too… so-so, before he kissed her sweetly.
They gathered their clothes and put them on again and, rough-looking and dirty, they walked hand-in-hand back towards the road to his house.

AS he had promised, her clothes were washed and dried before they could even finish showering.
Yes, they showered inside his huge bathroom. Then she reminded him to wash and dry his own clothes, too, because they couldn’t go back with him on different clothes. He did that, chucked his clothes in the laundry machine to wash and dry them.
In robes, they came downstairs to eat sandwiches in the island in his kitchen and she hadn’t even realized how hungry she was until she was gulping down her own bacon and cheese sandwich with orange juice. Pure juice, supposedly fresh when packed, and not the powdered one they had in her own house.
She was on her second half of the sliced sandwich when he brought up about college.
“Please don’t tell me you’ll refuse it. I swear to you, it was nothing. My dad can spend your whole college education in a car. It’s not even going to be a pinch.”
“I’ll accept it,” she replied casually.
He looked at her as if he wasn’t sure he heard her right.
“I said I’ll accept it,” she repeated. “No matter how I look at it, it is stupid to refuse the chance to have a college education. I’ll study hard, work hard on my course, and I’ll make sure to be the best student. I promise.” Then she gulped.
“What?” he asked as he reached for and held her hand.
“You’ll be in Manila and I’ll be here. What if… what if this doesn’t work and I’m not done yet? No… let me finish. I know you’re my first boyfriend and all that, and I have no experience with dating or relationships. But I do know people’s relationships don’t work. That’s why you have an Ex-fiancée. That’s why my friends have exes.” She grimaced. “Sorry for reminding you of her but… you thought you were going to marry her. You must have. You loved her as much, too. You wanted to have your family with her.”
He was holding a finger up, so she stopped and gave him his chance to speak.
“First of all… I’m your first and last boyfriend because I’ll marry you, by hook or by crook. Wait… I’m not done.”
She closed her mouth.
“Secondly, I didn’t love her as much as I love you. I didn’t even like her at first, nor notice her. It was different. I hadn’t noticed you because I barely saw you. I never had the chance to notice you. I think the last time I had a glimpse of you that I can remember was when you were twelve or thereabouts, and your back was even turned to me so if I ever discover I have the hots for twelve-year-olds, the chance just wasn’t there.”
She was giggling. “Eric!”
“So, no, it wasn’t the same. She… my ex-fiancée, was always in the picture. In parties I went to. In circles I sometimes go out with. I’ve seen her growing up. I swear when I try to think about it I don’t even know why I fell in love with her then. I think her bratty attitude amused me. Well, she certainly is beautiful… was beautiful.” His eyes had focused on her. “No, baby, she wasn’t. She was glitter and diamonds, that’s all. You are beautiful. I didn’t know what beauty is until I saw you that night. I told you… that night…” He sighed. “You’re the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. If you don’t believe me, wait until others tell you so. You’ve been hidden here. I’m almost scared to let you out.”
“Stop that, that’s enough. You’re making me shy now,” she complained.
“Thirdly—”
“Oh, there’s a third?”
He nodded. “Thirdly, you’re going to be studying in a university in Manila, not here. So we’ll be together.”
She froze.
That shocked her.
Her Mama, Tommy… she couldn’t leave them behind.