CHAPTER 04: The Plan

DARREN’s P.O.V.

“Are you sure about that, Darren? I mean, no offense but... Finding a woman that will act as your wife? Seriously?”

“Well, how bad could it be? Any woman would love to play along as my wife. And in fact, I will be paying whoever it is.”

“Don’t be so full of yourself, bro. I have read tons of stories about this kind of situation and stuff and guess what?” 

“What happened?”

“The protagonists fall for each other in the end.”

        I chuckled before answering him.

“That’s hilarious. I will never fall for anyone below my level. That kind of story will never happen to me, Elij.”

“Yeah. Whatever you say, bro. But just so you know, I’m not sure if I can find that someone you are looking for in just a short span of time.”

“Yes, you can. Just show them the money and I’m pretty sure that they will accept it.”

“But what if they slapped me?”

“You’re so funny, Elijah. I promised they won’t be mad at you. Just ask them nicely.”

“Good idea, bro. What if I say, ‘Hey, you want to be my bestfriend’s wife? Here’s the money, take it.’ Like that?” He chuckled.

“You’re a lunatic. Of course not. If you put it that way, there’s a higher chance that you will get slapped or something.”

        We both laughed at our own jokes. One thing that I liked about Elijah, he is a good friend, indeed. He never judge my bad decisions in life like what my Dad always did. 

        After planning out about everything, we decided to head home. And because I don’t have a car with me, Elijah offers me a ride. Good thing that he invited me into his car, because right after we got inside, rain started to fall heavily. 

“Damn this weather.”

“Stop picking on everything, Darren. Are you mad about the rain or because of your father?”

“Shut up, bro.”

“Okay, okay.”

        Along the highway, we can see the view of the wide rice field and a few buildings around the area. There are even schools and hospital buildings nearby.

“Is that... Claire?” Elijah asked.

       And since I don’t know who is he talking about, I looked out of the tinted window and saw a lady standing under the shade, half wet while wearing a teacher’s uniform. Same as what Elijah’s wearing right now.

“Bro, I think she’s wet,” I declared, out of the blue.

“Yeah. Do you mind if we give her a ride? Their house was only a few meters away from here. We will passed it by. I could drop her off.”

“Sure. It’s your car, anyway.”

         Elijah stopped the car to the nearest spot that he can from that woman. And since the shade was on the right side of the road, I was able to see her face clearly as the window of the car went down.

“Hey!” called Elijah. She didn’t look up.

        Maybe Elijah’s voice wasn’t loud enough for her to hear. Not to mention the rain that was pouring heavily since we got in the car.

“Teacher Claire! Can you hear me?!” Right now Elijah was starting to wave at her like a crazy person just to get her attention.

“Is she deaf?” I curiously asked.

“No, she’s not, bro. She just simply cannot hear my voice due to the heavy rain. Maybe you can try calling her.”

“What?! W-why me?”

“Duh. You are closer to her.”

“What was her name again?” Damn, I’m really bad at memorizing people’s name.

“Claire. But you can call her Teacher Claire or Ms. Braganza if you are not comfortable with her first name.”

        Of course I’m comfortable at using this stranger’s first name. Why would I wouldn’t be, right? She’s just an ordinary girl.

“Ms. Braganza!” I shouted. In the end, I still didn’t manage to call her by her first name.

        But she looked up this time. Maybe she can heard us right now since the rain was starting to pour lightly.

        Our eyes met, and just as this moment, I felt an unexplainable feeling on my stomach. What is this new weird sensation? Looking deep into her eyes makes me nervous in the extent that I wanted to hide from her forever.

“H-hi...” I tried to make a normal conversation, but I failed.

        She just smiled at me, flashing her tiny white pearls. She also have a dimple on her right cheek, making me tremble and smile unconsciously. I stare at her face, from her almond shaped dark eyes down to her pink, kissable lips. 

        Her face reminds me of something. Or maybe someone. Indeed, she’s like an angel to my eyes. A face like my mother’s. Except that their eyes were different in color, of course.

“Hi! Where is Teacher Elijah?” 

        I quit staring at her. I don’t want her to think that I’m a creep or something.

“Elij, s-she was l-looking for you.”

“Oh, I see. Hi, Teacher Claire!” he looked outside of the window.

        Again, I saw her smile. I think my heart just skipped a beat right now. 

“What are you doing here? I thought you already headed home earlier.” Her voice... It was nothing like those that I heard of before.

“Well, a friend called me. We met at the coffee shop nearby. How about you? What are you still doing out here? It’s already late. It’s dangerous for a woman like you to be alone at night.”

“I’m fine. I’m just waiting for a taxi.”

“Taxi? With this rain, you can’t find any, Teacher Claire. Do you mind if we give you a ride?”

“No. Of course not.”

“Then get in.” Elijah flashed a smile towards her, and she did the same. 

       I don’t know what’s with me but after seeing a series of sweet smile from her, my tongue couldn’t say another word anymore.

“Thanks, Elij. I thought I wouldn’t be able to go home on time.”

“It’s a pleasure.”

        I was still looking at her from the front mirror when suddenly her beautiful eyes landed on mine. She smiled, but I looked away, trying to hide the way I’m feeling right now by putting on a facade of arrogance.

“Hmp. What an arrogant man,” she whispered, but still, I managed to hear her voice.

“We’re almost there, Teacher Claire.” 

        Minutes passed by, and now she’s hopping down from the car waving her goodbyes to my bestfriend.

“Bye, Teacher Claire!”

“Bye, Teacher Elijah! Thanks for the ride!”

        My bestfriend just saluted to her before starting the car engine again. He was smiling to himself and I caught a glimpse of blush on his cheeks.

“What’s with the smile?” I asked, feeling irritated.

“Do you like her, bro?”

        My mouth fell wide open as I heard those words. And what kind of question is that? How did he even know? Does he noticed my actions?

“Me? Oh come on, Elijah. Maybe it’s you. I even caught you smiling to yourself.”

“It’s because I’m embarrassed for you!” He laughed out loud before continuing his statement. “Bro, you look awful uneasy since the moment that my co-worker step a foot on my fucking car!”

“Did I?” I glared at him.

“Yes, you did.” Again, he laughed harder.

        I rolled my eyes in disgust of his annoying laughter. I even plugged in my headphones into my ears as I start pretending that I’m not listening to whatever it is that he’s saying.

“You know, bro, I already knew that style of yours. Your headphone’s wire wasn’t even plugged in to your phone.”

        He laughed again, louder this time. I couldn’t help myself but to smile because of the embarrassment. How come I didn’t notice that before?

“You’re in love with Teacher Claire! And boom! It was a love at first sight,” he mockingly declared.

“Psssh. Whatever, Elij.”