APPOINTMENT WITH TIME

CHAPTER 3

            Someone was calling her from afar…a gentle yet strong voice that sent electricity to her body. “Gabi! Wake up…please wake up!”. She wanted to sleep on but she can feel the urgency and worry of his voice. She can feel his touch on her hair and she relished the feeling. Whoever this man is, his bedside manner was impeccable.

            She took a deep breath, feeling her throat constricting from a loss of air. Then, a very pungent smell, so close to her nose made her open her eyes and say alarmingly, “What’s that smell?!”

            “Ammonia…” the man who was staring at her worriedly was no other than her beloved Rafa. “Are you okay? I hear you scream and saw you on the floor.”

            Confusingly, she tried to remember what happen. She remembered sleeping inside the cinema and she walk up alone. Then she went to the lobby and saw “the wedding dress “. She gasped remembering now. Her eyes fearfully seek Rafa’s handsome face. “I saw the gown floating from the air. It’s true. It was no imagination.”

            He looked amusedly at her. “Floating? “

            “Rafa, I saw it with my own two eyes. I know I’m not wrong. It was floating out of the glass case.”

            “You mean that wedding gown?” he turned and pointed the dress floating…er hanging.

            The wedding gown was outside the case and it was hooked with a thin metal that’s almost invisible if you’re in a hurry and just passing by. She flushed in embarrassment, “I think, my imagination played tricks on me. But I remember it moving. I know it was moving, that I’m pretty sure.”

            He stood up and turn on the fan plugged near the dress. “You mean like this?”

            The gown moves by the air blowing towards the gown. In the dim lighting of the cinema, anyone can mistake it for a ghost. Gabi smiled guiltily, “Yes…exactly like that.”

            “I took it off from the glass because this coming Tuesday is the first day of July. My uncle had a film showing.”

            “I know, “An affair to Remember” rerun every July first. Every year since the cinema opens the movie will be shown annually. My parents have their first date in that movie. Even my sister and her boyfriend and I celebrated my twelfth birthday watching it too.”

            “Yes…I just need to air the gown. It smells musty and dusty. This coming Monday a restorer will check on it.”

              Gabi slowly stood up while he assisted her with his gentle yet firm hand. She swayed a little. Rafa held her close to steady her. She can smell his fresh scent and feel the warmth of his skin under his white casual shirt. She inhaled deeply, trying to consume and commit to memory his smell and his touch.

            “Have you eaten?” he concernedly asked.

            “I have free popcorn and a Coke at lunchtime.”  

            He muttered angrily, “Why was it every time, you managed to make me mad? “

            She looked at him blankly, “Mad? B-but why?”

            “You make me mad because you put yourself in a precarious position like climbing ladders, starving yourselves, and now fainting over an assumed ghost. In a day we met, I have never known anybody who could twist my inside as you do.”

            Angrily, she pushed him away, “I’m sorry if you think I’m a curse to you. I make sure I will avoid you so that your beautiful life remains intact. I think it’s time for me to go home.” Then, she paused remembering she need to clean up before she go. “Oh, on second thought, I will go home later…”

            She hurriedly left him and head for the storage where the cleaning tools were kept. She pulls out the vacuum cleaner and proceeded to carry it out but a firm grip pulled the machine from her hand. She stared at the angry face of Rafa looking down at her. Suddenly, the small space inside the storage room constricts her. She found herself sweating nervously.

            “What you’re doing here?” she whispered in alarm.

            He stared down at her, his face unreadable, then he said softly, “Gabi…”

            “Yes?” she whispered back. Could it be that her crazy dream was coming true? Is this going to be her first case…inside the storage room? She doesn’t mind. Anywhere was okay. She closes her eyes, waiting for her first kiss.

            “I’m hungry.”

            She smiled still closing her eyes, “Yes me too. I have been hungry for a long time.”

            “Is Pizza okay with you?” he checked on his watch pointing at eight-fifteen. “I think Graciosa Pizza house is still open.”

            “What? Pizza?” she gaped at him. Her eyes were now more open than ever. Her face was embarrassingly red.

            “Yes pizza, unless you want something else?” His brows raised in a question.

            “Something else ---” she sighed irritably. Irritated by her stupidity. “Pizza is fine. You know, I don’t mind, anything will do.”

            “Okay. I asked them to deliver us some pizza. Just continue what you’re doing while I contact the pizzeria.” He paused and said nicely, “I apologized for what I said to you. I like us to be friends.”

            “Friends?” But I don’t want to be your friend, I want you to be my boyfriend. Her mind protested but she managed to give him a reluctant smile. “All is forgiven. I‘m sorry too of how I acted…”

            “I understand. So now we’re clear. I’ll go and send that order.” When he left her, she kicked the bucket in anger. She wanted to knock down her head on the wall for her stupidity.  She remembered how she closed her eyes, waiting for his kiss. She groaned in embarrassment. She wondered if he notices. Oh God, what if he notices. Is that why he said he wanted us to be friends? Was it a message that she had no chance of becoming Rafa’s girlfriend?  On and on her mind keep on taunting and teasing her of the words he said. She was mopping the floor but she felt like she was trying to clean up her memory to forget the event that happen a while ago.

Sunday turned out to be a repeat of the other week. They were late again and out of embarrassment she manages to sneak in behind a huge post that hide her from the knowing eyes of the mass goers. The priest again sermon about people not learning their lessons. She skips on the last part of the mass because she would be late in opening the cinema. She pedaled her way towards her work and was very surprised to find it open and there were people already cleaning the façade. Managing them was Rafa who looks so good in his jeans and white polo shirt.

            He watched her and smiled at her. “Your early…”

            She avoided his inquisitive brown eyes, and scoff at her feet. “I did not finish the mass.” She said guiltily. “Don’t get me wrong, I like to listen to the mass sermon.”

            He grinned, “Well, at least you did go to mass. On the other hand, I did not step on that hallowed ground for fifteen years.”

            “I heard. People talk about you a lot.” She blushed. He must think, she’s a gossipmonger. The only gossip she wants to hear was about him and nothing else.

            He shrugged his shoulder, uncaring of the gossip of the town, “I’m okay with that. This town needs a little spice. Don’t you agree?”

            She smiled, understanding what he means. She pulled her backpack which she put on the front basket of her bike and followed him inside. The wedding gown is still out of the casing and she marvels at how intricate the embroidery is.

            “Can I touch it?” she asked in awe at the beautiful gown.

            He nods. She gingerly touched the beautiful fabric, marveling at the labor it consumes. She knows this one was handcrafted. You can see that each bead was lovingly sewn to the fabric. “The artisan must be a genius. This was so intricate that the pattern was not one you can buy on stores.”

            “Yes, the bride itself made this gown.”

            “Really…wow!” Gabi seldom finds things that can make her feel amazing but the knowledge that the bride itself was the one making it was quite a story. “Who owns this exquisite beauty?”

            “I don’t know. My uncle never told me. And I never asked. “

            “Why?” she asked curiously. She cannot understand Rafa why would not make the effort to find out who owns the gown. Hey, this piece of the object had been the source of much urban legend in Galas. Tall tales had been told about it that it became muddled with the real story to the point that it become bizarre.

            He grinned at her mockingly, “Because I’m not like you who manages to poke around even if you’re not welcome. Uncle just doesn’t want to talk about it. I figured in his own time he will tell me.”

            “Ouch…me? A nosy body?” she grinned sheepishly. He laughed at her expression. She tried to compose herself but end up laughing too. It’s like a private joke about the whole community of how inquisitive she was to things she finds interesting to the point that it causes a lot of problems for the peaceful citizen of their town. She badgered everyone just to find a reason and explanation for things she cannot understand.

            “What’s causing much noise here?” the old man arrives from the church. He was looking at them curiously. He stared at her hand fingering the fabric like it was bringing a plague. She guiltily, pull out her hand and smiled at her boss innocently.

            “Good morning, Sir,” she greeted him courteously.

            Rafa nods at his uncle. He said, “We are just talking about the gown.”

            “Well, I’m not paying the girl to play with you,” he said coldly.

            The young man just shrugged ignoring his uncle’s reprimand, “Gabi, why don’t you check the seat at the cinema if it’s clean. I have something to discuss with Uncle.”

            Hurriedly, she exited towards the hallway to the storage to get the cleaning tools. She wondered what they are going to discuss. She wondered it’s about her. The old man seems upset that she was touching the gown. There are things between the uncle and his nephew that seem strange to Gabi. Rafa seems self-assured and his uncle seems to accept the younger man’s authority. Is it the old man’s way of handing the reigns to his nephew? She wondered…

            Learning from her experience, yesterday, Gabi brought her pack lunch with her. She would not want to faint again. She blames her sudden lunacy on the hunger she felt yesterday.  She eats her lunch at around two in the afternoon, after Don Julian and Rafa left the cinema.  She chose one of the empty seats and slowly unpacked her sandwich and took a big bite while watching Bruce Lee chopped his enemy. She notices, that today the customer was only three and they are old people. One had already slept in between the thriller and the start of the movie. She figured; the guy just like to hang out at the cinema due to the aircon. Outside, it’s blazing hot especially in the month of July. She wondered how could Don Julian keep the upkeep of this cinema when it did not pay for itself with all the expenses he made and the salary of his workers. But she heard, the man was really very rich and the cinema was just a passion and past time of his employer.

            She was getting sleepy again. Gabi doesn’t want to sleep again, after what happened yesterday, she won’t want to repeat her predicament. Maybe she could just clean up the toilet early since no one is using it anyway and do foyer cleaning. She stood up and walked towards a screen area where the wedding gown was conveniently hanging for the restorer tomorrow.

            Gabi sighed dreamily, she wondered what it’s like to wear one. She got the feeling she would look great being a bride. She stared at the beautiful gown long and hard. She knows Rafa and her uncle already left and the workers who were fixing the cinema had also left. The ticket guy was dozing on his throne and she was still awake. Needing a distraction from her boredom, she contemplated what might be her option. She wondered --- An inner voice keeps warning her to stop what she was thinking but the gown looks so beautiful. Nobody would know if she would try it. She was pretty sure no one would care if no one knows.

            Slowly, she comes closer to the gown, moves around it, studying the beautiful light that seems to invite her to fit the gown. Gently, she ran her fingers to the silhouette of the gown and sighed with pleasure. The soft material was like a caress of her skin. Her hand seems to have its own mind as it gently extracts the gown from the hanger. There was a full-length mirror at the toilet. She knows no one will use it because she is the only female person here in the cinema. Just for a tiny moment, she would borrow the gown and see if she would look good on it.

            She glances at the ticket man at the booth. He was still asleep. She decided it’s now or never. This was an opportunity she cannot waste. Gabi gently hold the dress carefully and hurriedly walked towards the bathroom. She then locks the toilet and foolishly checks the stall just to be sure. Then her cell phone rang. She pulls it out hurriedly fearing that someone might hear the ring and would check the toilet. It would be a disaster if they found out she brought the gown for fitting.

            “Hello…” she whispered. “Listen I get back to you once I’m done work.”

            “Stop! Don’t off your phone.” Her mother’s voice Pam can be heard at the opposite line. “I have something important to tell you.”

            “Mom. I’m still working!”  she hissed. “Can you call later?”

            “Oh no, you listened, your sister is coming to see you with a male friend. They will be checking the movie there. Make sure you informed me when they arrived and keep an eye on her, okay?”

            “Mom…I’m not her keeper besides I’m working.” She protested angrily.

            “Okay, if you won’t do it for me, might as well go there to check both of you,” Pam said sweetly.

            She groaned. Her mother has her. She doesn’t want her mother to visit her working place. She was too afraid that her mom would learn she was doing volunteer work. She would be furious why she volunteers her free time and not do extra work in their grocery store.

            “Ok, you win. I keep an eye on my sister…” she surrendered.

            “Thank you Gab, I love you. See you later. Bye”

            “I can’t believe I’m saying yes ---” she sighed. She looked at the wedding dress again and her excitement return, forgetting her security job for later. She hurriedly undressed on her black pants and floral red blouse and neatly fold it and put it on the marble counter.

            She gently slipped on the wedding gown. The gown slide on her body as if it was her own. She looked at herself in the mirror when she saw horses coming towards her….