My 30-minute sleep sobered me up a bit. Finally, it was enough for me to walk at the same pace as Rick as we headed to the garden entrance of one of the smallest W Supermarkets I have ever seen. As I saw the lighted signage, it gave me a flashback of my childhood memories. I was between my mom and dad, walking happily towards the entrance of the first W Supermarket that my dad established. It thrilled us. We lived a simple, happy, and blessed life until 13 years ago.

"Cid, please don't forget what we talked about. We will go through the garden entrance so no one can see us arriving together." Rick interrupted my journey down memory lane as he kept on blabbing in my left ear.

"You think I'm freaking deaf, Rick?! I got it, okay! Go ahead. I will stay here in the garden for a while. I'll follow you later." 

For goodness' sake, Rick can't leave me even for a few seconds!

Walking inside the garden reminded me of 13 years ago. The last time I set foot in a W Supermart. It's like déjà vu. Inside the garden, I see the 12-year-old me hiding from my mom. She was busy arranging flowers in a vase. The garden was her cheerful place. It was because of her that is why every W Supermart has a garden. She went to the W Supermart daily to arrange flowers in different vases. Every afternoon after school, I saw her in the garden. But I always hid from behind her spot. I would try to scare her, but my goal was to get her attention so she would look for me. I always hid from a place where I could see her so I could see the excitement and smile on her face as she arranged the flowers. The genuine happiness I saw on her face made me happy.

As I walked around the garden, thinking of my last memory of Mom, a woman standing in a similar spot where my mom usually arranged flowers captivated me. She has the same excitement on her face. She naturally picked the right flower colors and put them together in a vase. Then she stopped and started looking around. I hid from behind the tall potted plants.

"Creepy!" she said to herself and continued arranging the flowers.

Her angelic and innocent face mesmerized me. Without thinking, I whistled, the same sound I made whenever I wanted to get my mom's attention.

I stopped to listen when she started talking. "What the hell! Is somebody trying to scare me right now? It isn't funny. Whoever you are, I'm not scared. You better show your face now or else!!"

I watched her from where I was hiding. Immediately, she grabbed the scissors from the table. She walked towards the entrance of the garden but saw nobody. She tried looking towards the right side of the garden, but still no one.

I felt joy seeing her confused face. When she started walking back to her station, I whistled again. She stopped in the middle of the garden. She looked like she was about to freak out. She started talking louder before I could walk toward her to reveal myself.

"Baby, I am arranging this beautiful flower for you. Sorry if I haven't seen you every week for a month now. I've been trying to take all the hours I can get here. Promise I will make it up to you soon. I am so excited to see you tomorrow. I love you so much!"

I felt annoyed while listening to what she was saying, thinking about who she was referring to. Baby, I love you! I felt upset and wanted to scare her more than having fun with the situation. So I started walking towards her while whistling louder. But just before I could show myself, a lady in her 50s poked her head in the door.

"Hey, Aya, clock out now. We have 15 minutes to get ready for the dinner meeting."

"Oh! Holy crap! You surprised me! Honest, something is creepy in here! But I am not bothered at all!"

I watched her as she logged out from behind her register. She smiled at the lady who replaced her and walked out of the garden with the older lady who had called her name earlier.

Aya. her name evokes innocence. Like her face. Aya, my Aya!

I was about to follow them, but it startled me to see Rick's jerk face on the right side of mine.

"What is that smile about, Ciddy? What is in here?"

"Seriously, Rick! Why do you have to put your face near mine?"

"I was trying to see what you are looking at. I thought you ditched me because it's taking so long to follow me."

"I was just looking around and enjoying the beautiful garden view here, Rick!"

"Well, we don't have all the time, Cid Wal... I mean, Cid Williams."

And we head together to the meeting room.

***

When Rick and I entered the meeting room door, I immediately saw Aya. I couldn't help but stop and watch her from afar. The more I looked at her face, the more I felt near her. She was definitely thinking of something outside this room.

Is she thinking of that baby?

I have to make my move. I can't let my Aya think of someone else. In an instant, I was already sitting on the chair beside her.

"A penny for your thought," I said confidently, only to be ignored by her. She didn't even bother to look at me. She seemed to be in a deep thought somewhere.

I snapped her out from wherever she was. "Earth to Aya!" I whispered sensually in her ear.

She looked at me. No, she stared at me. A deep stare fell from my head to my toe and returned from my toe to my head.

Is she showing me a blank face right now? Is she not affected by the Cid Waldon's charm?

"Cid Wal... Williams at your service!" I reached out my right hand to her, smiling with the biggest smile on my handsome face. 

***