Lello and Ziah Moments (Special Chapter Part 2)

Ziah woke up early in the morning and change her clothes. She chose to wear her black sports bra and partner it with her pink vestline sports jacket, leggings and her running shoes. She decided to have a run since Lello is here and she wouldn't be worried to leave Nally alone at the house. It has been a while since she had a run. She walked out of the house and did some stretching at the porch when she heard the door behind her opened.

"Ziah, you woke up early.", Lello greeted.

"I wanted to run around the neighborhood. I thought that since you are here I can do my morning run. Are you going out too?", she asked.

"Yes, I also plan to run.", he said and started to do his stretching. He noticed that Ziah stopped what she was doing so he looked at her. "Why did you stopped stretching?", he asked.

"Since you will be running, I think I have to stay here, so one of us would be with Nally when she woke up.", she stated casually.

"Nally can handle herself. and it is still very early. We can run together and I am sure that we'll be back before Nally would wake up.", he said after glancing at his watch.

"Okay.", she answered and went back stretching. She placed her earplugs on both her ears and chose an upbeat music to listen to. She adjusted the volume so that she would still be aware of her surroundings. When she looked at the guy beside her she found out that Lello is doing the same. He turned his head towards her and chuckle when he saw that they have the same habit of listening to music while running.

"Let's go?", Lello said gesturing towards the gate. Ziah just gave a small nod in response.

When they went out of the gate they both started running with the same pace. They were both lost to the things that bugging their mind while running. They did not talk or even utter a single word until they reach the river bank. Ziah stopped running and did some stretching. The sun is starting to rise and the surroundings were suddenly filled with faint orange light. Lello stopped and looked at the girl beside him doing her stretching. Her beauty never fails to amaze him. He's not the type of guy that can be easily affected with just a woman's body and beauty, but he cannot help but to notice the enchanting beauty of Ziah. He never saw her wear any make up nor perfume but one can tell that she's a natural beauty. She extruded elegance in her every move.

Ziah did not notice that Lello is staring at her. She was so engrossed with exercising and listening to music. It was her emotional and mental therapy. Whenever she's doing some workout she finds peace and she felt like she can escape from the world. Lello smiled when he noticed how focused Ziah is in her workout. She's not even conscious of how she looks. Some strands of her long hair have escaped her ponytail and is now hanging on her face. Her sweat are starting to come out but it didn't do anything to make her ugly. In fact, she looked so fresh and energize at that moment.

When he turned his head to look at their surrounding, he saw a man riding in a bicycle coming towards them. It was so sudden and fast so he instinctively held Ziah on her one hand and pulled her towards him to avoid the bicycle, but Ziah was not aware of what's happening so she lost her balance and bump into Lello's chest in full force that made him lose his balance. They fell on the ground covered with grass with Ziah on top of Lello while Lello's both hands were wrapped around Ziah's body in a protecting stance and Ziah's head burried on his chest. It was so sudden that they froze for a moment before the scenario sank into them. When what happened finally sink in, Ziah raised her head and she looked into Lello and Lello looked into her at the same time.

"Are you okay?", he asked worriedly. He stopped when he realize how close they are to one another. He can't help but to stare at Ziah's pair of enchanting eyes. Ziah was also staring at him intently. She can't help but to admire Lello's face. He was so handsome. His eyes staring at her made her heart beat faster. It's like he's eyes are piercing deep inside her very soul and looking straight into her heart. His warmth felt good and comfortable that it made her feel like home. She felt safe inside his arms. She shook her head mentally and tried to put away her thoughts and feelings.

"Hmm.", she nodded at him and started to stand up. "Thank you.", she said. Lello took a step forward and stood up in front of her. He raised his hand like as if he's planning to touch her face and Ziah wasn't able to stopped herself from closing her eyes, but she did not feel his hand on her face, so she opened her eyes and saw him pick something up from her hair. When she looked at him, his eyes are smiling mischievously. Her cheeks flushed out of embarrassment. She turned around and started to run away. She heard Lello's hearty laugh before she felt him running behind her. They went back to their house after their run and bought some fresh fruits from the stalls along the way.

"How much is this ripe mango mister?", Ziah asked the fruit vendor.

"One hundred fifty pesos per kilo miss.", he answered and smiled kindly. Ziah brought the mango near her nose and smelled it, and closed her eyes. 'Hmmm. It smelled good. I think this is sweet.", she thought.

"I'll buy a kilo. Can I choose the mangoes myself?", she smiled unknowingly to the vendor. These are the times where she lowers her guard. Whenever she's doing something that she really wants she sometimes forgets to be cold towards other people.

"Of course you may.", The woman beside the male vendor said. It seems like they are husband and wife. When Ziah looked at the old woman she did not saw any jealousy but instead she saw a warm and kind smile so she smiled back at her. Ziah looked back on the mangoes and choose the mangoes carefully. She smelled each mangoes and made sure that it smells sweet. That's one of way to distinguish if the mangoes are ripe and sweet. When you smell the tip of the mangoes that is usually connected to its stem, it releases a very sweet smell if it was ripen properly. Lello gazed at her every move and watched her smile happily. She looks like an innocent and sweet child. She has a very beautiful and warm smile and very sincere. It seems like anybody who will looked at her smile would be able to smile and laugh with her.

"Would you like to have some strawberries too? We have these strawberries which were just delivered today", the old man suggested.

"Is it also sweet?", Ziah asked with her sparkling eyes. The strawberries looked fresh. They were big and have a nice color.

"Of course, you can have a taste if you want.", the old lady said.

"Wow, thank you!", Ziah happily said. She pick the smallest piece of strawberry and had a bite. "Hmmmn. It really is sweet." she said and turned to Lello.

"Here. Have a taste. If you find it sweet, let's buy some for Lily's favorite milkshake.", she said offering the remaining strawberry in her hands. Lello was startled when she suddenly talked to him so he just stood there silently without knowing what to do. He just stared at the piece of strawberry and looked back at Ziah's happy face. When Ziah noticed that Lello was just looking at the strawberry she suddenly felt embarrassed. She was so engrossed at the fruit so she forgot that she and Lello was not really that close yet.

"I'm sorry, I just thought that it would be rude if I'll get another piece of strawberry for free. Never mind.", she said and was about to turn back to the old couple when she felt that Lello took a bite on the strawberry on her hands. She stared appalled to Lello when he stood straight while chewing the strawberry.

"You're right. It is sweet. Let's buy some for Lily.", he smiled at Ziah. Ziah's heart skipped a bit when she saw him smiling at her. She turned back her attention at the old vendor couple to hide her blushing cheeks.

"We'll get a kilo of this too.", she said shyly at the vendors when she noticed them smiling at them.

"Are you a newly wed couple? You looked good together." The old lady said. She was surprised at the old lady's remark and looked at Lello who looked as surprised as her. She was waiting for Lello to correct the assumption of the old lady but he did not said anything so she decided not to say anything too. She does not want to explain anything to other people when she feels like it is unnecessary.

"Here are your mangoes and strawberries. I added some in it. It's our wedding gift to the both of you.", the old lady smiled. Ziah blushed and just uttered a thank you before they left. Lello took the bags of fruits from Ziah and also thanked the old couple.

"Why did you not correct them?", Ziah asked Lello while walking.

"I thought it would be impolite if I will be the one denying a lady. I thought it would be better if it would come from you.", he said scratching the back of his head. Ziah thought about it and figured that what Lello said makes sense.

"But don't you think it made something good for us?", Lello said while smiling?

"What do you mean?", Ziah confusedly asked. Lello raised the bags of fruits and answered.

"We got some free fruits from them. I think we should be going to the market together from now on. We might end up getting lot's of free stuffs.", Lello said and chuckled.

"That made sense. Maybe we should do that.", Ziah said jokingly. Lello looked at her because of her unexpected response. He was expecting a simple nod or "ok" from her. When he looked at Ziah she also suddenly looked at him then they both laugh.

They didn't know that a pair of eyes was constantly following them.