Chapter 11

The phone rang for more than a minute before it could wake Nate up. He's exhausted from working on his sketch the entire afternoon yesterday apart from doing other things related to his real work and his upcoming wedding.

The clock shows 9AM.

"Good morning," Nina greeted him on the other line. "Did you just wake up?" she asked.

"Yeah, I did. I'm so tired. I'm not gonna lie," Nate said.

"Oh, my love. Just rest until you are okay. Anyway, today's already Friday. You can relax plus I will treat you to dinner later," she said with excitement.

"That sounds like a plan," he said.

"Can you bring the bigger car later? I have some large artworks to bring to our sponsors," she asked.

"Sure. I just used it yesterday and had it cleaned. I'll be in the gallery probably after lunch. Make sure to have your lunch. I'll get some more sleep," he said.

"Okay. I love you," she said that surprised him.

"That's first," he said.

Nina hung up before he could say some more that will only prolong the conversation.

Nate is still thrilled by Nina's sweetness that he doesn't want to go back to sleep anymore. He's in the mood for some good music while preparing his breakfast of toast and brewed coffee. The day has started amazingly kicking off a good weekend.

The sun is out and it seems to be smiling at him. He feels fantastic as he drives. On the passenger seat, he saw the sketch he did yesterday and immediately placed it inside the car's drawer.

Five minutes later, the smiling sun starts to hide behind a thick, gray cloud that suddenly appeared from out of nowhere. It will surely bring a lot of rain.

"What happened?" Nate asked himself.

He realized that he forgot to bring his golf umbrella but good thing his jacket is still there. Everything is still okay until he remembers someone who isn't fond of bringing umbrella. He shook off the thought inside his head.

The cloud bringing heavy rain hasn't reached the Trees Park yet. Cela happily tells Hyun about the new place she found good for writing.

"You must come here one day. I'm sure you'll be inspired as well," Cela said.

"Oh my God, did you hear that, Ms Cela?" Hyun asked after hearing a loud thunder.

"Was that the sound of thunder?" she asked.

"Yeah. Isn't it cloudy out there? You may need to pack up now and leave. You said that the parking is a little far from that bench," he reminded her.

Cela felt one big drop of water on her cheek. "You're right, I need to hurry. There are big drops now," she said before hanging up.

She gathered all her things especially her precious laptop. She's hurrying but the rain is faster and it starts to pour down heavily completely turning not just the sky but the entire surrounding from bright and sunny to dark with almost zero visibility in a matter of minutes. There is no choice but to embrace her laptop bag and run faster as she can.

"Why does it have to rain today and this heavy?" she asked herself as she steps on muddy ground. She wants to wipe the water off her face to clear her eyes but cannot do it because her two hands are protecting her laptop bag. She feels helpless but tries to be calm herself down as she tries to reach the parking lot while walking in the pouring rain.

Suddenly, a figure appeared before her and the raindrops were lessen. She realized there's a jacket over her head.

"C'mon," Nate said.

Cela had no time to think of anything.

"Thank you. Can you please hold my laptop bag?" she asked.

Nate ignored Cela's request. He pulled her close and they walk fast together.

"Let's walk quick. We are almost there," he said.

They reached the open parking in less than a minute. Nate insists that Cela dries up first at the back of his big car before going to her own car.

"No need to rush. It's dangerous to drive," he said while pointing to the dark sky and the heavy rain.

Cela remains quiet. She dries her laptop bag with paper towels. She still can't think of anything right now.

"Are you afraid of me or something?" Nate asked.

"Oh no. I'm just worried," she replied.

"Worried about people finding out that we are here together? That's a long time ago and besides, we are not doing anything wrong," he said. He already guessed what she must worrying about.

She remains silent. Truth is, besides not knowing what to say, she doesn't know how to handle situations like this. She'd never been to one ever.

Nate breathed heavy. "Listen, I don't worry about us being seen by anyone here. Our consciences are clean. But what I do worry about is you being here by yourself. This may be a safe and peaceful place but this is what happens here when it rains hard. You could've slipped or fall at the rate you were going earlier. Why does bringing an umbrella seem to be a burden to you?" he said with so much concern.

Cela continues to dry her laptop bag. She definitely got a lot of scolding from him that did not bother her at all.

Nate realized his overreaction. "I'm sorry," he said.

"I thought you finished what you were supposed to do here yesterday," she asked.

"I did. I was on my way to the gallery then it rained so hard...," Nate stopped answering as she might find it weird if she knew that he thought about her and came to rescue her.

"Anyway, thank you so much," Cela said. "But can you please let your fiancé know that we are in this kind of a situation right now?" she then asked.

Nate looked at his watch for a moment. "Okay, it's almost lunch time anyway. She doesn't take calls while in the showroom," he said.

Cela finds its amusing that Nate knows even that tiny detail about his fiancé.

"Hey, hon!" he said when Nina answered the call. "I'm okay. The weather has gone crazy! It was all sunny and bright when I left the house but it poured down when I hit the road," he said.

Cela listens while he talks on the phone. She's waiting for the right time to remind him to tell Nina that she's with him.

"By the way, I'm with my friend right now. We bumped to each earlier and now we are just waiting for the rain to stop," he said.

Cela smiled then stopped listening. She continues to dry her laptop bag.

"Did I hear you say that again? You did that twice already today," Nate asked. "Anyway, of course, I love you too," he said.

Cela pretends to not hear the rest of the conversation. She feels awkward again but it's her fault. She was the one who insisted that he calls her.

Nate is still smiling even after he ended the call. "She's not very vocal. She doesn't usually say she loves me but these days, she's been saying it before I could say it," he said with excitement totally forgetting he's to telling it to Cela.

"That's sweet," Cela said.

"Oh, thank you," Nate said. He begins to think if he made her uncomfortable.

"I think you have a good love story. I can draw some inspiration from that. Maybe, I should write your story," Cela said as she struggles to create a little conversation and make the mood friendly and relax.

"If you thought so, then why not?" Nate said just getting into the flow of the conversation.

"I better get going now. I think it's just drizzling," Cela said. She's thankful that she doesn't have to stay longer and say things she doesn't really mean.

"I agree but umm…," Nate hesitated to continue.

Cela waits with curiosity. "What?" she asked.

"You certainly have hairbrush in your car, right?" Nate said.

Cela realized that her hair is messed up after being wet from the rain and drying it vigorously with paper towels.

"Ah. Yes, I do have. I must really look like a witch right now," she said trying to make light of another awkward situation.

"Oh no, no. It's just that I remember you were always looking clean and neat…," he said without finishing his statement again.

Cela looks away while trying to fix her hair with her fingers. She feels a little more insecure recalling how pretty Nina was when she saw her even for just a few seconds in the gallery while she's being remembered by him as only clean and neat looking high school student.

"What can do? I have deadlines to meet not people," she murmured to herself.

"What's that?" Nate asked.

Cela turned around. Her hair is now better. "Sorry, you had to see that messy hair," she said instead.

Nate smiled. "Nanny Rita must stay with you again," he said. He must've guessed that she used to fix Cela's hair before.

"No need for that. My laptop is the only one that sees me face to face these days and so far, it doesn't complain seeing me this way," Cela joked.

"Ah, by the way, I learned that you and Ivy are working together. How did that happen?" Nate changed the topic.

"Small world I guess," Cela replied. "I think the rain really stopped. It's not even drizzling anymore," she said to stop the conversation so she can leave.

"Yeah, it already stopped," Nate said.

"Thanks again," Cela said.

Nate looks out as Cela walks to her car. He thought he handled the situation well.

Cela walks carefully on wet ground trying not to slip and require help once again. She doesn't need a prince charming but only someone who will be there. Sadly, Nate already has a pretty princess that he truly cares about and what he did today to her was nothing but kindness to an old friend.

No expectations.