Nathan woke up on Wednesday.
All the sleepless nights without the professor by my side was finally, and hopefully, all over. We were able to sleep in our bed without worry, and even got the week off to get some well deserved rest.
The next morning, I rolled over in our warm bed to snuggled against my professor, only to find him gone.
He is probably in the laboratory again.
I stretched myself and sat up, put my robe on, and shuffled out of the room. As soon as I opened the door, I smelled something good coming from the kitchen. I made my way downstairs and saw Eric by the stove, his back to me, with a platter of pancakes on the kitchen counter.
"So, you really can cook."
Eric turned around to face me. He looked surprised.
"1Ay, nako, Habibi, why did you wake up?!" he complained. "Go back upstairs! Shoo! Shoo!"
"Huh?" I frowned at him.
"I just made you some breakfast in bed!" he said, showing me a tray full of food. "You actually need to be in bed to enjoy it!"
"I can just eat he–"
"No! You need to be in bed to enjoy it!" he insisted, "It's not everyday that I put in such effort just to make you breakfast! So don't you go spoiling it! Now, go back to our room!"
I sighed and made my way back to our bedroom with Eric following behind, carrying the tray of food.
"Lie down on the bed!"
I did as he told me. He then placed a small foldable table over my lap and placed the tray on top of it.
"Tah-dah!" he grinned at me, "Breakfast in bed for my lovely habibi!"
"There you go again, calling me habibi!" I frown at him, "Stop calling me your habibi, call me Mahal instead!"
"Oh, come on, now, you know I've grown used to calling you habibi. Besides, calling you 'Mahal' is too embarrassing, particularly when there are other people around."
"There are no other people here," I insisted.
"Okay, then, Mahal, time to eat!" he leaned over to kiss me. "Be glad that I cooked you some breakfast!"
"How come you never told me you could cook?" I asked as I cut the pancakes into bite-sized portions.
"You never asked. Also, I usually cook congee for you whenever you get sick."
"You always said you bought it from the store."
"Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. Depends on whether I have extra time. Besides, haven't you ever wondered why I had cooking utensils in my kitchen before you moved in?"
"Then, how come I never see you cook?"
"With your delicious cooking, why would I need to? Just look how you have fattened me up!" He pinched the ring of fat around his waist. "Now go ahead and finish your breakfast."
He sat beside me on the bed and shared the food with me. He made the pancakes so fluffy they were actually wobbling, sweet bacon fried to a crisp, and sunny side up eggs shaped like hearts. A perfect looking breakfast from a man who never does anything half-baked.
"Thank you professor, this is the best breakfast I have ever had," I told him as the pancake melted in my mouth.
"For you Habibi, only the best!"
"Again with the habibi! You only use that to tease me, I'm not your habibi!" I glared at him.
"Okay, okay, just eat your food, Mahal, and tell me where you want to go today? It's the first day of our well earned vacation! Our SGT kits have been approved, the Club A incident is over, and Nathan is in a better place now, so Louie won't be bugging me anymore. All our problems have already been solved!"
I gulped down my food and thought for a while.
"Let's go home to my country."
"Ha? Mahal, you know we can't travel that far. We'll plan that one out as soon as we release the SGT kits." He placed an arm over my shoulder. "Do you want to go on a road trip? Let's visit Baguio, or fly to Palawan, or if you really want to go out of the country, we can visit Singapore, Hong Kong or Japan. Isn't it sakura season right now?"
"An overnight trip to Japan?"
"Ah, that's right!" he gasped, "We still have a pool party on Saturday!"
I shouldn't have reminded him.
"How about a trip back to Luneta?" he grinned at me. "Wanna eat more balut?"
"No, this time, let me treat you, how about a day to the spa? Or a beach resort, perhaps? Somewhere we could relax?"
"Good idea!"
I gave a sigh of relief. I wasn't very keen about eating duck embryos again.
"But this time, let's commute so you won't get tired of driving!"
"But wouldn't we be even more stressed with all the noisy people in the bus?" I asked him, "Isn't that the reason why you don't ride public mass transportation?"
"No worries! We're gonna ride the train going to Batangas. Let's get a private coach so no one disturbs us!" he took out his phone and started searching in the internet. "Let's book a resort in Laia, let's choose one with a spa! Would you like to go snorkeling and island hopping? They've got a lot of promos this season, they even have night tours for a low tide stroll in a deserted island!"
"Eric," he looked up at me expectantly. "I just want a place where we could quietly spend some time together."
He smiled at me, caressed my face, and gently kissed my lips.
"So do I..." he replied. "Then, let's look for a quiet place to retreat to. Where we could walk naked along the shoreline by ourselves, picking shells as the sun sets."
In the end, Eric booked a private resort for the two of us. The company who was renting it out even had a shuttle service so we didn't need to ride the train. We went to the drop-off at exactly 1 pm, and was at the resort by 4 pm. The caretaker simply gave us the keys to the place and left, leaving an ATV with us, in case we needed to go to town.
It was a beautiful beach front property with pristine waters and a shore full of seashells like the professor envisioned. The house in the property was a large 2-storey Mediterranean style, fully furnished with all the modern amenities. There was also a small pool at the back, a recreation area, and a vegetable garden where we were free to harvest anything we needed.
"Do you like it, Mahal?" he asked as we walked along the beach. "By the way, this property is for sale, do you want to keep it as our own secret personal paradise?"
"But don't you think buying the property would be going too far? We hardly ever go on vacation, after all."
"W-well... now that we're m-mates... I thought maybe, perhaps, we should go on vacations more frequently..?" he asked hesitantly.
I looked at his blushing face.
"But if you don't wanna..."
"I like it," I quickly said. "But the cost and the maintenance of a place as big as this..."
"You of all people have no right to speak about conserving money!" he chuckled. "Besides, we could always make more of that. What matters most is that we enjoy each other's company."
I sighed. The professor have always been very generous to others. He only holds back on himself, partly because he is too attached to his old belongings, particularly his clothes.
"Okay, but only if you promise to set aside a day or two every month so we can rest here."
"Deal!" he grinned and kissed my cheek. "This is great! I can't wait to bring Mercy here! She would surely love this place! My stupid brother in law would die of envy"
"I thought you said you wanted this to be our secret personal paradise?" I frowned at him. "Is that the real reason why you wanted to buy the place?"
Eric simply grinned and pulled my hand as he led me to the clear water. It felt cool and refreshing as it lapped at our bare feet. He pulled me further in until it reached our waist and faced me with a playful smile on his face. We kissed then, as the sun started to sink beyond the horizon.
As night approached, we made a bonfire by the beach and sat huddled next to each other. We had an oversize towel over our wet bodies as we sat on a mattress we took from one of the bedrooms.
"Now that we're mates, we can make more plans for our future," he said as we warmed ourselves by the fire. "You can take me traveling around the world, and when we get tired, we can always go back here to our resting place, away from the hustle and bustle of the city."
"Mmm."
"So, will Egpyt be our first stop? Where would we stay when we go there?"
"I have an apartment in Cairo, a trusted friend and his son are currently staying there ever since I came here to the Philippines."
"Apartment? I was thinking you would take me to meet your family?"
"I prefer to be alone with you," I said while snuggling on his chest. "I also have properties in San Francisco and New York, in England, Paris, Dubai, Korea and Japan."
"Woah, so we'll sleep in a different country each night?" he asked in jest. "How do you keep them all clean?"
"I rent them out when I leave the country."
"Me, I'm happy where I am right now," he sighed, "quiet, no other human to bother us. We can just fish and grow our own food." He looked at the vegetable salad we made, and at the paper bag filled with the remains of the crabs and clams we bought earlier in town.
"Right..." I crawled on top of him and wrapped my arms around his neck. "Just the two of us..." I kissed him.
"No stupid interns and idiot nephews to piss me off..." He kissed me back and rolled on top of me.
We held each other's body tenderly, moving as one, becoming one, exploding together underneath the stars and the light of the half moon.
We fell asleep where we made love, and woke up the next morning to the rising sun.
Eric took me to the market where we bought more seafood. He cooked paella for me, as well as tuna 2kinilaw, and other native dishes. We were both so full that we just gazed at the waves after eating, our hands clasped together, looking at each other from time to time to give the other a kiss.
It felt as if time had stopped for us. As if the two of us were the only people left in the planet, and as the evening approached, he asked me if I wanted to stay another day.
"We don't really need to go to Blondie's pool party, you know. There'll be other get-togethers. I'd rather stay here with you `till Sunday."
"I feel the same, professor," I told him with a smile. "Let's buy the place so we can stay here whenever we feel like it."
"Great idea!" he replied with a big grin on his face. "Let me call the caretakers and tell him we'll extend our stay!" He looked around the area. "Now, where did I leave my cellphone?"
"We left them in the bedroom," I told him. "You said you didn't want to be disturbed all day."
"Ah, that's right..."
For someone who has a memory palace, the professor can still be very forgetful at times.
He stood up from the porch where we sat and went inside the rest house. I sighed as I faced the ocean once again and took a sip from the cocktail Eric made for me. I was resting my eyes when he came back with a sigh.
"Mahal, looks like we need to get back soon," he mumbled.
"Why? Did something happen?" I asked him.
"Gadxilla just messaged me. He said that there will be an emergency meeting tomorrow regarding the SGT kits so they can start production on Monday," he said, irritably, "he killed my phone with dozens of miss calls."
"On a Saturday? Couldn't it wait `till next week?"
"Nope. Apparently, there's some big shot from the US who will only be available tomorrow."
"I guess we have no choice, then." I sat up straight on the lounge chair and saw Eric sulking. "It's okay, we can always come back here, we're even buying the place, remember?" I tried to cheer him up.
"Haaay... next time, we'll be staying here for a whole week!" he shouted at the sea.
"Yes, just the two of us," I smiled, "for now, we need to get ready, it's already past 5, the caretaker might already be on his way."
"Haaay..." Eric embraced me. "Next time, I'll throw my phone away so no one can contact us for a week!"
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1Ay nako! – (Hay naku) oh my! An expression showing dismay
2Kinilaw – cubed raw meat, usually goat or fish, cooked slowly while soaked in vinegar, spices, and a souring agent