“And leave the beach too soon?” she asked, shaking her head. “No way.”
“I wouldn’t want to leave the beach too soon, either.” He grinned and took off his sunglasses. And somewhere in this world, a chorus of children sang out a glorious, “Hallelujah.” Perry really was the whole package, and a very impressive one, too. “May I?” He indicated the rest of the bench beside Mara.
“Sure.” She scooted to the side to give him room, and there was just enough for him to sit with one leg over the other. But she could still feel the warmth of his thigh pressing against hers. Or maybe it was his hand. “I was supposed to be here to not think.”
“How is that going for you?” he asked, his fingers firmly clasped around his knee.
“Very badly,” she admitted, scooping up the last of her ice cream while digging in to the fresh coconut for more meat. “Too many questions, and I can’t focus long enough to answer.”
“Maybe you just need a friend?” Perry asked, and Mara had the distinct impression that by friend, he hadn’t meant friend, at all. Maybe someone who cared a little differently than a friend would. “I’m a really good listener. My preschool teacher wrote that in my report card and everything.”
“A written first account.” Mara laughed. “My preschool teacher called me an achiever, which is maybe a kind way to say that I was bossy and domineering.”
“Some people like to be bossed around and domineered.” Perry seemed to speak from a wealth of experience, and he just had that aura that told you that he knew exactly what he was talking about. It radiated from him, like a heavenly vibe of responsibility and good boy behavior. Huh. David was right. He was exactly the kind of guy she wanted for herself. The kind of guy she hoped would one day look at her and think,wow.
“Maybe,” Mara echoed, looking at Perry like he’d just announced that he would like to be able to scale up the side of a building one day. It was strange how open he was about his intentions, and Mara didn’t mind so much that he was. “Or maybe I’m just old.”
“I like to call that protecting your peace.”
“Are you in marketing?” Mara asked, tucking one leg under the other so she could lean back against the wall and finish her mango. “You are really good at spinning things.”
“That sounds bad.” Perry pouted. Cute.
“No, I mean you’re good at making things sound better,” Mara corrected herself. “You’re straightforward and real, but not rude. Sometimes I forget that you can do one without being the other.” She sighed and put her now empty coconut between them. “Although you have to be careful. A girl could fall for you without you meaning it.”
“Sometimes falling for someone is just falling for someone.” Perry shrugged. “Doesn’t have to have anything to do with the person you’re falling for. It is not your mission to tell them your feelings.”
“So what’s the mission? If it’s not telling them?”
“It’s feeling the way you feel, and deciding if you’re going to do something about it. Are you going to stand by what you feel? Are you going to ask them if you have permission to do something about it?” He wasn’t looking at her when he was speaking, and Mara wasn’t really, either. She was more focused on what he was saying, on the way he made it sound so easy.
“I like to think that multiple things can be true at the same time,” he continued, without missing a beat. “For example. While it’s true that I approached you for art reasons, it’s also true that I’ve wanted to ask you out to dinner since I recognized you at that reception.”
Mara’s heart caught in her chest. At that particular moment it was hard to decide if her surprise was kilig related, or just the recognition that this was the first time anyone had asked her out on a date. Both things could be true, but they couldn’t be more different, too.
“Me?” she asked, which was ridiculous and pabebe. Of course, her. Butwhyher?
“Yeah.” Perry chuckled like he was challenging her incredulousness. “I’ve heard from both David and Alex all the reasons why they think we would be a good match, and I happened to agree. I think you’re funny and smart, and it matters to me that you and I have a basic agreement on politics.”
“Oh, totally.” Because that was half the battle, most days.
“I also think you’re gorgeous. So I think asking you out to dinner is the least I can do to get to know you better, and it’s a good way as any to start a love story.”
Oh, he was sweet. Very sweet, and Mara appreciated that he wasn’t shy about telling her what he wanted out of her. It was really that easy, she supposed, to put your heart out there for another person to take.
“That’s me doing something about how I feel, by the way,” Perry pointed out. “Dinner is usually a good way to start.”
“It really is,” Mara agreed.
* * *
“That’s it?” Marina asked, as Mabel’s jaw dropped in disbelief at the end of Mara’s story. “Dinner is a good start? Did you say yes? How did you feel about it? Do you like him? What about the deal with the gallery?”
“What about Jay!” Mabel made it sound like that was the more urgent matter. “Mom already keeps calling him son-in-law whenever we bring it up!”
Mara did not even know that it was a thing that was brought up so often. She had no doubt her parents had some notion of what had transpired with her and Jay in Boracay—their family was too small for any kind of secret to be kept—but her parents were usually all about the broad strokes. Malayo naman sa bituka, their dad always said. But for her mom to have such an affectionate pet name was new.
“Mom already has a son-in-law,” Mara pointed out, pursing her lips in the actual son-in-law’s direction. “That guy.”
