“LOLA Dolor, what are you going to cook for your birthday tomorrow?”
Caroline watched Antonette as she followed her grandmother inside the lodging while asking her questions about the dishes she’d prepare tomorrow. She was sitting on one of the bamboo benches with improvised bamboo roofs that looked like a cottage outside the lodging house. There was also an extended table made of bamboo in front of her.
“I’m going to cook all your favorite food.” Caroline heard the old lady replied to Benjamin’s daughter.
“Will you cook Mommy’s favorite dish?” Antonette asked.
That question brought a stinging pain in Caroline’s heart. They really never forget their mother. Camille must be really a good mother to them, unlike her mom, who chose to leave her just because she can’t live with her drunkard father anymore.
She thought to make them forget their mom would be easy if she’ll just play the mother’s role, but Caroline was wrong. It wasn’t easy to replace a good wife and a good mother in the heart that has been taken care of well. Maybe, she was just really ambitious.
“Aunt Caroline, you wanna try this? It tastes good.” Anastacia offered her a snack that looked like a small cake.
Caroline took it from her. “What is this called?”
“It’s Torta,” she said and put some in her mouth. “It’s soft and easy to swallow.”
“Does it have cheese inside?” she asked hesitantly while looking at the fluffy bread.
“Nah, it’s just a small bread cake.”
Caroline munched on the bread. She closed her eyes to let her taste buds judge its taste and texture. “It’s… great—” She opened her eyes and saw Benjamin in front of her, studying her face intently. “Oh, hi.”
Benjamin took the chair beside her daughter, Anastacia. They were both facing the entrance of the lodging. “Where do you wanna go?”
Caroline paused. She looked at Benjamin with raised eyebrows. “Me?” she asked, pointing at herself.
Benjamin nodded. “You haven’t gone anywhere here. Even I’m not raised here. I can give you a quick tour of the island.”
Caroline shook her head. “It’s getting late; we can explore the beach tomorrow.”
“Aunt Caroline, the sunset in Panglao Beach is amazing!” she said and took out her phone, but as she was about to show her the screen, she changed her mind. “It’s better if you’ll see it personally.”
Caroline pouted her lips. “Okay, I’ll wait for the sunset—”
“I can go with you,” Mario interrupted. He occupied the seat beside her. “I will bring to the best place to watch the sunset.’
Caroline awkwardly smiled at him. When she glanced at Benjamin, he was now busy looking at what Anastacia was showing her on the screen. Caroline felt terrible. He wasn’t even affected by his cousin’s blatant expression of interest in her. Maybe what happened to them was just nothing to him.
Caroline’s hand balled into a fist. She hated this feeling, but Caroline couldn’t prevent it from attacking her, especially in this situation.
“Do you want to take photos at the beach while the sun is still up? I haven’t seen you walking bare feet on the beach,” Mario asked her.
Caroline turned to the man. “Sure. I’ll just change for my bikini,” she said and left Benjamin without a word.
*
BENJAMIN’S gaze followed Caroline inside the lodging house. He shook his head, she refused him, but when his cousin Mario asked her, she said yes immediately.
“Hey, Benjamin,” Mario called him. “Is it hard to live in Manila?”
Benjamin knotted his forehead. “If you don’t have a permanent job, it is. In Manila, the people’s basic need is in a price hike every day. If you don’t know how to keep up, you’ll—”
“You’ll end up in the street,” Antonette finished his statement. “Manila is a high-cost living city. Everything has a price.”
“Then, I’ll work in your coffee shop,” Mario said without a second thought.
“Where are you going to live?” Anastacia asked.
“In your house,” he said. “It’s just for temporary. If I have earned that much, I’ll buy my own house.”
Antonette snorted. “Tito Mario, are you serious?”
“Daddy’s café was already striving, don’t add in the burden,” Anastacia said in a sad tone.
Benjamin shrugged his shoulders. “Why, Mario? Do you want to live in Manila?”
The corners of his mouth turned up. “If Caroline doesn’t want to live here in Bohol, I will follow her in Manila.”
Anastacia was the first to laugh, while Antonette just snorted.
“You like Aunt Caroline?” Anastacia asked, eyes wide in surprise.
“I think I love her,” Mario said, and it only made Anastacia laughed. “Why? What’s funny?”
Anastacia shook her head. “Nothing.”
Mario narrowed her eyes to his daughter, Anastacia. “Caroline was the most beautiful woman that I ever saw in my whole twenty-five years of existence. And, for the first time that I laid my eyes on her, I knew it. She’s the woman that is meant to be the mother of my children.”
“Did you ask her if she likes you too?” Anastacia asked again while her twin, Antonette left them.
“It’s obvious that she likes me. Did you notice how he looks at me when we’re at the van?”
Anastacia shrugged her shoulders. “I slept in the car.”
“Did you see, Benjamin?”
Benjamin doesn’t know what to say. As far as he can remember, Caroline was staring out the window the whole ride to the beach. “Uh… Caroline is—”
Benjamin paused, his eyes shifted to the door as the woman they were talking about sauntered outside the door. Benjamin felt like a clock slowed down as Caroline took her steps towards them. She was wearing a two-piece red bikini under a see-through net-like top. Benjamin already knew that Caroline was a gorgeous woman. Still, he never thought that she could be this stunningly beautiful in his eyes—and Mario’s eyes.
“Wow! Hot babe!” Mario commented as he dashed towards Caroline. “I like your bikini; it suits you perfectly.”
“Really?” Caroline asked shyly. She tugged her hair behind her ear, and it made his cousin crazy.
“Yes! You are the most beautiful woman here on the island,” he said and was about to touch Caroline’s arm when he interrupted.
“Mario,” he called in a stern voice, but he didn’t know what’s he’s going to say.
“What?” he asked, brows furrowed.
“Come on,” Caroline clung to Mario’s arm. “I want to get the best shots at the beach.”
Mario’s smile widened. He touched Caroline’s hand on his arm, then winked at them. “I’ll make sure that this will be the best shot of your life.”
Benjamin clenched his jaw. If Anastacia wasn’t here, he could have dragged Caroline away from Mario. He tried to catch Caroline’s eyes, but she was avoiding his gaze. When Caroline and Mario started to walk outside, Benjamin shook his head in desperation. He can’t believe that Caroline went to the beach with another man instead of him.
“Aren’t you going to join them, Dad?” Anastacia asked. “You looked like you wanted to run after them,” she said and laughed. “Aunt Caroline is a beauty. Don’t you find her attractive, Dad?”
Benjamin paused for a moment. He was torn between being honest and being a father—a father known by his children who only loved their mother.
***