Elegi Of Rose

As the kiss deepened, Ayu felt all her defenses crumble and she let herself fall into a new wave of sensation she forgot she missed. It had been a long time since she ever felt like this. She felt Roy's hand roam over her body restlessly and she did the same. It must have lasted minutes or hours, but they both didn't care. This very moment, they chose to surrender to what their bodies wanted. And yes, again, thanks to the beer.

But of course, just like in the movies, when everything was just getting better, something or someone always came along. In their case, it was an old Filipina woman walking with her dog. Who walks a dog in the middle of the night in a place like this?

The dog started barking at their direction, sending them back to reality.

Roy groaned against her mouth before he leaned back, his eyes closed in control. Their breathing had become rapid. Ayu rolled away from him and sat up, feeling for the strings of her bikini behind her neck. Her eyes had gone wide when she noticed Roy had managed to pull it off from its knot.

"Americans..." the old woman said, shaking her head while pulling her still barking dog away.

When they were alone again in the darkness, Ayu cleared her throat. She was mentally slapping herself back and forth right now. She couldn't believe she just made out with her husband-her transient husband!

"I think I need to sleep," she scrambled to her feet.

"I need to get back to work," Roy mumbled and stood up beside her.

She stole a glance at his face. It had become unreadable and blank. What was he thinking?

She began to panic. Maybe he was thinking she was going to be easy after all. Maybe he'd do something to her tonight. And she was not so sure if she would try hard to fight him.

Slap! She mentally scolded herself again. That was just the beer, she reasoned. Yes, definitely has to be the beer.

Roy led the way back to their hotel and to their room. No one dared to speak a word. It was more like a silent mutual agreement. They both had to cool down from the heat of their little encounter.

Ayu almost ran to the bathroom to shower and change. When she got out, Roy was back in front of his computer, his face morphed in a frown. She wondered if he was frowning at what he was seeing on the screen or what happened earlier. She'd never know unless she asked him and that was not ever going to happen. Sleep would help, so that was exactly what she did.

*****

When Ayu woke up the next day, Roy was not around. Curious, she called out for him but no answer came.

She got up and found the note near the door. Went out.

Now she felt what it was like to read a note that only said went out.

She came back to the bed and took her phone from the bedside table. She was about to call him when it rang. It was Herland again. "Hern," she answered.

"I went to Roni earlier," he said. She did not bother to answer. "I realized I did miss him and now I'm missing you."

"Hern," she said calmly, "please... don't start with that."

"Look, Yu, it's late here and I haven't been able to sleep. Ever since I got back, you're all I've been thinking about. I know Roni will understand," he said pleadingly. "I'm rambling," he gave a dry chuckle as he said that. "Okay, let's talk when you get back."

She nodded and said, "Yes."

"Why don't we go visit Roni together?" he asked. "I mean when you get back. You know he'll be happy."

"Hern, Roni is the past I'm still trying to get over," she pointed out. "And no, I guess he won't like it when he knows I'm still not over what happened when I go see him."

"Okay, whatever you say. But we'll talk, right?"

She took a deep breath and said, "Yes, we'll talk."

"Bye," and then he clicked off. Ayu sat on the bed looking at the phone in her hand, her thoughts miles away.

"So, who's Roni?" Roy asked casually behind her.

She jumped in alarm. "How long have you been here?" she asked.

"Long enough to hear another mysterious name like Roni," he answered, opening his computer.

If he heard the name Roni, then it meant he also heard the not-getting-over-him part. Shoot. She didn't want him to know about Roni.

"No one," she answered.

"If you say so," he shrugged.

Her jaw dropped. Did she hear it right? No demands for explanation this time. Right, she should often do the walk-out scene she did yesterday. It definitely worked.

"Where did you go?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Went to buy souvenirs," he pointed at the large expensive-looking paper bags by the door.

"You bought those below?" She meant the souvenir shop of the hotel.

"Yes, why?" he asked when he saw her laughing face.

She snorted, "I can't believe you bought souvenirs below."

His frown deepened. "Why?"

"Oh, babe, you just wasted a lot of money." She let out a hearty chuckle.

"I don't understand. What's so damn funny?"

She walked to the bathroom and said, "Just wait till I buy my souvenirs..."

*****

Boracay is divided in three stations namely Station One, Two, and Three. Their hotel was located in Station One which was quite a walk to the other stations. And Ayu walked all the way to Station Two with her unwilling husband in tow. "Where exactly are we going?" he asked her. His face was red with the hot sun and his skin had dried. He held a bottle of energy drink in his hand as he struggled to keep up with her pace.

Dressed in a yellow halter dress and white sandals, she looked back at him, taking in his gorgeous look. He was wearing a light white shirt he probably bought at the souvenir shop and a pair of gray board shorts and his black slippers. "Just follow me. We're going to the Palengke," she answered.

"Palengke?"

"It's the local term for market," she answered.

"How do you know so much about this place if you haven't been here?"

Ayu rolled her eyes, "Gugun told me, okay?"

"When?"

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"Yesterday, through text."

He frowned. "You're text buddies with Gugun?"

"Yes, of course," she replied absently, concentrating her eyes through the series of huts and bars along the way. Like in Station One, bars and restaurants line up along the shore but Stations Two and Three were quite crowded and it was hard to find the alleyway Gugun told her about.

"Why?"

"Why what?" she was not really focusing on the conversation at hand. "Oh, thank God!" she uttered when she saw the big sign of the Palengke and she swiftly turned to the direction of the alley that would lead them to the big surprise she had in stored for him-well, it was not that big actually.

"Why are you text buddies with Gugun?" he rephrased his question.

She stopped for a second and turned towards him. "Where are you going with this?"

By the look on his face, he must have realized he was nagging for no reason at all. She couldn't understand why he had to question every freaking guy name connected to her life at all.

When he did not answer she said, "Good thing you can't answer that. Let's go."

Like a lost puppy, he followed her. Of course it was not willingly. She didn't understand at all why he tagged along what with all his work and he did nothing but whine.

They finally entered the Palengke and a crowd of people and tourists greeted them. It was not weird at all to be there, she realized. Americans were everywhere.

"Hey, I bought something exactly like this," she heard Roy mutter behind her. Turning her head to see that he had stopped at one stall among others and he was holding a little wooden keychain in his hand. He looked at the price and his eyes widened.

"I knew you'll be surprised," she uttered in amazement.

"It's only a dollar," he said in disbelief.

"And how much did yours cost again, babe?"

He opened his mouth to answer but stopped in embarrassment. "It's close to a dollar," he shrugged.

Ayu laughed out loud. "Yeah, like I would believe that. It must have cost you five or more." She turned around and walked on.

"It was just three..." she heard him mutter behind her and she snorted.

Something caught her eyes from a stall on her right and she asked, "How much is that shirt of yours by the way?"

"I got it for only five dollars," he said proudly.

Smiling, she walked to the stall and took the shirt that looked exactly like his and asked the Filipina girl, "How much?" "120 pesos," the girl answered shyly.

Ayu mentally converted the money. "Three dollars," she announced.

"What the hell?!" Roy gaped at the shirt beside her. "It must be fake or something. Mine's cotton."

Ayu felt the shirt and said, "This one's soft as cotton, babe and I'm buying it."

"Why?"

"Because I would like you to be reminded that you made a big mistake going into that souvenir shop," she told him, fumbling for cash. She took the shirt and put it on over her dress. Looking at his shirt and then at hers, she said, "Couple t- shirt. How cute."

"I don't like couple t-shirts. Take it off," he said seriously.

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Straight-faced, she arched her brow and said, "Make me."

"Whatever," he said after a few seconds of deliberation.

"Okay, let's go," she walked to the direction of the exit.

"We just got here. I thought you're going to buy souvenirs?"

"I just bought one for one specific purpose."

"Aren't you going to buy your parents something?"

She smiled wryly. "No, I don't need to buy them anything just to let them know I enjoyed my honeymoon." With that, she walked on.

"Let's go back to the hotel then," his voice suddenly etched with irritation.

"No, not yet. We still have something to do."

"And what is that?" she could feel anger was coming any moment now.

He was pissed with what she said about their honeymoon, and she wondered why. Anyway, she ignored his sudden change of mood like she always did and said, "We're going island hopping." "No, I have work to do."

"No problem, I'll go alone."

"It's your choice. As what you said, I don't have any right to stop you from anything."

"Exactly," she retorted.

"Just be sure to come back with limbs intact."

"I swim like a fish, so no problem."

"Good."

*****

Ayu went to join the other tourists alone. She couldn't let Roy's sudden bad mood keep her from having fun on her own.

Their guide told them to keep watch of each other and she thought she should have brought Roy along after all. Her companions were mostly couples and she was the only one without a partner.

No worries, she reassured herself. I can pretty well take care of myself.

Their first stop was on an island with too many rocks for her liking, but her creative self was at awe with them so she spent most of the time taking pictures for possible subjects to paint for later days. When her companions were too busy taking pictures of each other, she saw a sign that led to the hidden cave and she followed the path it pointed to.

I like hidden caves, she thought. And yes, of course she went because what Ayu wanted, she did it-with or without company.

There was a small hole where one had to crawl through to reach the cave and she struggled through it. When she reached the cave, she was more than mesmerized. It was so beautiful and captivating. The waves from the ocean rushed in through a bigger opening of the cave, the one that opens to the ocean. She busied herself taking pictures and when a pump boat came into view through the bigger opening, she eagerly snapped a picture and froze.

Wait, she knew that pump boat. With the horror running from her feet to her heart, she reviewed her camera and looked at the last picture she had taken and zoomed it in. "Oh my God," she gaped, recognizing the faces of her companions. "Shit!" she cried out.

The pump boat left without her!