mananagaytay, pt. II

By two in the afternoon, I found myself trekking the length of Aguinaldo highway, back to Josephine restaurant, the place where the Sunbaked King and I had brunch.

A few minutes ago, the King, after waking up from his short nap, realized that his glasses were missing. We tried to trace back our actions and ultimately deduced that it was probably left at the eatery.

After eating a hearty meal of Adobong manok and the oh-so-creamy Mutya ng Cavite, we went to the restaurant's garden which has a scenic view of the Taal lake. We remember him taking his glasses off for a series of shots. He must've left it on the bench, and overwhelmed as we were, forgot about it as we left for Starbucks.

The King was nonchalant about losing it. However, I told him that I might as well check it out as I need to go back to the area to withdraw anyway. So after eating the cookie he bought, I put down the Skeleten Crew (I had barely started with The Mist), and told him that I’ll go ahead and look for his glasses. He stayed to study.

The journey back was easier and quicker than I initially thought. Archie was on his third song when I distinctly remember walking towards Josephine's front lawn, all the while thinking that the chances of finding his eye glasses were bleak; though I did pray that it was there.

"May naiwan kayo kanina, sir." A waiter warmly greeted as I approached the front desk. Surprised, I told him that we might have left my friend's eye glasses there.

"Ay opo. Sandali lang po ha. Inabot ko na kanina kay...," he said as he walked out of my ear shot. He came back with another staff who hurriedly went behind the counter and took out a pair of glasses that most certainly belonged to the King. Relieved, I took it, thanked them, and promised myself that I shall go back one weekend to try their buffet, thinking that it was a better gesture of gratitude.

I crossed the street, took out some cash from the ATM, and quickly made my way back to Starbucks. I made a beeline to the corner table and handed the King his glasses. Though I wanted him to be, the King wasn't really surprised that I got it back. Meh. I guess he was really keen on buying a new pair.

After taking a snack break, munching on yummy Kettle chips, the King resumed with his review. I, on the other hand, settled on my comfy chair and went back to my book –

"That was when it started getting dark... but no, that's not exactly right. My thought at the time was not that it was getting dark but that the lights in the market had gone out. I looked up at the fluorescents in a quick reflex action, and I wasn't alone. And at first, until I remembered the power failure, it seemed that was it, that was what had changed the quality of the light. Then I remembered they had been out all the time we had been in the market and things hadn't seemed dark before. Then I knew, even before the people at the window started to yell and point. The mist was coming."

Outside, the fog thickened as it started to rain.

TO BE CONTINUED.