She appeared beside me suddenly. I was shuffling through the MP3 player for a tune and there she was - an angel that startled me.
It was 8AM and I was on my way to work. As I looked left, I saw this cute, seemingly naive beauty. She was at the borders of my personal comfort zone. Too close - as I was the only guy standing on the street then. I wondered at her intentions.
I caught glimpses of her high heeled white shoes, her simple yet stylish jeans and a blouse that showed a bit of her back. This lady had a cell phone dangling on her neck's lanyard. A little shorter than me, I could see her wavy, slight brown hair flow just below her shoulders.
It was her pouting lips that really reminded me of sudden romantic moments. The kind where you kissed a total stranger out of the blue. That scene lingered a bit in my mind.
When she fidgeted on her cell phone, I snapped back to reality. I immediately hailed an incoming ride. It was a Tamaraw FX, the vehicle of choice for the middle-income commuting public in Manila. Three jeepneys passed before this one came.
As I moved at the back of the van, I saw her follow. I opened the door and I did the gentlemanly thing to do - I let her in first. Quietly she hopped in. Anyone who would've seen us might have thought we were together.
The van's back was a four seater. Two people already sat on the right side. This morning's angel sat on the left and I was forced to sit beside her. I unintentionally whiffed at her perfume.
It was a thirty minute ride to my next stop. I just tried intently to listen to my music. Somehow she bugged me.
Her naked elbows rubbed regularly with mine as the van moved back and forth along the road. She turned her back towards me and did the oddest of all actions. She parted her hair to expose her upper back. She then reached out behind her blouse to feel the upper bra line. In doing so, she showed even more skin.
Keeping my composure, I hummed the tune from the latest top 40 US music. She would occasionally bump her back on my arms. It seemed like an invite.
At that point I remembered that last stupid thing I did. It was back in College. I actually did kiss someone, albeit NOT really a stranger, out of the blue. It took all her self-control not to slap me. No I wasn't drunk. Wait, maybe I was.
Reminded of this, I figured that I'd rather not get myself into another crazy situation.
I just snubbed her.
Minutes later, I got off my stop. As I walked away, I looked back at the van to see if she was looking my way.
She wasn't.
I smiled and, for some reason, recalled Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken."
