Chapter 6

WHILE WATCHING Jeremiah walked away, a scene from years ago suddenly flashed in my mind.

“Hey, Ali. Come here for a moment. I want to show you something,” Nine year-old Jeremiah told me as he held my hand. He took me to his room. I just followed while munching my favorite gingerbread cookie. Uncle Luis, Rem’s father was the cook in their family and he makes the best cookies that’s why I love hanging around their house. Every weekend, our families gather together like this to have a picnic and I always look forward to it because I know that Uncle Luis would prepare a feast.

I love my parents. And I love our Chef, too. But they could not really beat Uncle Luis’ food that’s why I adore him. Whenever he would pack Rem’s snacks for school, he also never forgets to pack mine. In return, I promised to be the best friend for his only son.

Whenever I’m in their mansion, their kitchen, garden, and Rem’s room were my favorite spots. Kitchen for the yummy food, the garden for Aunt Ingrid’s lovely flowers, and Rem’s room for the toys and animes. I immediately sat on Rem’s fluffy bed after heading inside his room. I like this place. Unlike me and my brother’s constantly messy rooms, my best friend’s room was neat and tidy. I’m the one who usually messes his room, but he did not mind.

When I looked around, I giggled when I saw our several pictures that he put on frames. They were all hanging on the wall. While other boys had posters of robots or superheroes in their room, Rem had our pictures.

“What is it? What are you going to show me?” I asked after chewing my last cookie. After this, I’m going to run back to the kitchen to get some more.

“This.” Rem’s eyes glowed as he showed me a piece of paper. He drew a beautiful house with a big garden and a wide swimming pool. The house was painted like the color of the sky. Even my friend’s drawings were better than mine. No doubt, he wanted to brag about it. Outside the house, there were two dogs, one little girl, and an older man and woman who looked like a married couple.

“This is lovely, Rem!”

“You think so?”

“Yeah.” I nodded. “But who are these people?” I asked and pointed the three figures in the drawing.

I glanced at Rem when he remained quiet. I was shocked to see his cheeks become red. I sat beside him on the carpet and poke his cheek when he refused to look at me. “Why are your cheeks red? Are you sick?”

“N-no. That’s not it.”

“Then why?”

“The drawing is our… future house. I’m the big guy there and you are the one beside me. The little girl standing between us is our future child. Is that okay with you?”

“You only want to have one child?”

“I could… draw more if you want to. How many do you want?”

“You can add two more. I’d like to have two boys and one girl.”

“All right,” he nodded and drew two more tiny figures on the paper before he showed it to me again.

“This one looks better.”

“When I’m tall enough, smart enough, and rich enough, I am going to marry you someday, Ali. Will you marry me, too?”

I giggled. So that’s why he looked embarrassed a while ago? “It depends. You know I love food. Will you feed me many tasty food?”

“I will!”

“Will you let me borrow your toys and anime CDs?”

“I will! You can even borrow them all now.”

“Really? I’d take them later. Thank you, Rem!” I was about to say yes when I remembered what my parents used to tell me whenever they would share their love story to get me and my brother to sleep at night. Their love story was my favorite bedtime story. It was also my favorite fairytale. “Hmm… But Mommy and Daddy would always tell me that marriage is not easy. They said marriage is not a fairytale. It requires lots and lots of love and patience.”

Rem stood up and raised his right hand as if he was making an oath. “I will love you a lot and I will be very patient with you, Ali, just like how Dad remains patient with Mommy every time she would cook and ends up burning the food. They taste horrible but he still eats all of them.”

I pouted. “I will never let you eat burnt food. I will learn to cook when I grow up. But are you sure about me?”

“Yes! Even if you don’t cook for me, I would still like you a lot. I would learn from Dad and I would cook all the delicious food for you when we grow up.”

That’s tempting. I can’t wait to taste Rem’s food. I stared at him for a moment. Well, Rem was really cute. He was so kind and so smart, too. In fact, we always compete for the first place in our class. And our female classmates all have a crush on him. They all want to eat with him during recess but he prefers to eat only with me. Now that I think about it, my best friend is cool. He gives me all his snacks and lends me his CDs even before I borrow them. I always lose my pens in the class room and he always prepares an extra pen for me. He knows how clumsy I could be. He knows me so well.

I looked at the paper once more. “Will you build a house as big and as beautiful as this? I want a large aquarium and a library filled with so many books!”

“Then we will have it. Just you wait. So will you marry me now?”

“Yes, I will marry you, too, Rem!”

“Thank you very much, Ali! Is that a promise?”

“Yes, I promise.”

He smiled. We did pinky swear afterwards. “Let’s live happily in the future, husband.”

“We will definitely live happily, wife. Leave it to me.”

I laughed upon the memory. That was the first and last time Rem told me about that. That was so long ago. I doubt if he even remembered it.

“Why are you laughing?” Uncle Luis asked.

“I just remembered how Rem proposed to me when we were nine. He was so adorable then.”

Uncle grinned. “He proposed? Wow, that’s my son! Wait, you said he was adorable then. What about now?”

“Be honest, Uncle. You are fishing for compliments about your son, aren’t you?” I teased him and he laughed. “Don’t worry. Rem is still just as adorable as before, Uncle. Nothing had changed.”

“You don’t really want to marry my son? Not to brag, but he is a good catch, you know. And I’m saying this not as his father but as someone who had watched him all these years.”

I could only agree. Rem became the man he said he would be. He became taller. He was actually six foot tall now. He had become smarter that he even graduated with flying colors. He became richer without relying on his parents. And he really learned how to cook despite his busy schedule. Once or twice a month, he would barge inside my house and would cook for me. I heard that his own house was now under construction. In a few months’ time, I will be able to see it.

The old man raised his brow. “So?”

I shook my head, amused. Uncle Luis just won’t give up. Nothing had changed even with my relationship with Rem’s parents. Aunt Ingrid was still one of my best supporters and Uncle Luis will always be my favorite chef next to Rem. My best friend and I like things the way they are. If only these adorable folks could stop playing cupids just for once, it would have been better. “Come on, Uncle. Are we really talking about this topic again? Your son and I already gave an answer earlier, didn’t we?”

There was a mysterious glint in Uncle Luis’ eyes when he spoke. “We can never be too sure about the future.” He leaned closer and whispered, “You know when I was your age, I told myself that I would never marry Rem’s mother. She used to be a brat in the past, you know. And she used to hate everything about me, too. But one day, we just found ourselves in love with each other. It was crazy. But look at where we are now. By God’s grace, we are still happily married after thirty years. Who knows? Maybe one day, you’ll change your mind, Alison. Maybe tomorrow, you’ll change your mind.”

“I know, Uncle. I have nothing against Rem. He’s the best. He’s not impossible to love. But do you think he could love someone like me, too? Rem knew how crazy I get at times. He’s probably tired of my quirkiness by now. He’s just not showing it because you raised him as a gentleman.” I laughed.

“My son is right. You are too innocent for your own good.”

“What do you mean?”

Uncle Luis just laughed and I just shrugged. As Uncle Luis said, I will just leave everything to tomorrow. If Rem and I are truly meant for each other, then there was no way that we won’t end up together. After all, he was like a prince charming to me ever since I was a little girl. Now, I bet other women refer to him as one. I heard that he was famous in his office for having women ask him out once or twice a month.

Maybe we’ll fall in love with each other. Maybe we won’t. But one thing was sure. We will always be the best of friends no matter what.

Rem had probably sensed that I was looking at him. He glanced at me and playfully winked at me as he smiled. I smiled back. He motioned that he would come back right away and I just nodded. He just probably left to distract the oldies. Whatever the case is, right now, I’m just so thankful for what we have.