CHAPTER 003 - When His Eyes Caught Hers

THREE YEARS AGO…

"The birthday celebrant will be here in ten minutes, Demani! Where are you?"

"Fuck," she muttered as she nearly slipped to the floor.

The cemented footpath was slippery because of the heavy rain, and her hurry made it even more difficult, causing her to almost slip several times. She lowered the umbrella as she took shelter under the bakery's awning. She removed the phone wedged between her shoulder and head.

"I just got here at the bakery. It's hard to get a taxi with the rain, so it took me longer. Just stall it, Maureen. Keep Grandma entertained and don’t let her into the house until I get there. The cake needs to get inside first before she does."

"But it's drizzling here in Sucat now, what am I supposed to do to stop her from entering the house?" her cousin Maureen replied in a flustered voice from the other line.

That day was significant for the whole family. It was their grandmother's 80th birthday, and everyone in the family was coming to the house.

She ordered a mango cake, which was their grandmother's favorite, from a famous and expensive cake shop in Alabang for the special occasion. Everything was planned with the help of her two cousins, Maureen and Coreen—the twins of the family.

Their grandmother had three children: her uncle Laurencio, who was the father of Mau and Cori, her uncle Larry, who had a son named Levi, and her mother, Daliah.

Her cousins were all married. Maureen was pregnant with her first child, Coreen had two boys aged 7 and 5, and Liam had a 2-year-old son.

Basically, she was the only single one in the family. Since she was the youngest among her cousins, her parents were stricter when it came to relationships. They never allowed her to date until she finished her studies, which was okay with her.

Now, she has been working as a nurse in a private hospital in Paranaque for five years. She was still living with her parents, and she was somehow happy.

Somehow…

Because she was the youngest and hadn’t settled down yet, she was now the center of attention for the whole family. They kept asking when she was going to get married.

But unlike other single women, she wasn’t pressured at all. She just laughed along with their jokes.

For her, if someone came into her life, then thank you. If not, still thank you. She was only twenty-five, after all. She had a bright future ahead of her.

And she was excited for that day because everyone would be there— intense teasing and matchmaking would happen later, and once again, she would be the center of it all.

And it was all okay with her. She enjoyed being the center of attention.

Her grandmother, Lola Valentine, was coming from Bataan since that was where her house was, but she was going to stay with them for a month, and the day she chose to arrive was that day.

"I’ll entertain Grandma so she doesn’t see our surprise—but only for another ten minutes! So hurry up," Maureen said, then ended the call.

She hung her umbrella on the stand by the door of the bakery and stuffed her phone into her pants pocket.

She felt a little down when she saw that the bakery was packed with people, all lined up. It looked like she’d be waiting a while.

She entered and took out the payment receipt, standing at the end of the line. On the right side of the small shop were shelves lined with cakes and pastries, while on the left were five round tables with two chairs each. All of them were occupied due to the crowd. They were all customers having coffee on that lazy, rainy afternoon.

Ugh... It looks like Maureen is going to have to entertain Grandma a bit longer... or maybe they’ll start without the cake, she thought while peeking at the customers ahead.

She pulled out her phone again and called Maureen.

"Got the cake?" her cousin asked. "The weather’s on our side, the van that Lola’s in is stranded on the SLEX, there’s a crash up ahead, so traffic is slow."

"I’m stranded too, the line’s long at the bakery," she said while continuing to peek ahead.

"Why are you in line?"

"Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do?"

"Crazy, you’re the one who ordered it, and you forgot? You don’t have to line up! Just go straight to the counter and show them the receipt."

"Oh." She tapped her forehead.

She only realized that now, and it reminded her that the cake pickup time was supposed to be at 1:00, and she was an hour late.

She said goodbye to her cousin, left the line, and quickly walked to the counter. A woman in a polo shirt was standing by the cashier, assisting customers by handing them their cake boxes.

She approached and greeted the woman with a smile.

"Hi, I’m here to pick up my cake."

The woman smiled back, took the receipt she handed over, and said,

"Ah, yes, it’s ready, Ma’am. Just a moment." She turned and walked through the door behind the counter.

While waiting, she stepped aside and busied herself looking at the cakes on display. It wasn’t long before she heard the woman call from the counter.

"V. Dominic?"

She turned around and approached. That was the name on her receipt—her grandmother's name. Valentina Dominico.

Just as she reached for the cake, a man suddenly appeared in front of her—a big, tall man with broad shoulders. He took the cake from the uniformed employee.

"Thank you," he said as he received the cake. And oh, his voice left her speechless and motionless for a few seconds. It felt like listening to a radio DJ speak suddenly in the early hours of the morning. The man’s voice was deep and sexy—almost seductive.

When he turned to face her, she almost bumped into him because she was standing right behind him.

And her eyes widened even more when she saw his face.

A man of perfection.

She swallowed hard when their eyes met because it felt as though those eyes were pulling her in. It felt like she was momentarily lost in reality and was transported to another dimension. His eyes were the most perfect she had ever seen in her life. They shone like evening stars, and their color was different from usual—light grey.

Even the man froze when he saw her—perhaps he was surprised because she was almost right next to him. If he hadn’t stopped, they might have collided, and he might have dropped the cake.

When she remembered the cake, she quickly snapped back to reality.

She lowered her gaze to the box he was holding and saw the inscription on top of it next to the shop’s logo. She looked up again and shot him a glare.

"Looks like you grabbed the wrong cake, Mister?"

He blinked—just like her, it seemed like he snapped back to reality as well. He looked down at the cake he was holding and stared at it for a moment before meeting her gaze again.

"I don’t think so."

She couldn’t stop herself from poking the name written on the cake box with a pen.

"This is my grandmother’s initials—V. Dominico." Wait, why am I acting all snobbish?

"Well, the writing says V. Dominic. And that’s my name."

Her mouth fell open. It looked like she was about to argue with the son of God over her grandmother’s cake.

"Don’t give me that reason—"

"Here’s the cake for Valentina Dominico."

She quickly turned to the counter, where the woman in the polo shirt was still standing. The woman was holding another cake box in her hand. When she saw her, she smiled and placed the box on the counter.

Confused, she kept shifting her gaze from the box in her hands to the one the man was holding.

Wait, what?

"There goes your cake, Miss."

She looked up again, and their eyes met once more. She saw the glint in his eyes as he struggled to keep himself from laughing.

She wanted to get mad, but she couldn’t because she was overwhelmed with awe—and something else. She couldn’t explain why she found herself so entertained by his handsome face. She could stare at it all day without food or water—that’s how much of an impact it had on her.

"Oh, Mr. Muzon, did you get the cake you ordered?"

She turned her attention to the woman behind the counter, still standing there. She saw her glance back and forth between the two of them.

The man looked at the woman and smiled, making her suck in air as if she was drowning.

"Yes, I did, Lyn. Thank you," the man replied, before turning back to her. "Do you want to get your cake, Miss Valentina Dominico?"

She couldn’t help but frown when he called her by her grandmother's name.

"It’s—not my name..." she almost whispered in response. She felt embarrassed for blocking him and scolding him earlier.

"What’s your name then?"

"Demani—Demani... Velez."

He raised one hand and extended it to her, amazed. "And I’m Van Dominic Loudd. It’s nice to meet you."

"Van... Dominic?" she muttered, staring in disbelief at the hand he offered.

It wasn’t until she heard his name that she felt an intense wave of embarrassment for what she had done earlier.

The customers waiting in line beside them were also watching, as were some of the people seated at the tables. They had probably been watching them from the start— and that’s when the deep sense of embarrassment finally hit her.

Oh, so embarrassing!

She lowered her head and quickly went to the counter to grab the cake box with her grandmother's full name on it. She muttered a thank you to the woman named Lyn before quickly walking past the man.