Chapter 4

It had been fifteen years since Vangie and her husband separated. She never thought she would have another man in her life. For all those years, she had been alone, except for her children. She let their father petition them to live abroad so they could have a better life. Even though she knew it meant being left alone in the Philippines, she accepted it. She didn’t want to take that opportunity away from them.

It had also been fifteen years since she last felt her heart beat for someone. The feelings she had for Fredo never came back. From then until now, only her ex-husband had ever touched, hugged, or kissed her. She thought she was done with things like that.

Until now…

Bert was kissing her.

Vangie froze in shock, unable to move. Her eyes widened when she opened them, but Bert’s remained shut as he savored their kiss. One of his arms held her basket, while the other wrapped around her waist. His other hand rested on the back of her head.

She wanted to push him away, to slap or hit him, but she couldn’t. It was as if he had put a spell on her, and before she knew it, she was closing her eyes and responding to his kiss.

At that moment, Vangie felt the walls she had built to keep men away crumble. It took her fifteen years to build them, but now, they were gone in seconds.

Is this what a kiss feels like?

After so long, it was like she was sixteen again. Something inside her came alive, and she liked it.

“Oh my goodness!”

Vangie quickly buried her face in Bert’s chest when she heard someone speak behind her. She suddenly snapped back to reality. Bert, on the other hand, just pulled her closer to hide her face.

Oh no! How embarrassing! she thought, feeling her cheeks burn.

“If you two want to flirt, go find a room! Or better yet, the forest! Plenty of space there!” the man said.

“Sorry, sir. My girlfriend and I haven’t seen each other in a long time,” Bert replied casually, as if it wasn’t a big deal that someone caught them kissing.

“Tsk!”

Vangie heard the man click his tongue before walking away.

She stayed in Bert’s arms for a while, too embarrassed to move. At her age, she got caught making out in public! She flinched when she felt Bert tighten his hug. Her forehead creased when she felt him place small kisses on the top of her head.

“Is he gone?” she whispered.

“He’s gone,” Bert murmured.

“Huh?” Vangie lifted her head, but stopped when she realized their faces were just inches apart.

She quickly pulled away and smacked Bert’s chest.

“Ow!” Bert laughed, dodging her next hit.

“You’re messing with me, aren’t you?! Why didn’t you tell me he was already gone?”

Bert grinned. “I thought you wanted to hug me longer.”

Vangie’s face turned even redder. She took a deep breath, trying to push aside what had just happened.

“Give me the fish! You’re so annoying!” She reached for her basket, but Bert lifted it out of her reach.

“I’ll carry it and walk with you,” he insisted.

Vangie’s eyes widened when Bert grabbed her hand and led her away from the stall. She felt a strange electric sensation where their skin touched.

Oh no! What’s happening to me?

She was never the type to let anyone boss her around, especially someone younger than her. But when it came to Bert, she felt… different. She knew it was too soon to assume anything, but out of all the men who had courted her, only Bert made her feel this way. Even more than her ex-husband did.

“What else do you need to buy?” Bert asked as they walked past different stalls.

Vangie kept her head down, following behind him. She was sure her cheeks were still red. She wasn’t used to this kind of attention.

“Vegetables?” Bert asked again, but she still didn’t answer. “Vangie?”

“H-Huh?” Vangie snapped out of her thoughts.

She looked at Bert and swallowed hard when she saw him staring at her. She quickly averted her gaze, pretending to look at the produce in front of her.

“Uh… um… y-yeah. Vegetables.”

Get it together, Vangie! she scolded herself.

Bert nodded. “What kind of vegetables do you like? Eggplant? Do you want one?”

“Eggplant?” Vangie frowned. Something about the way he said it seemed off.

Bert turned to her with a teasing grin. “Yeah. My eggplant.”

Vangie’s mouth fell open. Her whole face turned red as a tomato.

She quickly turned to the vendor, relieved that she wasn’t paying attention. She glared at Bert and yanked her hand away from his grip.

“I’ll do it myself!” she snapped, realizing he was enjoying teasing her.

Bert laughed but stayed beside her as she looked through the vegetables.

“How about a big, thick eggplant? Do you like those?”

Vangie almost choked. When she turned to him, he was holding up a large eggplant, inspecting it.

She forced herself to stay calm. Ignore him, Vangie. Just ignore him.

“Vangie, what do you think? Because mine is just like this,” Bert said mischievously.

Vangie grabbed the nearest eggplant and smacked him with it.

“Stop it!” she snapped.

She froze when she heard the vendor laughing. Oh no, she heard us!

“Oh, sir, I like your eggplant,” the vendor said, giggling.

Vangie frowned even more and kept her head down while Bert grinned.

“Really?” Bert smirked.

Vangie’s ears burned. She tried not to react, but she was getting annoyed. How could they flirt in front of her?

“But there’s only one person I want to give it to,” Bert added.

Vangie paused. She took a deep breath.

“Oh? And who’s that?” the vendor asked.

Vangie pretended to search for something in her bag, suddenly curious about Bert’s answer. But after a few seconds, he said nothing.

She glanced at him and saw his teasing grin.

This guy is crazy!

She scowled at him, turned around, and walked away.

“Vangie! Wait!” Bert called after her.

She ignored him. She was getting frustrated. Why did he even bring up eggplants?!

She walked straight toward the waiting shed at the edge of the market.

“Vangie!”

She felt someone grab her arm. She didn’t want to look at him, but she also didn’t want him to see that she was upset… over an eggplant.

Ugh! Stop thinking about the eggplant!

“What?” she asked.

“You’re leaving this behind?” He raised the basket of fish.

Vangie sighed. She had almost forgotten about her dinner.

“Give it to me.” She held out her hands.

“I’ll take you home.”

Instead of handing her the basket, Bert grabbed her wrist and started walking.

She didn’t argue because he was holding her tightly. His strides were so long that she almost tripped trying to keep up.

“Wait here,” he said when they reached the waiting shed.

He left her there and walked toward the parking lot. She couldn’t see where he went, so she just sat on the cement bench.

A few moments later, she heard a motorcycle engine.

Bert appeared, riding a Honda TMX, grinning as he revved the engine. He got off and walked over to her. Before she could react, he put a helmet on her head.

“Wait… you’re taking me on that?” Vangie asked, eyeing the motorcycle.

Bert nodded, fastening the helmet strap. “Yeah.”

“What? No way! I’ll just take a tricycle!” she protested, reaching to remove the helmet.

“Come on, I got you,” Bert said, winking at her again.

Vangie quickly looked away as her heart pounded.

If any other man kept winking at her, she would’ve poked his eye out.

But with Bert…

She sighed.

“Fine.”