"OK lang"

Sunday was a busy day. The day's activities started with grocery shopping. We do this once every two months, unless there's a special occasion and we are expecting visitors and we have to buy extra stuff. We used to get our groceries at Makro and buy in bulk, but since nanay went to the US and her BF is managing his own business in Singapore together with Emma's mom, buying in bulk isn’t so practical anymore so we just go to The Landmark or to the SM Supermarket.

Emma looks at shopping for grocery items as a science. She has a list of everything we need for the house, and she knows where to get them. She also has a system of grabbing the items in the list. We start with bathroom, hygiene, and cleaning supplies, then the dry goods, to finally the wet edible goods. She also knows where to put each item in the cart, and she can tell if something is misplaced.

I, on the other hand, look at grocery shopping as a fun activity. I have a fairly simple system for grocery shopping. I look at an item- If I think I need it, I'll place it in the cart. Last March, I offered to do the groceries alone, and when I got home and Emma checked on what I bought, naasar sya kasi I didn't buy the things that we needed for the house. We went to redo the groceries the very next day. I guess women think that there are things that men cannot be trusted with. That’s also the reason why she demoted me to driving and pushcart duty. (But in my defense, she didn't give me the list she prepared)

Grocery shopping with Emma can tell you a lot of things about her. I know her preferred brand of toothpaste, toothbrush, mouthwash, various kinds of soaps, shampoo, conditioner, moisturizing lotion, powder, antiperspirant, and the holy grail, sanitary pads and napkins. The list is a lot longer if Watson's is part of the itinerary. I looked at my pile of personal stuff and compared it to hers: hers outnumber mine 3 to 1 lol.

The number of personal hygiene products she has reflects that she is a neat freak. She is such a neat freak; its bordering with being OC. Her handwriting is so neat, her notebooks look like they were laser-printed. Her cabinets, dresser, study table and shoe rack are always in order. Everything has a place. Misplace something and suffer the consequences. I once pointed that out to her to joke about it, all I got was a "Bakit ba?" said with a raised eyebrow with matching hands on her hips. She's just one of those women that look pretty when they're pretending to be angry and even prettier when they are really angry.

Anyway, back to the grocery~ WE get into a number of awkward situations whenever we go to malls and supermarkets. Sunday's grocery shopping is not an exception. Emma and I were at the spices section because she wanted to check out ingredients for a dish she wants to try. She can really get frustrated if she can’t find one or two things that she needs, especially if its food ingredients. She was a few feet away and looking at some bottles when I accidentally bumped carts with a couple. I apologized because it’s my fault (I was too busy looking at Emma instead of looking where I'm going). The couple smiled at me and said that it’s ok. I smiled back. I secretly laughed because it looked like the guy was on pushcart duty as well.

I pushed forward for a bit and a few seconds later, the lady friend of the guy I bumped carts with came to me to ask where we got the brand of coffee we had on out cart. Naturally, I asked the expert.

"Emma," I called out to her. "San natin na kuha to?" I asked her while I raised a box of San Mig Extra Strong Coffee (Emma and I both prefer brewed coffee but we keep a stock of 3in1 instants for a quick fix).

Emma's eyebrows met as she bit a part of lower lip, which she does when she is thinking. She looked at the over head aisle numbers and she slowly swung her arm to the direction of the aisle the lady was looking for. "The extra strong ones at the upper middle shelf," she told the lady as they went off.

"Emma," I called as Emma walked back to the cart. "Do you think that those two thought that we are a couple?" I asked because I was a bit curious of how she thought.

Her response: "Ok lang"

"Ok lang?" I asked in search for a little more clarity. "Ok lang as in 'ok lang' talaga sayo, or ok lang kasi you don’t mind at all or ok lang kasi you couldn't care less?"

She smiled with a single raised eyebrow- She probably thought that I was being weird for asking that question.

"Oook lang...," she said again. "Bakit?"

I took a deep breath and calmed myself for a bit. "Kasi I really want to know how you felt about it," I answered. My voice shook for a bit when I saw her staring at me. I can't do speak knowing that she is in front of me with that look on her face. I closed my eyes and spoke.

"... I really really want us to be a couple".

She then dropped the bottles of McCormick spices she was holding to run to me and embraced me with tears in her eyes. "Damn Al, I thought you'll never say that!" she cried over my shoulder. Everyone near us saw this and began clapping and cheering us on.

We then went home and lived happily ever after....





...I wish.

Ok this is what really happened:

"Oook lang," she said again. "Bakit?"

"Wala lang," I answered. "I was just wondering what they were thinking." (nagpalusot pa)

"Sus, Wag mong isipin yon," she replied smiling. "Baka akala lang nya na nagtatrabaho ka dito," she grinned at me while she placed the McCormick bottles in the cart.

T_T Ouch. First Blood.

I went on silent mode after her comment. I wanted to torture her by not talking to her, and I think she noticed it when I didn't pay attention to what she's saying until she called my name.

"Al? You ok?" she finally said. I can hear the concern in her voice but I didn't want to talk to her yet so I just nodded with an expressionless face. After that, we continued on with out list in silence and proceeded to the counter to pay for out stuff.

Even at the counter we didn't talk. I took the items out of the cart and placed it on the cold surface of the counter, and Emma would arrange them for the cashier. "Neat freak," I called her in my head. Soon the cart was empty, the cashier was punching in the last items and the bagger was doing his thing and Emma supervised.

I planned on continuing on silent mode but I realized that Emma was on to me. She knows that I'm just faking it simply because she knows me too well. I was curious on how she'll react when its time to pay, so I waited until the cashier told her how much the bill is. I didn't really know what to expect.

"O, Hun, bayaran mo na," she said. She spoke loud enough for the cashier and the bagger 2 counters away from us to hear.

After that, everything fell silent. I was frozen, and yet it left like my brain was burning up. "ANONG SINABI MO?!" I was screaming in my head. Emma used her Information Overload attack on me. I didn't see that coming.

I didn't know what to say. I want to hear her again. I was caught off guard and I was able to recover a little composure when I saw her with her patented Grin™. She stuck the tip of her tongue out for a second and began giggling at me. I had to exert extra effort to take my credit card from my wallet and to hand it to the cashier. I signed the slip and loaded the bags to the cart in silence. I was still feeling the aftershock of what she said, but I tried really hard not make it obvious and kept a straight face.

"Tara Hun, Lets go home," she suggested, and this time, not only did she make sure that other people heard us, she clung on my right arm as well. I think I felt a little more than just her arm on my arm because she clung on it pretty tight. I pushed the thought out of my head because I felt it was inappropriate for a Sunday. I knew I had to make a reaction.

"Hun," I said while trying to imitate her. "... ang panget mo gumanap". I couldn’t hold it in anymore so I finished the sentence with a laugh.

"Ang kapal mo," she replied as she let go of her cling and gave my triceps a pinch that I will never forget. Nang-gigil sya but she was also laughing. "Ikaw kaya. May nalalaman ka pang silent treatment, di naman bagay sayo"

(Bat ba mga babae, pag nang-gigigil, ang hilig manakit?)

I was nursing the pinch she gave me. Masakit eh. Napa-aray ako, but I do admit that I intentionally over-reacted.

"Sorry," she said with a grin™. "Ikaw kasi. Ang kulit mo eh"

I smiled and conceded. "Oo na".

We continued pushing the cart towards the grocery baggage counter so we can get the car. I thought of what happened within the last few minutes and even though we were just joking, it felt really good. I can only hope that it was a preview of things to come. Right then and there, I made a decision to ask her something I thought of asking her all morning.

"Emma,” I said to get her attention as we got near the ramp “Simba tayo later?"

With smile and a gentle nod, she answered.

"Ok lang."