It was when Desiree was half stabbing, half cutting the slice of bread in front of her. She just finished meeting another guy her mother wanted her to meet and it felt like torture, that was from her point of view of course.

‘So,’ Mrs. Co started and inched closer to her daughter who was sitting across from her. ‘How was your date yesterday? Did you and Eddy have lots of things in common?’

She sighed, put down her fork, and told her, ‘Mom, I had enough of this.’

The kitchen walls echoed her words and left her mother speechless while she slowly rose up and made her way out of the house.

Desiree ran away from home. Kind of.

She had planned this, she was almost too excited to go to the date earlier that Mrs. Co thought she was finally seeing the whole picture she kept on showing her but, boy, little this mother knew that her daughter made a deal with herself that after the sixteenth, that’s correct, the sixteenth blind date she set her up to, Desiree would take a short break to let her realize that she shouldn’t butt in too much with her love life.

She hailed a ride to the bus terminal going to Baguio but added another stop to get her things from the company locker assigned to her. The sky was clear that specific Tuesday morning made her satisfied and guilty at the same time.

Sure, her mother just wanted her to find someone and naturally date them but she wanted her to date the sons of her friends. They didn’t have a company to save, an arranged marriage to deal with, but Mrs. Co could win a Ms. Sunshine award. As a result, Desiree had to meet at least a guy or two every three months.

‘But baby,’ she recalled her saying, ‘you are already 23. Three years from now, you will be 26, and isn’t that a little late to start getting to know someone?’

She massaged her frowning eyebrows to relax as ‘baby’ and ‘too old’ used in a statement bothered her. She dismissed the thoughts and pulled out her phone to double-check the things that she would need in this sweet little escapade.

Food, check. Money, check. Books, check. Clothes, check. Her phone would be left inside the company’s locker so her mother wouldn’t contact and ask her to go home. She didn’t hate her mother, she was just tired.

Her filed leave was for two weeks, this was the first time she used the paid vacation leaves her company offers so it had been considered approved even before submitting it to her supervisors. She also scheduled an email to be sent to her best friend, Avah, on Friday.

‘Hey, potato. I know by now that my parents had contacted you lots of times but tell them not to worry as I’m just in Baguio and I would be back next week. Love, Ree,’ she read.

Right after she gathered all her things she boarded the bus scheduled at three that afternoon. She had checked the SNS accounts of her parents’ friend, trying to find something about the summerhouse she was about to go to. She saw a recent picture, posted by a mom of the guy she once met, that showed the exact cottage she remembers.

She drowsed off while thinking about that house as they used to go there when she was younger and wondered why they stopped visiting it.

Soon, she heard the bus conductor yelling ‘Baguio!’ that woke her up in an instant. She needed another ride, even though it was only ten minutes away by car, the road is stiff and steep, plus the zigzags, and it was already nine in the evening.

She stepped out of the cab then felt the chilly breeze that September night. Crisp trees were swooshing as if they were singing together. ‘What a peaceful place I need right now,’ she thought.

Practically hopping along the stone-paved road, Desiree was excitedly dragged her luggage behind her. It was the same three-bedroom oak house that she kept on thinking about. She searched for the adorable garden gnome by the lamp post and dug a box for the house keys. Thanking her luck, she widely opened the door and saw that nothing changed. She went to the leftmost room on the second floor, the very same one she used to use back then.

‘At last!’ she squealed as she dropped like a log on the bed and drifted back to sleep... but not for long.

She heard a loud bang and in seconds, the bedroom door swung open, then a tall guy was making his way to her. His fierce eyes, strong and rough features were lighted by the dim light inside the area. The annoyed expression he was wearing and the clenched fists added panic to Desiree.

‘Who are you!?’ he asked, shouted.

She grabbed her bag and got an umbrella out as a defense, if that would count as one, then said, ‘Who are you, and what are you doing at our house?’

‘Your house? This is mine, you trespasser,’ he laughed in disbelief, who was this crazy girl claiming his property and even welcomed herself in. He dodged her pointed umbrella and dragged her out of the house, along with her bags, and shut the door.

Confused, she was so confused, about what was happening right before she woke up. Great, was this the vacation she wanted, being kicked out in her, their, own house? The thought of calling her mom flashed to her to confirm all of these then remembered she didn’t bring her phone.

She was sorting her thoughts when a sudden gust of wind blew and chills ran down her spine. ‘Assumingly, he’s now the owner. What am I supposed to do now?’ she asked herself.

She paused for a moment then started rummaging through her bag, searching for her pouch, and, oh, dear, she left it inside on the bedside table. She swallowed her remaining pride and knocked, ‘Hello! I need a favor!’

‘What do you want?’ he shouted back, ‘did she send you here? Tell her I don’t want to.’

Unsure if she was still following their conversation, she gave him more details to pull him to her page. ‘I don’t know about her and that sending thing but I need my pouch back. It’s in the last room on the left.’

She heard no sounds so she continued, ‘Please. I can’t leave without it. My money’s in there.’

Still no sounds from the other side of the wooden wall and Desiree was starting to get annoyed as the wind blew another chilly one as she hugged and rubbed herself warm.

‘Going to a summerhouse when it is not summer is not cool,’ she thought. ‘Why did you choose September when it was the peak of the monsoon season? It was because I don’t want to rush with the crowd but the breezes are seriously chilly and cold.’

The crisp trees’ swooshing sounds were not as lovely as they were earlier as it now seemed like they were laughing at her miseries. Her teeth chattered, she made her way to the outdoor log bench to hide from the freezing wind, however, in a blink, heavy rain poured and she began to sob.

‘Why is this happening?!’ she screamed at the sky.

The door burst open and that guy was standing there motioning her to come inside while showing her jade-colored pouch. She immediately accepted the offer as she didn’t want to be in the rain with her best plaid skirt she just bought.

Soaked and dripping wet, she shut the door behind and he gave her a towel while saying, ‘You look like that girl from the picture hanging on that room so I let you in. My conscience can’t take letting someone be in the rain but that doesn’t mean that I trust you.’

She wanted to say ‘as if I trust you’ but she nodded and muttered thanks.

‘Dry yourself. Since you told me that this was your house, I believe you know your way and can turn on the heater,’ he continued, ‘you can leave tomorrow since there going down this road while raining would be plain dumb.’

‘Thanks again. For the record, I’m not someone your mother sent. I don’t even know her, nor you.’ Desiree stated with a smile to assure him.

‘Whether you do or not, just be sure to wake up early and get yourself out of my house,’ was his answer that wiped the smile she got on her face.

She spread out her stuff open while making the bath, to check if there were any wet things and luckily there weren’t. Then there was a knock, ‘Hey. Open up. I forgot to ask your name.’

She creaked the door slightly open and shyly asked, ‘It’s Desiree. Why?’

‘Don’t think ahead of yourself. I’m not interested in girls like you. It’s for security purposes, in case you’ll do something to me, I have some information.’

Her nerve started twitching with those remarks, ‘Excuse me!? What did you say, mister?’

He rolled his eyes then smirked. ‘My name’s Lucio if you are being shy to ask.’

‘I don’t want to know,’ she exclaimed.

‘Oh, really?’ he shrugged, not falling for her words, and walked away. He clicked his phone open as he reached his room downstairs and searched ‘Desiree’  but couldn’t narrow down his results. He sure knew that she wasn’t from Baguio, her packed bags as proof.

‘Who would not know that a property of theirs had been sold?’ he asked himself while taking a nice hot bath. ‘Only an idiot.’

Desiree woke up from the loud banging on her bedroom door. She unconsciously called out, ‘Dad?’

Her head was throbbing yet rose, still half asleep. She was yawning when she opened the door and asked why but his dead-serious expression truly woke her up. Her braids somehow helped her hair be in place but the fact that she hadn’t brushed her teeth nor drank some water bothered her.

Lucio sure was annoyed as he was standing and knocking at the door for five minutes. He clicked his tongue and dragged her downstairs while saying, ‘I told you to wake up early.’

She whispered sorry and obediently followed his steps.

‘Eat up,’ he ordered.

She looked at him, at the table, then back at him. There were cute fluffy pancakes and a cup of hot chocolate in front of her. She slowly sat down while looking outside the window. The gray sky didn’t match the time on the stencil clock in the living room. It didn’t look like it was nine in the morning, more like the dawn.

She then peeked at him before checking the pancakes once more as it was well-served, not something that you would imagine to get from him. Desiree scanned his features one more time.

‘He has a handsome face but you would need to add a scary and mysterious aura,’ she thought.

The kitchen and the living room were in one open space, she could see that he was playing something with his tablet as he laid down on the sofa bed with his feet dangling on the armrest, which she concluded that he was that tall.

‘Thanks for the food,’ she muttered before taking a bite. When she was finished eating, she washed the plates and went up to get her stuff. Lucio was still playing.

It didn’t take her long to pack her things back as she hadn’t really used any of it except for her pajamas last night.

She wanted to call him out but she wasn’t able to remember his name. ‘What was it again?’ she asked herself but gave up. ‘Goodbye,’ she said before getting out of the house but he was still busy playing, preoccupied to see or hear her.

As soon as she opened the door the whole scene flashed at her. Waters rushing down the hill. The gray sky grew, even more, darker than earlier. The trees were, instead of gently swooshing, aggressively fighting to stand tall over this harsh storm. The gnome where she got her keys looked like asking for help with its hand pointing up high.

Maybe it was bravery, or plain stupidity, that made her raced to get to the road. Without her phone, she would need to wait for taxis, or walk, while this raining was pouring down. She would also need to check each hostel for its availability.

‘What a great idea of leaving your phone when you basically need it for everything,’ she pondered.

Thinking about what would happen later, and later after that, made her head throb again yet she took another step forward and pulled her bag while holding her umbrella on the other hand. Step by step, she cursed on how things were annoyingly difficult.

Unknown to her, Lucio was behind her. Amused, but was also irritated, by her actions. He was keeping his distance, just to ease his conscience that she safely made it, yet just like what he thought would happen, she slipped. She held tightly on her umbrella while leaning to the fence but had forgotten her bags so she panicked when she saw it being wet.

Unsure if it was because of his mother’s endless nagging that he should help girls and treat them with care, even though he used to tell her that being nice shouldn’t favor gender, he helped this struggling idiot. He already monologued in his mind that it was because she needed his help, not because she is a girl.

‘Stupid,’ he called her that made her eyes widened and face flushed.

Desiree was dying in embarrassment. She thanked him and asked, ‘Would you please help me carry it to the stop shelter?’

He didn’t say anything but walked with her luggage on hand. No one spoke even after the reached the shelter where they were able to drip some rain off. She absentmindedly compared up until where the water reached his body as she was totally wet.

‘Stared enough?’ he asked so she instantly removed her gaze.

They were standing there for over an hour and Lucio didn’t bring his phone to check or book her any ride. There were no cars passing by. ‘Of course,’ he thought, ‘no one would in this kind of weather.’

Suddenly an old man talked to them and asked if they need any ride because from what he heard that it was already flooded downhill. ‘You should check what’s the weather like before traveling,’ he said while chuckling that panged through Desiree’s chest.

She started to mumble things like, ‘What? Flooded? It just rained overnight! Where should I stay?’

Looking at Lucio, she thought, ‘I don’t want to stay with him. It would be really awkward.’

‘I don’t want to stay with you either,’ he told her as if reading her mind. She faced the old man but saw that he was already making his way while pushing a cart full of vegetables. Lucio sighed, ‘Let’s go. There’s no point waiting here.’

They rushed back to the cottage. Lucio literally threw Desiree’s bag in her room that made her ran for her stuff. She said, ‘Don’t do that! I have fragile things in!’

‘Where was the thank you for bringing that here?’ he asked himself. He smirked and teased her a bit, ‘You don’t. It’s just plain clothes and food.’

Her face turned red as she tried to recall what were the things she packed inside. ‘You’re lying!’

‘I’m not,’ he said and added putting both of his hands in the air for effects. ‘No problem if you don’t want to believe me, though.’ He was about to leave but turned back, ‘Do you know how to cook?’

‘No,’ she quickly answered that made it suspicious.

He fueled her embarrassment more and pointed, ‘Then why do you have vegetables in there? You liar.’

He wasn’t sure, he just bluffed but she screamed, ‘You really opened my bag?’ and that fed his ego nicely.

‘Cook for me and I’ll let you stay,’ he ordered. He inched closer and said in a low voice, ‘Let’s play ‘house’ for a while.’

She wasn’t able to utter any after that. He winked and laughed as he walked away. ‘What the hell?’ she internally screamed.

Soon after checking if any of her things, especially her books, had gotten wet. She went downstairs to put the food she got in the fridge. She pouted even more when she saw him playing with his tablet again. ‘How I wish I brought mine,’ she said.

‘Oy, kid,’ he called, without removing his eyes off the screen. ‘I want food.’

He could see her looking daggers at him but didn’t care at all which made her annoyed even more. ‘Look who’s talking,’ she retorted.

‘I’m 23. You look younger than me plus,’ he paused for a moment and eyed her from head to toe, ‘you’re too short to be older. Who’s the kid?’

‘A preschooler is better than you, idiot. Height is not the basis of age,’ she snapped, ‘I’m turning 23 in a few months! Stupid.’

He shook his head, enjoying her reactions, he stated along with his fingers counting his words, ‘Annoying, talkative, unattractive, plain, whatever, just cook. I’m hungry.’

She was about to say something as a comeback but her own stomach growled, ‘Fine, but just because I’m hungry, too!’

Though she was peeling onions, her mind was still busy thinking about his words. ‘I’m not that unattractive,’ she started reasoning out, ‘I’m not popular but I do think I’m kind of cute, and nice. Though, those words coming from myself sounded sarcastic but, hey! My mom and her friends would say I’m pretty, too.’

She started wailing, ‘Goodness, gracious! Am I really unattractive?’

While trying to console her own self, she sliced, diced, and stirfry some cabbages, added a can of tuna, and mixed in two beaten eggs. All of the ingredients were from her bag and she needed to share with someone that just walked past through her esteem, and that made her even bitter.

She can’t still remember his name, she didn’t want to ask for it either, so she just shouted, ‘Ya! Lunch is ready!’

Still into picking on her, he dramatically stood up, stretched, and yawned, ‘Finally! What took you so long?’

Provoked, she shouted, ready to call him names, but heard a loud buzzing sound inside her head that immediately caused her fall.

Running on reflex, Lucio quickly brought her to her room and checked her temperature. She was red as cherries and burning, but he was shocked by how unbelievably light she was.

‘Girls eat, right?’ He asked himself, trying not to panic.

He was reminded of how shocked he was yesterday when he saw lights from one of the bedrooms after his evening jog. He got two things in mind while searching for the reason why the lights were on. First, ghosts. He didn’t like the idea of wandering spirits as you can’t fight back no matter how physically strong you are. The other, his mother. He suspected the latter after seeing a girl.

‘Did she sneak into my files again? Have I ever told her that I bought a summer cottage? Is this the girl my mom kept on pushing me to meet and marry?’ his mind repeated the things he thought.

‘Today, as if heaven was playing a trick on me,’ he started. ‘This girl can’t travel since it’s dangerous. Next, she suddenly collapsed after preparing lunch. Now, I’m playing doctor.’

He checked her temperature. It rose up to 40 degrees celsius so he ran as fast as he could to get an ice-soaked towel and cool her down. It was as if she overheated so he couldn’t help but worry.

He caught a glimpse of the framed photo he saw yesterday, too. It was an old picture in the garden and this house as the background of a family of three. The daughter who looked like about nine, grinning from ear to ear, matched her features - round, puffy eyes, and button nose.

As he was about to leave, he heard crisp rustling sounds. She first grabbed the now warm towel from her forehead before opening her eyes.

He opened his mouth, was about to tell her to sleep more, but she got up and asked, ‘What happened?’

‘Who told you to get up?’ he exclaimed. Little he knew it was because the buzzing sound in her head was tingling so she wanted to divert her attention. He carefully tucked her back in and told her, ‘Rest.’

Desiree started to notice how his appearance contradicts his actions. He might be knitting both of his eyebrows together but was attentively watched over her. ‘I’m sorry,’ she sheepishly said.

‘Yeah,’ was his curt reply. She was contemplating if she should say more, or if she can ask him to leave, as things were getting awkward every second they stayed in the same room. ‘You should have told me that you don’t feel well,’ he went on, ‘I thought you’ll die!’

He exaggerated but it was the best comeback he could think of to lessen the uncomfortable situation they were in.

She again said sorry while trying to rack her brain to lift the mood up, but she was shocked by the sudden display of concern that made her blurted, ‘Are you concerned-’

He sat bolt upright and said, ‘I can already fry an egg on your forehead. If things would happen to you, I’ll have problems dealing with the NBI.’ He said before continuing, ‘Your towel, give it to me.’

She was getting confused by his words, actions, and appearance, all at once, yet she did give the towel and it was nice and cold when she put it back on. She wanted to argue, or maybe just to make things livelier, and point out that being a snob is not an asset, it would never be but her eyes felt heavy in an instant.

He peeked at her and saw that she was already sleeping. He mentally noted that the clock was at half-past one and he would wake her up after three hours or once he found some paracetamol. He went downstairs to see if there were anything easy to eat.

He was scratching his head while thinking, ‘What am I doing?’