Elegi Of Rose

If you had ever been so drunk and passed out, then you'd understand what a great burden a hangover is. That's what it was for Ayu the moment she opened her eyes. Her head was aching so badly and the rays of sun hitting her eyes only made it worse.

"God, I'm never drinking again..." she moaned, trying to get up but failing miserably. Well, that was another thing with hangovers: they always make you say something like that.

Her body was aching and her mind, aside from the headache, was in a blur. She couldn't remember what happened next after the... what did she really remember? Oh, yes, the phone call from Roy... then the angel man... then Roy again... then... she couldn't go any further because her brain was seriously in pain right now. She blindly reached out her hand sideways and froze when she felt a man's chest.

Bare chest with smooth, tiny hairs. She rolled her eyes to her right and stifled a shout when she saw Roy's sleeping form beside her. Carefully, she lifted her pinky finger from his chest, then the ring finger, then the middle finger... forefinger... thumb... and ever so gently, she lifted her palm from his muscled chest which was heaving with easy, smooth breathing pattern. His left arm was sprawled over his head and his right one was at his side.

Ayu was almost afraid to peek inside the comforter that covered him from navel down. If he was naked up, he could be very well... okay, stop right there.

Fully awake now with a throbbing head, Ayu slipped out of the bed as slowly as she could and the moment her feet touched the floor, she noticed her clothing. She gasped and covered her mouth. She was not wearing her black-and-white shirt and her denim shorts anymore. Instead, she had on one of the black nightgowns her mother packed for her! It was too silky and too revealing and...

"Oh my God," she whispered, throwing her head back at Roy. That did it. She grabbed a pillow and slapped it down his head. "What did you do to me?!" she shouted.

He shot out of bed in a matter of seconds and Ayu gasped for the second time when she saw what he was wearing. Of course she had seen men in boxers and even without, but God, her husband was too hot and too angry to look at right now, so she hastily turned around to face the glass window overlooking the Metro.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Roy exclaimed harshly. She didn't need to turn around to know he was practically scowling across the bed at her.

"I should ask you that question! Where are my clothes?"

"What? What clothes?"

"The clothes I was wearing last night!"

"You mean the ones you showered with your gastric contents?"

"What gastric contents are you talking-" she stopped, the events from last night finally falling into pieces. She dropped her head and moaned, "Oh, good God. I threw up."

"Yes, and you did not only throw up on the floor, you splattered most of it on my shirt-"

"Okay, okay, I get it!" she stood up, stopped, and sat back down again when she realized she was wearing close to nothing. "Don't tell me you're the one who stripped me of my clothes..."

"Of course I did it-" he received another flying pillow for that before he could finish the sentence.

"You could have just shaken me up or splashed water on my face so I'd wake up and do the work myself!"

"You were drop dead down, Ayu! And I was not in the mood to wake you up. I found out you are better to manage not awake."

"Ugh! What else did you do?" she glared at him accusingly.

His face went blank, "What do you mean?" and when he understood what she meant, he smiled, "well, you don't remember?"

Her eyes widened in horror. "Remember what?"

He crossed his arms over his chest and said, "It's for me to know and for you to remember," and with that he turned around to go to the bathroom. He closed it before another flying pillow reached him.

*****

"Where are we going?" Roy asked for the tenth time during breakfast.

"For me to know and for you to find out," she answered for the tenth time.

He took a deep breath and looked at her intently. "We should talk about your constant drinking."

"I'm not a drunkard, okay? I like drinking from time to time," she said rather defensively. "And don't tell me my defensive act is a sign of an impending problem. It's not. It was the first time for me to pass out like that."

His eyebrows raised in challenge and disbelief, "Really? Because it's the second time I saw you drunk, you know."

"Yeah, of course, I know that. It's just coincidence," she waved him off with one hand as she finished her eggs. "Let's go, we're gonna be late."

"Where are we-" he did not finish his question knowing the answer. He just stood up and followed her out the restaurant and to the lobby. Ayu was wearing a simple white shirt with a small coconut print at the back; light brown shorts; and sandals. Her husband chose a green shirt, cargo shorts, and sneakers. When she first saw him wearing those black sneakers, she almost laughed. It was not like Roy Punda to be wearing something too casual. "We should get a car," he told her as they climbed inside and she told the driver their destination.

"I don't drive and even if you insist to do the honor, I won't be riding shotgun," she answered simply.

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"Oh, yes, I remember. You have problems riding in front. Why is that?"

She turned at him with a look that said, stop prying. She never shared that part of herself to anyone. Except one person and that was Herland.

*****

The shock on her husband's face was visible when he realized what she would be doing. They were in an orphanage managed privately by an organization headed by a Filipino man named Gugun, also an artist.

Ayu was a guest who would be spending the day with the children to teach them the basics of painting and the enthusiastic aspiring artist children of all ages stared at her with wonder-mostly because they rarely saw an American lady who they could converse with.

"Hello?" Ayu greeted the children in their native tongue and the children chorused different responses. "I'm Ayu and I will be here to guide you with your lessons," she turned to Roy and motioned her hand saying, "That guy over there at the corner is my friend Roy. He's going to help me give out paints and brushes. You can keep them, of course."

It was a wonder the children actually understood her. Well, almost everybody in the world has English as their second language. In the presence of the children, Roy was actually in a fair mood, helping with whatever way he could. His face was full of unhidden amusement and admiration as he watched her go around, bending over little children and helping them with their paintings.

"So, this is what you do?" her husband asked when she sat beside him on a bench at the corner of the room.

"You mean you don't know what your wife is doing?" Gugun asked, hearing his question. He was seated across them on a stool.

"Of course I know she's an artist, but it didn't occur to me she'd fly all across the globe to teach... children," he said defensively.

"Darling, I wanted to keep it a secret," Ayu replied, turned to Gugun and said, "I didn't tell him about all these. I wanted to surprise him." Gugun chuckled and said, "Okay, now I understand why he looked so shocked when he entered the building and saw the children." "Sweetheart, you really did surprise me," Roy said, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.

"Glad you were, babe," she returned his smile dryly, wishing Gugun would leave.

But the guy was staring across them with curiosity, "You use so many endearments-I noticed."

Ayu and Roy were taken aback by the comment for a few seconds before Ayu forced a chuckle and said, "We love endearments we wanna use them all, right honey?" Roy nodded his head vigorously, "Yes, we do."

"You know, here in the Indos, couples use only one endearment for eachother. It makes the relationship special. You should settle for one," he urged.

Ayu just smiled, "Hmm... maybe we'll do that."

Roy was smiling now as well and when he turned to look at her, his blue eyes were mischievous, "What about cupcake? Honeybunch? Boo?"

"Are you kidding me? Never," she cringed. "No, never."

"Darling? Babe?" he offered once again, "You know, you just called me babe for the first time a few seconds ago. I like it."

She would have scowled at him if only Gugun was not around watching them with amusement. "Fine. Babe it is," she answered just to end the conversation. "Good decision, babe..." Roy leaned down to kiss her nose.

She instantly stood up and cleared her throat, "Okay, that's settled then, babe, so let's get back to the children, shall we?"

Chuckling, Roy nodded and followed her back to the busy kids, Gugun in tow.

"By the way," Gugun told them and they stopped in their tracks, "I already reserved a two-night stay for you guys at Boracay." Roy frowned, "Boracay?"

"Babe, didn't I tell you? Oh, yeah, maybe it slipped my mind," Ayu told him.

"Told me what?"

"That we're going to the beach!" she beamed with excitement