The Courtship...

Do you believe in the old saying that says, "Easy to get, easy to forget?"

I don't...

Why?

Here's the story.

Prologue:

My first boyfriend, Arnel, got my answer to his proposal in just one magical night. It was a school affair when he finally had the guts to ask me to become his girl. Although, he had already been hitting on me weeks before that night, I still count it as a one-click courtship. We lasted for 1 month and 5 days... Too short for a relationship. Then I thought maybe the length of courtship had to do with it. So my next boyfriend, Brian, had to court me for four months! He started courting me on my 15th birthday [March 12, 1996] and he had me as his girl on July 16th of that same year. Result? We lasted for 1 month and 10 days... At least, it was 5 days longer than the first one. Conclusion? The period of courtship does not guarantee the length of the relationship!

My husband got my "YES!" in 6 days. Though technically, I should only count five. Here's the detail.

November 20, 1998

Mhark sent me a love letter. I was so excited about it, I read it infront of my BOO-mates and two male oldie-classmates. One of the oldie-classmates recognized him as Mr. MVP in their place.

November 21, 1998

Mhark and I talked for 3 hours at the KIOSK of the College of Education... There, we asked about each other's family, likes, dislikes and those basic stuff.

November 22, 1998

We didn't see each other. Technically, this should be counted off.

November 23, 1998

Monday... I don't remember what happened during this day but he was around me, I'm sure...

November 24, 1998

It's a tuesday... He waited for my class to finish at 7pm. He was already outside our classroom since 4pm. But he disappeared between 6:45 and 7pm. Later he explained that his ex-girlfriend asked for a talk and was asking him back. Too bad, he was already determined to pursue me. He gave me a long-stemmed rose and 3 Toblerone Chocolates on our way out of the campus. I was truly flattered. He escorted me home and greeted my mom, "Happy Birthday!"

November 25, 1998

He said he had to attend a debut where he is one of the escorts who will give the debutante a rose. So, he just walked me to the jeepney stop.

November 26, 1998

I still had no idea I would become his girlfriend on this day. My day started really early and ended really late. In between classes, he was always visible. So, that was nice. After classes, I had to attend our editorial staff meeting at The University Digest. He was patient enough to wait for me for four long hours. He was there, just at the corner of the meeting room and mosquitoes are feasting on him. Oh, such a poor guy... Surely, his hardwork has been paid off that very day. After the meeting, it was raining so hard. We didn't have an umbrella and we have to go home cause it's getting late. He took a medium-sized towel from his pocket and handed it to me. I think that was really gentlemanly of him!

Since it was already late, we agreed that he will only walk me to the jeepney stop again. While the jeepney was still waiting for more passengers to fill it up, Mhark was waiting down by my window. He suddenly said he wanted to tell me something important but it can wait until the next day. But I was so persistent that he spit it out that very moment or else...! So, he had to say the line, "I love you!"

That did it!

I got off the jeepney [surely the dispatcher was cursing our asses down because he had to call for two more passengers, instead of one]. Then I saw Mhark trembling, he thought I'd eat him for telling me so.

I asked him why he said what he said. Can he defend it? Can he handle it? Or me? We had a long discussion... I told him about my past boyfriends, past suitors and what went wrong with them. I asked him about his past girlfriends, past flings and what went wrong with them. We shared each other's passion in life, each other's expections and dreams and plans... And it took us 2 1/2 hours before he had to walk me back to the jeepney stop because i had to catch the last trip. While I was mounting the jeepney, I said, "Yes, we are..."

He asked, "What? What do you mean?"

I said, "That's it. See you tomorrow... Take care and good night!"

I saw him jolly-jumping his way to the waiting tricycle...

November 27, 1998

I woke up late. I didn't go to school that day. I don't know how to face Mhark. For sure, he would be looking for me and I didn't want him to see me.

Edel, Rose and Liza told me later on that Mhark was all smiles the whole day. It was weird because all the three of them got pissed off because I didn't show up. So they suspected I already accepted him. And they were not wrong!