TABLE FOR TWO

Lovino Vargas was a religious man. He diligently goes to church during Sundays, with his family or alone. Lately, he was going alone since his grandfather is traveling a lot. Sometimes, Feliciano would accompany him. Lovino always thought that it was weird for Feliciano to accompany him to mass. His younger brother didn't have strong religious convictions. This matter wasn't for him to judge, so the older Vargas didn't dwell on the issue.

Last night, Lovino received a phone call from Feliciano that he would attend mass together with him. Lovino tried to his his irritation for woken up at one in the morning but he failed. This didn't faze Feliciano's chirpy replies.

"You could have left a text message idiot... waking me up in an unholy hour," Lovino muttered.

"See you tomorrow Lovino," Feliciano cheerfully said before ending the call.

The older brother sighed and went back to sleep. He had a hectic week; final examinations were coming up and he needed to read shit ton of references for the written tests. Damn it! He was finished with the other course requirements such as plates, drafts and proposals... but he hasn't flipped any of his textbooks. Lovino was more hands-on kind of student, thus, he always finished his semester-long projects ahead of time. The end-products would surely earn him a grade of 4.0 but studying wasn't his forte. He was cursing the amount of reading he had to do before he fell back to sleep.

Several hours later, Lovino felt refreshed.

It was a fine Sunday morning; the weather was good and he woke-up two minutes before his alarm usually goes off. After washing his face, he went to the kitchen and was surprised to see his grandfather eating breakfast. The table was set for two and Lovino's coffee and bread were ready to be consumed.

"Hurry Vino; your coffee and bread will get cold," The elder Vargas motioned Lovino to be seated.

After he said a short prayer, Lovino began eating.

Breakfast was usually a quiet affair between the two of them. They would exchange words in between sipping their respective coffees and biting a piece of their bread. Before, it wasn't be like this. When Lovino was younger, around the time his parents divorced, he always threw a tantrum from being woken up to eat breakfast. At first, his grandfather was patient but that patience was very thin. The old mans started a disciplinarian parenting style. It took a long time for Lovino to assimilate into his new life. He didn't enjoy reminiscing those years; those years are now water under the bridge.

"Will you go to mass with me?"

"No. I'll be leaving for London in the afternoon. The house will be in your care,"

"Of course,"

Lovino cleans the table and washes the dishes. He then prepares himself for church. He opted a maroon long-sleeve with slacks and brown loafers. He looked impeccable, as always. Before he goes to church, he drives his grandfather to the airport. The old man wanted to go early because he had several calls to make before his flight. When he arrived at the Cathedral, Lovino was barely on time.

He was looking around for Feliciano. Their usual pew was the row near the door on the left side of the altar. However, there was no sign of a Feliciano Vargas. Instead, there was Antonio Fernandez Carriedo, intently looking at him. The Spaniard grinned and mouthed at Lovino to sit beside where he was. Without making a fuss, Lovino made his way to where Antonio was.

"Hey, I hope you don't mind me joining you in mass,"

"Idiot; this is for everyone. Why should I mind?"

Lovino tried to even his voice. This is the second time they would be attending mass together. Lovino rationalized that he would be calmer this time around; that his mind would be focused to this Sunday's Gospel and Homily. He was wrong. The young man was like an adolescent experiencing first love. He was conscious with the man seated beside him. Every fiber of his being was anticipating the communion rite, specifically the singing of the Lord's Prayer.

At that juncture of the mass, Lovino felt the same ecstasy during the first time he held hands with Antonio. Once the song was finished and they let go hands, Lovino could still feel the lingering warmth from Antonio's hand. The rest of the hour passed by quickly; after the end of mass, the duo decided to light candles at the Cathedral's entrance.

"..." Lovino was unsure how to start a conversation with Antonio. He glanced his watch and it was 11:15 AM, almost time for lunch. "Hey, so, um, do you have somewhere to go after?"

Lovino felt that he asked a stupid question.

"I don't have any plans today... Let's eat lunch together! There's a restaurant across the university that I've always wanted to try,"

'Thank you God for this day and for Antonio being dense and idiot,' Lovino thought as he agreed to the suggestion.

At the restaurant, both men simultaneously opened their phones. They received a message from Feliciano, apologizing for his absence. Apparently, his fever worsened. Each men gave their reply.

Idiot, get well soon. I'm sure macho potato is with you; listen to what he says so that you'll get better.

A waitress then approached them and gave them the menu. Lovino was and wasn't familiar with some of the dishes. The cuisines were mostly Asian - Israel, Japan, Indian, Thai, Philippines, among many others. There were also continental European food. Lovino took his time with his order unlike Antonio who was quick with his choices. A full ten minutes passed before Lovino gave his order - he decided on a combination of Asian appetizer and European main dish.

"The project you helped us," Antonio spoke. "It received praise from the professor."

"Oh, congrats," Lovino replied. He raised an eyebrow to the man seated across him. He was confused why Antonio was talking to him in a hoarse voice.

"Sore throat," Antonio said.

The two words explained the raspy voice.

Again, silence between them. Lovino was expecting Antonio to be the talkative one; every time they hang out, he was always engaged in a conversation with Feliciano. Feliciano was absent and the Spaniard has sore throat; Lovino was never a conversationalist; mixing the circumstances together, the silence wasn't surprising. However, it was unsettling. There was a buzz between them; unspoken words were waiting to be spoken.

"Did you already go to the doctor?" Lovino tried to converse.

"Not yet. I'll go to the university clinic tomorrow," Antonio replied and he smiled.

"Good," Lovino wanted to quip, "You're such an idiot for waiting to go until it worsened."

"Anyway," Antonio changed the subject. "Will you visit Feliciano today?"

"No," Lovino firmly replied. "I'll go tomorrow; I don't want to disturb his time with macho potato. Also, I have prior commitments today."

Lovino saw how Antonio laughed at the mention of macho potato. He wasn't against Feliciano's relationship with Ludwig. As he hated to admit it, Ludwig was a good person. Also, Lovino didn't have any obligation to be watchful over the couple.

"Where are you going after lunch?" Antonio inquired.

"There are things that I need to buy," Lovino replied.

"Can I go with you?" Antonio asked with pleading eyes.

"Oh... sure. You can do what you want," Lovino deflected his joy by sounding unconcerned.

Thankfully, the conversation stopped. Their food arrived and the duo remained quiet until they billed out. Lovino felt conscious while he walked to the parking lot. Antonio was tailing behind him and he was unsure if he was walking properly. The walk wasn't long and the drive to a local department store was short.

Cold air blasted the duo when they entered the store. Lovino lived in this university town since birth but he could never get used to the weird air conditioning system. At the entrance and exit, there were overhead air conditioners which blasts cold air.

Lovino walked to the school and office supplies section. He needed to restock on his supplies. While he was picking items, Antonio was walking beside him. The Spaniard was asking random questions; very random as fuck questions. It was a bittersweet plus-minus thirty minutes for Lovino. He sighed in relief when he was at the counter, ready to pay his purchases. They then walked out of the store and headed to a coffee shop. They opted for a table for two situated at the corner of shop.

"What would you like? My treat," Lovino offered.

"Oh, um, well," Antonio looked pensive as he read the menu. "Churros con chocolate and um, brewed coffee."

"Brewed coffee for me,"

"I'll repeat your orders sirs; two brewed coffee and one churros con tsokolate," the waiter said.

Lovino nodded and returned the menu handed to them. It was too early for snacks but Lovino paid no mind to the time.

"Lovino," Antonio whispered.

The Italian was bothered by the low voice. He also quietly replied, "Yes? What the fuck is wrong?"

"I've been meaning to ask... are you in a relationship right now?"

"Huh?!" Lovino couldn't help raising his voice. "Where is this coming from?"

"I mean, you could be spending time with your girlfriend right now instead with me," Antonio elaborated.

"My relationship is nobody's business, bastard," Lovino added the insult to make sure that the idiot would drop the topic. However, he was wrong. They continued talking about his love life, to be precise, the lack thereof.

"I'm really, really, happy to be with you at the moment, but," The Spaniard looked directly into Lovino's eyes. "I'm not sure if you are."

"You. Are. An. IDIOT." Lovino punctuated every word he said. "If I hated spending my time with you, I wouldn't even pay for the food. Good Lord."

"I'm relieved," Antonio relaxed and smiled.

"Anyway, speaking of relationships," Lovino carefully said. "Are you in one?"

"Well, no. I don't have the courage to get into one right now," Antonio's smile disappeared and he cast his eyes downward. "I do have someone I like but I'm not sure if the person likes me back. I'm just happy to see that person in campus."

"Oh... I didn't peg you for a romanticist," Lovino laughed. It was his way to hide the dejection he felt right now.

When he drank the coffee served, the bitterness matched his emotions.


To be continued on November 2016

A/N: I am grateful to the people who read, reviewed, alert, favorite this story. I'm giving a heads up to everyone that I can't continue with the weekly updates because I will be having final examinations this week and next. Then I will be traveling after exams. It's a jam packed month. huhuhu. Rest assured, I will finish this. The outline of the entire story is finished. I just need to encode. Please stay tuned. :)