Our second meeting

I saw Merkel when we came in. You received me at the foyer. You held on to your dog, Frodo. You were wearing a dark blue long sleeved shirt, jeans and brown shoes. Your hair was at its usual mess. You wanted to bring me around but ended up just showing me the gallery of pictures explaining to me that it was the oldest club in the Philippines. There wasn’t much lighting so you decided to just offer me a seat outside where we could talk. You offered me water. So as usual, I was a klutz in opening it, getting wet in the process. But no matter. You wanted to know more about me. I noticed that you didn’t seem to look at me straight. But ai had the same dilemma. I could not really look at you straight in the eye. And so you rambled on about the little you knew about in terms of my relationship with Elbert and Rubie. You did recall it was related to Singapore and that I worked in HSBC. I corrected you by saying it was CS. And then I told the rest of the story. You asked me what I finished in London and how much was the exchange rate at that time. And then we talked more on Baguio, your job, your writer’s cottage in Adams, etc. I asked a lot of questions with regards to your solar products. We also talked about the Pasig river, Baguio’s current state, Mankayan, Sagada, etc. You obviously knew your way around. How I wish I could show you around the city. How I wish I could know you more.