Sorry for the wrong details about chess. I don't really play it~

"Alfie! You were supposed to pick me up an hour ago!" Jerome whispered angrily into his cellphone. On the other end, he could hear the rest of his housemates arguing about something while Alfie asked them to quiet down. "Where are you guys, anyway?" he asked.

"Ah, just picking up some things…" Alfie answered with a hint of nervous anxiety lacing his normally calm voice.

Jerome sighed. "I'm bored" he complained "Hurry up!"

"Sorry, dude but…" Alfie trailed off "We have to go" and with that he hung up the phone

"Damn." He muttered under his breath.

It was a Saturday and his birthday. He didn't even know why he agreed to run 'errands' for them but for the fact that it was his birthday, he decided to do something nice for once. He wondered if his housemates even remembered his birthday.

He sat on table in a coffee shop in the middle of Merseyside. It was almost eleven now, his been here for 4 hours. The little shop where Jerome sat by himself was air conditioned, but it was so crowded and populated that the combined body heat of the customers defeated whatever little effort the air condition might have output to relieve him.

The front door suddenly opened and the air from outside mixes with air conditioning inside, which added to Jerome's currently irritated mood. He looked up just in time to see a familiar face; Mara Jaffray, one of his housemates and the girl he likes. She was wearing a purple and white striped shirt with a brown package tucked under her arm. She approached the counter with a skip in her step and studied the menu whilst tapping her fingers on the counter. This seemed to annoy the cashier woman, who told her to hurry up. Mara pouted her lips and ordered her drink, paid the cashier, and then picked up her drink whilst switching her package to her other arm.

Jerome watched her with admiration. Mara then turned around and began to search the café for an empty place to sit. Jerome knew that the place was full and that she would not find anywhere to sit. He smirked as he watched her and her confused face, but suddenly he stopped smiling and his heart stood still as he realized that she was looking right back at him. She smiled and walked towards him.

"Hi, Jerome" she said shyly. He stayed quiet and looked at the cup she held in her hands rather than her face. He would never admit it but he was always nervous around her, he felt like a complete idiot. "Are you using this chair?" she asked, looking at him expectantly. She pointed to the vacant chair in front of him that he was using as a footrest. He retrieved his foot from the chair and sat up straight.

"No" he replied.

"Do you mind if I join you?" she asked with a smile.

"No. Go ahead" he answered

"Thanks" she said placing her drink at the table "So…" she began trying to break the awkward silence between them "What are you doing here?"

"Just waiting for the others" he replied "How about you? What are you doing here?"

"I'm meeting my friend here, she running a little late" she sighed. The awkward silence shortly grew again. "Do you want to play chess?" she asked suddenly

"What?" he asked surprised

"Do you want to play chess?" she repeated. She knew that he knew how to play. The played countless time during their spare time together.

"Umm, yeah sure" he answered.

She smiled and began to open up the package to reveal a folded chessboard with burgundy and beige squares. She opened the board to reveal chess pieces of the same color. She began to set up the white pieces on her side as soon as she laid the board out on the table. Jerome looked out the window and saw that there was still no sign of the others and with nothing else to do, he reached forward and began to set up the black pieces on his side of the board.

"Why are you carrying a chess board around?" he asks as she moved one of her pawns two spaces forward.

He moved one of his own pieces. Mara moved another one.

"My friend sent it to me from America" she replied

"Alright," he said, bringing out his queen. "But why a chessboard?"

"I don't know" she replied bringing out her queen, as well. "I have four back at the house but it's a nice present, don't you think?"

""I suppose so," Jerome said, moving another pawn.

"Why are you wearing shades, in doors?" she asks, taking one of his pawns.

"No reason" he said, scanning the board for his next move. He moved his bishop. "Check," he said.

"What? Where?" she asked. Jerome pointed to the unblocked path between his bishop and her king, smiling proudly at himself. "Ah, so you really did check me then? Mmm, well not for long."

Mara took Jerome's queen with a knight.

"Darn." He said, sitting up to see the board better. "I didn't see that."

"Yeah, or you wouldn't have done that," she said proudly. "Your move"

"Ha," he said, clicking his tongue at her. "Cocky today aren't we?(sorry for the wrong grammar) I like it" Mara looked down trying to hide her flushed face.

"Move that pawn there," she said. "My other bishop is right here; I'll take your queen if you don't move it."

"How can I trust you after that last move?"

"I'll take your queen!"

"How do I know you're not tricking me and after I move that pawn there, you've got another one of your chess tricks up your sleeve?"

"Do you really wanna lose that queen? She's the most powerful piece on the board."

"Most mobile, not necessarily the most powerful," he said.

He leaned forward, and when it seemed that he had no other choice, he moved the pawn, blocking her bishop's path to his queen. She moved her rook, though Jerome couldn't seem to figure out why.

"Check," she said. He moved his king to safety and she moved one of her pawns.

She looked up at him, smiling, and he knew that she was up to something, but what?

Jerome took a pawn and moved it forward. It seemed harmless enough, until she took her queen and captured one of his knights.

"Checkmate." Mara said simply

"WHAT?" he said, taking the board and moving it closer to himself. "How?"

"Right here!" she said, pointing to the unblocked path between her bishop, his king, and her queen. It was checkmate.

"But how in the world?" Jerome said, taking off his sunglasses to make sure it wasn't just a trick they were playing on his eyes. He was formulating a strategy along the way. But somehow she had blocked them all and captured his king. "I demand a rematch!"

Mara smiled and nodded her head, resetting the chessmen but at the moment, the door opened again and a girl poked her head in. Mara turned and saw her friend standing there, beckoning her.

"Oh…that's my friend" she said with a hint of disappointment in her voice "Sorry"

"It's fine, maybe back at the house?" He said

She nodded and got up from the chair and began cleaning up the chess board and pieces, sliding them back into the brown package. Jerome got up from the table, helping her put away the pieces.

Mara smiled and turned to go, but before she left she turned back around to face him.

"I almost forgot" she smiled "Happy Birthday" she said before kissing him lightly on the cheek and with that she left.

Jerome sat back at the table, trying to shake off the ridiculous grin, plastered on his face. The chair she vacated was once again turned into his personal footrest, but as he placed his foot on the chair, he heard something fall to the wooden floor. He peered under the table and saw that she had left one of her chess pieces there: a white king.

You've lost your king, he thought. Checkmate.

Kapag ako nagselos dalawa lang ang pwede mo'ng pagpilian. BALA O DISTANSIYA!