"How was it?" I asked as I watch her nibble on the ice cream.

"This is really good," she said and took another lick. "I was actually expecting the taste to be bland because of the cheap price. But I was wrong. This is so good."

"Good," I said before reaching for my pocket to get some coins. As I jog towards the ice cream vendor, I can feel Carter's stare. I ordered he same flavor Carter bought just to be sure.

When I got back to her side with my own cone, her eyes turned to slits as if staring me down.

"What?" I asked, a little peeved at her stares.

"You made a guinea pig out of me," she said, eyes still narrowed into slits.

I chuckled before bracing myself to take a cautious lick. When the flavor hit my taste buds, I was quite amazed at the sweet taste. "You're right. This is good."

She made a huffing sound before going back to nibbling her own ice cream.

Seeing the actual La Spoliarium, made Carter want to just stay there. She was too mesmerized to even look at any other paintings, or other things for that matter. She was too captivated by the sight before her. And I was too captivated at the sight of her.

There's nothing more beautiful than seeing her completely overwhelmed with emotions. Her eyes seemed to be at war as she took every color, every stroke and every meaning in. I can see the joy in her eyes as she finally fulfilled one of her dreams. At the same time, there is also this empathy in her eyes as she tries to absorb the meaning behind the making of the painting.

With shining eyes, and a wide grin on her face, she beckoned me to stand beside her. I did nothing but that because who am I to deny such simple request?

When I reached her, she seemed to be in a deep thought. And upon realizing that she's about to launch into another historical event, I prepared myself.

In all honesty, I like learning new stuff. Well, despite history being old and something that have happened in the past, it still stimulates brain activity which immediately activates my inner nerdiness.

She launched into another round of storytelling about Juan Luna as well as some of the other painters the moment our eyes met. Although, she already said some of her words back when we were in my office, I still didn't remind her. She seemed so engrossed in telling the tale that I don't have the heart to even interrupt her.

A comfortable silence fell between us as we stared at the painting. Well, I finally focused on the painting instead of the Carter's presence.

After the short tour of the museum, we decided to visit the park nearby. There, we found quite a lot of people milling around. Most of them seemed to be couples, if their public displays weren't obvious enough, I don't know what is.

"You know, it's a good thing we decided to stop at the park at this time of the day." I heard her say.

"Why? Are you hungry?" I asked, looking for some other food stands.

"Well, not really. I'm just too excited to even think about food right now, I guess," she shrugged as she started eating the cone. "What I mean is, it's good that we took a break from our tour at this time of the day. The sun is high and the place seemed to have started to heat up."

Finishing my own cone, I rose from my seated position and held my hand out to her. "Come on," I said as she looked at me with confusion before taking my hand. "Let's get you on the shade."

*****

It took us almost another hour before we continued our little tour. According to the ice cream vendor, our next destination is just a walking distance. Intramuros, or more specifically, the Baluarte de San Diego is just a short walk from our current location.

And so we did, and quite frankly it wasn't a short walk for me. It's just probably the heat of the sun biting my skin that made me feel like we've been walking for far too long. And the heat just added to my growing irritation because I feel like I'm in a freaking oven. The only thing that was good with this walk and made me control my outburst was the fact that Carter's hand still laced with mine.

"Whoa..."

Finally! We have arrived. Seeing some shadows made by the ruins of the place made me feel a little bit less irritated. With Carter's hand still holding mine, I started tugging her to one of the shadows.

I heard her giggle as I almost desperately plastered my whole body on the nearest ruins.

"Go ahead, laugh all you want," I said as I tried cooling myself with my hands.

"I am not sure if you're scared of getting a tan or just not fund of the weather."

"I am not going to answer that."

She sighed in defeat. "Fine," she said before standing by my side.

"What are we doing here anyway?" I asked to give her something to talk about, and it seemed to work. Because the moment that question rolled off my tongue, her eyes glinted in joy to answer.

"We are here because this has been the site of progress and trade of the Philippines for more than 300 years. This is the capital of all trades during the Spanish era. And I think this is the setting of Noli Me Tangere."

We both heard a girly squeal after that. Seeing Carter with her lips closed, I know that squeal did not came from her. There was a flurry of curly hair before a girl appeared before our eyes.

"Noli?" the weird girl asked. Shocked at the sudden intrusion in our conversation, Carter and I can only nod.

And another squeal came from the girl before she realized that we have no idea who she is.

"Ay sorry po. Ay mali. I mean, I'm sorry for probably scaring you and for well, me freaking out," she said. "My name is Ma. Angelika Carissa E. Cortes, and I am a really big fan of Noli Me Tangere."

I leaned in to whisper on Carter's ear. "I can't believe someone would be fangir―" I wasn't able to finish my comment before another squeal resonated and almost breaking my eardrum because the squeal came from Carter herself.

"That is so great!" Carter said. "But your name is kind of long. What do you want us to call you?"

"You can call me Clarita!"

I frowned. That nickname seemed to be a little far from her actual name.

"Just like my mother, she also loves Noli Me Tangere. Despite having my name, my mother still calls me Clarita because that is the nickname for Maria Clara in Noli Me Tangere. It means small Clara, 'Clarita,'"

I oh'ed at that explanation.

She looked at Carter and tilted her head a bit as if assessing her. "By the way, I just neede to know, are you half Filipino?"

The question was directed at Carter who seemed to be surprised before letting out a laugh.

"Why did you ask?"

"You seemed to have a lot of knowledge about Intramuros and you seemed to really like Noli Me Tangere as well."

Carter chuckled again before answering, "I have no Filipino blood. The Philippine culture and history seemed to really fascinate me that's why I researched a little about them," she said before finally introducing herself. "Anyway, I'm Lau―nessa."

My eyes widen a bit when she was about to slip.

"Vanessa... is my name. Vanessa Carter. You can call me Vanessa. And this is Nathaniel Westwood."

I gave a wave as the wind decided to pick up its pace and blew a cooler breeze.

"So, you guys are touring this place?" Carter nodded, and I know where this will be headed. I can give you guys a tour while telling you he secrets and meanings of Noli Me Tangere..."

Of course Carter wouldn't pass the chance to know more about the book she dreamed of reading and understanding. Completely being ignored, I watched the Carter and that weird girl Carlita walked away.

Yep. I knew this would happen.

I was about to follow when my phone started vibrating again. Knowing that I have probably held this call off long enough, I decided to answer.

"Hello?"

I heard a sigh from the other line before receiving a reply.

"I have no idea what you're up to Mr. Westwood. But this wild goose chase is making my patience wear thin."

"I am only doing this for her."

"You are well aware that she has responsibilities, and that this chase will be over soon."

"Sir, I didn't mean it like that."

"No matter. I am about to board the plane that will take me to your current location. Laura's little adventure will end the moment I took my first step in that country."

The line went dead. I wasn't able to have other thoughts but the one that I had when I first received a call from him.

I'm running out of time.