I wasn't feeling particularly pretty Saturday morning. It was after all, just going to be a normal Saturday full of class. I hadn't gotten much sleep the night before thanks to the rushed brochure for Comm Res 125, so I tried dressing in perky pink to hopefully perk up my day.

After my morning class, Anna and I are walking back to CMC from the Bahay ng Alumni when I see an ABS-CBN car zoom by us really really fast. From the corner of my eye, I swear I saw Atom Araullo's profile. But hello, from that split second that it passed us, I couldn't be sure.

We see that the car turns into CMC and parks in the parking lot. Anna and I, walk back normally, not thinking it was really Atom. But when we get to the parking lot. Boom! It IS Atom. He's seated in the Batibot, alone and writing some stuff on some notebook.

Seeing as I have mellowed down (my ardent adoration for him), I think that I am contented with a glimpse of him from where my car is parked. Anna and I enter the CMC lobby and I decide to eat facing the parking lot just so I can have a more satisfying view.

But then I think. It's now or never? What's stopping me from going up to him anyway? The parking lot is empty and the worst he could say is no. All I wanted was a picture, it wasn't like I was going to marry him (although if his girlfriend didn't exist, I'd probably kidnap him). So I gather up guts and get Anna to be the photographer using her uber high resolution mobile phone.

For some reason, I got really nervous walking to the parking lot. What the hell was I going to say to him when I finally was in front of him? I wanted to tell him, "Hey! I was the freaky stalker who returned your bag!" Or "Hey! your girlfriend and I have the same name!" Or "Hey! I still have the Hello Garci CD you gave me when you asked me to join the snake rally!"

Luckily, I didn't embarrass myself too much. I'm not even sure what I said exactly, but I remember politely asking for a picture and then rambling my butt off. I asked what he was doing there (Butch Dalisay interview), saying I used to watch him in "5 and Up," saying I was cheap then clarifying that he wasn't cheap, but I was for wanting a picture, and so much more incriminating words.

Still, I don't think Atom was too freaked out. He still politely agreed to pose for a picture and even asked if we were students (maybe to mentally remind himself NEVER to park in CMC again). But over all, that pretty much made my day. Even if my infatuation for him has leveled down a few notches, there's the fangirl in me that will always feel frisson when I see him. Lucky Patty (the girlfriend) for having him as her boyfriend. And lucky Patty (me) I guess. This is probably the peak of my crush for him. Unless I marry him of course, but that's up to the other Patty now.