Love in All the Right Places (Chick Lit bundle) (32 page)

Chapter 12

#TimeToMoveOn

CRYING DID ME A WORLD OF GOOD. It hurt more once I stopped denying things, but I was familiar with this kind of hurt. This was the kind that heals, not the numbing pain that seemed to go on indefinitely.

It pained me to admit that I had pinned so much hope on a two-day-might-have-been, but then, I can chalk it up to a lesson learned. Next time, I wouldn't be too quick to fall in love. No matter how much I denied it, I knew it was the truth. In that short span of time we were together, I fell in love with Jesse.

Too bad it was one-sided, but it wasn't just my fault. He made me think he liked me, too. That kiss wasn't just my imagination, right? But that's all in the past now. Maybe he had a good reason why he did what he did. But I'll leave that to him. It's time to make peace and move forward. Who knows, maybe years from now, in the distant future, I'll be able to look back on all this and dwell on the pleasant memories instead of the drama.

Five's To Do List

1. Forget him

2. Apologize to family for being such an emo pain-in-the-ass

3. Get back in the swing of things on Twitter and Instagram

4. Start blogging about Macau trip

5. Make sure I forget him

A FEW DAYS AFTER MY EMOTIONAL BREAKDOWN, I got the weirdest call from Megh. "Hey, you weren't at the post trip lunch." Before we left Macau, we all promised to have a post trip meet-up at some point, so we could evaluate the whole experience and help the tourism office fine tune the exercise for future tour groups. Even through the phone line, I could see Megh make her usual pout. "We missed you."

"Sorry about that. I was planning to go, but I had some major issues at work the night before," I explained. "Had to do overtime. It was noon by the time we finished. Anyway, I called Gail up and she said it was okay."

"Yeah, she mentioned it," Megh replied. "Too bad. It wasn't quite the same without you. We had fun, but it's not as fun reminiscing when you're not all there."

"Megh, it's just been what? A couple of weeks? You're making it sound like it's been years!" I feigned a laugh. Two weeks and four days actually. I didn't want to admit it, but each day was hell. A slowly improving hell, but hell nevertheless. Hey, at least I was starting to move on. I saw
bakkwa
on the kitchen counter that morning and I managed not to run back to my room in tears. Just kidding. I mean, about running back to my room in tears. I was done with the sudden bouts of crying phase.

"We were going through the photos. You should've seen them. There were so many of you looking silly," she said. "Simon and I were talking about going back. We've, uhm, we've sort of gotten together."

"Oh, really? That's great," I enthused. "I'm glad things worked out for you. If only everyone was so lucky." Dead air. We didn't know how to proceed. Neither wanted to mention the elephant in the room.

"Uhm, Jesse mentioned wanting to go back, too." Oh? Naming said elephant, are you, Megh? But I wasn't going to take the bait.

"Oh? That's nice." More dead air.

"Look, Five? I'm not calling you just to say hi. We need to talk." I heard Megh take a deep breath before plunging right in. "There's something you need to know. Remember our last night in Macau? When I told you I was with Jesse? I was with him, but I kinda skipped a few details. A few important details."

"Megh, it doesn't matter if you were with him or if you weren't. It's none of my business," I replied calmly. "You're grown ups, you don't need me to keep tabs on where you are. It's fine, really. There's no need to tell me."

"But I do need to tell you," she wailed. "I was with Jesse all right, but it was only because he found me plastered on a bench along San Malo. I had too much to drink, and he was worried about leaving me there so he insisted on bringing me along to his photo shoot. He was worried I'd get mugged or taken advantage of."

"I swear, Five, nothing happened between us. I mean, I tried—I get a bit out of control when I'm drunk, but really, he was a gentleman about it and he turned me down nicely. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. But I was so embarrassed after," her voice dropped a bit softer. "That and I was trying to make Simon jealous."

For a moment, Megh's admission that nothing happened between them made me happy. But I remembered that it doesn't matter anymore. So what if nothing happened between them? It doesn't change the fact that he just used me.

That, plus with my behavior at the airport, I was sure he had given up on me, too. I remembered his face after confronting me. I remembered it all too clearly. And I knew that even if he wanted to iron things out between us before that, he definitely would have given up afterwards.

"I appreciate your concern, Megh. But really, you didn't have to. There's nothing between us either. We were just friends at most. Now, we're not even that." It still hurt to admit it, but now, there was nothing flippant in my voice. Just acceptance and the desire to move forward.

Megh sounded like she still wanted to argue, but she noted the sound of finality in my voice. Can't say she didn't try. But even with her revelation, I knew I had nothing to hang on to. That was the final word.

Chapter 13

#AllAbout5

BROKENHEARTED OR NOT, LIFE WENT ON. For the first time in my life, I actually welcomed the arrival of work overload. It was a good distraction, and it ensured that I didn't backslide and think about people and things I had no business thinking of. I was focused on writing a particularly difficult article for one of our clients when Libby messaged me.

Libs0405: Hey, you on twitter right now?

5travels: No, busy working. 'Sup?

Libs0405: Go on twitter. Now. It's urgent. Check out the trending topics.

5travels: Okay, I'll check as soon as I finish this.

Libs0405: Okay.

I resumed working, resisting the urge to check. I was in the flow and I didn't want to interrupt my writing with another one of Libby's trivial internet things. But not five minutes had passed when she messaged again.

Libs0405: Have you checked? You saw already?

5travels: What?

Libs0405: For the record, big sister Libby wants you to know that she approves. And you should bring him along to meet Mom and Dad.

5travels: What the hell are you talking about?

Libs0405: I think he's cute, heehee.

What the hell's happening on Twitter? And who's this he? I felt my stomach do a funny flipflop, so, I saved my work doc and pulled up my twitter app. My eyes immediately drifted to the trending topics. I saw #throwbackthursday, #youwereborninthe80s, some new movie, and the pairing name of some teen love team. There was nothing that would really catch Libby's attention. That was, until I spotted #AllAbout5 near the bottom of the list. Is this what she was talking about? My stomach made another funny flipflop as I clicked.

Results for #AllAbout5

Tweets: Top / All / People You Know

J Ruiz @wanderingcamera

New post: Five Reasons to Love Macau #macau #travel #AllAbout5 #sayingsorry wp.me/pWlqB-BC

Retweeted 447 times

Miffy the Cat @mimingmiffy

Nice photos! RT: Five Reasons to Love Macau #macau #travel #AllAbout5 #sayingsorry wp.me/pWlqB-BC

J Ruiz @wanderingcamera

New post: Five Things to Do in Macau #macau #travel #AllAbout5 #sayingsorry #missingyou wp.me/pWlqB-GH

Retweeted 356 times

Carl R @geeksnaps

Pretty. When do we meet her, bro? #macau #travel #AllAbout5 #sayingsorry wp.me/pWlqB-GH

J Ruiz @wanderingcamera

New post: Five Places to Dine in Macau #macau #travel #AllAbout5 #sayingsorry #missingyou #2ndchances wp.me/pWlqB-BN

Retweeted 289 times

Simon Y @ithegeek

Good luck, dude. #macau #travel #AllAbout5 #sayingsorry

J Ruiz @wanderingcamera

New post: Five Pasalubong Suggestions from Macau #macau #travel #AllAbout5 #sayingsorry #missingyou #2ndchances #needyoubadly wp.me/pWlqB-BN

Retweeted 175 times

The page went on and on with more hits than I could count. And why was it that most of them were from Jesse's Twitter account? I could feel my heart tremble as I clicked the first link and was brought to Jesse's blog.

Having seen his blog before, I already knew what to expect, so the recent slew of posts surprised me, to say the least. Instead of the grand travelogue approach he used to do, his most recent blog entries were definitely more personal. Gone were the big, sweeping landscapes and breathtaking panoramas that were his blog's trademark.

In their place were personal snapshots of all of us having fun in Macau. There were photos of us four playing with the interactive exhibits at the Macau Science Museum, Jesse and Simon carrying plates piled high at the Military Club buffet, and Megh, Gail and me sharing a single gigantic dessert to cap off our traditional Macanese lunch. Each photo showed how much fun we were having. It was as if the reader was looking at our personal travel album. Even just reading the captions brought me back there.

These couldn't be his posts. He was making such a big deal about getting the perfect shot, so these candid snapshots can't be it. I looked for his post on The Ruins of St. Paul, wanting to see that shot he stole from me to reassure myself that I was right to get mad at him.

I was expecting to see a dramatic panoramic shot of the Ruins of St. Paul set against a night sky. Instead, what I saw were a bunch of more casual snapshots taken with his phone. There were a handful of architectural details but the perfect shot was missing. What I got were photos of me that I don't recall him taking and silly photos of us goofing around, selfies from a happier time.

I clicked another link. This one was about Uncle Turtle's eatery and was plastered with photos of all the food we ate, as well as photos of the two of us, stuffed and happy. "Most. Memorable Meal. Ever." he wrote. Another post showed snapshots of us walking along Travessa de Saudade. "Who'd have thought that a simple stroll could be this engrossing?" Of our photos at Margaret's, he scribbled, "I don't think I'll ever look at egg tarts quite the same way again."

I continued hopping from post to post, scrolling through photo after photo. I could sense a pattern as his viewfinder kept landing on the same subject. My heart wanted to burst as I relived each moment through his camera. No. Through his eyes. And all I could see was me.

Another click brought me to his post about bungee jumping off the Macau Tower. It was the first time that I was watching the video they took of our preparations and subsequent jump. While I remember the jump vividly in my brain, seeing the video revealed things I didn't realize until now. Why didn't I see this Jesse then? The Jesse who was quick to come to my rescue, abandoning his own plans just so I could have someone to jump with. The Jesse who propped me up when I could barely stand on the ledge. The Jesse who took my mind off things when I was being deathly afraid. The Jesse who couldn't take his eyes off me all throughout the video.

Jesse was wearing his heart on his sleeve all throughout the trip. But I was too dense to notice. I was too caught up in trying to figure out how he felt about me, then hating him when I assumed he was just leading me on and using me, but have I shown him how I felt?

Maybe it was time I did.

I pulled up my email account and started typing. Dear Jesse...

Chapter 14

#AllsFairInBlogAndWar

I HAVE ALWAYS LOVED PRIDE AND PREJUDICE. In the book (and movies and TV shows), you could count on Lizzie Bennet and Mr. Darcy to end up together despite the pride, prejudice and endless disagreements coming between them. No matter how many times they argued, no matter how many times they screwed it up, you knew they would get a happily ever after out of it. It was practically a fairy tale with a smoldering, landed gentleman who looked hot climbing out of a lake in a drenched white shirt instead of a prince. Too bad blissful happy endings only happened in books and movies.

"I still think you should have taken this from a higher angle," I said for the nth time, gingerly biting into my egg tart, making sure that the flaky crumbs didn't fly all over the place. "The way you took it makes it look like a haunted mansion instead of a church."

"Hey, you don't know. Maybe it is haunted," Jesse argued, stuffing a whole egg tart in his mouth in two bites, causing a sprinkle of crumbs to fall all over the table. Jesse and I were at an outdoor cafe, going through a few gigabytes worth of the photos we took in Macau for a digital photo e-book we decided to do as a thank you for the Macau Tourism Board.

He took the iPad from my hands and peered closer at the photo. "Besides, I really like it this way. Can't you just appreciate how long I took setting this shot up, at almost three in the morning? Don't you even remember how cold it was? My fingers were threatening to fall off my hands but dedicated photographer that I am, I forged on."

"Fine, I remember," I relented, recalling how cold it was that last evening in Macau. And how colder it got as the night progressed. "But it's not like you had to come back. You had a slew of photos already. You didn't even use this for your blog."

"But I wanted to come back," he replied. "I needed to take the shot. Although if I knew it was going to lead to a whole world of trouble, I wouldn't have." He laughed weakly. I put my egg tart down and reached for his hand across the table.

"Well, all's well, ends well? I mean—" I shrugged, letting my words trail off.

"Look at all the time we wasted!" he interrupted. "I had given up all hope that you'd give me another shot. You don't know how many times I wished I just left Megh to her own devices. Especially when I found out that she showed you the photos she insisted on taking. And all to make Simon jealous," he shook his head in disbelief.

"Come on, you know you couldn't leave her. It's not you to just ignore someone who needs your help. That's one of the things I like about you," I confessed. "It was my fault I refused to listen and jumped to conclusions."

"I'll forgive you if you forgive me."

"Agreed," I replied, happy to put things behind us. "But that still doesn't answer my question. Why did you have to come back to take it anyway?"

"I took it for you," he replied before nonchalantly swiping along on his iPad. "For us," he added, still furtively avoiding my gaze. I could see the tips of his ears turning pink. "You know, so when our grandchildren ask how we got together, we can just show them the photo."

"Is that a proposal?" I joked, even though I felt my cheeks starting to grow warm as well.

"It's a proposal to eat more egg tarts," he kidded back, hiding his embarrassment by bringing an egg tart to my mouth and coercing me to eat it. Which I refused to do. Of course, he had to insist, starting an egg tart war which left us giggly and breathless.

"Still, I thought there was no chance we could get back together," he said after we finally managed to catch our breath. He swiped a finger on my cheek to wipe a spot of egg tart filling. "That's why I couldn't believe it when I saw you standing outside my office. You and your gigantic box of
panaderia
egg pie," he grinned, obviously reliving the memory.

"I couldn't find any egg tarts on such a short notice," I retorted defensively.

"Hey, I'm not dissing the egg pie. That was the Best. Egg pie. Ever." He lifted my chin and started leaning closer. "And you were the prettiest egg pie delivery girl," he added before punctuating the statement with a kiss.

As I said earlier, it's too bad that blissful, happy endings only happened in books and movies. But then again, I kinda like the boisterous, contrary, happy ending I was getting.

Five Cuevas's To Do List

1. Explore Senado Square and the surrounding streets at night

2. Share a meal with the locals

3. Taste every stall's offering along the road to St. Paul's

4. See St. Paul's ruins at night

5. Bungee Jump off the Macau Tower

6. Fall in love