by Thessa Lim
“Do you want to see him regularly?” Jazmine’s voice quivered as she said this. “It would be good for him to have his father in his life.” She had promised herself she would get straight to the point and ask the hard questions right away.
“I don’t think I can,” he grumbled, still staring at Liam.
“That’s all? Do you plan on checking on him from time to time at least?”
“I don’t know, Jaz.” He shook his head. Suddenly he asked, “Are you sure that he’s mine?”
She could barely breathe when she heard it, and a knife pierced her heart. “You know that you’re the only one I’ve ever been with.” Her voice trembled.
Suddenly they heard something crash to the floor from Jazmine’s bedroom, then a thud on the wall.
“I don’t want to be trapped in something that might not be real. And I don’t want Mom to get involved if there’s a possibility . . . that he isn’t,” he continued, ignoring the noise.
Her head snapped back to look at him, and her eyes teared up. She could barely take in his words. It seemed like they came from a movie script.
At that moment, the bedroom door burst open, and Anne stormed out, with Laine rushing right behind her.
“You son of a bitch. Of all the ridiculously cowardly things to say. You have the nerve!” Anne screamed at him.
“This is between Jazmine and me,” Braden said without looking at her.
“Since you clearly don’t want to be around like a man, you better send her and Liam financial support. It takes two pockets to raise a kid, you know,” she spat out.
“Not on your side of the town,” Braden sneered and mumbled something about Anne still living with her parents.
“Why you—well, it definitely is on your side of the town, asshole,” she snapped back.
“Anne, it’s okay—,” Jazmine managed to say before she sobbed.
“You better be careful while you sleep, Braden. Somebody might creep up on you in the middle of the night and chop your dick off,” Anne continued her tirade, now raising her finger at him.
He just shook his head as if she were the offensive thing in the room.
“I’ll make sure there’ll be no other woman who’ll let you touch her.”
“Pretty words from a pretty mouth,” he mocked her.
It was then that Jazmine took a deep breath and slapped him across the cheek. A flinch-worthy smack echoed throughout the apartment. Anne and Laine froze and gaped.
“Enough!” Jazmine screamed in between her sobs. “If all you wanted was to see Liam and you got nothing more to offer him, just go.” She swallowed. “These girls have been caring for Liam in your place all this time. Just go.”
Braden rubbed the cheek where her hand flew, stood up, took one last look at Liam, and left the apartment.
Jazmine broke down crying, her body shaking. She had never felt so desperate to be strong. Yet failing at it she was.
Tomorrow, I will be a stronger woman tomorrow.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Anne and the Skyway Idea
“That was a great presentation, Anne. Spencer talked to me, and it’s highly likely that they’re going to award the contract to us. I can’t wait to break this to Victor,” Regina, TNP’s general manager, announced to Anne after speaking to the clients in private.
TNP is a European-based software firm that specializes in business enterprise solutions. Anne had just done a presentation to a potential client, which was the top fast-food chain in the Philippines and worth billions. The company wanted to standardize processes across its organization and leverage financial information for executive management’s strategies and decision-making.
“He said that?” Anne’s heart swelled. She loved her job, and it loved her back. “That’s great!”
Her heart was still beating from the adrenaline during the presentation. She had prepared the slides, knowing exactly when to emphasize innovations in their solutions and when to talk gently about the pains the company had been dealing with and which TNP could address.
“Yes, he did. The IT staff seems very sharp though. They have tons of documentation for us to fill out for the bid, to make sure we comply with their internal infrastructure and process standards. Can you be the one to go over those and work them out with the technical consultants? Make sure we do it right.”
“Sure, I’ll be on top of that.” Anne nodded.
The world is my oyster.
When Anne arrived home, a grin was still on her face, a spring was still in her step. She and Regina had gone out for dinner at a Mexican restaurant in Bonifacio Global City to celebrate.
As she passed by the hall on the way to her room, she saw her parents in the living room sitting on the white Victorian sofa. Her father clutched a brown envelope in his hand. Her mother looked at him intently, with her hand clasping his knee.
When Raul saw her, he called out, “Anne, can you come over here for a second? We need to talk to you.”
Uh-oh.
A sinking feeling filled her stomach more and more with each step she took toward them. Either something bad had happened or she had done something that her parents were not pleased with.
Could it be the supplementary card they gave me? No, I think I paid that off . . . didn’t I? Or could it be that I used up too many capsules from Dad’s coffee machine?
“I have some news too. Today—,” she tried to change the topic because she wanted only to celebrate her victory that night and nothing else. Nothing negative please.
Priscilla stood up and cut her off. “Anne, your father and I think you shouldn’t see Daniel anymore.”
“What? Why?” She gawked at them. Of all the things she thought her parents were going to break to her, this was the last thing on her mind.
“There are issues in his family,” her mother said. Her father just nodded in agreement.
Anne gasped. “How did you find that out? He just has a strained relationship with his parents, that’s all.”
“We hired somebody to investigate him,” Priscilla confessed.
Anne gasped even louder this time. “What? How could you?” Anger brewed inside her.
“Anne, we’re looking out for you. And with what came back to us . . . well, we think you shouldn’t see him anymore.”
With this, Anne frowned.
“Just because there are problems in his family? I don’t think that’s reason enough to break up with someone.” She jutted out her chin.
“Honey, it’s not about that.” Raul intervened, standing up as well. He placed his arm around her mother’s shoulders.
Trying to defeat me by number?
“Then what is it?” she challenged them.
“We can’t really tell,” Priscilla muttered, then looked at her husband for support, but Raul just nodded.
What the hell is going on?
“You can’t tell me? And you want me to do this . . . just because you commanded me?”
“Yes.” Her mother nodded. “Anne, do this for us.”
“No. This is not acceptable. You have all the while treated me like a spoiled brat as if I haven’t worked for anything in my life. I’m an accomplished woman. I’ve sealed deals worth millions for my company. Yet with this, you still treat me as if I were a teenager who should just do your bidding.”
When they did not refute her right away, she cried. Tears fell from her eyes. All this time, she had been working hard to get her parents’ approval, and yet their opinion of her had not budged an inch forward.
She ran from the house before her mother could reach for her. She got into her car and drove away, to where, she did not know. Finally, she changed direction and headed for Daniel’s apartment.
I want him. I love him. If they can’t accept him, it’ll be us against his parents and mine.
After she parked the car outside Daniel’s apartment, Anne made up her face first. She remedied the mess—she still looked puffed but a pretty kind of puffed. She got out of the car and
walked to the gate outside his apartment complex. A man was just leaving the gate, and she quickly slipped in before it closed shut. She knocked on the door to Daniel’s apartment.
“Did you leave—” Daniel gaped at her. His jaw twitched. Then he noticed her tearstained face. “Anne, what are you doing here? Are you okay?”
He checked the outside of the gate, seemed relieved, and turned his attention back to her.
Splaying her hands on his chest, she begged, “Daniel, kiss me.”
“Babe, you look like you just cried your eyes out. Tell me what happened.”
This was not what she asked for, but she let it be.
“I had a bad spat with Mom and Dad. They’re really pissing me off.”
She was about to ask him again to kiss her, but he cursed, letting her go and walking back into the apartment. She took in the two-story apartment. The ground floor was packed with a black leather couch, a huge plasma TV with three gaming consoles and a stack of disks below it, a glass dining table, and a kitchen that was hidden by a sliding door. An authentic bachelor’s pad.
“This is about me, isn’t it? That’s why you’re here?” he asked.
“I don’t want to talk about them. I just want to be here with you.”
She went to him and hugged his waist, pressing her whole body against him, seeking his warmth.
“What did they say about me?” He seethed.
“Nothing. My parents won’t even tell me! It’s just because you have a bad relationship with your parents, they assume you’ve done something terrible.” She rubbed her palms over his chest.
After some moments of silence, he asked, “Do you believe that I’m terrible?”
“I think you’re the gentlest person I’ve ever known. You’ve treated me like a princess, with a lot of care and respect.” She smiled up at him.
He smiled back and tucked the strands of hair that had fallen over her face behind her ears. She took in his smooth, shaven face and his chest clad in a midnight-blue collared shirt. He smelled musky.
“Let’s elope. Let’s run away and get married,” she suddenly whispered.
When she saw the hesitation in his eyes, she began to sob again and buried her face on his chest.
He shushed her. “Don’t cry, babe.”
“Nobody loves me!” she wailed into his chest.
He shushed her again and pulled her face up. “Don’t cry . . . Let’s do it.”
“Really? You don’t think it’s a bad idea?” she breathed, expecting him to take it back as soon as she stopped crying.
When he did not, she beamed at him in between sniffles. She wiped her tears away, wanting to relish the moment.
“I think it’s a bad idea, but I think it’ll be awesome.” He smiled at her.
Anne thought she saw passion in his eyes. She screamed in joy and jumped up to wrap her legs around his waist. He grunted at the sudden weight of her on him and laughed, rewarded by the expression on her face.
“Then let’s celebrate,” she breathed and kissed him on the lips and on the neck.
He grunted even harder.
“Babe, stop. You’re very vulnerable right now. Come, let’s go out and get some drinks.” He smiled at her. “We have an elopement to think about.”
Her jaw dropped. At the mention of planning an elopement though, she recovered quickly and stood up on her feet.
“Let’s do it in Boracay,” she gushed at him, which made him laugh.
He slapped her behind and motioned her to leave the apartment with him.
That evening, she avoided her parents at all costs after slipping into the house. As soon as she was in her bedroom, she called Laine and Zara first, then conferenced Jazmine in.
“Okay, okay. I have a big announcement . . . Daniel and I are eloping in Boracay!”
There was utter silence from Zara and Laine’s line. A sharp breath was drawn at Jazmine’s end.
“Gals, did you hear me?” Anne giggled.
“Anne, are you sure about this? What happened? You’ve only been dating this guy for four months, and now you’re marrying him?” Zara scolded.
“I know that. He’s a great guy. He treats me like a princess,” she explained.
“How did this happen?” Zara asked a little haughtily, but Anne always knew how to take it without wincing.
She shared the events of the afternoon, not sparing the details about her parents’ invasion of her privacy.
“Are you having a church wedding?” Laine asked in an effort to keep Zara from making another snarky comment. “Can’t you at least let your parents know before doing this?”
“No and no. It’ll just be a small civil wedding. Just us and maybe a couple of Daniel’s friends.”
“Anne, marriage is a big thing. If you’re doing this to tick off your parents, it’s not something you can easily get out of in the future. Annulment takes time, and you can’t get a divorce in the Philippines,” Zara retorted before Laine could interrupt her.
“Zara, we’re sure about this. Daniel and I want to do this. I’ve never been more in love with anybody.” Anne giggled.
Laine put in, “Anne, I know you’re a wildcard, and we love you for that, but this, it doesn’t seem like you.”
“Gals, please. I really need you to be on board this one. I’m a hundred and ten percent sure I want to do this. And I need you gals.” Anne bummed, and her voice had lowered. “Jaz?”
“Y-yes . . . of course,” Jazmine breathed.
“Anne, we’re always here for you. We’re just . . . worried that this is all so unprecedented,” Laine muttered.
“But you’re on board, right? Zara?” Anne asked.
Her girlfriends have never deserted her. Not even when they were hungry, sleepy, or tired had they left her to her woes and rants.
“Of course I’m on board. It’s just that if . . . at any point in time, you have even just an inkling of doubt about this or want to back out . . . you just tell us, and we’ll fight Daniel off like a bunch of hyenas,” Zara proclaimed.
Anne laughed. “Thanks, gals! I want to cry because I’m so happy.”
Zara proposed, “Let’s meet up this weekend to plan the details.”
“I thought the purpose of an elopement was so that there wouldn’t be any need to plan?” Laine teased.
“Yes, but this is Anne’s elopement. It has to be done tastefully,” Zara countered, plans humming in her head. “Plus we need to get our itineraries in order.”
“Booooracay!” Anne screamed loud enough for her girlfriends to pull away from their phones but restrained enough so that her parents would not hear her. She lay down on her bed and kicked her feet up in the air.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The Elopement Notebook
Anne arrived at the Bavarian-themed café in Greenbelt. Wooden coffee tables with colorful abstract centerpieces scattered about the café. Framed pictures of its different crepes and desserts hung about the walls. She lifted her nose, pleased with the smell of cinnamon and jam.
Laine saw her first and motioned her to join them at a table by the window.
When Anne sat down, the three other girls grinned at her. They already had their drinks. Zara presented a large white bound book to Anne with a flourish. It had pink glitter embedded on the sides of the cover; a cartoon of a veil was embellished in the center.
“This is our official wedding organizer.” She beamed at Anne.
Anne melted and covered her heart with both hands. “You gals . . .”
She was about to take the notebook, but Zara snatched it right back and opened it. She sighed, ran her fingers down the first page, and posed her pen over the paper.
“Okay. Let’s start. Anne, which dates are you considering?”
“I think the seventeenth or the twenty-fourth would be good.” She looked around the table.
Laine gasped. “That’s only a few weeks away.”
“Yeah.” Zara flicked through her mobile to check the calendar. “Those are
both Sundays. Is everybody okay with either dates?”
Jazmine bristled. “I’m free, but . . . I need to bring Liam.”
“We’ll need to bring Ate Helen as well. Let’s schedule the flight around the nap times,” Zara said matter-of-factly.
Jazmine mused, “Or maybe I should leave Liam with Fiona on those days.”
“No, I want Liam to be there,” Anne retorted quickly.
The three girls raised their eyebrows at the bride-to-be.
“What?” Anne asked.
“Laine, you okay with the dates? Okay . . . venue. Anne, where do you want to do this?”
“Easy. By the beach.” Anne smirked. “The hotel would have to be the Discovery Palms.”
Laine and Jazmine nodded at each other with knowing looks on their faces. Zara jotted down the details on the respective pages. It was decided: Zara will ask Don to let her cover a resort in Boracay that has been asking to be featured in Biyahe, while Laine and Jazmine will stay somewhere cheaper but nearby.
“Wedding party?”
“Just us four, Daniel. Liam, and Ate Helen. And Daniel’s cousin, Ronnie.”
“Photog and video?”
“None. It’ll just be us.”
“Officiator?”
Zara flipped through the notebook, looking for the relevant pages to scribble in. Anne noticed that she seemed familiar with where to turn. Much too familiar. Zara continued to throw out all possible things to prepare for the wedding, until Anne threw up her hands in surrender and refused to answer any more questions.
“Let’s get some crepes please,” she begged and looked at Laine and Jazmine for help. “Zara is making me hungry.”
Anne called the waiter and ordered a couple of crepes to share. Putting aside the wedding talk first, she then asked the girls how each was. Zara was excited about work. She and Matt had already submitted their final cover feature, which would be in the next magazine edition. Laine moped but denied that it was because Tony no longer kept in touch with her. She shook her head when Zara recounted the night she spent hours lying in front of the television, flipping channels back and forth. Jazmine had already recovered from the disastrous meeting with Braden and now vowed to have a heart of stone toward men. The girls, except Anne, nodded at this conspiratorially, swearing off men now too. Despite the girls urging her to, Jazmine refused to share the incident with Fiona.
