Of Heads and Hearts in the Metro

by Thessa Lim

  “These are legal papers relinquishing all claims or rights you might have to Liam.”

  Braden glared at them.

  Anne sneered, “Don’t worry. Signing this isn’t an admission that you are the biological father of Liam. If you sign these, we’ll leave.”

  Braden leaned against the table and, looking down, nodded his head.

  The girls headed for Jazmine’s house and told her what happened with Braden. They left out the part about Braden’s one-time episode of paternal instincts. Jazmine cried and hugged all three of her friends. Liam was now all hers again. And the door had now closed—firmly, unarguably, and irrevocably—for her and Braden.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Zara and Matt

  Zara pressed her fingers against her temples as she studied the wedding plan on her desk.

  This event has to go perfectly. After all that’s happened. Everybody’s chummy with each other again, but everybody’s still so distracted with their own troubles. The beach will help everyone relax, and we can be ourselves again—

  Her phone rang. Her eyebrows shot up when she saw who called.

  She hunched her shoulders over the desk. “Hi, Daniel,” she answered.

  “Hey, Zara,” Daniel greeted. Then silence ensued. “Anne mentioned what you ladies had to do over the weekend.”

  She cleared her throat and replied, “Oh, yes. We . . . we had to get Liam back from his grandparents. Is that what you’re talking about?”

  “Uh . . . Anne mentioned that her gym trainer helped you girls out.”

  “Oh, yes . . . yes, h-her trainer did.”

  “Zara . . .” He hesitated. “Can you tell me what their relationship is really like?”

  He paused. Zara took a deep breath but remained silent.

  He continued, “I was just confused as to why she didn’t call me instead.”

  I can’t say that part was clear to me either.

  “Well, they’re just very close,” Zara started. “Like, uh, brother and sister.”

  “Okay . . .”

  “If you’re worried about Anne’s feelings for him . . .” Zara huffed out a breath. “All these years, she’s never looked at Zack in a romantic light.”

  I can’t say the other way around isn’t true though.

  “Zack, yeah, Zack. Of course, of course.” Another pause. “Well, uh, I suppose I shouldn’t be bothering you with nonsensical questions.” He let out a nervous chuckle. “Thanks, Zara.”

  “Of course, Daniel. Anytime.”

  She hung up and plopped the mobile on her desk. She clasped her hands together, resting her chin there, and leaned against the table.

  “Hey, do you want to go get coffee?”

  Zara looked up and saw Matt peering at her over her cubicle.

  Sensing her hesitation, he said, “It’s just coffee,” and grinned

  “Sure.” She grabbed her wallet and stood up to join him. “Starbucks downstairs?”

  “The one over at Salcedo Street. That okay with you?”

  She chuckled and nodded.

  He added, “Since it seems to bother you, being seen with me.”

  “Not with you specifically. I just don’t want to be talked about that way in the office.” She grinned sheepishly at him.

  “Why so? You’re good at what you do and seem to get along well with everybody else.”

  “I want to be spic-and-span professional.” She paused and heard herself. “My friends do tell me I take work too seriously.”

  When they reached the café and ordered their drinks, Matt offered to pay.

  “No, that’s fine. I can pay for it. I really was planning to get a cup of coffee.”

  “No, I invited you. Let me take it.” He held her hand and stopped it from pulling out a bill from her wallet.

  “Hmm . . . ,” she mused and let him do as he said.

  “What’s with the hmm?” He smiled, looking at her.

  “You’re treating me differently now. You used to argue with everything our team contributed or pitched, but last week you agreed to most of what was in the article I submitted. Even Don looked surprised when you just nodded your head.” She furrowed her eyebrows at him.

  “C’mon, I don’t argue just for the sake of it. I liked the final product even though you left out a few things I suggested. Plus, I like your work better than Gaea’s.”

  She grinned from ear to ear. After getting their drinks, they sat at a table in the middle of the café.

  “I’m just cautious about what I do and the people I deal with at work,” Zara explained.

  “I don’t hold that against you. I’ve had my share of people throwing me under the bus. So . . . are you just as cautious with your personal life too?” he asked, avoiding her eyes.

  “Hmm . . . I try to be, but that’s more difficult to control. I guess that generally I am.” She smiled. “Except with my brother . . . and my girlfriends. I’d do anything for them.”

  She shook her head at that last thought and smiled, relieved that the trouble with Fiona Palma had receded.

  Suddenly Zara’s phone buzzed. A message arrived from Anne. From the preview, Zara could make out the text, “Daniel might call you to ask . . .”

  Zara frowned, and her eyebrows furrowed together.

  Matt raised an eyebrow and asked, “Anything wrong?”

  Zara shook her head, but her eyes remained on the screen. “It’s okay. Just a text.”

  Matt cleared his throat. “So . . . no boyfriend to be spontaneous with?”

  Her head snapped up. “Not at the moment.” She looked down at her macchiato.

  Sensing the shift in her mood, he changed the subject. “You up for a little game of twenty-one questions?” He grinned at her.

  Zara’s mouth dropped open. She shrugged, a smile tugging at her lips.

  “Funniest fieldwork incident?” Matt asked, a challenge in his eyes.

  Her eyes lit up, and her grin grew. “That should be easy . . . Hold on. Uh . . .” She snapped her fingers a couple of times. “That time when we were at the crocodile farm in Puerto Princesa.” She laughed. “Gaea flirted with this handsome tourist while we were in the breeding station. When she was about to answer the guy’s question, she took a deep breath . . .”

  Matt nodded, prodding her on, his eyes gleaming. He glanced down at his cup briefly before gazing at her again.

  She continued, shaking her head, “And sucked in a fly. She choked and tried to spit it out.”

  He laughed, slapping his hand on his thigh.

  “We were all laughing and horrified for her at the same time. I gave her a bottle of water to stop the choking, but then she realized she must’ve swallowed in the fly from drinking and started gagging.”

  “Wish I’d been there for that.”

  She blushed a light pink and gazed at the heart-shaped chocolate powder topping on her coffee.

  She added with a smile before taking a sip from her drink, “The guy was so nice to try to help her, but then his tour group had to move along.”

  Zara studied his face as he thought up another question to throw at her. How she went from tense to laughing puzzled her.

  Did I judge him wrongly all this time just because Gaea has always been competitive with him and hated his guts?

  That afternoon, Zara picked up her mobile, grunted, and then dialed the number.

  “Hi, Anne. Are you free to talk?” Zara greeted. “Daniel called me . . . Yeah, he was worried about Zack. You should take this more seriously. You are marrying this man, you know.” She sighed. “Yes, it’s adorable and chivalrous that he’s acting jealous, but your relationship with Zack might be intimidating Daniel . . .”

  “It really shouldn’t. Which is what I told him. He just kept asking me over and over again if I absolutely wanted to get married.” Anne huffed out a breath. “You know there’s nothing going on between Zack and me. He’s my trainer, for crying out loud.”

  “I know there’s nothing going on between b
oth of you. But now that you’re marrying Daniel, he has to be number one when it comes to everything—like running to him first when you need some extra muscle.” Zara frowned. “That’s how it is with marriage. From what my dad used to tell me anyway.”

  “That’s really chauvinistic and impractical, Zara,” Anne groaned.

  “Which is why I don’t engross myself in thoughts of marriage,” Zara countered. “But you are getting married, Anne. I have a question for you—have you even started to pack your things?”

  “Zara, of course I haven’t,” Anne retorted. “Not with my work schedule and all the things that happened recently.”

  “Fine. Fine. Have you prepared for the first week that you’re moving in with Daniel, at the least?” Zara challenged.

  “No. But I’ve prepared my stuff for the wedding,” Anne bit back. “Don’t worry about this.”

  Zara rolled her eyes. “Anne, Daniel is expecting you to move in with him.”

  After Anne made a few more arguments, they said goodbye. Zara shook her head.

  I should stop worrying about every single thing if she doesn’t pay attention to what I say anyway.

  She tapped her pen on her pad and then stared at the screen of her laptop.

  What in the world am I looking at here?

  She crossed her legs and tapped her foot at the cubicle’s partition.

  Gaea will look at me if I make too much noise.

  She made a show of extending her arms over her head, then stood up to stretch her whole body. Matt was not anywhere to be found. Looking around at the other desks, she checked that nobody was looking her way. Then she leaned on her desk and hoisted her body to peek over at Matt’s desk. His laptop was on standby mode.

  Suddenly, a movement to her far right caught her eye, and her head snapped to that side. Matt sat at one of the meeting rooms by its glass door. He had his pen positioned over his notebook as if to write something, but he stared at her with an amused grin on his lips. Zara sat down with a plonk. Heat flared all over her body. She cursed in her head and flinched.

  Matt was in a meeting with Don and another man, who was in a business suit. When the meeting ended, Matt dropped his notebook on his desk and walked over to Zara’s desk. She kept her head bent over her laptop, feigning utter engrossment with an online article.

  Why are you seeking him out anyway? Prize catch . . . Women must go after him all the time. He probably doesn’t stick to one for long. Ugh, stop overanalyzing.

  Matt leaned back on the end of her desk and cleared his throat. She turned to meet his eyes. He smiled at her boyishly, not in a smug way, which she was thankful for. Her eyes fell to the dark blue mandarin collar button shirt that showed off his lean body. Before she knew it, her eyes travelled to the stubble on his chin and that well-pronounced Adam’s apple.

  “Yes?” she asked as innocently as she could and turned back to her laptop before she melted from embarrassment.

  “Seems like you’ll be covering the resort in Boracay soon,” he declared.

  She turned toward him. “Really? Was that what your meeting was about?”

  “Yes, but Don said it’ll only be a half page with a photo in it. Wait for him to talk to you about it.”

  “That’s great! I asked him about it the other day. The girls and I are supposed to go there in a couple of weeks.”

  “What do you and your friends do in Boracay?”

  “Just the usual, swim and drink fruit shakes by the beach. Sometimes we go to a videoke as well.”

  “Yeah, I’ve noticed you like to sing.” He smirked.

  “What? I’ve never sung around you before.”

  “Actually, sometimes when you’re working overtime and you belt out a song, you think you’re alone, but in fact . . . you’re not.”

  He watched with pleasure as realization dawned on her, and she gasped in mortification. She covered her face with her hands and cursed.

  “I’m so embarrassed! I’m so sorry you had to hear any of my singing,” she groaned. “Was there anybody else who heard me?”

  “No, it was only me then. With your passion . . . I think I can try and get you a spot in our band.” His grin dared her on.

  “You’re in a band?” she squeaked.

  “Yes, I’m the lead vocals.”

  When she groaned again, he laughed out loud.

  “Want to . . . want to go for a break?” he asked.

  “Let me get over my embarrassment first please.” She sniffed and nodded. “Wait, wait, I got to jot down a few things.”

  She pulled out her notebook, a monthly calendar, and her personal calendar book. In the notebook, she wrote the stuff she would have to do for the Boracay resort feature. In the monthly calendar, she jotted down a note on the date of Anne’s wedding—the same thing. In her personal calendar, she marked the weekend as well.

  Matt chuckled as he watched her. “Your OCD is really . . . endearing?” he ended on a questioning note.

  Zara laughed at herself and then stood up to arrange the stuff on her desk. Realizing she had dropped her bag into the bottom drawer of her desk, she bent down from her waist to get it.

  “Now that . . . that’s really endearing.” Matt dragged his words with a drawl, smirking at her.

  She had forgotten that she was wearing her pencil skirt that day, and she had just jutted out her behind right in front of him. She quickly snapped her body back up and glared at him.

  “Shut up or you’ll have to pay for your own coffee,” she grumbled.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  The Videoke Madness

  For Anne’s bridal shower, the four girls decided to go to a videoke bar instead of a spa. The videoke bar was tucked away at a corner of Esperanza Street. It was the first time they had all been here, but due to Andrea’s high commendation of the place, Zara convinced them to give it a try. Black and red colors splashed across its walls, lending a modern and sassy vibe. Indeed, the rooms were spacious, hosting leather couches that could seat a party; the televisions were recent flatscreen models, and the videoke menu had a modern look and feel. Zara checked that the songbook had the latest popular songs. Even the restrooms had a boutique look to them, decorated with red and black tiles and brown vessel sinks.

  Anne was in a dreamlike state, with wedding images filling her mind at every moment. Zara talked and smiled more than ever since her breakup with Jake. The girls did not think much about it, since Zara was always the most eager to go to videoke bars even though she sang the worst among them—they thought it was just her adrenaline pumping in for the songfest.

  Jazmine yawned every ten minutes or so, and her eyes drooped all the time. She had to drag her body out of the apartment just to be there that night, but she did. She owed her friends so much more. Since Anne, Zara, and Laine visited Braden at his apartment, Fiona had not contacted Jazmine. It had been arranged that Helen would work during the day at Jazmine’s house on weekdays and Saturdays. Helen was on strict instructions not to open the door to anyone while Jazmine was not around.

  It was Laine though who was in the worst mood among them.

  They ordered finger food and drinks before encoding the songs they wanted on the videoke machine. Laine snapped at the waiter when he repeated the order to them and got her drink wrong. Two eyebrows raised, one jaw dropped, and a smirk happened all at the same time.

  “PMS?” Anne asked Laine when the waiter left.

  Laine sighed. “No . . .”

  “Her Mr. Fuente hasn’t been in touch with her since he left Manila,” Zara put in.

  “It’s not that,” Laine interjected, then sighed again, and fidgeted with the hem of her skirt. “Yes, it is that.”

  “Guys suck. Why don’t we just swear off guys?” Jazmine glared.

  Anne and Zara smiled at each other. Their usually demure friends were lashing out at men tonight. Usually it was just Zara, sometimes Anne.

  “Tonight let’s forget about the guys who suck and just have our girls’ fun,” Ann
e announced as she picked up the songbook and searched for her favorites.

  “Okay. I know some people are snarky tonight, but I wanted to share something with you gals.” Zara reached for her bag and took out a magazine. She presented it to them with a big grin on her face. “Tonight, I’m celebrating my career.”

  It was the latest publication of Biyahe. The front cover was a picture of the Black Island in Pangasinan.

  Anne gasped and raised her hands above her head. “You did it! Your boss put it in!”

  Zara nodded. “Yes. Gaea is back, but I think Don is now finally fine with me doing a few of the covers or at least some of the main features.”

  She then turned to the page of the feature cover, which showed a landscape photo of the Hundred Islands and the beginning of an article. At the bottom of the photo were the words “Written by Zara Castillo.”

  Laine reached for her bag and took out a magazine as well, smiling at Zara. It was another copy of the same Biyahe magazine edition. Zara gasped, and her hand flew to her chest.

  “Jaz and I saw it this morning at a newsstand outside the office and bought it.”

  “I’m going to get myself a copy too.” Anne beamed. “Or should I subscribe already since you’ll be doing the main features from now on?”

  Zara laughed. “There’s no need. There will always be a couple of copies at the condo.”

  When their food and drinks arrived, Anne held up her glass of whisky in front of her. Zara raised her bottle of Vodka Cruiser, Laine her glass of virgin margarita, and Jazmine her glass of mineral water.

  “To us, to friendship, to careers, and to weddings,” Anne announced.

  “To loyalty, to success,” Zara added.

  “To faith, to love . . . and hope,” Laine added.

  “To my son, to a good future.” Jazmine sniffed.

  After clinking their glasses and bottle, they each took a sip and smiled at each other. It was a ritual they loved to do on special occasions. One just had to start it, and the rest would follow suit.