"Her name is Patty. Anyway, she… at least tonight I had a reason not to be there."
It started coming back to me: hearing about her getting knocked up, and how they broke up six months later, and how he didn't even show up for the birth, and that he hadn't seen the child since then.
But that was the story I heard from the grapevine. My heart sank a little.
"Yeah, I heard it didn't end well," I said.
"What did people say?"
"That she was pregnant and you broke up after you found out."
He shrugged. "Well, that part's sort of true. The short story is, she slept with another guy while we were still together."
That I didn't know. "No, the gossip girls didn't pick that up," I said. Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned it.
Lucas looked more amused than mad though. "So the people at the office think I abandoned my own illegitimate child?"
Okay, now I wasn't sure which was worse. "Yeah, I guess. It's not fair to you though."
He thought about it and popped another truffle in his mouth. "It doesn't matter. Don't tell them anything – I think the story going around is better for her. No one needs to know about the cheating."
He's not a good guy, I repeated his own phrase in my head. He has no reputation to protect. But it was big of him to protect Patty's, even after what she did to him. Allegedly.
"Are you sure the baby's not yours?"
His story was a few months older than mine, but I recognized myself in the way he told it. My own breakup wasn't fresh; I could tell that story without getting sad, or angry, but that didn't mean all had been healed. In any case, he knew the kid wasn't his because they hadn't been intimate for a while before the "bump" started to show. Looking back, he felt he should have been more suspicious about her behavior.
"She was my friend for a long time before that," he said. "I thought I would know if she didn't love me anymore."
"Maybe she still does," I said. "I mean, all this effort to see you. People make mistakes."
He tried to have relationships after Patty, but the trust radar was all screwed up. Whenever he went out with anyone after that, they didn't stay very long, and he wondered if something had changed in him.
"Some people are just better as friends," Lucas said. "Maybe that's the lesson you have to learn too."
"Hey my therapy time is over. This is your time now."
"What I'm saying," Lucas said, clearing his throat, "is that being friends with someone doesn't mean they'll always be loyal to you. Or that they'll always be the kind of person you knew."
"I don't mind the challenge," I said. "I like to think that all of this is just – do you know the morphology of the folk tale? – that I'm a hero on a journey, and that these are all just challenges I have to go through to prove that we belong together."
"The monomyth," Lucas confirmed. "Hero's journey. Like fairy tales. Or Star Wars."
"Exactly," I said, pleased that he knew. "Fairy tales are set up this way. I can't expect the happy ending without proving myself first. Did you study literature?"
"No, but I was majorly into Star Wars. Took film as an elective and wrote about it as my final paper." And then he looked at me skeptically. "So this… this belief is what makes you think you're meant for him? Because you've been kept apart?"
"It's a test," I insisted. "Maybe the only things worth having are the ones you fight for."
"Or maybe," Lucas said, "The person who tests you three times isn't Prince Charming, but the Evil Queen in disguise."
It sounded like a challenge, and even as I opened my mouth to protest and tell him he was wrong, I couldn't. Or maybe I became aware all of a sudden how close he was, and how seeing him all scrubbed from a shower made me want to run my fingers through his hair, and how we were alone, and how if he or I started something no one in this labyrinth of a house would hear.
Focus, Ellie. I hit him with a throw pillow. "You are not a good guy."
Chapter 10
"Ellie Manuel!" Charisse yelled, grabbing me by the arm as soon as I got out of the elevator at the lobby.
I knew what she meant, but didn't expect that she would be this... excited. It wasn't like anything major happened anyway. But as soon as word got around that Lucas and I had been stranded together during the storm, Charisse invited me to lunch and demanded that I give her every detail.
So, tucked away in a corner table at the Italian restaurant four buildings away, I told her all that would fit in a lunch hour. At least, I told her about the bulalo restaurant, that I told him about Don, that he told me about Patty, and that I spent the night on his Tita Claire's family room floor after he gave me love life counseling. The next morning he found me a cab home, and I showered and dressed, and was back at work before lunch.
"That's it," I said, in conclusion.
"That is not it. I've seen you two at lunch already. Like, a few days ago. What's up?"
Well yeah, we had lunch together since then. The day after the storm, Lucas stopped by my desk as he went to get his coffee and asked if I was sleepy. I said kind of, yes, and on his way back he left a Styrofoam cup of black coffee beside my keyboard.
The next few days I barely saw him, until three days ago, when he just casually invited me to lunch, without drama or pretense. And when we talked, it was like there had been no gap between conversations.
I found out that he was a Business Economics guy in college, who collected anything and everything Star Wars (episodes four to six only, he made sure to emphasize), and that he had been working for financial firms since stumbling onto one right out of school, but never really thought about where it would take him. I told him about college, about experimenting with various fields of Comm, and also ending up in Marketing because it offered the path of least resistance.
"In other words, you were just as lazy as I was," he teased.
"Work does not define us," I retorted. "Those were your words, and I prefer them."
The next day, I didn't see him at all. Like, the whole day. And then yesterday, he suddenly showed up at shutdown time with two tickets to a movie premiere – some adaptation of a video game that I had never heard of.
Now, if I were crazy into him, I would have been freaked out by this erratic sked. I would have expected a call the next day, and wondered hourly if he was really interested. But for some reason I felt no rush to do anything. I was just enjoying it.
"We're friends now," I said, giggling.
Well, sort of. It was a bit hard to explain, but Lucas and I weren't on the same page like Don and I were. Don and I had the same opinions about a lot of things, but not exactly the same interests. Like, he wouldn't feel like going to a movie with me initially, but if he did, we usually had the same opinion of it after.
Lucas and I, on the other hand, seemed to have the same interests, but our opinions could be radically different. Like, he loved that video game movie, while I squirmed over the bad acting and overdone action. We liked to talk about our traveling, but I wanted international trips, and he was intent on seeing as much of the country before he used his passport again. We were not on the same page, but on opposite pages of the same spread. Did that even make sense?
And why was I comparing?
"You've become like those girls we have code names for!" Charisse gasped. "The girls we see him with."
"Is there gossip about me? What are people saying?"
Charisse paused. "Well, nothing bad. I think it's the residual sympathy from the whole Visita Iglesia thing. Normally anyone they see with Lucas gets the nasty judgment, but with you they're actually kind."
I rolled my eyes. "Great. At least that trauma was useful for something."
"So what's up? Are you dating or what?"
"I don't think so," I said. "I mean, we've gone out, but I don't think those are dates. He's cool, but the reasons why he's not right for me haven't changed." Except him having a lovechild. And smoking. "Well, some have changed, but most of them are still there."
What was wrong with my template? Even after my failed relationship I still wanted one that started as friendship. I still wanted a good guy, someone responsible. It was an important decision in my life, and I wasn't going to just wing it.
I mean, if I obsessively planned my trips months or years before I even set a foot on the city, how could I make a decision about the guy I would love based just on gut feel? That didn't make sense to me.
So yes, Lucas was damn sexy, and surprisingly easy to talk to, and seemed to want to continue talking to me even after I shared how pathetic I was. I was having fun, and my confidence in being around guys was coming back.
But that was not the basis for a relationship, no matter what my friend said.
Chapter 11
My boss' name was Herman, and he kind of reminded me of Chow Yun Fat, but with graying hair, a fatherly gut, and a less lethal kick. Since he discovered my skill at planning travel, though, I saw nothing but appreciation from him.
Still, getting promoted was a shock.
"What? Why?" I couldn't help but say.
Herman laughed. "Now is not the time to be questioning my decisions, Eleanor."
"Um, yes sir. I mean, thank you."
My boss proceeded to explain to me just what happened – I was now assistant manager (same rank as Don, my brain reminded me), and it included a modest increase. This all meant more work too, but when I looked at the printout of the new job description, he seemed to have added just more travel coordination. Nothing I couldn't handle.
It wasn't like I thought I didn't deserve it, by the way. I just didn't realize that I'd hear the happy news so soon.
***
The office announced the news, along with the other promotions for the year, in an email to all employees. I forgot how memo-happy my office was. They didn't just mention the company-wide merit increase, but there was also a roll call of promotions, complete with a short "message" from the Comm department for each of us.
Eleanor Manuel, promoted to Assistant Manager – Client Services Coordination, mere weeks after her first anniversary with the team. Congratulations, and watch out for this up-and-comer.
Whoa, those Comm department people should be careful who they called an "up-and-comer." The people around me might expect ambition or something.
It didn't matter though, because within minutes my inbox was filled with congratulations. A little after ten AM, an email from the ex came in.
I knew you could do it. -Don
It figured that the first time he would deliberately talk to me was about something I didn't even plan to do. I didn't reply to him, and instead went back to work. And I felt great.
***
One indication that work had started not feeling like work was when I would look at the time and not even realize that hours had gone by. Today was one of those days. Our office had a yearly Regional Executive Committee Meeting coming up, and certain department heads were required to attend. My boss Herman was definitely going, as well as three other people from our team, so he asked me to coordinate travel arrangements for everyone.
This meeting was a big deal. If you were there, you would meet the big shots of the firm not just from Manila but the other Asian offices, and only people of a certain rank were invited. Herman told me that he had a shortlist in mind from our team already, and that I should coordinate with the conference's secretariat about hotel and flight arrangements for two men and two women for four days and three nights. Plus, it was going to be hosted in Bangkok so I went over the program and the social event schedule like I was looking through a Lonely Planet book. It didn't feel like work at all.
When I last checked the time, it was just after one PM. And then I heard Lucas knock on my desk, and suddenly it was three forty-five.
"Huh?" I said, disoriented for about a second.
It was a Friday, casual day, and on his shirt was a robot with a sumbrero on its head. His tattoo was a bit more visible, and for the first time I noticed that it looked like a Chinese character, but not quite.
"You feel like celebrating?" Lucas said, leaning against the wall of my cubicle, which went up to his waist. "Have dinner with me tonight?"
Celebrating? I assumed he meant the promotion. Last time I checked my email I waded through half a dozen invites for dinner and drinks to celebrate, but didn't reply to any of them. So technically, I had no plans tonight.
"Sure," I said. "Where?"
"My friend's birthday at this bar in Greenbelt. I think he'll pay for the first two drinks."
"Is there a dress code?" I said, pointing to his shirt. "I'm sorry but I didn't wear a cute robot shirt today."
"I'm sure they'll let you in," he grinned.
"Okay then," I said. I may have become friendly with Rock Star but that didn't diminish the cool factor of Rock Star asking me out to dinner.
Five minutes later, my worlds collided. Three-fifty PM was when Don used to drop by and invite me to coffee. I looked forward to that particular minute each day, and didn't realize until this moment – when he actually did show up again – that it stopped being a big deal. It became just like any other minute to me.
He sauntered over to the same cubicle wall that Lucas was leaning on and awkwardly looked at us both. "Hi, Ellie," he said.
Lucas stopped talking and I could see a hint of evil in his tiny smile. "Don," he said, shaking the guy's hand, "It's been a while."
Don's eyes darted from him to me. "Yeah, Lucas."
I never had the chance to see the two of them together, and I couldn't help but make notes. Don was taller. Lucas was, if I had to be honest, more good-looking, but he had admirers all over the office so we knew that already. Don had a bigger, more muscular bod, but Lucas looked lean and athletic. Lucas was older by maybe three years, and it seemed to translate as being more comfortable in his own skin.
I blinked and looked pointedly at Lucas, who was not leaving. "Hi, Don," I said slowly. "What's up?"
"Did you get my email?" Don didn't expect to have an audience while saying this, and looked slightly annoyed.
"Um, yeah." And I quickly looked at my monitor to check. "Yeah, I did. Thanks. Sorry I wasn't able to reply, was really busy today."
"Oh, okay." He paused, looked at Lucas, who was politely there but not budging from his spot. "Do you have plans tonight? I wanted to ask you about your promotion."
"Tonight?"
Truthfully, my instinct was to say yes. It didn't matter that I had made other plans just moments ago. I didn't know that Don was going to come over at three-fifty, like I was part of his day again, and ask me to dinner. I had been waiting for something like this to happen in over a year, and it was here. If Lucas hadn't been standing there I would have said yes to Don and canceled on Lucas with the most fervent of apologies.
But Lucas was there, and I was sure he knew that I suddenly wanted to have dinner with Don instead.
"We're having dinner," he said to Don, oh so casually.
I was sheepish. "Yeah, we are. How about next week?"
This was confusing my ex-boyfriend, and I didn't know how to correct it without making me or Lucas look like a jackass, so I didn't explain why we were having dinner.
"Sure, next week is fine. I'm going to the Regional ExCom in Bangkok so I'll probably be busy on the weekdays. How about Friday? Let's eat someplace nice."
"Yes, Friday. Sounds good."
Don took it like a man and nodded, knocking his knuckles on my cubicle wall before he left. I gave him a flimsy wave goodbye.
"What was that about?" I hissed to Lucas. "Don was about to talk to me."
"You're seeing him next week," Lucas pointed out. "He's still going to talk to you."
"Yeah, well, not if you scare him off."
/> He smiled at me and I saw the hint of evil again, and yeah, he knew exactly what he was doing. But then he switched gears and said, surprised, "You got promoted?"
"It was in the memo this morning!"
"Those things are too long. But congrats. See? My timing was perfect."
I rolled my eyes. "What did you come to me to celebrate then if you didn't know?"
"Merit increase? I read that part." He was unaffected by all of this, amused even. "Friday night? Do I need a reason?"
"You see what I gave up for no reason?" I balled up a used Post-It and threw it at him. "I've been waiting for that for over a year! What if he misses me and still loves me?"
I was only half joking.
"Then he can wait a few more days. I'll see you later."
***
Lucas had just parked, and as I was disengaging my seat belt he touched my hand as if to put me on pause.
"Okay, wait," Lucas said. "Some of the people there, I haven't seen in a while."
"And?"
"Because they're Patty's friends. Well, not all, but some."
"Is she going to be there?"
"'I'm not sure."
Ah. I could see where this was going. "So I gave up my long-awaited dinner with Don so I could be your prop?"
"Settle down one second. Let's get something straight here." Lucas unbuckled his own seat belt and turned to face me. "I haven't seen them in a long time because I knew Patty would be where they were, and I didn't want to see Patty, so I avoided all of them."
I nodded.
"Well, now I know that I don't care about that anymore. I'm done with it. And I thought you of all people would understand how I feel and back me up a bit."
"Of course," I said immediately.
"Plus they'd give me less shit about everything if I brought someone. Are you okay with that?"
Fairy Tale Fail Page 5
