You’re my shooting star
Serena walked inside Minerva’s house and found Minerva sitting on the sofa, looking at old pictures of Ricardo and crying.
“Minnie,” She said as she put a hand on Minerva’s shoulder.
“Don’t…” Minerva said, muffling through the tears, “I…can’t talk right now…Just…leave me alone first.”
Serena nodded her head and fought back the tears. She went inside her room, sat down on bed, and felt too tired, but couldn’t go to sleep. She turned on her laptop and logged on to yahoo messenger.
Itsmeserena: blake…
Iamblake: serena? Another late night?
Itsmeserena: I just wanna say I’m sorry for everything.
Iamblake: what? Are u okay?
Itsmeserena: I was a fool for letting you go. I shouldn’t have.
Iamblake: serena, did something happen?
Itsmeserena: I can’t talk about it now but…but blake, I’m really sorry. You’re wonderful, and I’m so sorry I’m not perfect for you…but who knows? Maybe in another lifetime, right?
Iamblake: what? Serena, look, we can still fix this…
Itsmeserena: I’m not sure about that…I’m sorry I’m a coward, blake.
Itsmeserena has logged off.
***
The following morning, Serena was woken up by Minerva’s screams.
“Son of a bitch! How thick of you to come here after yesterday!” Minerva screamed and threw away pots. Serena saw from her window that it was Tryke whom Minerva was shouting at. She hurriedly went down the stairs and went to Minerva.
“Minnie,” She said, trying to pull her back.
“Minerva, I’m sorry, please, listen to me, it was all an accident—“
“I don’t care if it was an accident!” Minerva shouted, “You kept the truth for so long! Goddamit! Get out of my house!” She then stormed her way back inside the house.
“Serena,” Tryke said.
Serena sighed, “Go…go now.” She told him, “We’ll talk soon. Just leave, okay?”
“I’m sorry.”
“Tryke, just…go.”
***
Serena found Minerva by the lanai when she went back inside the house. Minerva was looking at the vines.
“Minnie, I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault,” Minerva said, “I’m sorry you’re caught in the middle of all of these…”
Serena shook her head and hugged her and felt the tears rushing once more.
“He was all I had, you know?” Minerva told her, crying, “I loved him so much and…And just when I thought I’d accepted it already, this happened.”
“What…do you want me to do?”
Minerva looked at her, “That’s up to you,” Was all she could say.
How to break a heart
“Thank you for coming,” Leah told Serena as they met up in a restaurant one evening.
“Say what you have to say.” Serena muttered.
“Timothy loves you,” Leah said, “He told me…”
“That’s not what I wanted to talk about.”
“I’m sorry,” Leah muttered, “Serena, he never meant to lie. He just…couldn’t tell you the truth because…because it’s complicated.”
“Is that really the truth? Or is there something I should still know?”
“That’s it,” Leah answered, “That’s everything you should know. If you or Minerva must be mad at someone, be mad at me. It was my decision, I was scared, I had the world at my fingertips, I couldn’t let an accident turn it downhill…We were there, we saw what happened, Timothy tried to rescue him but…but he fell down. We panicked, we didn’t know what to do. So I thought, we must act like we knew nothing, it was easier than being questioned by the police and stuff…And it worked. All these years, it did.”
“Did you ever think of how Minerva felt?”
“Of course,” Leah answered, “But…”
“But you cared for yourself more.”
“You can’t call me out for that, Serena.” Leah said, “When you’re young and…and you have all these chances, you make decisions to save yourself.” She went on, “And besides, you’re lying to him, as well.”
“Excuse me?”
“I know you don’t love Timothy. I can see it in your eyes.”
“That’s not the case.”
“Yeah?” Leah asked, “How different is it from him lying to you, or not telling you the truth?”
***
Serena was already in the cab on the way to the coffeeshop where she was meeting Tryke when her phone rang. It was Blake. She hesitated for a moment then decided to pick up.
“Hey,” She greeted.
“Serena,”
“Hey you.”
“How are you?”
“I’m…okay,” She said, “Just went off a restaurant…”
“With your boyfriend?”
“No,” She answered, “Actually…I’m gonna meet him in a few minutes and…and break up with him.”
“What? Why? Did he do something? What happened? Are you okay?”
Serena laughed sadly, “It’s crazy, isn’t it? It’s like, we all know what we want but we rarely go for it…We know what the truth is but we keep on being blindsided by all these stuff…And in the end, it still comes down to the truth.”
“We can fix this,” He said, “I love you.”
She didn’t know what to say, “I’ll call you.”
***
Tryke was waiting for Serena at the coffee shop. He saw her as she alighted from the taxi, and wanted to give her a hug but she opted not to. They sat down, and no one spoke for a few minutes.
“Serena,”
“I’m sorry, Tryke,” She said, “I can’t do this anymore…and…it’s not just about you.”
“Serena, I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorry, too,” She said, “But…I don’t think I told you the whole truth, as well.”
He looked confused.
“Tryke, you and I,” She said, “are two intersecting lines…We may have met in the middle, but all roads would still lead us away from each other.” She took a deep breath, “I thought I loved you…But I didn’t. At least not in the way you love me. I chose you, yes, but…But Blake was always in my mind. I was stupid for not giving it a go with him. And—“
“I know you love him, I always knew…But I still love you.”
She bit her lip, “I’m…sorry. I just cant do this anymore.”
He nodded his head, “You wouldn’t let me fight for you, would you?”
She shook her head, “You’re better off with someone else. And…and I’m sorry if I took everything out on you. I was mad, yes, I mean, you did hide the truth, but honestly, I was hiding something, too. Or at least, I tried to.”
“Serena,” He said, reaching for her hand.
“Don’t,” She said, “I don’t…I don’t wanna remember us this way, you know? Because…you were special, Tryke, you know that. But I guess, that’s about it.”
“I’m sorry I ruined everything.”
“No, you didn’t,” She said, “It just made me realize where I should go.”
They looked at each other and understood.
Airplanes
“You know what you should do?” Paulee asked Blake while they were watching a movie that night after Blake called Serena.
“What?”
“Go to Italy.”
“What?”
“Don’t play deaf with me, Blake,” Paulee said, “You should go follow her to Italy. It would be romantic! I’m sure you’d finally get together.”
Blake looked at her, “You think?”
“It would be perfect. If you love her, you’d do anything to prove it.”
Blake smiled, “The press would think I left you.”
“Oh, let me handle the press,” Paulee winked, “And…
let me call my friends in the airport in a bit to get you there fast, probably tomorrow…”
“Should I call her first?”
“Well, yeah, you could…Or, you could just go and surprise her. That would be more romantic.”
He laughed, “I like the way your mind works.”
She laughed, as well, “Call me when you get there, okay?”
He smiled, “Thank you, P,” He said, “For everything.”
“No,” Paulee said, “Thank you.” She smiled.
***
With heavy steps, Serena went down the stairs of Minerva’s house, holding her bags. She found Minerva by the foot of the stairs, looking at her.
“I’m really sorry,” Serena said as she was standing in front of her.
Minerva shook her head, “I’m sorry, too.” She said.
They hugged each other. “Are you sure you don’t wanna come with me?” Serena asked.
“This is home,” Minerva answered, “Well, maybe I’d go away for vacation sometime…but who knows what’ll happen?”
Serena nodded her head, “I’ll see you.”
“Take care,” Minerva said, “And good luck.”
City of Angels
Serena alighted from the taxi. She was now in front of one of those Hollywood studios LA, where Blake was. She was still dizzy from the flight, jet-lagged a lot, but she needed to see him. She had to talk to him now.
“Excuse me,” Serena spoke to the guard in front of the building, “Do you know if Blake Rodriguez is inside? I’m really sorry but I need to talk to him…”
“Oh, Blake isn’t here,” The guard answered, “He left…”
“Left?”
“What’s going on?” A voice from behind her said. She turned around and saw a beautiful woman with blonde hair and that little voice she couldn’t be mistaken she has heard somewhere before. The woman removed her shades.
“Paulee,” Serena muttered.
“Oh my God,” Paulee said, “Serena, right?”
Serena nodded her head, “I…I don’t know why you know me, or the real deal between you and Blake, but I need to talk to him, please…”
“Oh, sweetie, Blake and I are just friends, I just needed a friend, don’t believe everything you read…” Paulee said and then, “What are you doing here?”
“I came to see Blake. Can you let me in? Is he inside?”
“I’m sorry, dear, he’s not here… He left hours back.”
“Left? Where is he? At home?”
“He went to Italy…”
“Italy?” Serena asked, confused, “What?”
“He wanted to see you, to surprise you.” Paulee said, “We didn’t know you were planning to go here, too…”
“Yeah, it was quite a sudden decision…”
“Oh, God, you two have bad timing…” Paulee muttered. Just then, her cellphone rang. She took it from her bag and saw Blake’s name register on screen. “It’s him!” She exclaimed, “Wait a sec—“ She answered the call, “Blake?”
“P!” Blake exclaimed, “I’m here, I’m in Italy, now all I need is to find a cab to take me to her place—“
“You won’t find her there…”
“What?”
“Blake, she’s here.”
“She’s…what?”
Paulee handed the phone over to Serena.
“Blake?” Serena spoke.
“Serena?!” Blake said, “Is that really you?”
“It’s me…”
“Oh Lord,” Blake muttered, “You’re in LA?”
“I came to see you…”
“And I came to see you, too.”
They both laughed at the irony of it all.
“So…what do we do now?” Serena asked.
“I have no idea…”
“Why don’t you guys meet up in the Philippines?!” Paulee said from behind.
Serena laughed, “Yeah, well,” She said, speaking to Blake on the phone, “She has quite an idea…”
“I’ll find a hotel here, stay for the night, and you…”
“You can stay with me,” Paulee said.
“Thanks,” Serena muttered and smiled a bit and turned her attention back to Blake, “And…then…”
“And then we meet up in the Philippines…even if we’d be flat broke then.” He laughed.
Serena laughed, too, “Oh, well…make sure you don’t do a pit stop to Singapore or something…”
“I won’t,” He said, “And…don’t worry, we’ll find each other.” He went on, “I love you, Serena.”
“I love you, too.”
The Long Way Home
Faster, faster. Blake wanted to tell the pilot to rush, bring him home to the Philippines already. He wanted to see Serena, wanted to hold her tight, hug her, kiss her, and tell her that he loved her more than anything else. It was all crazy, going from country to country just to find each other…but he knew it was gonna be worth it.
A couple of hours passed, and the plane went down the tarmac. He went out, full of hope.
***
I made so many insane decisions, and this has got to be the craziest… Serena thought, But who cares? She smiled at herself, knowing finally, she was doing what her heart was telling her do, without caring whatever the world would say.
***
She scanned the crowd for him, and he did the same thing. There were so many people, probably thousands of people, and yet, in the midst of it all, they found each other. He saw her first and called out her name. She saw him and smiled. They ran to each other and both were wonderstruck at first, not knowing what to do.
“Who knew,” He finally said, “That this is where our story would end…”
She smiled, “This,” She said, holding his hand, “Is where our story begins.”
He smiled back, “I love you,” He said, “You…are home. With you, I feel at home. And…and if I’d go through it all over again just to find you, I will. If I’d live a thousand more lives after this, I know in each life, I’d still be looking for you, and will find you, in the end. We’re not perfect, both of us, but together, we’re incomparable. Who knows? It would probably be hard, but I’m willing to stay. Always.”
“You,” She said, “Are such a romantic.”
He laughed, “I know I am.”
“It was a long way home, huh?”
“Yeah,” He said, “But it was worth it.”
And then they kissed.
~♥~
The Long Way Home Page 8
