Meghan had suggested before that she should try signing up for dating sites to find someone more suitable than Kenneth. She opened her Tinder account and was surprised to see that she was repeatedly asked for a password. She must have entered it incorrectly, even though she used the same password for everything.
She took a deep breath before repeating the signing-up process. However, browsing through potential men near her seemed discouraging. Because within six months, she had probably tried all the dating sites and she grew tired of searching for a man who could surpass Kenneth, so she decided to go back to the files related to her business idea.
“Hello, Meghan,” she said when the woman answered on the other line. “Don’t you still have vacant space in your resort? If you haven’t found a tenant yet, I’ll take it. Just prepare the contract of lease and hand it over to the lawyer,” she said.
“Are you sure about that?”
“Yep! After I eat, I’ll go to the city hall to personally process the gift shop permit,” she said excitedly. For the first time since she and Kenneth separated, she felt an overwhelming sense of excitement.
“I’m happy for you, Sabrina.”
She quickly finished her meal of eggs and took a quick shower. She was eager to reach the city hall as soon as possible, so while getting dressed, she also organized the documents she needed to bring to the barangay because that’s where she should go first.
Before going downstairs, she briefly passed by the children’s playroom, where Scarlet and Arianna were currently being tutored. She entered for a moment and informed them that she just needed to take care of something briefly.
And because her child was naturally kind, there was no objection. She also passed by the kitchen and instructed one of the cooks to prepare a delicious snack for the children’s tutor.
“Do you have plans?” Her mother spoke suddenly behind her, and she was slightly surprised.
“I just need to take care of some paperwork, Mom.”
“Okay, but come home immediately. Your father wants us to have dinner outside tonight,” Margaret said.
“Sure, Mom,” Sabrina replied.
However, the plan for a family dinner outside was canceled due to a sudden downpour of rain. They had no choice but to stay home and eat the food prepared by their cook.
At around eight o’clock in the evening, Scarlet was already asleep, but she couldn’t fall asleep yet, so she decided to work on her website for her gift shop. Even though she had a physical store, she wanted to establish her shop’s online presence.
However, she realized that she still had a lot to take care of before she could complete the page she wanted. She had already contacted someone to create a website for the gift shop, but creating a Facebook page was something she could handle. The only problem was that she didn’t have a logo to use. She sighed and returned to bed, looking at her sleeping child.
Afterward, she opened the window despite the cold outside because she wanted to hear the sound of each raindrop. In the past, whenever it rained, she would become emotional and couldn’t stop tears from pouring out of her eyes. But now, it seemed like she had no more tears left.
Her eyes were dry, which for Sabrina was a sign that she should temporarily forget about the man. She wanted to follow her family’s suggestion of forgetting about him, but she would be hypocritical if she did that because the truth was, she wasn’t ready yet.
She still needed enough time to realize that Kenneth no longer loved or cared about her. She took a deep breath while looking at the ocean, even though the surroundings were pitch black. She decided to close the window when she felt the cold and then left the room.
“Meghan!” she called out to Meghan before running to catch up with her.
She also noticed that Meghan was heading towards the stairs, and if her suspicion was correct, they were thinking the same thing.
“You can’t sleep either?” Meghan asked.
“It’s still early,” Sabrina made an excuse, but the truth was that she had trouble sleeping because of the many things on her mind. Besides the business, she was still haunted by memories of her and Kenneth.
“I see. How was your day?” Meghan asked.
“It’s okay. A few more steps and my gift shop will be up and running,” Sabrina replied.
“Maybe you’d like to join the opening of the resort? It’s next month,” Meghan suggested.
“Okay, I’ll think about it. There are still so many things I need to master. First, flower arrangements, then there are balloons. Baking is not a problem because I already know that. And also, marketing,” Sabrina said.
“Why don’t you hire someone with experience in those things and learn as your business progresses?” Meghan suggested.
Sabrina suddenly wondered if she could handle the overhead cost. “What if I end up losing money?” she asked Meghan with a tinge of fear.
“At least you tried because that’s how it is in business. There’s always a risk, but it’s worth it,” Meghan said. She knew that Sabrina was somewhat scared of what might happen, but taking risks is part of entrepreneurship.
Sabrina took a deep breath before responding to Meghan. “Let me post a job hiring notice online before I go to sleep,” Sabrina said.
“It’s difficult at first, but you’ll get used to it eventually,” Meghan said.
When they arrived in the kitchen, Meghan immediately prepared the tools for making a chocolate porridge.
“I thought you didn’t want to eat this because it reminds you of Marcus,” Sabrina commented. In the past, the woman promised never to eat champorado again.
“I changed my mind,” Meghan replied. “I won’t compromise on things that I used to like just because they’re connected to Marcus,” she added. It took her a few seconds before she could speak again.
“How to be you, Meghan? You’re so brave,” Sabrina said enviously because she admitted that she was a bit childish when it came to Kenneth.
“It’s up to you, Sabrina. Don’t you feel sorry for yourself? It’s been months since he’s gone,” Meghan reminded Sabrina. “If I were you, I would focus on my business and Scarlet. Just forget about him,” Meghan suggested.
Sabrina smiled weakly because it was easy to say “just forget about him,” but it was extremely difficult to do. It’s not just her body that got used to the man, but also her heart and mind. “Have you really forgotten about Marcus?”
“We’ll find out when we meet again. If there are still sparks or not, but for now, I’m busy with the resort.”
“Everyone’s like that, Meghan. I think I need other distractions to forget him faster,” Sabrina replied.
“You can watch movies like me or play mobile games,” Meghan suggested. When it comes to heartbreak, you just need to keep yourself busy so you won’t think about it all the time.
“But it’s addictive!” Sabrina declined Meghan’s suggestion to play mobile games because she knew several people whose lives were ruined due to excessive gaming.
“It depends on the player. You’re still in control of everything. Who knows? Maybe you’ll find your partner in that game,” Meghan teased Sabrina because she was also like that.
“Just wait, let me download it first,” Sabrina said as she took her cellphone from her pocket. One hundred million plus downloads? Wow, she was impressed with the app and the people behind the game.
“Go ahead, download it so I can teach you right away.”
Sabrina nodded as she waited for the game to finish installing, while Meghan focused on preparing the porridge she cooked.
“I’m done!” Sabrina exclaimed excitedly, and Meghan just laughed.
“Sign up first and let me know when you’re in because there’s still a tutorial.”
“Whoa, you didn’t tell me you know how to play this. When did you learn? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“It was just recently. I met a child gamer in the resort, and he convinced me to try it,” Meghan replied.
“And you got addicted to the game,” Sabrina concluded.
“Well, I have plenty of time to do it,” Meghan explained.
“How do I do this?” Sabrina asked after she entered the game because she didn’t know where to go.
Meghan explained everything, and she was grateful that teaching Sabrina wasn’t difficult, and she quickly got the hang of controlling the hero. “Finish the tutorial with Layla first, then we’ll eat. Do you want some bread?”
“Of course!” Sabrina replied. “I’m ready!” Sabrina got excited again after the tutorial, but Meghan just smiled at her.
“Let’s eat first,” Meghan suggested, but Sabrina didn’t want to let go of her smartphone. “I said let’s eat,” she repeated.
Even though the porridge was a bit hot, Sabrina didn’t mind because for the first time since Kenneth left her, she felt excited. “Eat faster,” she told Meghan.
“Hey, don’t be like that, Sabrina. You’re developing an attitude that you’ll get addicted to the game,” Meghan scolded Sabrina.
After they finished eating, Meghan immediately fulfilled their agreement and taught Sabrina how to play. She immediately threw Sabrina into a classic game, and because she was so excited, Sabrina kept engaging in one-on-one battles with the turrets. But the important thing was that she already knew how to run.
“You got trash-talked,” Meghan said when she read one of the teammate’s chat. “They called you a noob,” she said with a smile.
“That’s so rude! How do I reply?”
“After this game, follow me. We’ll play duos, and you can see how I play,” she said with a hint of arrogance, but it was true that she already knew how.
After a few minutes, they were sitting side by side playing and making a lot of noise. Sabrina kept screaming every time she died, and Meghan couldn’t stop laughing.
“What’s going on?”
They both looked up when they heard Margaret’s angry voice.
“We’re just playing,” they both answered as if scared of getting scolded or spanked like children.