“Cheers to the one million products sold of the Lasts Series!” Miss Levanier greeted as she raised her cup full of beer. We are currently here at the cottage with the Safira staff and LMC staff. I didn’t expect Miss Sapphire to come along. She said she told her husband that she was coming here.
“Do you have something you want to say, Miss Sapphire?” she asked. Miss Sapphire stood up.
“Actually, I am really grateful to God first of all, next to the LMC, especially to Mr. Mondalla. This collaboration never crossed my mind and because of your help with your team, our sales have also been increasing from time to time. There are many more great and beautiful perfume brands, and I don’t know what you ate at that time to offer a collaboration with us. You see, our brand is just small; and no matter what I think, I can’t see the benefits of this collab for you, but still, I am grateful. Also to my team, thank you for all of your best efforts exerted on this project. You can expect a bonus from me except for the 13th month,” Miss Sapphire’s long statement was the reason for Erl, Caylie and Zedee to celebrate. Mill and Miss Ayu just looked at each other as if they couldn’t wait for the bonus anymore.
“Actually, he didn’t eat anything during that time, did he, Mr. Mondalla? Do you have anything you want to say before we start the party?” Miss Lervanier asked, looking like she was already drunk. I could see Mr. Roize watching and waiting to see if she would fall over because she had been swaying around for a while. It was just the beginning, and she already had a drink. Is Miss Levanier really this drunk? It was so different from her behavior when she was at work.
Ismael cleared his throat professionally, which made me feel intimidated. I noticed the other members of the LMC marketing team, including the ones who had insulted me earlier. They were looking at me. It seemed like they already knew that Miss Levanier was referring to me.
Wait, Miss Lovendino is not here?
“In all honesty, I’ve been planning to collaborate with other local brands since I came back from teaching, but I was having a difficult time finding a brand that was suitable for us. I wanted a brand that is in line with our company’s mission and vision together with the core values, and then I found Safira,” Ismael began. “The goal of LMC’s collaboration with Safira is not purely centered around sales but also to ignite remarkable growth by pooling resources, diverse perspectives, and shared skills. I want my company, our company, to improve our brand’s effectiveness and efficiency so we can forecast the stability of our business in the following years. I hope this collaboration leaves us, business owners, and also all of you as members of the team that might become business owners someday, with fruitful experience, knowledge, and camaraderie that can be used in the future. I am proud and grateful that I am sitting here with all of you who helped each other to achieve this milestone.”
Everyone applauded Ismael’s long statement. His last words were impressive. This turned out to be the real reason why he collaborated with Safira, I thought.
I am happy that everything is going well for him. I shouldn’t bother him anymore.
*****
I walked to the room because I was planning to go to sleep. I had been sleepy for a while, probably because of the long trip, so I felt really tired.
I held the doorknob and was about to open it when I figured out it was locked. I knocked, but no one opened.
“Hello? Is there anyone there?” I asked, before I put my ear to the door. My eyes widened, and I quickly looked away when I heard a groan.
“Why? What happened?”
I turned to the speaker. I couldn’t immediately answer when I saw Ismael.
“What is it?” he asked worriedly before coming closer to me. “You can’t open it?” he asked flatly.
“N-no… the things is…” I pointed to the door. He knocked on it and repeatedly shouted if anyone was there, but when he heard the door, he also froze.
“I see. You can sleep in my room if you’re really sleepy. I’m leaving too.”
I frowned. “You’re leaving? W-why?”
“I shouldn’t be here so you can enjoy this place.”
I gulped and looked at him for a moment. I almost grabbed my heart when I felt it thump. Even my breathing was heavy because of the nervousness.
“N-no! It’s okay! You don’t have to leave. I’ll just distance myself so you can enjoy yourself too.” If I had only known that he was here, I would have pretended that I was so sick of not being with him. Why did I even go here in Tagaytay? Because it’s free?
“Distance again,” he whispered, which I didn’t really hear, but I was embarrassed so I didn’t ask him to repeat it.
“Okay, I’ll go down again,” I told him before turning my back on him, which I regretted. I just continued down the stairs when I met Miss Sapphire.
“Jothea, do you know how to drive? I forgot to buy a chocolate cake for Erl. It’s her birthday tomorrow,” Miss Sapphire said.
“Oh, no. I don’t have a car either.”
“How sad. if you knew how, I could let you use my car. I see, everybody’s drunk so I guess there’s no birthday cake for Erl tomorrow. Let’s just buy her one when we get home. What do you think?”
I was about to answer when someone spoke behind me. “We’ll buy a cake for Miss Erl.” When I looked back, I was right. Ismael was there. I thought he had gone back to his room.
“Really, Mr. Mondalla?” Miss Sapphire asked with a smile before pulling out her wallet. “Here, use this,” she pointed to her card.
“No need, Miss Sapphire.”
Miss Sapphire nodded and gave a thumbs up before passing us. “Be careful!” She looked drunk too, so she was going to sleep. Why didn’t I just sleep in her room, eh, I wish I wouldn’t be left with Ismael.
“Shall we?” Ismael asked. He wasn’t smiling, but I could see in his eyes that he was happy. I had no choice but to walk with him. It was a good thing Erl and others didn’t notice us passing by because they were so busy singing in the videoke. We might have even been teased. It’s terrible, but no one was upset by their noise. It was already nighttime.
“Why do I love you, even though you don’t care about my feelings?
Even though you don’t love me, here I am, loving you faithfully.
Why do I love you, even though you love someone else?
Why am I so crazy about you?
How long will I endure?
Oh, why do I love you?”
Pfft. What kind of song is that?
I was about to enter his car when he opened the door for me. I turned to look at him. I didn’t expect him to do that for me.
“Oh, habit,” he said. I just nodded. Does that mean he opens the door for others too? After all, even for me because I’m used to sitting here in the front. Why would I sit in the passenger seat? I should have sat on the back!
He got into the car and sat in the driver’s seat. I fastened my seatbelt as well. The two of us were silent as we drove along the cold streets of Tagaytay. It’s colder because it’s midnight.
“Should I turn on the radio?” he asked as if he had been deafened by the silence between us for a while.
“Sure,” I replied before turning my eyes back to the window.
“If we all could leave something lasting behind to be remembered by, just a song for me and then at least I would have tried…”
I turned to Ismael. Why does it sound so familiar?
“I agree, it’s not so much what we have as how we use what we have in our lifetime… Thirty years is worth a hundred and two. It’s really what we can do in our lifetime…”
I feel like I’ve heard it before.
“All my love I would give for as long as I may live… with love, true love to last a lifetime…”
He sang along to the last line of the song as if he didn’t mean to, but because of that, I realized where I heard it.
“Ismael…” I called out to him. He turned to me, eyebrows raised. “That song-that was the song you sang for me that night, right?”
Tears welled up in my eyes. He didn’t speak.
“The night of my birthday, right?” I added.
A few seconds passed. He just looked at me.
He nods. “I did.”
My tears started to flow.
“Do you want to listen to the same song again?” he asked.
“It’s impossible. You can’t repeat a song on the radio,” I insisted.
“But I can sing for you.”
My lips curled downward. I couldn’t hold back my sobs. What is this? Aren’t we in a fight? Aren’t we supposed to not see each other anymore? Why do we act like we’re together again? Why would he sing for me all of a sudden?
“We’re all just merely passing through, doing what we can do in a lifetime…” he sang as he drove and occasionally glanced at me.
“We have more than one adventure to take. More than one dream to make in our lifetime…”
I didn’t know his voice was this beautiful.
“As for me, there’s only one dream and that’s to love you, my love, with a love to last a lifetime…”
I only heard it this close and clear now.
“We’re fools; we sometimes do crazy things and our hearts would take wings like a sparrow…”
Every letter seemed to admit that I was still there.
“But that’s life;, we’ll take each day as it comes. Never leaving the crumbs for tomorrow.”
Am I still there?
“As for me, all of my days, I will spend them all with you. Loving you with love to last a lifetime…”
I remained myself, looking at him.
*****
Ismael and I went down to a nearby pastry shop. It was a good thing there was a 24-hour shop because we had spent the morning looking for something to buy.
“Hold on, it’s freezing. You might catch a cold,” Ismael said before opening the compartment and taking out something-a thick jacket.
“What about you?” I asked.
“Don’t mind me.”
We entered the pastry shop, and the man there greeted us. We went straight to him to buy a birthday cake.
“What should we put in, sir?” the man asked Ismael. Ismael looked at me.
“Happy birthday?” I asked in response. I wasn’t sure how old Erl was either. “Happy Birthday, Erl. From LMC and Safira Family,” I corrected.
“Do what she said,” Ismael said to the man. I left him at the cashier to look at the various cakes on display. There were different flavors and designs. How do they do that?
“You want one?” I turned to the person behind me. I almost tripped because he was too close to me, so I bumped into him; luckily, he caught me.
“N-no,” I replied, and I broke free from his grip.
I remembered what he did in Europe. He bought everything I saw. Is he planning to do that now? I laughed.
“Why?” he asked, making me look back at him.
“Ha?”
“Why are you giggling?”
I shook my head. “Nothing. I just remembered something. Is the cake finished?”
“Not yet, I guess.”
“I see.” I walked back through the rows of pastries to look at the cupcakes on display. I felt him following me, and it seemed like he was also looking at what I was looking at.
“Do you know how to bake?” he asked.
“Yeah.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I remember buying a big oven to bake cupcakes so I could sell them to my classmates to earn money for extra income. But I only knew the basics, like baking brownies and cookies. When it comes to cupcakes, I’m not very good at it. I’m not an artistic person, so I’m not good at designs,” I continued.
“But you’re resourceful,” he commented. “Being resourceful is being artistic. You need to be creative to be resourceful.”
I chuckled. “If you say so.”
“Practice makes progress,” he insisted.
“Noted, prof,” I replied. We went back to the cashier, and just then the man we were talking to earlier came. Ismael had already paid for the cake before thanking him. The guy even received a tip from him. How gallant.
“Sir, do you have an umbrella? It’s raining outside,” the man said. I glanced outside. Yes, it’s raining.
“Wait for me here. I’ll bring an umbrella,” Ismael said.
He gave me the box of cake before he went out. Is he a Boy Scout? Why did he even bring an umbrella in the car?
He came back a little later, and I could see that his clothes were wet because he had rushed into the rain. “Let’s go,” he said.
“Is it raining hard?” I asked before we went out.
“Yeah.” He opened the umbrella for the two of us. It was true. The raindrops were heavy. We walked to the parking lot.
I noticed that his shoulder was getting drenched because he was giving me his umbrella more than to him. I grabbed his shoulder, which surprised him.
“Come on. You’re soaking wet,” I said.
He opened the door for me while he waved me over, and I carried the cake we bought. He hurriedly went in on the other side.
I also took off the jacket I was wearing to give it to him. “Change. You might get sick. Wear this for now,” I ordered.
“I’m fine,” he insisted.
“You’ll only get cold later if you don’t change your clothes. Your air conditioner is on the lowest setting,” I said, referring to the air conditioner in his car.
“Do you really want me to take off my clothes here?”
I was left speechless by his question. Is that why he doesn’t want to change in front of me?
“Oh, a-alright. I won’t look.”
He laughed. I just pulled over and looked out the window to see the raindrops, while waiting for him to change clothes, but since it was night and his car lights were on, I could see him putting on clothes in his reflection in the window.
It didn’t seem like anything.
“Done,” he informed, so I adjusted my seat. I looked at him. I had just seen him wearing a thick jacket. Plus, his hair was still wet, so he looked even more handsome in my eyes. I felt like my earthly body was about to give out a little. Especially now, the night was so cold.
Ismael continued driving, and I noticed that he was struggling because of the heavy raindrops on the windshield.
“Do you mind if we pull over for a moment?” he asked.
“Sure, no problem.” I nodded. We’d rather have an accident if we were forced to travel while it was raining heavily.
“Alright. So you can also sleep for a while. Aren’t you sleepy earlier?”
“I am, but don’t worry about me. I’m okay.” I took out my phone, before I searched Google for a typhoon. And my hunch was right, there was one. Are we too busy with work and don’t know what the weather is like?
“There’s a typhoon,” I said. “Signal no. 2 here in Tagaytay.”
He shook his head while grinning. “Didn’t they check the weather when they planned this outing?” he was referring to the organizer of this outing. Wait, who is the organizer?
I just shrugged. I was also suddenly notified, eh.
“It’ll be dangerous for us to stay here in the car. Should we book a place?”
I caught myself staring at him for a moment. “If the situation asks for it.”
He nods as he maneuvers his car to seek out the nearest hotel in the area. Thank God, we found one.
“Two rooms, please,” said Ismael to the receptionist. I looked around the place. I don’t know why this place looks familiar to me. So does the bar next to it. I haven’t even been to Tagaytay to find this place yet.
Wait a minute…
“I apologized, sir, but the two rooms left were already reserved just a moment ago. There’s only one room left.”
Ismael and I met each other’s eyes.
Why did this seem to have happened?
I saw Ismael smirk while shaking his head. “Just like three years ago,” he whispered, before turning his head to the receptionist again. “Alright, we’ll take it.”
I gasped. “Wait a minute, Ismael!”