A/N: Thank you so much for the private messages, reviews, favorites, and follows! You guys certainly are the best readers I could have. Now on to the next chapter
FEBRUARY 4, 2017 – 8:24 AM
"I don't know why but since the first time we met I always told myself that you are the one for me. From the very first glance, I knew that I needed to see your face every single face," Christian told me as we were inside this café inspired by Old Hollywood.
There were photos of classic Hollywood films like Roman Holiday, Casablanca, All About Eve, The Sound of Music, and many more. It just added the feels of the moment since we were surrounded by the golden age of films. The moment was better because of the venue.
"I would say the same," I was stirring the coffee in the same way my stomach was stirring deep inside.
Christian's eyes glimmered and with convincing words, he told me, "Can we be officially together now? I know we've shared some moments where we showed each other how much we cared, but can we be so much more? Can we be official?"
That was the question I've longed him to ask me since the beginning of our friendship.
"Yes, of course!" I was beyond sure.
Then our hands intertwined and everybody around us started dancing. The waiters were snapping their fingers making sure that they were in sync with the music playing on the background. Everyone was on the table dancing some old Hollywood dances and Christian and I looked at them very confused but at the same time very happy.
"CUT!" Then Jose put a stop to the fantasy.
It was back to reality when Christian and I felt very awkward again. Since that kiss from yesterday, it seemed like the two of us were scared to say anything to each other. His back was straighter than usual and I immediately knew that he was getting uncomfortable with me. I knew that he was completely aware of my awkward feelings too since my fingers were shaky.
Jose, on the other hand, was completely clueless, "That was a nice shot! Everybody did a fantastic job! This is like a remake of La La Land and you guys just make great actors. It just felt so real!"
It was real . . . well, at least, for me.
He continued putting on his professional persona when he complimented Christian and I, "It will be because of you that the membership of Freedom Fighters will increase! They will really love your chemistry and since we have already shot the heart-breaking scenes then I can definitely guarantee that Rhian will approve of this!"
Christian mumbled, "Thank you". I can sense that he was slowly moving on from everything that had happened in his life for the past four days—from the breakup to the mini-breakup with his job.
"I am just glad that you didn't add anything to the script like that kiss from yesterday which was hot, I admit." Why did Jose have to say that? Why did he have to remind us of the sudden kiss we had yesterday? Didn't he have any sensitive bone to his body? Oh, I was definitely glaring at him now.
Then when I looked over to Christian, there was a weird expression plastered on his face. He just looked like a completely different person and somehow his eyes were yearning. I didn't know why but he looked like he was nervous about something.
I was not even sure if I wanted to know. It could just hurt me.
FEBRUARY 4, 2017 – 9:03 AM
"Goodbye everybody! I am heading to work now. "The Adventurers" will have a brand new season so that means a lot of work for me. Goodbye!" I bid goodbye to each and every one of them but I didn't do the same with Christian. I just faced him and gave a faked smile.
I cringed as I turned my back and almost ran to my car. Too bad I wasn't as fast as The Flash.
"Ana?" Christian called out and when I almost entered the car he grabbed me by my hand and spun me around and it wasn't that harsh though. He seemed to be careful even he was being forceful.
"Yes, Christian?" I gulped. For heaven's sake! This was my best friend! Why was I acting all weird around him?! Will I ruin us because of one kiss? Oh right, there wasn't even an "us".
"Why do I have the feeling that you are avoiding me?"
"Well, it's your feelings so why are you asking me?"
He rolled his eyes and said, "You're being sarcastic again, Ana. Why is it that you can't be nice even just a single day? I just want to know why you've been avoiding me like plague the whole day. You can't even look at me and that's not normal!"
"Christian . . ." I was so hesitant to tell him.
"Come on, just tell me!"
"Because you have body odor! You smell today!"
He let go of my arm just to smell both his armpits and he was frowning at me. "I didn't forget to apply deodorant today, Ana so please tell me why you're shunning me all of a sudden."
"Why do you have to be like this, Christian? I am not avoiding you, okay? Here are the keys to my house. Since you are temporarily jobless, I would want you to have a part-time job. You could catsit for Melon, okay? I am not avoiding you. Wait for me until I come home, okay?"
"So I'm a catsitter now?" He complained but nevertheless he still took the key.
"Yes, you are! Forget about mass media right now. Just focus on cat media!"
He rolled his eyes and simply became frank, "Is this all about the kiss?"
I was silent then. I wanted to say something but all I did was stutter and I hated myself for it. Why couldn't I just pretend that I was so strong about it? After all this was just Christian and I was pretty sure that he would by my lie if I gave an Oscar-winning performance.
Christian confirmed, "This was really about the kiss, huh? Let's talk about it later. You need to work and I gotta say that this isn't the right place to talk about it."
Heck! I shouldn't have given him the key!
NINE YEARS AGO – AUGUST 18, 2009 – 7:55 AM
We were in the hallway and it was a usual day at school. Not to be stereotypical or anything but the jocks were bullying the nerds and the popular girls were getting all the attention. Teachers were stumbling due to different paper works. Yes, it was pretty normal but for me, I wasn't feeling normal. Christian and I kissed last night and it wasn't normal!
Best friends never kiss at all! They could kiss but on the cheeks only or even on the hand. Lips were definitely off limits when it came to kissing friends. It wouldn't be friendship at all. It just didn't seem like it. I knew he was having a debate competition today and it was enough to keep him busy and I had enough time to get over it.
I was so certain he was busy with his debate but why did I just hear his voice?
Why was he calling me right now?
"Ana? Ana?" He screaming my name from the hallway and he just seemed real stressed. He looked as if he was up all night.
As soon as he reached me I could almost hear the entire pace of his breathing.
"Hey, what's up with you? Why have you been running, huh?"
"I just need to tell you something about last night—"
"Well, you have a debate right now, am I correct? Last night you were reading a lot about how to be a good debater and I am sure you're going to apply it now. You are going to nail this! You will be like this man who would win both best speaker and debater award! You're gonna win," I talked too fast.
"You know that it's not about that, Ana—"
"Oh about Elliott? Gosh, he is such a player! Do you know what? I've seen him making out with another girl last night and I almost told his girlfriend but then again, his girlfriend was making out with another boy and I thought that 'okay, you guys can cheat on each other and I'll be right here watching'", why do I have to blubber?
"Ana, why are you being like this?"
"Well, because you have a debate in thirty minutes and—"
"It's about the kiss we shared last night, Ana!" He screamed and everybody was looking at us.
Literally every single eyes were on us and I can see those eyes were peering and wanting to see what scandalous sight this was. There had been rumors about me and Christian more than just being friends and this would be the confirmation. I definitely felt concerned about this and I was becoming very conscious. Why did it have to be so public like this?
Of course, I wanted to tell him what I truly felt—I wanted to tell him that the kiss meant so much to me and that I could ask him to be my boyfriend right now.
But I was scared of being publicly rejected. I knew that he only saw me as a friend and nothing more.
So I made the bad decision to utter, "It meant nothing, Christian. It was just a kiss."
Everyone made an "oh" sound then Christian looked as if I just slapped him. I was sure he was just concealing his feelings. I bet he was relieved that I knew how to face reality and he didn't have to feel guilt at all. It was meant to be this way.
"Very well then," that was all he said before turning his back and managed to pass through every high school student who was blocking his way.
And in that day Christian lost in their debate.
NINE YEARS AGO – AUGUST 20, 2017 – 10:40 PM
I had been having trouble sleeping for days. It was almost as if the days became so dragging. I just realized that maybe I've hurt Christian. Guilt was eating me up and it even haunted me in my dreams. I was thinking that maybe it would've been better if I didn't make him face public humiliation. He was definitely embarrassed about what our schoolmates thought.
"Dear, what's wrong?" Mom entered my room and I thought it was creepy.
"Mom, what are you doing here?"
"I can sense that there's something wrong." Oh this was one of the moments when it seemed as if Mom and I had an invisible link in our hearts.
"Mom . . ." Then I began to cry. I hated crying in front of her. Ever since I saw her cry when Dad left us, I felt as if she was being so weak and I didn't want to be a weak girl like her. She was never a strong woman in my eyes but it seemed as if I was holding on with my life to her.
She sat down my bed and held me while I cried. I didn't even know why I was crying. Tears just sprang freely and my back was shaking. She kissed the top of my head and tried to pacify me. I was holding on for dear life while she was keeping me together. Mom waited until I had the courage to tell her everything.
Then I discovered that I should have told Christian what I've really felt. I shouldn't have kept it to myself. There were a lot of regrets but was it too late to fix them?
Mom listened to all of my dramatic explanation tirelessly. She saw how restless I was.
Then she advised, "I've already known that you've loved Christian from the start. He just gets your craziness, you know. He's the only person who can keep up with how studious you are and how strongly you stand up for your beliefs. As long as life goes on, it's never too late, my dear. Why don't you just go to him and tell him everything. Fix this."
NINE YEARS AGO – AUGUST 21, 2017 – 8:31 AM
Kate and I were in the same hallway while she talked about the new topics for world literature. She just can't seem to get over how Brad Pitt was so hot playing Achilles and it was definitely weird when she marvelled over how oily his body was. She was definitely the kind of girl who gets crazy over abs.
Forget about muscles and biceps and abs, I wanted to talk to her about my issue.
"Kate, I have something to ask you."
"Shoot! Ask me."
"Do you think it's too late for me to apologize to Christian?"
She answered, "No."
I was taken aback, "No? Kate, are you joking."
"No, I am not joking."
"Kate, come on! We're serious here."
The way she looked made me feel really scared. She was deadly serious and the word 'no' wasn't a good sign anymore. Then she revealed, "How can he be your best friend when you do not know? Ana, Christian's been seeing Stephanie for two days now. I even saw them eating each other's faces."
"What?" My heart trembled in pain and I wanted to cry right at the moment.
Then the confirmation was there when Christian walked into the hallway holding hands with Stephanie, the prom girl herself. Then it was almost as if the world came crashing down on me. This was reality and reality said that Christian and I weren't meant to be together at all.
PRESENT - FEBRUARY 4, 2017 – 7:18 PM
I was back home from a very busy day at work that almost consumed all my creative juices. Melon greeted me like she was welcomed to have me. It made me doubtful though; was she grateful I arrived or was she grateful that the food arrived?
"How was catsitting?" I asked Christian who was sitting down my pink couch. He hated the color since day one and vowed not to sit on it, but life gets too hard to stand sometimes so he just sat instead. Yes, pun intended.
"Oh, I was feline bored but still it went purrfect," He stood up and walked to the kitchen right now. He was watching me feed Melon and he was used to it. I wanted him to have a cat too but he said he's not fond of pets since there's no fatherly bone in his body.
After I placed the food on Melon's glittery pink plate, I faced his serious face and the expression almost felt as if it was the same as nine years ago.
"About the kiss, Ana . . ."
"Christian, don't worry. It didn't mean anything—"
"It didn't mean anything? So why did you kiss me?" His voice was firm and it intimidated me.
"Well, uh . . . uhm . . ."
"Ana, I remember it was just like this nine years ago but can we please grow up now? Can we please act as if we're the matured adults we think we are? I think it's time to face the truth: there's an attraction going on between the two of us and you've been denying it from the start."
"Christian, you're confused. You've broken up with Corinne and—"
"It's about us, Ana."
"There's no 'us', Christian."
Now he looked as if he was punched right at the gut.
A few minutes later he nodded to himself and bit his lips, "Well, you can say whatever you want but us or no us, I still can do this."
With one swift moment: he kissed me.
And I kissed him back.
Clothes on the floor.
Pants and Moans.
Bedroom and Window Lights.
Highs and Higher Highs.
It was just us.
A/N: What do you think of this chapter? Lol. That was a weird kind of ending. We still have nine days to go 'till Valentine's Day (in my story, at least). Now what do you think?