“Oh!” The manager stopped upon seeing me. “I thought you were with Mattel. Gosh! I missed seeing you both together.”
Okay. What was that? Is she telling me that she doesn’t want to see any guy with Deanara if it is not Mattel? How perfect they are together that people seemed to be shipping their relationship. I am dying to know what happened and why they didn’t end up together.
I rolled my eyes and I guess the manager saw it. Not that I care, why is she looking for someone who isn’t here?
“You know, Mattel is not here.” Deanara softly whispered.
“Duh!” The manager scowled. “Didn’t he send you tickets for his concert?”
Deanara smiled and I saw how she was trying to get away from the conversation. She’s not already comfortable, so I stood beside her and coughed.
“Hey…” I faked a smile. “We’re really hungry, so do you have available seats?” I asked.
“Oh. Sorry…Got excited to see Deanara,” She smiled at me. “You are?” She turned to Deanara who just smiled at her before answering her question.
“He’s Gray. My boyfriend.” She stated.
Before the manager could say something, Deanara pulled me away from her and signaled the waiter for the menu. The manager was still surprised by her gesture and I don’t know what it means.
As soon as she sat down, she focused her eyes on the menu. I could feel like she was afraid of the questions that would be raised after that. She was avoiding the topic. Why would she avoid it? Well, it was obvious that the guy had a huge impact on her to be like that.
“I am going to ask a question…” I slowly said.
“Is it still part of the hundred questions that we are playing?” She glanced at me and smiled. It was then I knew the difference between her genuine smile and her fake smile. In an instant. I felt how that certain name gave her sadness that even her eyes couldn’t hide it.
“The usual,” She gave the waiter the menu and he just nodded. Well, she’s really a regular here since the waiter didn’t ask further questions.
“I’ll order what she ordered,” I told the waiter as he turned to the kitchen.
“You don’t even know what I ordered,” She faked a laugh. “What if you don’t like it?”
“I like whatever you like…” I smiled at him.
She looked outside the window where we faced the lake. I could feel the cold breeze outside as she chose the seat next near the balcony. It was really a beautiful sight, a romantic one. I couldn’t help but get jealous of the fact that she used to spend a romantic day with Mattel in this place. It seems that this place was filled with a lot of their memories.
I thought it was Dave that I should be jealous about or my brother, yet staring at her now, I knew it was Mattel that I should worry about. What if he comes back and Deanara realizes it was still him...what am I going to do? I will not lose her. I cannot afford to lose her.
“What’s the question?” She curiously looked at me.
“Aside from me…” I seriously looked at her. “Or your brother or if you have a brother...may I know those guys who hold a special place in your heart?”
She was taken aback by my questions and I could see how it surprised her.
“What?” She laughed a little. “Why are you asking that?”
“Deanara...we started really fast and you know that. If we wanted to make it work, I need to know and you need to know the things about me like our past relationships. Although, you know, Vivian is my only ex-girlfriend and you need not worry about her.”
“I don’t have an ex-boyfriend if that’s what you’re asking.” She replied.
“But, you have regrets and what ifs, right? Or, almost boyfriend…”
She smiled. “I dated a lot. I’m beautiful, dude.” She even laughed at her statement. “Yeah. I’ve met a lot of guys, but none of them really made an impact in my life.”
“Not even one?” I said, trying to get her to say the name of Mattel.
“Are you getting jealous right now?”
“Should I be jealous?” I replied. “At least, tell me those guys so I won’t have to hear it from someone…” I paused. “Especially when it seems that they ship certain guys for you.”
“Dave…” She instantly said. “Dave is my childhood best friend. We grew up together, so he holds a special place in my heart that not even you cannot erase. He did like me and tried to court me, but it didn’t work out. I guess, we are really meant to become friends forever and we chose that. We’re good and I know you both are good, right?”
“Yeah.” I nodded. It’s true. We sometimes talk about Deanara and it seems that if we spend some time together, we are going to be friends.
“Just Dave?”
“Are you sure you really want to know?” She teased me, so I had an idea who would be the next one.
“Is it my brother?” I asked to which she slowly nodded.
“I would lie if I tell you that I never thought about it because I did.”
“You liked him?”
She nodded. “I did. Although, I pushed those feelings away because I don’t want to deal with a playboy. And, we remained just friends before we parted ways. We never talked again until he asked me to sing for your grandfather’s birthday. He even blocked me or maybe it was Vivian that did that.”
“Perhaps,” I smiled a little. I am no longer bitter about them. I learned to somehow forgive the both of them for doing it to me, but forgiving doesn’t mean I forget about what they did to me. It still left a huge impact in my life...giving me so many trust issues and constantly asking my worth.
I was able to overcome that because of Deanara. I promised myself that I will trust her. She deserves the best version of me.
“And, who’s next?” I changed the topic. My brother no longer interests me. It was Mattel that’s killing me now.
“Mattel Dela Merced.” She smiled a little. “You can search his name on the internet and they will tell you his basic information. Although, some of them were not even real.”
“Do you really know him that much?”
“I met him when we were in high school.” She started telling me their stories. “In this place…”
“Oh…” I blinked and was speechless.
“He owned this place.”
Okay. I need air. I couldn’t breathe. Damn! He owned this place and I was even the one who brought her here.
“However, he gave it to me as a gift when he left so basically I owned this place now.”
That’s it. That must be the reason why the people around her seem to know her and they just couldn’t approach her. They were still eyeing us like it was again their first time seeing her or it must be because she was with another guy.
“I couldn’t handle it, so I asked Collin...the manager a while ago to take care of this place.”
“Why didn’t you handle it?”
She shrugged. From then, I knew why. They spent so much time here that it killed her when he left like it did to me when Vivian chose my brother.
“We used to sing here. That’s still my guitar over there…” She pointed. “And, I was the one who designed this place.”
I looked around. No wonder it’s so serene. It was like an angel touched the place that everytime you looked around, the interior made you calm. It was like you were actually living in the 18th century since the interiors were vintage, from the display, to the paintings, everything was old yet classy.
“He gave you this coffee shop as a gift, huh?” I smirked. Well, I might as well think of something big to give her. I couldn’t lose to this coffee shop. I could send her to the moon if she wants. I’ll do everything to make her happy with me, not with any other guy. I will not let her go.
“Yeah. Why?”
“Nothing.” I said, although, I am thinking of what to give her. Should I buy her a mansion? Well, I am already building our home, so I should think of another one.
“Why didn’t you get together?”
“He chose his career over me and I don’t want to be a burden, so I decided to let him go.”
“But you love him, why would you let him go?”
“Because the younger version of me believed that if things were meant for me, they would always come back.”
“If he comes back, would you go back to him?”
She fell into silence for a minute, staring blankly at me, until she gave me a smile.
“Why would I go back to him when I already have you?”
My heart fluttered at that moment.
However, her ringtone told me otherwise when it played the song, Sunrise, by Mattel.
Now, I couldn’t help but wonder, was Mattel the reason why she loved the sunrise?