Remind Me

Do You Have Your Answers?

Jade Tanchingco's Condominium Unit, Monday, May 18, 2015 1:00 AM

Althea wasn't coming.

Her mind was made up about that.

As she stared through the partially opened window in the living room of her 3rd-floor condo, Jade observed the fury of nature in its most defiant hour. Cool, blustering winds swayed the driving rain in all directions, as lightening lit up the sky, streaking bolts of illumination through her room. The power was off. Everything went black twenty minutes ago, not long after she called Althea.

Althea hadn't tried her cell phone.

And for the life of her, she couldn't come up with one single reason why Althea should climb into her car in this kind of severe weather and drive all the way across town to her. And for what, because she asked too?

Not likely.

Yet, ask she did.

Perched on the window ledge, she leaned half past her curtains. She loved the natural poetry of storms, all the while hating the one brewing within her. The events of tonight have emotionally shaken her to the core and left her barely able to breath. For right or wrong, she felt only one person could help her find the answers to her turmoil.

That, in itself, was a powerfully dangerous admission.

Perhaps she would have her answers on her own if she could just... Jade shook her head, wishing some things in her life were simple, because Althea Guevarra never would be. Three months into a new friendship, while getting to know each other... her presence, at times, was intoxicating.

She knew Althea felt the same way about her. Sometimes it bothered her. Other times she found it thrilling.

Suddenly, a booming thunder crackled across the heavens, wild and untamed. Jade felt that in Althea's gaze whenever she became angry with her. They argued over things any two friends did, as there were times they were sincerely annoyed with one another. It never lasted for long, and whenever they made up, they grew closer. Hugs lingered close to holding on. Talks on the phone were long, even though they never took an inappropriate turn. They came from two different worlds and found a genuine interest in the things they'd done and experienced. They connected on a level they never had before.

Althea was a good woman.

Stunning.

An independent, moody, attractive woman and she could not remove that truth from her subconscious.

What she felt for David couldn't either. The war fought inside her over what was right and what she wanted on lonely nights left her restless and unsure.

David was a good man as well. The twenty-six year old businessman, who was matched to her when they were in high school. For several years, all she knew was David is for her, and she knew that David's feelings were growing for her even then. Having returned back to Manila after two months of traveling, and with a new job at her Dada's company, she'd fought for a job, she felt the need to be independent more so than anything else.

She had a crush on David way back when they are kids but she never believe in soul mates, until Althea showed up. David was good looking, sweet, considerate, and a gentleman. Sincerely, she knows that he loves her... deeply. After so many years she was surprised she wasn't in love with him yet. He treated her so well, and had given her all the space she had asked for. To her credit, she never once lied to him. She never told him she was in love, or that if he met another woman who was ready to commit, that he wasn't free to go. She was fair and would understand.

He stayed.

He loved her.

And tonight, he asked her to marry him... out of the blue... and now she's lost.