My Love Story

Chapter 9

I spent the rest of the morning cleaning up my unit. I hope it is this easy to clean up the mess I got into with my best friend.

I could almost feel the warmth of his body as he tightly embraced me and the passion in those heated kisses. I felt my knees go weak. What have I gotten into?

I rested for a while and prepared for the meeting with my team.

My office is in the same building as my condo unit. That is where we accept queries, hold our meetings, and usually discuss with clients unless they want a meeting outside.

My team already knows what to do... who will call who and who will haggle for what. I smiled as I watch them. My team is the perfect epitome of what dedication and passion in what they are doing is all about.

My thoughts were cut by my ringing cellphone. My heart skipped when I thought that it must be Hugh. He does call me every time to check on me anyway.

"Hello?" I answered hurriedly without looking at the screen to check the caller's name.

Hugh does not like waiting and I don't want to go thru missing his call and being the one to call him back. Just not this time anyway. Not after last night. I feel so awkward.

"Hi baby girl. Are you busy?" Jerome asked on the other line.

"I am in a meeting," I said as I let out a sigh of relief or more of disappointment maybe.

Maybe it is really true just like in those movies I watched and books I read, there really are best friends developing a fondness of each other and then falling in love. How happy a story ends when they both fall in love with each other but how sad when it is one way only and the friendship is sacrificed. Now I am hoping our case is not the second.

My thoughts were cut the second time when I heard Jerome on the other line, "Hey baby girl, are you still there? Is this a bad time to call? I was asking if we could go out tonight to celebrate your success... my way."

"I am sorry I just got caught up in my meeting. Anyway, it would be great to go out tonight. I will call you after this," I said.

I need to clear my mind and my heart. Yeah, maybe my heart more than my mind.

He said goodbye. He sounded excited. What could be his way of celebrating? Okay, later. I tuned back to my meeting.

The meeting got a bit intense as everyone was excited. The success of this would open up bigger opportunities for us. You know big names would see how the event went. Then it will be hyped and sensationalized through social media and we could hope for more big names to book us.

I am now waiting outside the building for Jerome to pick me up. It is seven in the evening. He told me to bring a sweater. Are we going to Tagaytay or Baguio? I wonder.

The building guard approached me and gave a long stemmed white rose with a card. He was smiling

I got it and noticed a card. I opened the card and saw the note, "I am sorry. I cannot make it here. Please go back to your unit. -J."

Argh. I was quite pissed. Not that I am looking forward to this but I could use it as a distraction. Weird though, why did he not call or text me instead of sending a single-stemmed flower delivery

I was tempted to throw away the rose if not for the guard looking at me still smiling. And that guard is just adding up to my annoyance.

I pressed the elevator button to go up my unit and sulk. I told you I needed this night out to unwind.

When I got in the elevator, the operator handed me a small stuffed bear with a card. I opened it and the note says, "But please meet me at the rooftop. I am waiting baby girl. -J."

My heart suddenly went wild. I was surprised. I am not sure if I want to punch him for seemingly disappointing me earlier or for surprising me like this. What is waiting at the rooftop? Can I keep up with this kind of thing with Jerome? Okay, forget Hugh and the kisses first and concentrate on this celebration with Jerome. I am pretty sure he exerted a lot of effort to put together whatever is up there in the roof deck.

Now my expectations went a notch higher in this celebration thing.

When I got there Jerome was waiting for me holding three heart-shaped balloons. He handed them to me and he took my hand to guide me.

There is a nicely set-up table for two surrounded by flowers and balloons. There is a streamer shouting "Good Job Baby Girl!"

I squeezed his hand and whispered, Thank you."

He smiled. He pulled the chair for me. He got the rose, stuffed bear, and balloons and put them aside.

Dinner of salad, baked mussels, steak, and blueberry cheesecake is set-up for us. There is even a chilled bottle of Martini. I feel so happy and special.

And it was Martini, not champagne because champagne is Hugh's way of celebrating. I was laughing a bit in my head.

I continuously thanked him. No one has ever done this to me. Okay, so Hugh would surprise me at times but he is my best friend. Not until last night happened. Okay... erase. I should not think of that and ruin this evening, right? This is Jerome's moment.

We enjoyed our dinner and talked of different things. It was a fun-filled night. He would occasionally reach to squeeze my hand or rub it as if confirming his sincerity.

We did not notice that it was almost midnight. He walked me to my unit.

As soon as I opened the door, Hugh was standing in front of it with arms crossed over his chest. Now I smell trouble.

Still, I asked Jerome if he wanted to get inside for coffee or tea. He humbly denied it and whispered to my ear, "Thanks for tonight. Looking forward to getting to know you more."

Jerome then gave me a kiss on the forehead and left me standing in front of the door with my mouth hanging open. Did he do that even if Mr. Strict Father aka Hero Best Friend was watching?

"Get inside lady!" Hugh shouted as if irritated by what just happened.

Can my life get any more complicated than this?