Ugly Duckling's Mr. Right

Chapter One

                Its fifteen minutes to eight. And I'm late. Welcome to my Life, I am Rafaella Martinez, a self-confessed dork and a hopeless romantic by heart. I was always the loner, my self-esteem's almost a zero, and I believe that being ugly is fate-my fate. There's one person in my life that truly matters and whom I don't mind telling straight to my face how ugly I am-my Mom. And for that reason, my mother is my best friend. Oh, I almost forgot, I have a boyfriend, we started dating back in high school. I met him at a bookstore. His name is Harry Potter. Nah, I don't have one. That B-word is almost illegal to me. It's not that I don't like to have one, I always picture myself in a relationship, having that special someone in my life. It's just that for me, the world is harsh. To set it plain, boys don't like me. But I'm still waiting, hoping that one day, someone will come and sweep me off my feet, turn my world upside down. I am still waiting for that pivotal moment of my life. And I do hope that it will happen soon.

                "Miss..." I was riding this jam-packed modern version of Hitler's concentration camp which they fondly call MRT, thinking about my dream wedding when a voice came from behind. I was almost startled that I was sort of close to executing various martial arts stances (you know, Bruce Lee's stuff) but I figured looking back towards the direction of the voice is a lot easier. Those deep brown eyes met mine. Oh, are those contact lenses or what? Never mind, looking at them feels good. And boy, does he look dashing too! Wait, was it me whom he called? Really, but why? Is he going to offer me his seat? With that assumption in mind, and before I can scold myself, my scumbag brain hurried towards a very much inevitable thought of falling in love. That's just perfect! Imagine, a love story blossomed in the Holocaust-I mean MRT? At that instant, I already wanted to thank Hitler.

                "Miss?" oh, that voice again. I was so kilig that I almost answered, "Yes, I do." But that's just way too fast. I mean, maybe he's going to ask for my name, or number, or address, or that sort of thing. I tell you, when a guy as good looking as this one stands in front of you, you will give the whole world even when he was only telling you that your fly is open.....

                Wait. What's that? Did he just said that My.Fly.Is.Open? "Miss, bukas yung zipper mo." Mr. Brown Eyes dropped the bomb. Boom! The MRT love story I was fabricating in my silly head vanished just like how Batman fades into the night.

                "Ay, I'm sorry. The traffic eh..you know, rush hour, errrmmm I was late... So I,... This..Oh,shit! Sorry." I stammered as I pull the freakin' zipper close.

                He smiled. For a moment, I thought of his smile as the coolest thing in the world. Then, he broke into a laugh... It didn't last long, probably because ethics rang a bell.

                But nevertheless, I was humiliated. I was humiliated by a good looking guy. The beautiful people of the human race! It has always been the same since grade school. I was so close to crying. "Ding! Ortigas Station. Ortigas Station." Thank God Holocaust ends here.

So I got off from the MRT and headed straight to my office. Let me introduce you to my officemate named Mariel.

"Uy, Raffie, good thingyou're here at last, Boss is so mad , he seemed like he wanted to eat live chicken." Oh, great. Mariel approached me, she's nice, but she's so pretty it makes me want to get a shovel and bury myself under the ground for two days. Why am I surrounded by beautiful faces?

                "You were supposed to do the report pala, pero you were late. I did it for you na lang." Then, that smile of sarcasm.