Another Chance To Say... [ON HOLD]

Getting The Ball Rolling

"Tina?" Sabine called from the gate of her best friend's house.

Tina quickly opened the front screen door and then ran to the gate and opened it for her best friend to come in. "You're just in time. I'm on a video call with Scott."

"Oh cool!" Sabine said. "I haven't talked to that guy in ages!"

"Come on, I know he's excited to talk to you," Tina pulled her friend by the hand. Her brother Scott had been secretly in love with Sabine for as long as she could remember. At first he harbored just a crush, but that blossomed into something more as Sabine had gotten older, growing into her beauty with grace. Unfortunately for Scott, Sabine had always seen him as a friend, as an older brother. Tina pulled up another chair and sat down with Sabine in front of the camera. "Look who the cat dragged in, Kuya," she called him the Filipino term of respect for an older male.

"Hi, Scott," Sabine said with a huge smile and a wave. She saw the man's image in front of her mirror hers, his dimples revealed. "You're looking good!"

"Look at you...more beautiful than the last time I saw you."

"Is there something wrong with your screen?" she joked.

"Oh, there's the Sab I know...always so shy and modest."

"Well, I was just gonna tell Tina, but since we have you on the line, I'll just tell you, too," she took a deep breath and looked from Tina to Scott and back again. "My dream is coming true, you guys! I've been hired as a pastry chef! I'm gonna be making wedding cakes!"

Tina stood up from her seat. "What?!"she shrieked.

"Yeah! Opening soon, 'Work of Art Cakes'!"

"So amazing, Sab!" Tina hugged her friend.

Scott clapped in the background. "Congrats, Sab! You deserve this."

"Thanks, guys! I didn't think this would happen so soon. I just finished school, I was going to just keep working for Maria, take cake orders from home, things like that, but now...I don't have to. This is a golden opportunity."

"It really is!" Tina interjected. "I'm so excited for you, bff!" she hugged Sabine again.

"Big things happening," Sabine couldn't help but grin at the Madrigal siblings. "Anyway, Scott! When are you coming home to visit? You haven't even seen your house yet," she changed the subject and turned the attention to Scott.

"I know...soon! I miss everyone, including you, Sab," Scott winked at her.

"Brother, it's too late! Sab is in love," Tina nudged her best friend with her elbow as the other woman blushed.

"What?" Scott asked suddenly.

"It's true. Sabine Gomez is now a lady in love. It's your fault, Kuya...you should've made a move years ago."

"Tina!" Sabine hissed, growing more embarrassed by the minute.

"Just saying," Tina looked her brother in the eye.

"I'm happy for you, Sab. Really," Scott said softly but genuinely.

"Thanks. I'm in a really good place right now. All good things happening in my life. Sometimes it scares me how everything is falling into place, like one morning I'll just wake up and everything's gone."

"Sab, don't think that way. Everything happens for a reason...you're a good person. If good things can happen to bad people, why can't great things happen to good people, right?" Scott said words of encouragement.

Sabine smiled. It hadn't been a secret that Scott had feelings for her, but she always had treated it like a joke, that there was no way someone like him could have a crush on her. Yes, when they were younger, she thought he was the most handsome guy, being 3 years older than she and Tina. She even entertained thoughts that one day they might even end up together, thinking that she had a one sided crush. It didn't help that Tina did nothing but tease her, so it added fuel to the fire that he was too good to be true, that he was unattainable for her; but those feelings and dreams dissipated when he flew to the US to work. And now she had Gael, the man she was in love with, the man who owned her heart and soul completely.