Forget Me Not

Chapter Fourteen

Rianne’s phone rang just as she was brewing coffee to start the day at her café. She peeked to see who it was and saw Yssa’s name on the screen. She wiped her hands with a towel and hurried to answer it.

“Rianne, some of our college friends want to have a little get-together tonight. Want to come?” Yssa said, her voice a little excited. Her best friend mentioned having a crush on a friend from college but didn’t say who it was. Maybe he’d be there tonight.

“Sure. Can I bring someone with me?” Rianne asked.

“Don’t tell me you already have a new boyfriend.” Yssa teased.

“No. He’s the guy I’ve been telling you about. The one I met recently. He’s really nice and easy to talk to. I thought you’d like him, too,” Rianne explained, trying to hide her giddiness.

“All right, then. See you tonight,” Yssa said and ended the call.

Rianne texted Ralph the moment she got off the phone with Yssa and he immediately agreed. She was thrilled to know she’d get to see him again.

 ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

As Rianne and Ralph stepped into her friend Dia’s restobar, they were greeted by the familiar faces she’d known and went crazy with at parties in college.

“Hey, Rianne. Long time no see. How have you been?” Dia said as she welcomed Rianne with a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

“Still the same old me. Late as usual. How about you?” Rianne replied as they walked to their table.

“I am married to this crazy one right here. Remember Joshua?”

“Oh, the class clown! You guys were always fighting then.”

“Who knew we’d end up together, right?” Dia said.

“Well, D, everyone knew you’d end up together eventually,” Yssa interjected and everyone laughed in agreement.

“This one right here is the slacker among us. Look what he’d become. Who would have thought France would become a lawyer?” Dia said reacquainting Rianne with another classmate and kept doing the same with the rest of the people there.

“If I remember correctly, all our block mates thought Rianne and Jason would be a couple. Ang torpe mo kasi , pare,” Joshua teased.

Jason ignored him and instead asked, “Who’s that mysterious guy you brought along?”

“Oh right. This is Ralph Montes—my new friend,” Rianne announced and the group fell into an awkward silence, giving one another furtive glances. She found that rude.

“Hello, everyone! I hope you don’t mind me joining tonight. I am so looking forward to getting to know everyone in Rianne’s barkada,” Ralph said despite the weirdness. After that, everyone went on to welcome Ralph into the group.

“We all thought Rianne would be with Jason. He’d always been head over heels in love with her,” France, the lawyer, commented while Jason drank his third shot of tequila.

“Why don’t we serve the booze now? I’ll have some Strawberry Daiquiri for starters,” Rianne said to the waiter.

“Yes, ma’am. How about you, sir? What would you like to drink?” the waiter went on to taking all of their orders. The alcohol came pouring in after.

After two martinis, an apple mojito, and a Sex on the Beach, Rianne had to excuse herself to go to the ladies’ room and sober up before she got too tipsy. When she got back, she spotted Ralph and Yssa whispering to each other and laughing over something only they were privy to—Rianne found it weird that they seemed to be close to each other, like they’d been friends for a long time, when it was supposed to be their first meeting. She figured the alcohol must be making her feel this tinge of jealousy. She shook her head to get rid of the feeling and walked back to her seat between Ralph and Yssa, interrupting their conversation.

“Am I interrupting something? Have you two known each other before? You seemed very friendly with each other.” Rianne commented as she took a sip of her vodka soda.

“No, we just met earlier and got to know each other just now. Your best friend’s really nice. That’s all.” Ralph answered but she wasn’t convinced. Maybe she was just being paranoid or worse, she was acting like a jealous girlfriend which she obviously had no right to be.

“Let’s play a game,” Dia announced, interrupting their conversation. “If your answer to the question is yes, you take a tequila shot. So, who among you here is over 25 and still single?” Dia asked.

Four of them raised their shot glasses and licked the salt from the back of their hands, drank the tequila, bit on the lemon wedge and woo-hoo-ed.

“Who is over 25, still single and lovin’ it?”

The four of them all went and took another tequila shot. Rianne went on to take more.

“Never been kissed?”

“Been violent because of jealousy?”

“Had two lovers at the same time at one point?”

“Had never cheated on their lovers?”

“Stupid when it came to love?”

“Sometimes feels like having kids sucks?”

Rianne took a shot every time a question was asked. She was getting crazier and drunker. She’d been depressed lately and wanted a reason to get herself inebriated. She kept taking shots even when the questions no longer applied to her. For the last two questions, every time she raised her shot glass, Ralph snatched it from her hand and gulped it down himself. She glared at him.

“Hey! You shouldn’t steal my drinks. You might get drunk, you know,” Rianne said, waving her index finger at him and pouted, the tequila getting the better of her. Her head started to swirl and she wanted to steady it with her two hands. She started to fill her shot glass with more tequila and was about drink when Ralph grabbed it from her again and took the shot.

“Hey!” Rianne said with a pout, acting like a little kid. “You are. A. Bad. Bad. Person. Bad. Man.”

Rianne heard Jason slamming his shot glass on the table. He stood up from his seat and she tried to steady her gaze as he approached. Her head was spinning faster as she struggled to keep her eyes open.

“Rianne, I hate to do this but I have to tell you the truth,” Jason said. She wanted to hear what he had to say so she tried hard to stay conscious but her head won’t allow her.

“I was your boyfriend before you got into that accident,” Jason revealed.

Rianne wanted to say something but was too drunk to do so. She passed out before she could even react to Jason’s revelation. She remembered feeling her head drop and someone grabbing her arm and helping her stand up. How she got home was a complete mystery to her.