Tú Eres Mi Sol

XXXII

Overthinking ruins happiness. It steals the moments. It ruins the future.

I was grinning like a Cheshire Cat when I heard Alden earlier on EB singing this song. I thought it was perfect for this chapter:

🎶Wag kang maniwala d'yan. 'di ka n'ya mahal talaga
Sayang lang ang buhay mo kung mapupunta ka lang sa kanya
Iiwanan ka lang n'yan, mag-ingat ka
Dagdag ka lamang sa milyun-milyong babae n'ya🎶

🎶Akin ka na lang (akin ka na lang)
Iingatan ko ang puso mo
Akin ka na lang (akin ka na lang)
Wala nang hihigit pa sa 'yo🎶
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Richard was drinking himself into oblivion at the bar below their apartment in Midtown Manhattan. There were girls who tried picking him up but he shrugged them off. He was too miserable, it took all his courage to tell her how he felt and yet, she probably at the moment is kissing that that two-timing frenchman.

 The doorman at his building helped him get up his apartment. 

In the last 24 hours, there was nothing in his body but alcohol, that if they opened his arteries at the moment, they'll find whisky and vodka, not blood.

He will have to put whatever he was feeling on hold, he promised to be at his professor's conference and he wanted to keep his word. 

***

Richard was on a high when he went out of the conference room. 

"Richard, I'm really sorry to have invited you here on a false pretense but I wanted this as a surprise" his old professor told him

"No Sir, thank you. I'm just really overwhelmed. Thank you, I never thought it would happen." Richard replied

"Same here, it was really a surprise that they did this. It's unheard of"

Adam, one of the people they met with went out of the room.

"Congratulations again, Richard. Oh by the way, you must be very special to Dei Montenegro-Mendoza, she helped make this a reality. See you tomorrow."

Richard was puzzled, he looked at his professor.

***

Richard was walking sluggishly back to his apartment. He would normally be jumping for joy for this opportunity.

His professor invited him, not for a conference but it was a meeting with Adam and Joe, the founders of the company he wanted to intern for. 

During the meeting, they said that they've seen his work when he was at Uni, also the improvements he's made in their company and the renewable energy project that he was spearheading, and they were very very impressed. 

They offered him to join a 3-month project in Silicon Valley working on self-charging and self-driving electric car technology and the project starts in two weeks. Although, they said it's not the same as the internship but the knowledge would prove to be valuable. 

What confused him was Dei's involvement, when he asked his professor he said that it was Dei who lobbied for him to get this opportunity. She found out that she was friends with someone, a cousin of one of the founders. She worked with his professor to see if there was a chance for Richard to be able to work on one of their projects. His professor said that she made sure that Richard was chosen because of his own merits and that she was there mainly to present his achievements and show them his potential. 

His professor said that he was expecting Dei to be there but sent her apologies and asked if he could hand Richard a note after the meeting.

***

The note said, "You know where to find me"

Richard now standing at the door of her family's NYC apartment. It's actually right across their apartment, theirs are the only two apartments on the floor with both having 4 rooms and a stunning view of Central Park. Nicolas Mendoza and Ricardo Faulkerson wanted to look for apartments right next to each other and found this. 

He knocked hesitantly. Dei opened the door. Dei was dressed in a white shirt and denim shorts, her hair in loose waves. She just looked so beautiful and he wanted to pull her for a kiss.

"RJ, come in"

She could see clearly that Richard was anxious and fidgety. 

"Dei, I just wanted to come here to say thank you. I don't know what you did but thank you. I want to thank you properly, one day. Hmm.. I want to talk about this but not today, please. I need time. I am not sure I can deal with this right now."

"RJ, deal with what?"

"Deal with you and Michel-Jan"

"Me and Michel-Jan?"

"Yes, you and him. I am really sorry about my outburst the other day, it's just seeing you kiss someone else, it was very difficult to control my emotions. Please send my apologies for him as well."

"Why was it difficult to control your emotions?"

Richard was clearly very uncomfortable at the moment.

"Dei, are you trying to embarrass me?"

"No, why would I do that?"

"You're asking me this question but to indulge you, I told you the other day, I love you and I always have. I'm sorry, I know the timing isn't right." Richard clearly now has tears in his eyes.

Dei cupped his face, Richard shook it but Dei held it tighter.

"What timing, RJ, what timing?"

Richard now had tears in flowing. 

"You and Michel-Jan, clearly I was too late. I didn't take my chance when I had it. I waited."

Dei removed his tears with her thumbs

"I tried to run after you the other day, I wasn't able to catch up. Did you ever give me a chance to reply to your declaration? Did you ever ask me how I felt about it?"

Richard shook his head

"RJ", Dei now caressing his cheeks "I love you, too. This project was my supposed to be my grand gesture. I didn't know that you love me when I started working on this. All I know was that I love you and I want you to fulfil your dreams."

Richards eyes lit up, it was like he's seen fireworks for the first time,  astonished and full of bliss.

He cupped her face and went for a kiss. It was searing, fiery and full of passion like it was making up for all those lost time.