Second Chances (Kathneil FF)

Second Chances - 14

Second Chances - 14

Today was so surreal, Anita thought as she stared up at her ceiling.

The moonlight that came through her windows casted a glow in her darken room.

It was around 10 when they decided to part ways and good hour later, when they actually did.

(Flashback)

"It's late. Please, let me send you back."

And show you where I live? No way, she thought.

"It's ok, I have my car, and don't live far."

"Let me just escort you with the hotel limo, from the back."

He's genuinely worried about me, I can tell from his face.

"No, seriously, I'll be ok," Anita smile, trying to reassure him. "This is Malacca not KL, nothing bad ever happens here."

"Ok, now you're making me seriously worried," Kevin frowned. "That's always the favourite line before the heroine gets kidnapped."

She smiled softly at his words, touched for his concern.

"I tell you what," she said. "I'll call you once I arrive home. Will that make you feel better?"

"You're giving me your number?"

His face brightened like a little boy.

"No, I'll get the receptionist to connect me to your room."

"Oh," and his face fell again. "Ok, I'll walk you to your car then. My room is 3316, by the way, just call direct."

(End of flashback)

Anita sighed, her body tingling all over.

Why am I scared yet excited at the same time.

The boy in my dreams was even better as a man.

He was funny, yet has his sensitive moments.

He seemed to know what I like or don't, and at certain times, he spoke to me without saying anything at all.

And the icing on cake - he was so pleasing to the eyes. You could just stare at him all night and not say a word, Anita thought dreamily, rolling on her stomach and hugging her pillow tight.

You're such a sucker for a cute face, Anita, she laughed at herself and sat up on her bed.

Blowing her hair carelessly off her forehead, she thought back of her outing with Kevin Rodrigues.

It was truly unexpected.

Of course, the thought of meeting him outside the business centre has not left her mind, but Anita simply brushed it off as a strange case of meeting a look alike. But she certainly did not expect him to appear out of nowhere to sit beside her near the pool, with tears in his eyes, no less.

And she also was surprised at herself for being straightforward enough to confront his unapologetic stake out.

You asked him out for a drink, for crying out, she scolded herself, burying her face in her palms, in shame. So tak malu, Anita!

But after a short remorse, she appeared from behind her hands, smiling stupidly.

But it was worth it, she thought. I don't really care how all these connect.

The most important thing is, we connected. Our conversations flew so effortlessly. The fours hours went by in a blink.

In that short period, I got to know his favourite colour; that he hated frogs with a vengeance; that his dad passed away when he was 9; that as single child, he considered Gene truly as his younger brother; and that his mom was both his best friend and the source of his thinning hair.

Thinning hair, my foot, she snorted. He has a lovely head of hair.

Sigh.

Seriously, Anita, you're such a loser. Never been in love at such an advanced age of 26, and the first person you are attracted to, has to be a foreigner.

And she sighed again.

Oh well, like he said, don't worry your pretty little head, and go with the flow. She was really looking foward to going to work the next day, and at the prospect of perhaps bumping into the handsome star again.

However, sleep just refused to come and the night seemed too long.

Only one thing to do then, she thought happily, kicking the blankets off her legs.

She swung her legs onto the floor and strode to her bag for her trusted iPad.

And smilingly, she made herself comfortable on the bed again and tapped the YouTube icon to start typing the name Kevin Rodrigues in the search panel.

+++

A good two hours later, she leaned back against the bed post and her blood shot eyes stared blankly at the wall opposite.

Her pretty face has gone pale with her lips slightly ajar, as her mind whirred with thousands unanswered questions.

On her lap lay her iPad with a YouTube page still on.

The last video showed the behind-the-scenes compilation of a happy teenage couple that was so blatantly in love - a handsome 19 year old Kevin Rodrigues and his co star of many productions, a beautiful 17-something Inessa Sanchez.

And in the background stood Anita Sta Maria's own mother, with a smile so warmly familiar that it felt like she came back from the dead to be in the same bedroom as her then.

"Mommy?"