Love and Lies (I loved him but he lied)

I. The Love Story

People say, "Love hurts." Does it really hurt or it's the consequence of loving too much, being lied to and getting betrayed in the end that hurts? Yes, I think so. Betrayal hurts. Being lied to hurts. Broken vow hurts. Being dumped with a shitty reason hurts. Getting disappointed with the man you loved, trusted and cared for hurts. Therefore, love itself doesn't hurt because it is pure and perfect.

I met a French guy from a dating site after a year of having no boyfriend. Let's call him Pierre or maybe "sweet caramel" since he called me "salty caramel". Actually it should be "salted-caramel" like the flavor for ice cream but I guess he just changed it to "salty" because he tasted my tears when he kissed them away when I cried the day he was leaving for Baguio to live away from me. That was how he came up with that nickname. Anyway, let's stick with Pierre since it's a common name for French men. How we got to know was not extraordinary. Just the same setup like most couple that met through a dating site. He was the one that sent me a short email first saying maybe we could be a good match. I checked his profile and thought maybe he's right about it. So, I gave it a try and replied to him. I told him yes indeed we could and might be a good match. We exchanged emails everyday and started chatting too. I could feel his sincerity in keeping in touch with me and with his intentions of meeting up soon. I had a good feeling for him. I always looked forward to chatting with him. Our "getting to know you" stage wasn't perfect though. There are times when I get upset with him when he misses to send me a message on the scheduled time that we were supposed to chat. There was even a time that we both almost gave up on each other but after a day or two, he contacted me again and I was glad about it. I was just waiting for him to do the first move, to test him if he really liked me and wanted to continue with what we have started. Since he made an effort to communicate with me again, I concluded that he really liked me. In all honesty, I already liked him at that time too. We were good again and talked about meeting up. We started chatting October of 2017. He told me he'll come and meet me next month. (By the way, he told me it would be his second visit to the Philippines on November. He said he was here before for 8 months only and went back to France March of 2017, therefore that puts him in the Philippines July of 2016, right? Basic math. July 2016-March 2017, that's exactly 8 months. No lies there so I believed him. However, I just realized the lies later on when everything was over between us. And that's the one that hurt me most. The lies. I am sometimes forgetful, like the movies I've watched and other not so important things. However, when it comes to this, I remember simple and not so relevant details that were previously given and fit the pieces in a puzzle in the future. Then I realized this little information was after all important and not to be ignored.)

November came and we met. He picked me up from the airport because I was at the province when he arrived here in the Philippines. I had to cut my vacation short and fly to Manila to see him. Our first meeting was magical. We both felt the chemistry. We both liked each other. The first thing that he said to me was, "You are so maganda" (my gosh, I think I blushed! Of course, who wouldn't? Well, anyway, I know I am beautiful to foreigners' eyes, lol! I'm the typical Filipina that foreigners love. Petite, tan skin, slim and with long hair). I sheepishly replied, "Thanks, you are handsome yourself." Honestly, I already liked him the moment I saw him from the waiting area at the airport. For me, he's like the boy-next-door type of guy. He looked young and cute in his moss-green hoodie. His face was rosy pink and he wore this shy boyish grin when he approached me. I don't think that "love at first sight" is real but at that moment I believed that it was.

So our love story began. We were like high school kids. We were so into each other. Always kissing, hugging, cuddling and snuggling. Anyway, I guess it's always like that when couples are still in the early stage of their relationship. Sweet and so in loved. We did things together. Always together. We were inseparable. He stayed with me for 10 days.