Sofia
Hi! Let me tell you something about me first. I'm Sofia Morales. Employee by day, dreamer at night. Yes, I was one of those kids who always had their heads in the clouds, dreaming of the fairy tale that was bound to happen to me and wondering how my epic love story would unfold. As I grew older, no matter how bad life could get, I could always spin it into a romantic fairy tale in my mind.
My close friends warn me that I should not be in love with love more than in love with the person I was with. It was a tough lesson to learn.
How do I begin telling you about John?
He's related to a good friend of mine from high school. He's one of those she would always tell me about and some of the stories stick, but because we hadn't met I didn't really connect a face to the stories.
My friend, Donna, would tell me stories of this Kuya John who was an achiever in school and all of their cousins would be held up to the same standards. "Ang hirap naman ng ganun, di ba? Ang talino ni Kuya. And ang interest ko are in the arts."
She would also tell me stories when her Kuya John had a new girlfriend. "Sobrang pretty! Pero parang masungit."
There were more stories here and there, and though I was fascinated with her favorite Kuya, it was no more than a passing interest.
A few times, I was supposed to finally meet this cousin she was often told our barkada about. For Donna's birthday one year, she wanted to celebrate at a nearby restaurant.
"Dinner tayo sa mall ha? Hahatid lang ako dun ni Kuya John. Pero aalis din naman siya kapag may kasama na ako. So, I'll just wait for you guys there."
When I got there, John had just left because two of our other friends arrived ahead of me, and since Donna was with some friends already, he headed his way. I only got a glimpse of his back.
"Sayang, Sofia! Kuya John just left. Gusto ko pa naman ipakilala," Donna said.
Another friend chuckled, "He's cute!"
"He's not. Matangkad lang," the other one commented.
Rolling my eyes at my friends, "O, tama na yan. Gutom na ako. Let's eat."
When Donna got married, I didn't go to the event looking out for John. I honestly was looking for another one of Donna's cuter cousins. But, I was annoyed because I didn't like what I was wearing and the makeup artist put a horrible blue eyeshadow that did NOT work for me at all. Add to that, I loathed these bouquet toss games for the single ladies. Yuck.
One nice moment though was when we were asked to go to the cake and pull out one of the trinkets embedded in the cake, and the trinkets would have some sayings, much like a fortune cookie. I picked out a heart shaped one which said, Your one true love is just right around the corner.
My first (and last) relationship at that time was back in college, so when I got that note, there was an inexplicable sense of hope. I even wanted to go out of the building and walk to the corner street... even if my car was at the basement parking. Malay mo, di ba?
But before I could go out of the building, I wanted to touch up (yes, seryoso talaga ako na maglakad papuntang kanto) so I headed to the powder room. As I rounded the corner where the toilets were located, I almost bumped into Donna's cousins. There were two of them and I only noticed the cute one I had been looking for earlier; the other guy didn't really register in my mind.
I didn't make it to the street corner because my friends wanted to leave already so we headed on our way.
Years later, I would find out who the other guy was.
