A Chance to be Loved

Chapter 4 - Mystery Person

I arrived home in my flat around nine in the evening. I had a great time having dinner with Tia in one of my favorite Korean restaurants. I ordered japchae and sushi while she decided to have samgyupsal. I am half Filipino half Korean, but I've never been to Korea; I was born in Japan where my mum worked as a nurse while my dad was a high-profile businessman. My dad had an accident while he was on a business trip in Japan and it was my mum who assisted him in the hospital. He liked how my mum showed care and sympathy to her patients and that was how he fell in love at first sight. They got married after two years of dating and my mum gave birth to me after a year of being married. My dad convinced my mum to put up a business in the Philippines and when she approved his proposal, they moved to the Philippines when I was just two years old.

I never felt any home sickness before but when Tia asked me about my family, I sort of missed them. "So, how's your family doing without you?" Tia asked while mixing the sauce. "Oh, I don't know! I haven't heard from them since I came here," I answered while enjoying the sushi. "Are you serious? They never leave you a message or you never check your emails?"

"Both, but I'm sure they are doing simply fine without me. My mum must be busy with her nursing career while my dad, as usual, must be busy with the business trips."

"What about your work? How did you manage to get approval from your grumpy boss?"

"Well, I can always take a leave whenever I want. I will just say that I will do some research about a place. Working as a researcher in a prestigious travel company has its own perks. My boss will let me take a leave as long as he gets better results about my research."

"Wow! I am really impressed now. Is it like working as a travel blog or something?"

"It's more than just a blog. I am doing my own research and I will also gather outputs from my team then I will edit it. If it is done, I will send it to my boss for approval. Once it is approved, they will put it up on our company's website. I make some of the illustrations for it as well and I also take the photos. So, I am not just the researcher, I'm also the writer, editor, and photographer."

"I'm speechless! How cool is that my dear cousin?"

"Oh no, you should have said how pressuring that is? My boss is a nagger, I felt like he couldn't work without me. I needed a break from work and from him too."

"I know how difficult it could be. I'm glad my dad decided to live overseas. I'm free from all the nagging. Anyway, just make sure that your soon to be boyfriend is not a nagger." Tia said while smiling and I didn't bother to say anything.

I went to bed after a hot bath but I wasn't able to sleep. I kept on tossing and turning, I was overthinking about what Tia had said, "Soon to be boyfriend," I didn't even know if I would have one. I never really believed in love at first sight though my parents had experienced it. It was a case to case basis. If you're beautiful and attractive, people would like you and they would treat you nicely but if you have an ordinary face, like mine, people won't even notice you. Nobody ever liked me and if someone notices me it was either, he was way too young or too old for me. Why is it that most people depend their happiness on a certain person?

I also dreamt of having someone around, someone who would be my confidant, my stress reliever; someone who would see me as me and who would never treat me as an option. A specific someone who would love me unconditionally even though it was hard for me to love myself most of the time. I would constantly wait for someone to arrive at the right time and I hope I would be ready when it comes.

I decided to get out of bed and made some tea. I took out my journal from my bag which was lying on the floor beside my bed. I sat on my study table and read what I have scheduled to do for the entire week. As I scanned the pages, I saw the receipt from the coffee shop. I studied it closely, thinking that the penmanship could be from someone I know. I suddenly thought about Vince but I'm not really sure about it. He used to send me letters before; he knew that I love collecting letters. I went to my closet and opened the first drawer where I kept all the letters I have received. I opened one from Vince and compared it to the writings at the back of the receipt. "It's not Vince," I said while returning the letter into the drawer.

I didn't understand why I kept on thinking about this, could this person even be a guy? I always left a note on the table but this was the first time that someone left a reply. I have never felt this feeling before. My heart was pounding so hard and sometimes it felt like it skipped a beat whenever I read the words

"Happiness? You don't want love? Love can be happiness too."

I read it over and over again. Is it even possible to love someone whom you have never met? The words were making me weak; it was making me feel the need of having someone to love. I didn't want to fall in love unless he loves me. I shouldn't lower my guard; I must build my walls higher and stronger. I would never let someone in unless he was sure about me. Tomorrow will be Tuesday and I'm on the afternoon shift. Anne took the morning shift because she has to take her classes every Tuesday afternoon. I would stay my whole morning in the coffee shop to find out who the mystery person could be. I would definitely do my best to find it out soon or I would keep on thinking about it. I must make a move, sooner or later I would know who this person could be. It was almost midnight but I was still wide awake. I needed sleep but I couldn't sleep yet so I decided to check my emails.

10 New Emails

I checked what was on the bottom first and it was from my dad informing me about the updates of our family business and asking if I needed some money. My dad was the only one who knew that I went to England; I needed his help when I left and even though he was against it, he decided to let me go. He told me not to take too long before I decide to go back home because he couldn't keep secrets from my mum. I rolled my eyes when I read the remaining sentences, "Do you have a boyfriend now? You better hurry so you can marry him soon, your mum and I are getting old and we want to see our grandchildren before we die!" He was always worried about my love life. I read the other emails and it was all from my friends in the Philippines, asking me about my whereabouts. I didn't tell any of them where I was. The last one I checked was from my boss who gave me a new project.

From: Theo M. Rodriguez
To: Samantha D. Lee

Dear Ms. Samantha,

Since you've been away for too long, I assume you have made a better proposal for our new project. You better give me not just better results; I want the best results this time. I'm giving you this project and you can check the file attached below. Your team has been the best in the past successive years and I hope that you won't let me down again this time. It's an international project and guess what? You may choose any European country to be your subject. That's the entire hint I can give, you may do the rest. I'm counting on you!

Best Regards,
Theo M. Rodriguez
Managing Director

So, the subject is any European country? What are the odds! I'm sure I will be able to finish this project in no time. It looks like I will have a tour in England soon!