La Mémoire de Lune

CHAPTER 3: The Only Hope

Both December and January passed by like... Hope couldn't really say they both passed by like a "breeze" because these months made all the staff at the hotel transform into bees; buzzing around, getting the job done. Although February's still marked as a peak season in the Philippines, Hope finally had a breather from work since the rush died down just a bit; her schedule wasn't as busy as it was back in November or as jam packed as it was in December.

Time really does fly when you're occupied; in the blink of an eye, February already greeted Hope with a smile and a call from Rose.

"Are you free today?" Straightforward, not even a 'hi' or 'hello' said, just an energized question coming from a usually laid back Rose.

"You know I could be on-call all throughout the day, odd hours woman, odd hours."

"I know but can you make time? They typically let you off at 5 pm and it's not like problems surface every time you aren't there," Rose reminded, her last statement taking on a 'duh'-like tone.

"Okay, point made. What's up?"

"Blue Moon has another performance today, come on, let's go. Join me, you want to see Evan again, right? The event starts at 6 pm at BGC, all the girls will come too, so?"

Hope hummed in thought before replying, "Yeah sure, I'll see you guys there."

She arrived in BGC a little later than what she said because she got caught in traffic; the band she came there for was already playing when she arrived. Hope navigated through the crowd and found her group of friends. They exchanged their usual excited greetings before focusing their full attention on the band playing.

Hope couldn't explain the feelings bubbling within her but she was sure of one thing; her heart felt thrilled to see the band again or, specifically, the vocalist. She wouldn't voice her feelings out loud, of course. She herself was in denial.

Hope watched them play, her eyes gravitating towards Evan no matter what she did. His voice never ceased to mesmerize her; every time he sang, Hope heard nightingales singing sweetly. His melodic voice ceaselessly brought shivers down her spine, something about it brought a sense of familiarity to Hope... it made her hair rise and her being tingle. She could only shrug the feeling off and grin at the band playing up on stage.

Evan invited everybody to sing along with him, his eyes scanned the crowd when he spotted a group of familiar faces. He caught the eye of Hope and he couldn't help the smile that tugged his lips. Hope, being a person who didn't assume, wondered for a second or two if the smile was meant for her; she smiled back nonetheless.

After the performance, Hope and Rose headed towards the band to have a little chat with them. The rest of their friends stayed behind as understanding passed between all of them: it's Hope and Rose's time to shine first, they'll follow suit later once the two asked permission to take the photo.

"Hi guys!" Hope cheerfully greeted, successfully announcing their presence to all the members of the band.

Adrian noticed her first, "Ms. Wintour?"

"Oh, don't be so formal. Call me Hope instead."

"And you are...?" Adrian trailed off, his eyes focused on Rose.

Rose acted nonchalant, she gave him a cool smile before replying, "I'm Rose, I've heard a lot about your band."

Hope elbowed Rose's side subtly after her statement, Hope smiled before adding, "She's my friend, she's also a fan of your music."

All the members of Blue Moon introduced themselves to Rose and had a little chat with the two women. Everyone later on left for a moment except Evan and Adrian, the latter being too preoccupied because of a certain flower.