Scarlet Strings of Love

Chapter 9: The End

"One of the most courageous decisions you'll ever make is to finally let go of what is hurting your heart and soul."
—Brigitte Nicole

Luxus couldn't forget that day even if he wanted to. Trying to forget it was an understatement. He nearly killed himself just so he could forget about it. He tried to escape it, the pain it caused everyone, the pain it caused him, and the fact that the love of his life will never come back. Hindi na tuloy nila mapaguusapan ang kung ano man ang dapat nilang pagusapan n'ong araw ng aksidente— their anniversary.

So he never forgot. Everyday he wakes up, and he asks himself, 'Bakit nangyari 'yon? Bakit hindi na lang ako? Bakit nagawa 'yon nagawa ni Anne?' So many questions... and no one to give him an answer.

Red must've realized that something was wrong. She saw their expressions. Initially, she was planning on asking the two on the other table to join them, but she read the situation. She didn't say anything about it. She stood up and when asked what she was going to do, she replied:

"Just going to greet them," she walked to the next table and sat down in front of them with a smile.

Angelo was quite shocked, he thought for a moment that Anne was in front of him, but he realized that it wasn't her.

"Red? Wow, hello. Nice to see you again," he greeted. Red greeted him with the same energy and the two started chatting, like they were the best of friends already, and maybe it was because Red was the talkative type.

As they were chatting, Red notices the man beside Angelo. Angelo then realised that he had not introduced his cousin to her. He cleared his throat, "Red, si Joaquin nga pala. Pinsan ko," he said. Joaquin was confused. Why did his cousin speak in Filipino? What if she couldn't understand him?

"Oh, wow really? You two don't look like you're cousins," he looked at the red head, smiling at him. "How you goin', mate? Scarlet Gonzaga, an Aussie, but please by all means call me Red. Nice to meet you."

She held out her hand and Joaquin just stared at it. Angelo nudged him with his elbow and he came back to his senses. He immediately took her hand and gave it a firm shake, smiling awkwardly.

"Joaquin Parker. Nice to meet you, too. Can you speak Filipino?" he couldn't help but ask. How was she able to understand that?

"Yes, I can understand and speak Filipino," she said. "Let me guess, you thought I couldn't understand the Filipino word for 'cousin', did you?"

"I'm sorry, I just thought that you wouldn't understand Filipino. You being a foreigner and all," he admitted and they let go of each others' hand.

"Well, I'm half-Filipino and I was taught Filipino growing up. I don't like speaking in that language, though. I mean, the language is beautiful, it's just my accent, y'know?" she explained, chuckling.

"Oh, same here," Joaquin beamed. "I grew up in America so I would automatically speak to people using the language I was used to speaking with. Although I speak in Filipino in front of family and acquaintances."

They talked to each other a while, mostly Red telling them the funny stories she has and the trivias she knows until Orange called her.

"Oops, I gotta go," Red said, standing up. "It was nice meeting you, Joaquin. See you two around."

"Nice meeting you, too. We'll see you around."

Red walked back to her table and Joaquin stared at their table. He scoffs, "And liit talaga ng mundo."

"Huh?" tanong sa kaniya ng pinsan. Tinuro niya ang lamesa nina Red at tumingin din doon si Angelo. He understood what he meant.

"We already know that she's friends with Ysabelle and Luxus, pero hindi ko ineexpect na magkakilala rin sila ni Laurence."