Almost Maybes

Chapter 1

Why do we pray?

To give thanks?

To ask for provisions?

To ask for guidance and protection?

To ask for forgiveness?

Each one of us has reasons behind every prayer.

Mine had always been simple.

I had been wondering if I already met the right one, or it was just the idea that I had in mind that I finally found the person whom to offer my heart to.

I'd been praying for him.

Unquestionably, I saw him as the perfect person for me. Whenever I was at church, I asked Him if this thing going on between us was His will, or if we were really destined to be with each other. I'd been asking Him if double happiness would be there for me until the end of the unidentifiable ending. I called him double happiness. The reason behind that nickname was so obvious I wouldn't have to explain it to anyone who heard it.

"Hey, are you listening?" asked Ely, my brother.

I ignored his question and continued to sashay ahead of him. My attention was fixed on my phone. I was composing a message for my best friend, Sten, so I kept on walking.

"Ivy, I said, watch your steps," he groaned.

Ely had reminded me to watch my steps the second time since we got out of the car. I neither looked at him nor listened to his brotherly advice. He pulled down my hair then uttered, "Pay attention, pig."

"Kuya, I'm giving Kirsten updates," I stated, shoving his hands away from my face.

I could sense what he was about to do next. Ely loved to pinch my nose whenever I was not paying just to make me listen to him. It was his love language to me, he explained, but I didn't view it as an act of showing affection to a younger sibling. For me, nose pinching was Ely's way of pushing my buttons.

A very important message was yet to be delivered. I'd received a message from double happiness today; the message indicated that he was about to tell me something, but then he didn't say it and decided to save it for tomorrow. It only meant that we would be seeing each other, and I was already excited about it.

If you were wondering who this double happiness guy was, just read on. I was sure of one thing, I called him 'double happiness' because he had showered me with happiness. I was out of the right words to describe the feeling; whenever I was with him, the world just felt different. He'd brought sunshine into my gloomy life.

"It can wait, Ivy."

Kuya Ely was being unreasonable today. Sometimes he seemed to be overprotective. Most of the time it was very difficult to predict what would come out of his enigmatic personality. Despite his unpredictability, he'd never failed to show his brotherly love toward me, well not all the time.

The scene we had outside of the church was one proof of his nanny-like attitude. I couldn't blame him for being so mindful of his only sister. When we were kids, I was weaker than him. I would cry all day just because of a small bruise that I got from tripping. My brother was my knight in shining armor. He was my idea of prince charming when we were young, although at times he was the big bad wolf in my story. He could be so annoying and he could be the opposite. Even so, he was still my very first friend.

Inside the church, my brother was comfortably seated. Standing by him, I grinned before occupying the seat he'd reserved for us. Consider that gesture as one of my ways to tease him; he looked away, like he always did, instead of smiling back to acknowledge my small gesture of kindness.