Diary of A Hopeless Romantic

Las Piñas. It was just a random day in December; just another boring day. I was trying to keep myself busy at my desk at home working on my tasks, which weren't challenging anymore. I have been doing the same thing over and over. So I browsed my Skype contacts for no reason and came across her name, Sweet, with her profile picture. She looked different in her hair. She had dyed her hair carrot, while in the photo she still had black kinky hair.  “Hi. You look different in this photo,” with a slightly smiling face emoji. Sweet stared at the message she received, trying to figure why I messaged her.  “Hi. Miss Lopez. That’s in my old Skype account, “ Sweet replied feeling a bit shy. “Yes, and I found another photo of you in our company’s photo gallery. You look sexy here,” sending her the photo.  Sweet giggled.  “I like your hair now better though.” “Thank you,”  Sweet replied, giggling. That’s how this fairytale started, and I have long been wanting to write about it. “Good morning, Sweet. Have you eaten yet?”  Sweet had meals with her friends, Mitch and Julie. “Guys, Miss Lopez is asking me if I have already eaten.” “Maybe she likes you, Julie replied kiddingly. “Nah,” Sweet reacted in disbelief. “I think she’s lesbian,” Julie added. “Hmm.”  “Hi, Miss Lopez. Yes, I have. You?” her reply to my message. “Yes, done. How are you today?” “I feel sleepy.” “Hahaha. Sleepy head.” “I usually wake up from my sleep in the middle of the night.” “Why? Insomnia?” curious about what she usually does. “I don’t know. It just happens.” “Hmmm. I see. Please don’t burn yourself out.” I flew back to Cebu City from my working holidays. My boss was expecting to see me. The perks of my job is being able to work from home, the flexible schedule and being able to file for leave anytime so I get to travel whenever I want. “It’s nice to see my things untouched,” smiling while standing at my desk at work.  “Who would dare touch your stuff? Everyone knows there’d be trouble if anyone touches your things without your permission,” Denia blurted out mischievously.  “Huh. I don’t think it’s bad to expect others to respect one’s belonging, or is it?” Seated and relaxed, I was wondering what I could do while waiting for the meeting to start. I had to wake my muscles up. I went down to the cafe to grab some coffee. It was 1 o’clock in the afternoon and I spotted Sweet with her friends. I pretended not to see them. I just passed through them.  “Hi.,” I initiated a conversation again with her. “Hi, Miss Lopez,” she replied. “I think I just saw an angel.” “Hahaha I’m not an angel. I saw you.” It’s just amazing how I got to find someone who understands my language. “You know what? I like you,” a bit worried of how she would react. It took minutes before I received a reply to that. “There’s nothing to like about me.” “I mean I like having conversations with you. You’re smart, bubbly and you make me laugh.” “Am I a clown? Hahaha” “Hahahaha No, no. I’m not saying that you’re a clown. I just enjoy talking to you. Would you have coffee with me sometime? I’d like to get to know you better.” “Okay” “Would you like to do “fast talk” with me?”  “Sure, Miss Lopez.” so polite of her to address me with honorifics. “Just call me Fran, please,” to make our conversations more personal. I pulled up a list of “fast talk” questions. We took turns in asking questions until my shift ended. We had fun and we got to know more about our likes and dislikes. “Good morning, Sweet! How are you today?” I always started my day by greeting her. “Good morning, Fran. Sleepy.”  “How many hours of sleep did you have last night? Please take good care of your health, Love.” She liked it when I called her “Love”. “About 5 hours. I went swimming with my cousin yesterday after work. There’s a pool in our compound.” “Do you know how to swim?” “I don’t. I just took a dip. It was very hot yesterday.” “I see. Have you had coffee yet? What time are you having lunch?” “I always have lunch with my friends.” “I see.” “I’m actually living with my cousin. She’s a girlfriend of someone with a high position here” “Really? Who?” “I’m not sure if it’s a good idea to tell you.” “You can trust me.” “It’s Mr. Carter.” “Ah! So the lady I saw him with is your cousin?” “Where did you see them?” “At the supermarket, a few months ago.” After a few hours of exchanging messages, I found the courage to ask her out. “Sweet?” “Yeah?”  “I was wondering if we could have lunch together.” “Fran, why me? You must have a list of girls to fancy,” she said jokingly in her message. “Hahaha What? Of course not. What made you think so?, I wondered. “Okay. I actually have a girlfriend. She’s in the US. We haven’t seen each other for quite awhile now.”  So that was it. That was when hell’s doors opened up, perhaps to welcome me. I was just about to tell her that I had a girlfriend and that I only wanted to have conversations with her. It was never my intention to lie about my girlfriend’s whereabouts.  “If you have a girlfriend, why are you talking to me?” a question I expected from her, which I honestly didn’t know how to answer straight. “Um, we may be girlfriends but we don’t seem like we really are. It’s complicated.” “Try me,” eager to hear what I would say. “To tell you honestly, I like you. You seem to understand what I try to say without me saying it directly. It’s like we speak the same language - a language that nobody else understands.” “Hmm,” she became speechless for a moment. “I like you, too.” "You just made me happy with what you just said."