We Broke Up

6 - Beach Party Of One

Sophie, being the youngest in the group, although mostly serious in her constant quest for education and knowledge still has the usual juvenile spunk that made her slip a bottle of Tequila Rose from our table in the club to her purse. That would still probably show up in Denise's tab but we had a fit of giggles at our future lawyer's "illegal act".

We passed the bottle around, drinking straight from the spout as we giggled at each other and chattered senselessly while our cute driver looked on in amusement and chuckled. Not that I noticed him that much. At all. Duh.

By the time we reached Francesca's beach house, the girls were all plastered. I, on the other hand, had a slightly higher tolerance for alcohol and was still able to hold my head straight... somehow.

Our friendly driver was kind enough and strong enough to carry the girls inside one by one, with very little help from me, and put them in their beds. Francesca and Denise ended up in the biggest room on the king-size bed while Sophie slept on one of the twin beds in the room next door. That was probably where I was going to crash later.

"Thank you, TJ." I told the guy who just saved my friends from sleeping outside because there was no chance I would be able to carry them in by myself.

He turned to me with a slight look of surprise. We were standing in front of the door where we left Sophie. Then his dimple deepened and his kind eyes softened as he smiled at me. "You're welcome po, Miss Naveah. Tsaka RJ po ako." He said.

"Oh, sorry." I chuckled shyly, slightly embarrassed to have gotten his name wrong. "Uhm... You can take the room down the hall." I told him as we walked down the hallway to the living room.

"Okay, Ma'am. Thank you po." He nodded then looked at me. His eyes held mine for a few seconds and for a few heartbeats I was lost in their depths. "Happy Birthday po." He smiled as he waved his hand towards the banners, balloons and party decors that the girls had prepared for me. It seemed they really had planned another celebration in the house when we got there but were too wasted to actually be in.

I chuckled as I looked at the party games they also planned for and the table of food and cakes. "Yeah... Happy Birthday to me." I sighed. "Thank you." I turned to look at him and found him already staring at me. I felt a little blush warm  my cheeks at that. "Help yourself with the food. Mukhang tinulugan na ako ng party guests ko." I giggled but quickly stopped myself and spoke in a more serious tone. "Kain ka na muna before you sleep."

"Sige po. Thank you very much po." He beamed as he picked a few chicken lollipops with his fingers and ate them three at a time.

I quietly snickered and covered my mouth to muffle my giggles as I watched him now gobble down the spaghetti that he was able to quickly scoop up into a paper plate. "Gutom, Kyah?" I thought. He was so adorable.

He must have felt my stare on him because then he looked up from his plate, with Bolognese sauce around his perfect lips, his mouth stuffed with pasta and a look of guilt on his face. I had to fight the sudden urge to reach out and wipe the sauce from his lips with my thumb. He quickly chewed on his food and swallowed it with a big gulp. "Sorry po. Medyo gutom." He smiled shyly and cleared his throat. "Kayo po, Ma'am? Masarap po tong hinanda nina Ma'am Francesca."

I let out a little giggle that I was holding and smiled back at him. "Sige lang. Enjoy ka lang diyan. I don't think I can eat anything na hindi ko isusuka. I'll just go out for a walk." I told him and glanced at the sliding glass door that led to the beach at the back of the villa.

The sun was already up, shining its bright but gentle morning warmth on the white sand and blue waves. Francesca's family summer house is on a private beach so I have the whole place to myself until my friends wake up. The entire scene was so tranquil and inviting. Just looking at it made me sober. The sea was calling me home.

"And please stop calling me, Ma'am, ang lakas maka-teacher eh. Wag ka na din mag-po. Feeling ko naman you're older than me. Tama?" I asked and he nodded.

"Opo, Ma'am," He answered.

"Oh! What did I just say?" I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Sorry." He chuckled shyly and scratched the back of his head. How adorable is he?

Ugh! I could eat this guy. Wait! What?! No! Nobody's eating anyone here. Nobody!

"O-oo, M-miss Naveah." He stuttered, probably still getting used to speaking casually to me so I decided to let the 'Miss' slide for now.

"Good. Enjoy." I smiled and quickly turned my back on him before I got any more crazy thoughts about him. I grabbed the bottle of wine on the end of the table on my way out.

I kicked my shoes off and sighed as I let my feet sink into the warm sand. I closed my eyes as the cool ocean breeze touched my face and the music of the soft waves rolling to the shore played in my ears. I took in a deep breath and smiled as the salty air filled my lungs. Heaven. If I were to paint a picture of heaven it would be exactly like that: warm morning sun, tropical breeze, long stretch of powder white beach and crystal blue water.

I started walking away from the house towards the direction of a rock formation that I saw in the distance. It appeared to only be a couple of kilometers away. When I got there, I realized that the rocks were too jagged to climb without injuring myself so I just settled to sit in the shade it provided on the sand.

I opened the bottle of wine and held it up to the ocean. "Happy Birthday, self. May this day mark the actual start of new things for you. May your days be filled with smiles, laughter and love; your life filled with peace, wisdom and cheer! To more fun times and new experiences. A fresh chance at life. Here's to a braver, smarter, stronger and happier you, Naveah Montefrio." I said before chugging down a few gulps straight from the bottle.

I quietly listened to the sounds of the sea as I let the soft waves caress my toes and feet, scared but hopeful of all the things this 24th year of my life will bring.