Truly Yours

Chapter 3

“Valentine ’s Daycame and I was so excited. Having a date on Valentine’s with Jameson actually made me start to dream that I could be his girlfriend.”

“Are you ready?’ He asked,when he picked me up at home. My grandmother already knew about him. Remember I told you before, she’s the one who took care of me since I was a small girl.”

“Yes. I’m looking forward to it,’ I said nervously.”

“I have booked a really nice place for dinner, I hope you’ll like it,’ he said –his gentle voice calmed my nerves.”

“This is my very first date, you know,’ I admitted shyly.”

“How can that be –a girl like you who is so beautiful. Every guy wants to date a girl like you,’ he said, making me feel a little self-conscious.”

“I’ve always been careful –I didn’t want to upset my “lola” who devoted her whole life to taking care of me –that’s why some boys maybe think I’m too strict,’I said in explanation.”

“But they never realised that although you’re shy and strict, that you’re truly a diamond in the rough,’ he said.”

“My God I thought –Ferreira –he’s such a bolero.Well, that’s alright,because I love the way he lies, I love the way he lies.”

“His words caressed me–stroked me, and made me feel weak and utterly drugged–my heart melted and my knees turned into jelly.”

“You’re such a sweet talker,’ I said,trying to hide my true feelings.”

“It’s true. You’re beautiful inside and out. If you’ll let me be your boyfriend, I promise I’ll never let you down,’ he said.”

“His words almost made me faint –it was suddenly all my dreams coming true –but I didn’t want to show him my true feelings –at least not yet.”

Trina was enthralled by Santina’s story –although the whole thing seemed to be some kind of fairy tale. Trina was not totally convinced –this was some kind of young girl fantasy, she thought.

But she gave her friend the benefit of the doubt and wanted to hear the whole story anyway, even if it was only a fairy tale.

Santina carried on with her story –she and Jameson were celebrating Valentine’s together:

“Wow! This place is so nice. Thanks for bringing me here. This Blackbird restaurant is so lavishly decorated, and in the style of art deco. It has such a romantic ambiance,’ I said as I looked around the restaurant soaking in the atmosphere.”

“You deserve nothing but the best,’ he replied while looking intently at me.”

“I stopped and looked back at him with questioning eyes.”

“Why?” I asked

“What I said earlier, I mean it” He said

“What do you mean?” I asked, with my heart almost jumping out of my ribcage.

“I’ve known you for quite some time now. From the very first moment I saw you, I felt electricity running through my veins. I can’t understand it myself–I just woke up one morning and realised that I loved you. Don’t be startled –I’m just telling you what I feel. I’ll be very happy if you’ll give me just one chance to court you formally,’ he said, that I had a problem keeping back my tears of joy”

“Despite being already madly in love with him, I wanted to hold back a little –so I said, ‘I like you too, and maybe someday it could become more,’ scared that he might change his mind, if I didn’t offer some encouragement. But I didn’t want to offer myself freely to him in case his desire would suddenly fade away.”

“Oh damn! Are you sure? I’m so lucky. This is the happiest Valentine’sI’ve ever had. Thanks to you, sweetheart,’ Jameson said, barely unable to control his feelings.”

“In retrospect, I had him well and truly on the hook. By managing to be interested in him, but at the same time a little reluctant –I promised a more succulent bait in the future, so his desire for me quintupled. Any fisherman knows that it is wise to allow a bite time to develop, and not draw in your line straight away. If you tease with the bait, so he bites the hook hard, then you can reel him in. But if youwant to catch a big, powerful and formidable fish like a Marlin (Jameson Ferreira), then you have to be prepared for a hard struggle before you can finally pull him on deck and have him gasping for breath at your feet. But perhaps I share some genes with Hemingwayi, because I was ready for the fight. Without being boastful, there were few men that could resist such tasty bait as me at that time. And why let some small fish taste your bait when you can reel in a large one.”

“My lola always said to me ‘you have to think of safety first’. My lola was actually my lola sa tuhod, so she was really old. She had fallen in love with a black American soldier in World War Two. He was part of a force trying to liberate us Filipinos from the terror of the Japanese here in Manila. Well he used to play old 78 records with Bessie Smith –and the one song she liked the best was “I’ve Got What It Takes (but It Breaks My Heart to Give It Away)”.iiThe song is about a pretty girl (“she’s got what it takes”), and she was surrounded by sharks trying to takewhat she had “saved up”(her virginity), but she wouldn’t let any of them touch her “dough”(v****a), because it “breaks her heart to give it away”(‘for free’).

“You can look at my bankbook, but I’ll never let you feel my purse. Cause I’m a woman, believes in safety first. If you want my money, then you have to be a real good man.”This was the way I thought, like my lola had taught me –it was true nearly 100 years ago –it’s still true today –I wanted a ‘good man’ and a serious relationship, and wasn’t about to ‘give it away for free’.”

“Time flew by, and Jameson and I had what you could say was an ideal relationship that people want and are often envious of. We were the stereotypical ‘happy couple’. We didn’t argue and fight much,but if we did, he would always back down and claim he was in the wrong just to prevent further disagreements.He was not like some other men who thrive on conflicts.”