Film of Love

Seeing You

“J?” Han asks the man who is now sitting again in front of him with a disappointed face. “That was the worst nickname I have ever heard.”

“Did you— Yeah, whatever,” he replied. He can’t even give him a kickback.

“Nah, actually you are right. It is better to change it to a better endearment anyway,” he happily says and just drinks the cold water in front of him to get rid of his disappointed face.

It was his fault anyway, his feets’ fault because it didn’t move right away although part of him didn’t want to because Jace thought that all those years that they didn’t see each other, she might have forgotten him.

He is still processing if she is really her or not or just part of hallucination due to sheer exhaustion and insufficiency in sleep.

“But do you think it is her?” he asked Han. He needs a ‘yes or no’ answer to his question and only Han can answer it for now.

“I don’t know—”

He was cut by Jace. “You can just straight up say ‘No’ to me.”

“Well, I want to say more,”

“More means your opinions!” Jace bicker with Han.

Han just looks at his boss who also became his friend at the same time— with all the years he is working under him— they became pretty close although they have different personalities. It is magical and uncanny how they became friends, well, it is not instant as everybody would say, they need a ‘click’ and boom! They are friends.

That results in much deeper investigation and perseverance to find January. Han really wanted to help his friend as much as he could.

‘

“Well, there are a lot of possibilities that she is maybe that lady from earlier or not, due to the reasons with your lifestyle or something triggers you into creating a person that really doesn’t exist in this place but you made appear but only you can see it.”

Jace looks at him, boredom can be seen in his two eyes.

“Are you finished?” he asks.

Han shrugged with the attitude Jace is giving to him. He does tolerate the other man’s attitude that makes Jace annoyed.

Han is like a mixture of being a psychiatrist, adviser, and an investigator in one body and mind. It amazes Jace with and very lucky that he met Jace but with all of that Han does understand where Jace is coming as he hears all of the stories he buried at the back of his mind.

“Here comes his inner child. I really hope it heals in no time.” Han thought. He tolerates the man’s comportment, he concludes that it is his inner child coming out because it seems like it has been in a cage since he went abroad, to the US, to heal his sort of physical pain and injuries.

“Well…you take it or not, I don’t care, really. But that’s only my two cents of what you are getting today.” He stands up and takes all the things that were packed neatly to his nylon messenger bag which Jace didn’t even notice that Han had already cleaned up the papers that had been cluttered above the table.

His mind is too occupied to even see what Han is doing. “Are you going?”

“Looks like I am not,” he sarcastically replied, which made Jace irritated even more.

Jace sighed and rubbed his hands into his face and said. “Well, see you for the next update.”

Han nodded and asked the man. “Are you not going to tell me to go search for the woman earlier?”

“I’ll handle that.”

Han looked at him for a second before nodding his head again. “Alright. I leave it to you and please don’t cause trouble.”

“Did Melvin contact you to remind me of that?” he curiously asked.

He shrugged as he fixed his bag. “Yes but even though he doesn't call me, I will say it nevertheless.”

His eyes squinted as what the man said and motioned the man to go away. Han didn’t comment again and had another bicker and just walked towards the exit without bothering to look back at him.

“Is bipolar?” Jace mumbled and shrugged at the sudden chills at his spine. He sometimes doesn’t paradoxically know why in the world he is being friends with him or the other way around, he every so often thinks that it was a sudden friendship at the right time.

“I wish it was you and with that It was nice seeing you even if it is just a glimpse of time given to me.” Jace had that in his mind since earlier, he can voice it out when Han is not present anymore, he doesn’t want to sound too hopeless than he really is.

He texted Melvin just to inform him that the meeting ended like he didn’t wait for it too long to end it in just a few hours. But I'm still thankful because it seems to end on a good note.

He just doesn't know what is happening to him, he is not so happy, so excited, panicking, he is starting to question himself if he really sees her or Han is right, he is just maybe. ‘Maybe’ hallucinating.

Jace paid the meal and now drives back to the company. He has a shooting schedule to do. He wants to rest but being at work will make it disappear even though just that time he is occupied.

—

“I bet he has a crush on you!” We are in McDo because Dem suddenly craves for burgers, especially their Le P’tit Fondu and fries or it is just her excuse seeing the price so high and expensive she suddenly changes where to eat.

I am also not so comfortable eating in that expensive restaurant. I am happy here with my nuggets and cola. I am actually in a dilemma between a nuggets or a Croque McDo for my lunch but I ordered both anyways and unfortunately and fortunately the nuggets came first.

“Stop with the teasing, Dem!” I say, making her grin and still teasing me though. I rolled my eyes as I got another nuggets from the plate. “All people makes eyecontact and look at each other BUT doesn’t mean that they have a crush on another one, for f**k sake.”

I don’t know where she came up with that one little one shot story from earlier with the guy in his collared shirt. I will not deny that the guy is tall and handsome as hell, he actually might be a model. Anyway, back to the topic, still it is not great to conclude the other person without evidence.

“But he is handsome, isn’t he?” She is bothering me with questions. Well, I do like to answer, it is a lie if I say he really isn’t a Dem.

“Yeah, he is a good-looking person,” I replied without making eye contact with her. Oh! I hate that part of me not taking eye-contacts from a person and reciprocating it. “I am now confused. I bet you’re the one who has this tiny crush on him, aren’t you?”

“Hahaha!” She laughed at me.

I sighed and leaned back. “Oh, Aryn! I am too loyal to Trem!” Here she comes again. Trem is an actor who I never really see that much neither do I care about those kinds of industry. I do watch movies but most of them are animations and not really portrayed by people until I decided to take a program which led and opened me to various films, drama, television series, mini series, roleplays and any kind of genre but not much into the dark side.

I am into romance or melodramas. I do read Shakespeare's books to give me more of an experience into imagining things and put it somehow back into words that will give to another person a chance to experience those things I have enchantedly encountered.

“Fine. I’ll stop teasing you,” she said. I am relieved. “For now.” or not really? She added while giggled. I shoot her daggers from my eyes and shake my head. She is being playful, I can see her inner child coming out as she takes another bite from her Le P’tit Fondu.

“Shall we go now or you want to go around?” I ask her and wiping my mouth. The time is still a lot to render for us touring the city but I can see that my feet will be getting too sore.

She shaking her head means that she also doesn’t want to continue their tour anymore. She also thinks that they have plenty of time to visit more places because they are actually living in the city.

Aryn stretches her legs and arms just after she ate all the food they bought. As she looks back she is feeling funny about the fact that she ate so many. She put her hand on her stomach and felt it.

"I think I really need to go to the gym," she blurted out suddenly.

"We can go. It's not like we didn't jog meters per meter back then."

Aryn just nodded her head and started to clean up her side of the table while Dem was sipping the last ounce of her drink.

—

They were back at their home and now can be called home although it's just temporary as Aryn has in her mind to move out once she receives the payment of her hard work.

Aryn won the rock, paper, scissors the two played to determine who will shower first and last. She is now in her bed with a towel on her head. She is doing her daily check on the process she wants to progress.

She also takes notes whenever she feels little headaches here and then and what might cause the sudden headaches, as well as the nightmares or dreams she has been having and even details of it if she woke up remembering them. She wants her dreams to be remembered when she wakes up because she felt something significant there. It's like a rumbled piece that's been appearing one by one from a dim, unseen corner.

"Hey, What are you doing in there?" a little girl said to the boy who seemed to be hiding behind the wooden door.

Little girl feels awkward but still pursues talking to the boy. "Are you… Deaf?" she asked cautiously.

She still hasn't been able to get answers from the other one, but a minute passed or so, the boy opposite her shook his head.

The girl's eyes widened and her inner self filled with delight and excitement from the nip of his response.

"I'm January!" she said while handing out her hand to shake with his. The boy just cautiously looked at her and her hands and back her face until at least a minute. A minute passed without them knowing is definitely a not so good first meet up.

The young boy stood there watching her go down the stairs as she was called by her mother. That was the first meet and until it became a regular meet up or get together every weekend. The Ashton’s will travel to them or the other way around, but it is mostly Aryn and her family who will go to the Martin’s.

“Hey! Shall we play board games?” Aryn bought two board games she has been wanting to play with him to make him start “Opening up” or even just speak with emotions. They are 10 and 9 but they know each other since diapers but when Jace went to America they don’t have that much time to actually see each other as they both have lives to live in there and Aryn is training for figure skating too.

They are now in half of the game and Aryn is actually happy to see Jace starting to speak out much louder and with emotions like what she wants to see from him. It is not usual to see a cute little boy so shy of a girl who has great confidence and such a cute little bit persistent attitude to the eyes of Feb.

“If you win, I’ll treat you to an ice cream and if I win you will treat me one too,” Aryn said as she looked at the boy who was looking at the tower of Jenga between them. He nodded her head and finally looked at her and she gave him her wonderful sweet smile, but then the young boy turned his head again somewhere.

Aryn did frown because of what she just saw from the boy but she never made it a big deal, will and never be a big deal to her, because the mission she wants is to be friends with him and it is progressing.

They start playing the jenga and by ‘rock paper scissor’ game, Jace ace the game so he chose to make Aryn go first. “You can go J,” he said.

Aryn looked at him like he said something, well, he did say something unusual and looking at Aryn now he cheeks that pale and has now color of roses on it. She is blushing over the nickname he gave her.

“I-If I-I am J and then you are J too?” she asks but hr just shrugged and replied. “Whatever you want. I just call you that because your name is long.”

“It is not long!” she insists, the young boy shrugged again. Aryn pouted because she thought he just wanted to have a nickname for her but the real reason is just that her name is too long.

She sighed and went to pick a block from the jenga. The first one is really easy, they go on and on until the jenga is on the edge of falling apart. Jace loses the game as he topples the tower while pulling a block from it. Aryn on the other hand rejoices from the loss of Jace because he will finally treat her to an ice cream is actually craving for a long time.

“Yey! You're gonna treat me to an ice cream, right?”she asked. “Right!!?” she is genuinely excited and Jace just sighed not because he lost the game but how enthusiastic the girl is.

The two both went downstairs to the living room and saw the two couples having a chat time with each other. The girl was smiling while walking towards them at the back of the boy who keeps his face neutral while approaching their parents. Jace asked for his father to drive him to the grocery near to buy her an ice cream and his father gladly did so.

That’s the start of them being close they never knew but because of that friendly treat it suddenly became a routine whenever they visit each other’s home to hangout.

—

“Hey! Why don’t you try this on?” Dem suggests as she holds a pencil skirt and a white blouse and a black blazer. It is actually her fifth time going in and out of the fitting room, that they even asked the sales clerk to come back once they called her because they seem to estimate that it will take more time than it should be.

“Aish! Fine!” She rolled her eyes and just snatched the outfit from her hands and went to the fitting room with a sour and tired face. Dem just shakes her head with what she is seeing from Aryn. “If only you can style your ‘formal work’ outfit greatly then we will be delightedly shopping today.” With that thought she sighed and turned around to pick more sets of outfits if Aryn doesn’t like it or she doesn't feel that the outfit is hers.

“I think this will do good?” Aryn whispered to herself while looking at the mirror checking the fit of the suit that was given by her pal. It fits exactly and looks great on her. It is her style, simple, not so elegant, neat and fit. She is crossing her fingers hoping that Dem will be satisfied and agree on her final decision and take it because she cannot feel her legs anytime soon.

She went out after a few touches and fixes from the cloth and saw Dem waiting for her to leave the cubicle, her eyes also landed on the mountain of clothes beside where Dem is sitting. She just sighs and rolls her eyes out of frustration, if not she will not hesitate to bawled her eyes out and freaking complain or worse walk out and let Dem handle all of her s**t she is doing or will be doing or have done doing.

“I have chosen the one!” she preceded the other from talking her opinions and what not. “This. I will buy this!” She gives the cloth a warm stroke on both of her arms, brushing the pants and all sorts of it so that she can really convince the lady in front of her that this will be enough and go home.

‘

“What about the—”

She cut her off by saying. “We can do more shopping if it is really needed but for now, one pair is enough.”

Dem nodded and sighed. She looked at the pile of clothes beside her before standing up and called the sales assistant to assist them. It was all neatly folded in a luxury looking paper bag on Aryn’s arms and the lady is now smiling like she finally escaped something she doesn’t want to be in.

“Shall we go home?” she asked. The latter didn’t respond but just nodded her head and they both went to the parking lot and drove away.

The night is getting colder and Aryn thinks that the stew in front of them is just right for the weather tonight. She all forgot eating dinner earlier because the pain in her legs surpasses the hunger she is feeling.

“How’s the shopping?” Aunt Melinda asked the two while they ate.

“It is great but actually tiring,” Aryn replied with all honesty. “The boutiques look so extravagant, and pricey for me, but Dem said it is alright and I should treat myself with nicer clothes even if it is just one pair.”

Melinda smiled at her and nodded her head as she listened to Aryn’s story. “That’s great and I hope that you guys really enjoy the shopping although it takes time.”

“It does consume time and still confuses why some people love shopping,” she said with an awkward smile.

They chuckled with what she just said. “Well, that’s how some people relieve their stress and some people find it stressful. It just depends on the people and their mood, really.”