Beneath Siargao Skies

⏰Chapter 2: The Wait

“Mom, I know. I know.” Alyanna shifted her phone to her other ear while typing up a server maintenance report. “We’ll set a date soon.”

“Soon?” Her mother’s voice rose an octave. “It’s been a year! Your Tita Carmela keeps asking me when the wedding is. What am I supposed to tell her? That my daughter is imaginary engaged?”

Alyanna rubbed her temple. “We’re just… we’re both busy with work. Eric’s been pulling a lot of hours on the new campaign.”

“Busy.” Her mother huffed. “When your father and I got engaged, we were married within six months. That’s how it should be. Eric is a good man, very handsome, he has a good job. But he needs to make this official.”

*If only you knew how good he wasn’t at the proposal*, Alyanna thought but didn’t say. “I’ll talk to him, Mom. Promise.”

After hanging up, Alyanna stared at the wedding planning folder on her laptop with a collection of Pinterest boards, venue options, and budget spreadsheets she’d been building for months. Every time she tried to bring it up with Eric, he’d say “later” or “we’ll figure it out” before changing the subject.

Just last weekend, she’d tried again over breakfast.

“I was thinking maybe a spring wedding?” she’d ventured, showing him photos of a garden venue. “It’s beautiful, and they have an opening next April.”

Eric barely glanced up from his phone. “April’s pretty far away. Let’s table this for now. I’ve got that pitch meeting coming up.”

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Alyanna’s father was the opposite of her mother. While her mom brimmed with enthusiasm and flipped through wedding magazines, her dad preferred quiet observation and gentle, thoughtful questions.

“You sure about this, princess?” he asked during their last Sunday lunch at her parents’ house in Quezon City. They were alone in the kitchen while her mother fussed over the dining table. “You seem… tired lately.”

“I’m fine, Dad. Just work stuff.”

He dried a plate slowly, his eyes on her. “When you were little, you used to light up talking about the things you loved. Like your coding projects, your favorite books, that program you built in high school.” He paused. “You don’t light up when you talk about Eric anymore.”

The words landed in her chest like a weight. “That’s not… We’ve just been together a long time. It’s different now. More mature.”

“Mature is good. Settled is good.” He set the plate down and turned to face her. “But happy is better. You deserve someone who treats you like the princess you are. Not someone who makes you wait and wonder.”

“Eric treats me fine,” Alyanna protested; even to her own ears it sounded thin.

Her father kissed her forehead. “Just think carefully, princess. That’s all I ask.”

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The promotion came through on a Tuesday.

At exactly two in the afternoon, her phone buzzed with a message from Eric: “I got the senior marketing manager position. Drinks with the team later. Don't wait up. Love you.”

Alyanna stared at the message, her pulse quickening. This the moment she’d been waiting for. Finally, something good. Something worth celebrating. She could already imagine the look on his face when he walked into a room full of people cheering for him, when he realized how proud she was, how much she believed in him. Maybe they could even talk about the wedding again, now that everything in his life was falling into place.

She grabbed her phone and dialed Ellie.

“I’m throwing him a surprise party,” Alyanna said breathlessly. “This Friday. Solaire’s private dining room. Will you please help me organize?”

Ellie hesitated. “A surprise party? Aly, are you sure? Eric doesn’t exactly love surprises.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Alyanna insisted. “He deserves this. He’s worked so hard.”

The next three days blurred into lists and phone calls. She booked the restaurant, ordered a custom cake, and sent invitations to everyone who mattered. His parents, his brother, her own family, and their closest friends. She even splurged on a soft blue dress, the same shade he once said made her look like the ocean.

On the morning of the party, she sent him a text, casual but careful:

"Dinner tonight at Solaire? 7 PM. Want to celebrate your promotion properly. ❤️"

An hour later, his reply arrived: “Sure.”

Just that. And somehow, it was enough.

By 6:30 PM, Alyanna was at the restaurant, watching the staff hang the CONGRATULATIONS banner across the private room. Her mother arrived first, glowing with excitement and perfume. She’s clutching a gift bag that probably cost more than it should have.

“This is wonderful, Aly! See? I knew Eric was going places. Once you’re married, he’ll be even more successful. Men need stability.”

Her father came next, quiet as always, offering only a knowing glance and a kiss on her forehead. Then came Eric’s parents. Polite, measured, their smiles too practiced.

Alyanna had never quite shaken the feeling that they were always weighing her worth, deciding if she fit their son’s life like a business decision.

Ellie breezed in at 6:45, stunning in red. She immediately pulled Alyanna aside.

“You okay? You look tense.”

“I’m fine. I just want everything to be perfect for Eric.”

“Has Eric confirmed he’s coming?”

“He said yes this morning.”

By seven, everyone was seated. The private room buzzed with polite laughter. Her mother chatting animatedly with Eric’s mom about wedding venues, her father locked in quiet conversation with Eric’s dad about business. Alyanna kept checking her phone.

7:30. No Eric.

7:45. Still nothing.

By 8:15, she could no longer sit still. Her heels clicked softly against the marble as she stepped into the hallway and called him. It rang four times before going to voicemail.

Then her phone buzzed.

Eric: Something came up at work. Need to finish a presentation for tomorrow’s meeting. Going to be late. Sorry. Order without me.

Alyanna stared at the message until the words blurred. An hour. She’d been waiting for an hour. They all had.

She inhaled deeply, smoothed her dress, and walked back in, her practiced smile stretched tight across her face.

“Everyone, I’m so sorry,” she began, steady voice betraying the storm inside her. “Eric got held up at work with a last-minute meeting for tomorrow. You know how it is with these corporate things. Honestly, it’s my fault. I should’ve told him about tonight, but I wanted it to be a surprise.”

She laughed. A brittle, hollow sound. “Let’s eat and celebrate anyway, okay? He’d want us to enjoy ourselves.”

Her mother’s smile faltered. “He’s not coming? But this is his party!”

“It’s okay, Mom. Really.”

Dinner went on. The food was beautifully plated. Alyanna had spent hours perfecting the menu but it all tasted like cardboard. She smiled when expected, cut the cake Eric would never see, and thanked guests as they left. Eric’s parents excused themselves early, their disappointment lingering in the air like cheap perfume. Her mother kept patting her hand, whispering excuses for him. Only her father stayed silent, his gaze soft but heavy with something she didn’t want to name. Her father hugged her and whispered, "I'm always here if you need me, princess. Daddy's always here for you. "

When everyone was gone, only Ellie remained. They sat together in the half-empty room, surrounded by wilting flowers and fading laughter. The banner drooped above them, mocking in its cheer.

“Aly…”

“Don’t,” Alyanna whispered.

“I have to.” Ellie took her hand. “I have a bad feeling about this. He knew you were waiting. You told him seven. Why didn’t he mention the meeting earlier? Why just a text after an hour?”

“He didn’t know about the party. If he had. ..”

“That’s not the point!” Ellie’s voice trembled, sharp with anger and hurt. “He made dinner plans with you, his fiancée, and blew you off with a text. What kind of man does that?”

Alyanna crossed her arms, hugging herself. “You’re overthinking.”

“Am I?” Ellie leaned closer. “Aly, I love you. But you need to open your eyes. This isn’t normal. The endless delays, the half-promises, the late-nights he always spends at the office, people make time for what’s important to them.”

“He’s busy…”

“Everyone’s busy! But people show up for who they love.”

The words landed like stones in the silence that followed.

Something inside Alyanna cracked. All the doubts she’d tucked neatly away rushed to the surface. Her father’s quiet warnings, the ring that still spun loose around her finger, the way Eric looked at his phone more than at her.

“What if you’re right?” she said, her voice small, trembling. “What if… I’m not enough?”

“Oh, honey, no.” Ellie pulled her into a tight hug. “This isn’t about you not being enough. This is about him not seeing what he has.”

Alyanna sat there in her soft blue dress, surrounded by decorations meant for someone who never came, and let herself think the thoughts she’d been too afraid to face.

What if this was a mistake?

What if he doesn’t really want this?

What if he doesn’t really want me?

Her phone buzzed again.

Eric: "Don’t wait up. Might pull an all-nighter. There’s leftovers in the fridge."

Alyanna stared at the screen. No apology. No warmth. Just… instructions.

She looked down at her engagement ring, spinning loosely around her finger after a year, and felt the first real fracture of her heart take shape. Quiet, sharp, and final.