She had been so excited to visit him. She had already imagined how their reunion would be. After a year of being apart, enduring this… long distance relationship… while he studied in a University and her staying in their hometown, she would finally get to see him. See his smile, hear his laughter… his jokes…. She was looking forward to his surprised face when he opens his door to see her standing behind it. A big smile on her face. A box of his favorite muffins in her hands that she personally baked. At least with the help of a Youtube tutorial and after six disasters.

She scoffed as she poured herself another glass of… whatever she had ordered inside this bar. All she knew is she asked for something that can make her forget. That can make her as drunk as… as a drunkard would be. Well, at least I did surprised him, she thought ruefully as she took another swig of wine. Or was this beer? Whatever. Alcoholic beverage. She’s probably already drunk. Not drunk enough.

Because she can still remember it.

That surprised look on his face when he opened the door to her smiling one.

She let out a little unamused titter. No, not surprised. More like… mortified. Mortified I caught him cheating. She grabbed the bottle and this time drank straight from it wanting to erase that… scene in her mind.

After two bottles… or was it four?... she checked her phone to see so many missed calls and so many text messages. She deleted those from her boyfriend—ex boyfriend now—and just read those from her best friend, Charleen, who came with her on this trip. She dialled her number and she answered immediately.

“Hey!” she answered immediately. “Where the hell are you? I thought you were with Jayden but he called me asking where you are like… five times now. Did you get lost?”

She shook her head forgetting that her friend cannot see her but instead asked, “What time is it?”

There was a pause. “Are you drunk?” Clearly hearing her slurred tone.

“Mm hmm.” She nodded at the same time.

“Oh my god.” She sounded incredulous. “Okay, just tell me where you are and I’ll call Jayden to pick you up.”

“No, not him.” She shook her head vigorously and immediately regretted the action. “I don’t want him.”

“What? Why? What happened?”

“I’ll just call a taxi,” she said as she almost lost her balance when she stepped off the stool from the bar. “Whoops!”

“Sandy, tell me where you are?” her friend’s voice sounds frantic. “I’ll pick you up.”

“It’s uh….” She squinted at the glowing neon letters at the front of the bar. “Brewery.” There’s probably more words but it’s the only word she can read at the moment seeing as her world is swaying.

“Brewery? Okay, just tell me which city.”

“I’ll go home now. Bye.”

“Sandy! Don’t you hang up the ph—”

She ended the call and turned it off before dropping it inside her bag because she knew Charleen wouldn’t stop nagging. She put a hand on her head trying to get her equilibrium back in its place, shook her head and staggered unsteadily out of the bar. Some nice security—or securities—helped her and she nodded her thanks.

“Miss, do you want me to call you a cab?” One of them asked.

“No no no no.” She shook her head vigorously. “My friend is picking me up. She’s probably waiting for me in the parking lot.” She let out a belch and apologized for her lack of manners. “Sorry.”

One of the guards walked her to the parking lot and she kept blabbering about how nice it is of him to make sure she’s okay and that the world needs more people like him. She’s about to go to another round of letting him know he’s an unsung hero when she spotted her friend’s gray car. “Oh there it is.” She pointed at it. It was not parked, it was on idle at the side of the street.

The guard looked dubiously at her as he assisted wobbled walking towards the car. “Are you sure, miss?” The car is empty and there’s no living soul around it except for the engine revving.

She nodded. “Yes. She’s probably just buying us a snack. We love to eat day and night and night and day and day and night. But she’s still so thin. She doesn’t get fat.”

They reached the car and she opened the back seat. The guard looked surprised that it did open. He was expecting it to be locked thinking the girl had only mistaken it for her friend’s.

Sandy scoffed. “She forgot to lock it again. I need to tell her about the dangers of unlocked cars here in Manila. Because, you know. We have a friendly town in Davao where you can leave your car unlocked. Because it’s safe. Anyway, thanks for your assistance.” She slipped into the backseat and waved her hands at the guard who stayed there for a couple of minutes, probably thinking if it was okay to leave her there and she flipped the lock, gesturing at the guard that the car is indeed locked now and she’s inside safe. She watched as the guard nodded at her and left and she watched him with a smile on her face. Thank you Mr. Helpful Security. She sighed and laid down on her side at the back seat, a sign of a headache coming. Before she knew it, she nodded off.

She didn’t know if she’s dreaming or not but she kept hearing a voice. A relatively loud male voice that is disrupting her sleep. She needs to tell Jayden to shut up. She squinched her eyes shut thinking it would drown out his voice because her headache makes her feel like she’s swaying back and forth.

Or maybe that was just the car driving now.

“Don’t we have any other option?” Pause. “No, I can’t let that happen. Yes.” A sigh. “I’ll just try to think of some other way. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Yes. I’m near the hotel now. I’ll book a ticket tonight.”

Shut up! She meant to yell the words but the only sound that came out of her