Chapter 17: Chapter 17

Today was December 23, my parents’ death anniversary. I would usually spend it in church, lighting a candle and hearing mass for them. Never once did I envision commemorating it anywhere else. But early this morning, instead of doing my usual routine, I went to the airport and rode a plane going to Cebu. Unbeknownst to me, Jan had taken it upon herself to buy me a ticket, just in case I changed my mind. And change my mind, I did. In a heartbeat. Not only because I didn’t want to be alone again on this tragic day, but also because I wanted to get as far away from Nick as possible. As soon as we boarded the plane, I whispered a quick prayer to my parents, asking for their forgiveness and promising to visit the nearest church upon reaching our destination. They would understand. Good thing I never got the chance to tell Nick about Jan inviting me to go with them to Cebu. Not that he would follow me there. He probably didn’t want to see me again. Well, neither did I.

I never told Jan what really happened between me and Nick. All she knew was that we were taking a break from each other. She tried to console me, of course, by telling me about how many times she and Arnold broke things off only to get back together after a few weeks, sometimes even days. She meant well, and I didn’t have the heart to say that in my case, there would be no reconciliation. Nick had made his feelings for me plain and clear. He didn’t love me. And it hurt like hell. I spent the next two days crying my eyes out, eating nothing more than a capsule of Enervon and an occasional hard candy. To keep awake at work, I drank coffee by the truckload. But it turned out to be counterproductive. I was like the walking dead. My body was functioning, but my brain wasn’t. It resulted in five tickets from Greg, which made him hit the roof for the first time in months. When I asked to take a holiday leave, he agreed wholeheartedly.

Our flight took less than two hours, which disappointed me a bit. It was my first time riding a plane and, having just found out that I loved flying, wished I could’ve stayed longer. Next time, I would take an international flight. To England, perhaps? I had always dreamed of seeing Big Ben and riding the red double-decker buses. It would be my next project with Jan, a trip to England, land of the famous fish and chips and sophisticated afternoon teas. An image of Nick laughing beside me on the upper deck of a red bus flashed in my mind. I angrily brushed it away. It would never happen. Besides, with Nick’s unusual sensitivity to UV rays, we would never ride on the upper deck, not in broad daylight anyway. Or if we did, he would wrap himself from head to toe in his typical black ensemble, skulking in the shadows like a vampire.

Hah! If vampires existed, Nick would be one. He was allergic to garlic and spices, couldn’t stand the sun, and ate nothing other than a few bits of fruit. He drank wine and spirits sparingly, was always cold to the touch, and sometimes moved so fast he made my head spin. Wait, was that why he said I didn’t really know him? Was this the secret he was keeping from me?

Will you get your head out of the clouds, Mira, I scolded myself. The sudden change in pressure must’ve addled your brains, girl. Vampires don’t exist. They’re a figment of man’s fertile imagination, my inner voice said. I had to agree. Even if vampires existed before, they would be extinct by now, wouldn’t they? Sinister images were suddenly swirling inside my brain. Black-clad men, hooded figures whispering, groping icy fingers, a slimy tongue, splashes of blood, yellow eyes turning to blue, smiling lips with fangs behind them.

It’s okay. You’re safe now.

I jolted from my seat and bumped into Jan, making her drop the bag she was getting from the overhead compartment onto the passenger sitting in front of us.

“Oh, my god, I’m so sorry!” she cried, consoling the man she had inadvertently injured.

I was so filled with remorse I lost my train of thought. “Oh, gods, sorry for that. It’s my fault, I bumped into her, making her drop the bag.”

The man turned to us, the anger that momentarily flashed in his eyes disappearing in an instant. “It’s okay, no harm done. Here,” he said with a toothy grin, passing the bag back to Jan.

“Thanks. Truly sorry about that. I’m Janice,” Jan said, extending a hand to the man.

“Nice to meet you, Janice. I’m Nicholas. Nick for short,” he said, shaking Jan’s hand.

Of all the names a person could have. The Fates were having fun at my expense today.

“Oh, really? Such a pleasant coincidence, isn’t it, Mira?” Jan said, turning to me with a mischievous grin. I rolled my eyes at her as she continued to snicker silently.

“What coincidence?” Nicholas said (I didn’t want to think of him as Nick), eyeing us suspiciously.

“Don’t mind her. She only meant that my boyfr...I mean my friend’s nickname is also Nick. But his real name’s Nikolai, not Nicholas,” I said.

“Oh, I see. Is he handsome as hell, too? It’s a prerequisite to using the monicker,” Nicholas said, grinning his toothy grin.

Jan snickered again. I had to count to ten to keep myself from knocking the smile off of Nicholas’ face. It was getting on my nerves.

“Hey, are you guys ready?” Mel said, popping up from behind us, saving Nicholas’s oddly too straight pearly whites.

“Yeah, we are. We better go. Nice meeting you, Nicholas,” I said, pulling Jan behind me.

“Bye, Nick. Nice meeting you, Nick. See you around, Nick,” Jan said, wiggling her eyebrows at me as we made our way down the aisle.

If she wasn’t my best friend, I would’ve tripped her just to get her to stop.

“Who was that? He looked creepy,” Mel said, glancing back at Nicholas.

“Oh, that was Nick. I think he has a crush on our Mira here. Must be a ‘Nick’ thing,” Jan said, nudging me with her elbow.

“Nick? His name’s Nick, too? What a weird coincidence, eh?” Mel said.

“Yeah, weird,” I said, ignoring Jan’s attempts to catch my eye. She got the message and immediately stopped with her ‘Nick’ jokes.

After thirty minutes of going through the protocols, we finally made it out of the airport. I almost jumped when Jan and Mel suddenly squealed in unison and ran toward a young man standing beside a red SUV.

“Liam! When did you get here?” Jan said, hugging him.

“Why didn’t you text us?” Mel said.

“I wanted to surprise you, that’s why,” Liam said, his laughing eyes turning to me.

“You sneaky, little brat,” Mel said, playfully punching Liam’s shoulder, finally noticing how his eyes kept darting back to me.

“Oh, shoot. Sorry, Mira. We almost forgot about you,” Mel laughed. “This is Liam, our favorite cousin. Mira, Liam. Liam, Mira.”

“I’m their only cousin,” Liam laughed. “Nice to finally meet the famous Mira,” he said, extending a hand to me.

“Famous? I am anything but famous,” I said, taking his hand, expecting him to shake mine. He instead lifted it to his lips and planted a soft kiss on my knuckles. My cheeks burned from embarrassment.

“To me, you are. You’ve been in a lot of Jan’s emails. Mira this, Mira that.”

“Oh, really? And she never said a word about you,” I said, turning to Jan.

Jan blushed profusely, obviously guilty. What have you been telling him, my eyes asked Jan.

“L-let’s talk about that later, okay?” she said, averting her eyes as she pushed Liam into the SUV. “Papa and Mama must be worried sick about us now. Plus, I’m really starving.”

Liam laughed but did not complain. We were on the road within minutes, all our luggage dumped in the back of Liam’s car. To avoid answering my questions, Jan sat up front while Mel and I sat behind them. Jan dominated the conversation all the way to the nearest McDonald’s drive-thru, where we ordered milkshakes and fries. Jan wanted to get burgers, but Mel didn’t want our appetites ruined, knowing that their mom had prepared a hefty lunch for all of us. The two argued back and forth, but Mel won in the end, of course. She was the elder of the two, and a doctor to boot. Who could contend with that? Liam was quick to take the conversation back to a cheerful banter, which was more than welcomed by the sisters. I sighed contentedly as I sipped at my strawberry milkshake. It was the first thing with at least a bit of nutritional value I’d drank in days. Just the perfect beginning to my first ever vacation.

And the best thing of all? Nick had somehow taken a back seat in my mind. For once, I wasn’t obsessing over him or what happened between us.

It was the best that I could hope for. Perhaps I could even celebrate Christmas again. Even without Nick.