Beyond The Square One (BTSO2)

S q u a r e T w e n t y - N i n e ( H E )

She has the legitimate ID lace and an ID to pair with it. I can't believe my eyes. I can't believe that she's the Princess Ariel Inoue they've been telling me. I can't believe I'm engaged to someone like that.

Since I can't concentrate on my work anymore after finding out about her and the bank, I decide to get home to my unit instead. I've been at my father's the whole day and I think it's time to have some alone time to reconsider everything.

After unlocking the door, I stop on my tracks as I hear quiet sobs inside my unit. I feel my heart throbbing heavy pounds in my chest. I've been bugged by the scenarios of this year before waking up, now I'm being haunted?

As if hearing my thoughts, whoever's inside my home opens the door. To my indefinite surprise, it's the stranger. Her eyes are puffy, her cheeks are in deep shade of red. After a quick glance, she can't even look at my face anymore.

I smell the same familiar scent of faint vanilla as I take in our short distance. I wonder if she's been living here with me or I've been with her everyday, but the thought is almost unbearable. How could I be so stupid falling for someone I don't even know? Or perhaps, because I was so desperate moving on from Naomi.

She clears her throat and that's when I notice the bags in her hands. "Ingat ka dito," she utters without looking.

Walking out on me again for the nth time this day, I just follow her movements towards the elevator with my eyes. I don't understand how the scene feels oddly familiar.

I enter my unit and make sure that my door's locked. Sitting in one of the couches, I briefly wonder how on Earth I trusted someone to have an extra key to my hideaway. Naomi doesn't even know which room in this building is my unit. I must have fallen head over heels in love with that stranger to let her into my personal space.

But no matter how much I try to feel that for her, I'm just sorry that I can't find anything. And it's weird how I can't feel anything for Naomi now, too. This is so effin' strange. How do you deal with something so uncanny? Like waking up one day realizing you don't remember anything in one damned whole year.

Standing up from my seat, I go straight to the door to make sure it's locked, and notice the set of spare keys on the center table. At least she doesn't have plans on surprising me anytime because she doesn't have these. I pick those keys and toss them next to the CD rack. What's so important about this year, anyway? I can just simply live my normal life and start anew.

I wake up to the incessant rings of my phone and I almost throw the phone to the wall in so much annoyance. Checking on the bedside clock, it's just four in the morning. Oh my goodness, who the hell calls anyone in this very hour?

AAA. My Little Mermaid calling...

Who the hell is this? Okay, too late, I'm already up. "What?" I snap.

"Good morning! Gising ka na ba?"

I let out a harsh breath. That voice. It's the stranger again. "What kind of a stupid quetion is that?"

There's a short silence over the line and I almost drop the call. But she speaks, "Subic day ngayon, boss. Team building natin."

"What?"

"Hindi na natin pwedeng i-cancel. Naka-prepare na lahat. May bag ka diyan sa ilalim ng bedside table. Nandiyan na lahat ng kailangan mo. Pupunta ka na lang ng office para malaman kung saan tayo pupunta kasi siguradong 'di mo na maalala."

And I check to see if there really is a bag in my spare cabinet. It's creepy that there really is one. "How did you know that there's a bag in here?"

"What kind of a stupid question is that? Syempre, ako ang naglagay. Sige na. Punta ka na sa office. See you, boss!"

And the line goes off. I can't believe she just said that back to me. Nobody talks to me that way and I'm sure it wouldn't change just because of her.

Despite being annoyed and all, I can't just abandon the employees for being selfish and grumpy. Mahabang panahon na ang hindi ko maalala so I think it's just fair that I give them this day.

"Where's Ariel?" I ask Regis as soon as I arrive.

Everyone is already in P1 floor to get to the bus that stayed overnight for this early travel. I already asked where the destination would be so I can have the sanctuary of being in my car alone without having to bug myself with other noisy people.

"Ha? Akala ko, boss, sabay na kayo. Wala pa siya dito, e."

"What? We're leaving in ten minutes and she's not here yet?"

Regis just shrugs. I can't believe it. Ginising at inistorbo niya ako sabay wala pa siya dito?

"Boss! Tumawag si madam. Kita-kits na lang daw sa Subic," my newly-hired secretary with a name that I don't even remember says as she approaches me.

"Pamela, na-receive mo text ni madam?" another girl asks.

"Oo, ito na nga sinasabi ko na kay boss." She looks back at me. "Boss, ano? Tara na?"

"Does she even have her own car to get there?" I ask tentatively.

Not that I'm worried or whatever. I just want to know.

"Ewan ko lang, boss. Basta kapag sinabi ni madam na darating siya, darating talaga siya. Tara na," she says.

Grumbling, I walk into my car and drive my way to Subic. After three and a half hours, I finally see the destination itself.

As I park to the reserved space for Fuentebella mortgage employees, I briefly wonder why in the world I chose to spend a recreation in a beach when I'm not even a fan of large bodies of water in the first place.

"Good morning, Mr. Fuentebella," a man in uniform greets.

He leads me to a white-themed beach house where he says the others will be occupying, too, as soon as they arrive. That being said, I dial Regis number as I enter my personal room with my bag in the other hand.

"Boss?"

"Saan na kayo?" I ask.

"Boss, SCTEX na. Mga isang oras or less."

I toss my La Coste duffel bag on the bed and head straight to check the shower room. And I almost let my eyeballs out to see a woman in the bathroom.

"What the... Ariel?"

"Boss?"

"Why are you in my bathroom?" I ask, obviously feeling annoyed. Good thing is, she's wearing clothes. Or else I wouldn't really know how I'd react.

She finishes brushing her teeth and faces me. "Kung ayaw mo 'ko dito, at least pakisabi sa lobby na payagan akong mag-stay sa ibang room. Binilin mo daw kasi na dito lang ako pwedeng mag-stay..."

Looking away, she puts her hand on her nape as her cheeks turn red. I can sense how embarrassed she feels at this awkward moment.

"I did that?" I ask, more in confusion.

She nods.

"Okay I'll tell them."

With that, she scurries out of the bathroom but I manage to catch her arm before she leaves.

"How did you get here so early?"

She stares at her arm that I'm holding and I reluctantly let go. "Nagpahatid lang. Pero sasabay na rin ako sa bus bukas," she answers looking anywhere but me.

"Sino naghatid sa'yo?"

"Bakit ba ang dami mong tanong? Tawagan mo na 'yung lobby, please? Gusto ko rin makatulog kahit isang oras lang."

Despite her fail attempt to look irritated, her cheeks are still bright red and I almost smile to myself for bringing such effect to someone.

"I'll just get another room for myself instead," I say.

She hesitates at first but eventually nods.

"Can you at least look at me?" I ask.

Slowly, she looks up. I notice that her almond eyes are still swollen from crying. If anything, I think her eyes are cute. But Naomi has the same eyes so I'm guessing that's the common thing I saw in them.

"I saw a message in my drafts. So... is it... uh... true that I'm really in love with you?"

She shrugs in nonchalance. "Ikaw lang makakasagot niyan. Kung hindi mo 'ko maaalala, baka hindi."

Right as she says this, she looks away again, her eyes clouding with unshed tears.

"Labas lang ako," she finally says, breaking the silence.

And willingly I let her walk out on me this time. But as the door closes, I feel a painful squeeze in my chest. Like the scene is new and the feeling is, again, oddly familiar.

After a couple of hours of peaceful sleeping, I decide to take a look at the beach. I admire nature, alright. It's just that, I really don't have my heart set in water. I'd rather settle myself on seashore sand and take pictures of the horizon.

Upon checking on my gallery, I see stolen shots of a very familiar girl. Who else?

I must have been pretty smitten by her to take pictures while she sleeps. And another thing? She's sleeping in my bed. Beside me. I don't sleep with anyone in my bed. I've been like that for as long as I can remember. Sure, I'd have an affair or two with some girls but I never share a bed as I sleep. Why would I let down so much of my boundaries for her?

"H-help!"

I turn to the direction of a little kid's voice, distracted. There's not much of a crowd from where I'm sitting, well, that's because I'm trying to find peace. As I look over the clear sea, a small figure waves its hands in the air as if it's drowning. No wait.

The kid IS drowning.

Remember what I said about not loving the big bodies of water? This is why. I'm not a very good swimmer. So who the hell is going to help that kid?

"HELPPP!" he screams again.

No damn choice.

I look around and no one seems to be a shout close to where we are. If I leave him here, he might get drowned. So with no tough luck, I take off my white sando and leave my phone and camera on the sand, far enough from the water, to rescue the helpless kid. Now I have to be really careful since there's not much that I can see. I can't wear my glasses in the water, can I?

As I swim my way towards him, his sobs are becoming more audible to my ears. And the deepness of the sand are way noticeable, too.

"Hang on!" I scream back.

When I finally touch his arm, he shakes his head as he struggles to breathe. Why isn't he even wearing a life jacket? It isn't safe here!

"Something caught my ankle," he cries.

"What?" That only means one thing.

'Dive,' my angel says.

With no other choice, I dive into the water only to be taken aback by the strong current. I resurface to gasp for air without seeing whatever it is that caught the kid's ankle. I notice that we're already getting away from the shore and it doesn't help that I can't touch the ground with my feet anymore. We're on a deep drop off.

Trying to pull the kid's arm as I swim back, he cries a little louder this time and I bet that's the thing on his ankle. Jesus. What do I do?

I dive back into the water. With all might I can muster, I search for whatever that is on his ankle and a vine is tied tightly around it with a large coral on the other end to make it heavy. I unstrangle it, but to no avail, I'm running out of oxygen so I have to resurface again.

And that's when I first witness something heroic in my entire life. A lady wearing chocolate brown pair of bikinis swims into the water, tossing her oversized sunglasses on the sand to help us. As she gets closer...

"Ariel?!"

She completely ignores me, focusing her actions to the task at hand. Literal na napanganga ako. Ang smooth niyang lumangoy sa tubig. At ang sexy gumalaw na halos makalimutan ko na kung bakit nandito ako ngayon.

"Are you okay?" she asks the kid with an undeniable worry.

"I think I sprained my leg," the kid says.

She dives into the water, I bet to check on the kid's ankle. After a few seconds, she resurfaces to snatch the kid's neck tag and dive into the water again.

I dive in, too, to see how it's working for her. Just in time when she successfully cuts the vine, another strong current runs and she catches my arm before I can be flown away.

We resurface together. "Umahon ka na. Malakas 'yung alon," she says in between pants.

I nod at her. She's a better swimmer than I am, after all.

I notice a cream colored see-through cover up on the shore, that's probably Ariel's. Wearing back my glasses, I pick the cover up to place it next to my things and look over the water to see them approaching. She's carefully holding the kid with her arm around his neck as she swims back to the shore. The way she moves, man she makes it seem like swimming is just an effortless action.

"Don't move your feet, okay?" she tells the kid which in turn he answers with a nod. "Boss, pakibantayan muna. Tatawag ako ng rescuers."

"What for?" But I'm already out of her earshot before she can respond.

"Wow, that girl's a catch," I hear the kid saying as he watches Ariel walking away.

I narrow my eyes at him. "Stop fantasizing. That's my fiancé," I reprimand. s**t. Did I just..?

After a couple of minutes, Ariel is back with two guys who's obviously checking her out as she runs before them.

"Wear this," I say, giving her the cream cover up as I glare at those guys.

"Thanks," she says.

But because her bikini's been soaked in the water, her already see-through cover up becomes less of a cover.

"Ito pa. Para ka nang nakahubad," I say, giving her my sando.

She stares at me in disbelief. "Thanks," she says, more sarcastic this time but takes the sando nevertheless.

I smile to myself, feeling victorious. For some reasons, she reminds me so much of Triple Chocolate Mousse that I almost have myself drooling over her. Perhaps the chocolate brown bikini and the cream cover up? I don't know. This is so not good.

"You're quite the swimmer, aren't you?" I tease as we watch the rescuers carry the little kid out of sight.

"Well, someone doesn't call me The Little Mermaid for no reason."

As she says that, a short scene flashes right before my eyes, causing me to feel dizzy...

***flashback***

"Why would you wanna be close to the water? Seriously? Subic? Hindi ka naman lumalangoy," Jace said.

"I don't know. We're a little busy in the office and I can't find time for us to relax. Just to live a day of my fairytale. The Little Mermaid, I mean," I said with a shrug.

He playfully punched my shoulder. "Nagpapa-impress ka pa kay Little Mermaid mo. Papakasalan ka na nga, e. But sure, you can have the beach house and hotel for two days."

I chuckled. "She said she loves the sea. I'll take her to any place where she thinks the real fairytale lives."

"And you think it's in beaches?" Jace retorted.

I smirked before leaving. "Anywhere is a fairytale with Ariel."

***end of flashback***