Strictly In The Bedroom

PART I: Chapter 1. Chasing Coron

C H A S T I T Y

Year 2023

30 years old

Congratulations!

It is meant to be a genuine greeting given to someone when they successfully achieved something significant in their lives. Yet, the more I type or speak that term, the more unpleasantly disgusting it tastes. Basically, the term ‘congratulations’ has become a word that I despise, whether I speak it or type it. Even thinking about it makes me dislike it. I despise how sometimes I just say it to someone for the sake of saying it but not actually meaning it. I detest that it is leaving my mouth, yet the word itself is hollow.

Postbook is a social media app where you may share photographs and videos to keep your loved ones or friends up to speed on what has been going on in your life, or just for fun where you can comment on it or heart the post or like the post. As I glanced at the photo shared by another high school friend of mine in Postbook, I breathed heavily after realizing that I had written the sixth congratulations of the day. My friends from high school and college now have their own lives. They are either getting a new lover, getting engaged, getting pregnant, having their first baby, celebrating their first baby's first birthday, having their second baby, getting married, or celebrating their wedding anniversaries when they reach the age of thirty.

Me? I am far more single than a freaking ant in a colony. I just roll out of bed, shower, prepare my meal, eat, brush my teeth, go to work, and endure the entire day, then go home, eat dinner, and sleep, then wake up the next day and do it all over again. I have been in that cycle since I graduated from college, and I guess I have spent so much of my time working that I scarcely have any joy in life.

I was alone at thirty, yes, but I am sure as hell there are also tons of us like this out there.

Your whole family and extended family just never stops asking you when you are settling down while you are still a single lady in your thirties with no lover, no kids, no spouse, and has never been married. I find it difficult to respond to that type of nonsense, and it has gotten to the point where I no longer want to go to gatherings with family. As a result of my younger cousins’ current hectic schedules, which include either getting married or pregnant, my entire family continues to put pressure on me, despite the fact that I have grown so accustomed to it that I am no longer bothered by it.

“Why don’t you take a leave and go on a vacation, Chastity?” Susan, my 35-year-old coworker, continues to insist that I give myself a break. “You do not have to slave for work all the time.”

“It is just a waste of money.” I answered immediately, rejecting the same suggestion she had been insisting on for years now.

I still act and operate as if I do not have any money in my bank account even though I already have a sizable amount of funds. That is right—I am frugal. Very frugal because I did not want to become like my parents, who were always providing financial support to family members and extended family members left and right. As they aged, they had no savings and ran out of money because they had been providing so darn much financial support. Due to my parents’ poverty, the relatives they had been helping did not even aid them financially to return the favor helping them. I guess that is how I got to be so frugal and selfish because when I get older and all wrinkly, I know no one is going to help me but myself, after Myles left.

“Come on, you deserve to give yourself a break and have some fun at least.” Susan continues to insist with her sweet sisterly smile at me.

“I have fun when I am at work.” I chimed with a happy smile.

She rolled her eyes at me, “When was the last time you took a long leave from work, huh Chaz?”

“Umm, never.” I scratched the back of my neck.

“See? And you tell me you are not a workaholic?”

“Okay maybe I am a bit of a workaholic.”

“A bit???” She chuckled as she walked with me to the pantry. “In this hospital, you are the lone employee who by no means takes any time off. Never once did you forget to go to work. Never late. Never absent. Always willing to put in extra hours. The majority of your days and hours are spent working at this location. Unwinding is a must. Don’t you find it exhausting? And boring?”

I sighed heavily as I made myself a cup of coffee while it was looking gloomy outside once again, another regular day in Seattle. “It sometimes does.” I finally mustered up the courage to answer her question.

“Exactly! Given the city's perpetually dreary weather, it makes you feel even worse. Go to Hawaii. Alternatively, if you want to leave this depressing metropolis, travel further away to the Philippines, where there is sunshine and good cheer. There is an excellent place there, according to what I have heard. Which name was it again? Crown? No. It was not that. It is definitely not that..” She thinks for a while and snaps her fingers, “I got it! Coron!”

“It sounds like a lot of hassle and too much money will be wasted on one vacation.” I responded immediately since I have always been thrifty, knowing how poor my family was. “The plane ticket itself will be costly. I would rather save it than waste it.”

“Come on! It is not wasting it for a nonsensical thing.” She keeps on insisting with a smile since Susan knows that I have always slaved my entire life with nothing but work. “The experience of traveling to an unfamiliar country, meeting new people, feeling the hot sun on your skin, and getting a tan will be far more precious than money can ever buy. In addition, money can always be earned, and you have a reliable job in which you are the top earner in this hospital.” She stares at me intently while wiggling her eyebrows. “When are you planning to travel, huh? When you are elderly and wrinkled? Go outdoors! Go on a trip! Get a pina colada to drink! Have s*x with one guy, two men, or three men at once! Your three holes are there for a reason!” She chimed happily as we were laughing.

Our laughter was then interrupted in the middle of our conversation when Gerald, our twenty-six year old male coworker, was standing in the pantry with us. He looked awkward as soon as Susan said the last sentence which made me feel more awkward too. Gerald chuckles, breaking the awkwardness, as he makes himself a cup of coffee too, “Chaz, I concur with Susan. Step outside. You are the hardest-working employee I have ever known, and the majority of your colleagues are urging you to go out and enjoy yourself once in a while. You deserve to relax and have three guys at once.”

I chuckled softly under my throat.

Because of the way they said it, I did believe for a time that taking a well-earned vacation sounded quite excellent. I had been working for the most of my life up to this point, saving money, never taking any breaks, and even working overtime to get more money without even purchasing anything for myself. I do not wear or own any jewelry, rarely go shopping, never go out to party, have a small wardrobe, and only possess a few items of clothing. I also only have one pair of white shoes for casual days and one pair of white Crocs for my job at the hospital. My nail beds are ancient, and I seldom ever treat myself to spa treatments as other ladies do. Despite the fact that I purchase items for my morning and nightly skin care routines, I do not spend money on makeup since I have never liked wearing it.

After my shift ended, I spent most of the evening debating whether or not I should actually get that blasted ticket to the Philippines. The sea in the pictures was surely enticing as I spent hours browsing Coron Palawan. In fact, it is really tempting; let us put the emphasis on the enticing. Everything about the location seemed like a piece of heaven on earth and I definitely want a piece of it.

I requested a three-week leave the next morning, and when I submitted it, the HR department was ecstatic since they too knew I had never taken a vacation. It truly astonished me to see such responses from employees who are not even close friends because it simply served to highlight my tendency toward workaholism. Wow, I must have worked so hard over the previous several years that I lost the ability to appreciate life on my own that even my coworkers are rejoicing for me to take my first vacation leave in years of working.

That night, I booked my flight to the Philippines and booked my accommodation in Coron Palawan.

I eventually reached Coron island after traveling for at least forty-eight hours. Despite the fact that I was quite exhausted from all the traveling, the moment I arrived at my destination, I became thoroughly mesmerized by the entire scene, which instantly erased my exhaustion from the journey. The Philippines, in contrast to Seattle, was extremely hot and humid, which is something I have not experienced in a very long time. Despite the heat from the sun, it felt fantastic. After working for years and years, Susan encouraged me to treat myself to my first vacation by telling me that I deserved it. I made my way to a luxurious hotel to stay there. In light of how outstanding the hotel was, I am glad I paid attention to her advice. I had a view of the ocean, which was hypnotizing to see, I was given my own suite, which was magnificent. I honestly had no regrets about coming here all the way to the Philippines because the entire island was just very tranquil.

“Skunky?”

When I heard that eerily familiar voice, and that nickname, my body shivers, everything that had been going well for me and my vacation quickly fell to bits. While I was still holding my plate of food from the buffet, I looked up and saw his gaze as he slowly walked towards me. How is it possible that he is in the same country as me after so many years of not seeing each other?

“Skunky!” His towering height loomed over me, reminding me of my diminutive stature and how muscular he has gotten now. His kind and sincere smile was plastered across his divinely gorgeous face as his sparkling green eyes connected with mine. “Out of all places, I had to see you here. Wow! Long time no see!”

It was Lachlan Lionel Knox, the freaking rich guy who got my virginity in college.