“My dearest, potato-est friend, my literary club from uni will have a get-together party and I’m thinking of suggesting a place near your house so I can sleepover after. Do you want to come with me? You know them, right?” was the message I sent before Halloween to Desiree, my best friend.

Do I regret doing this? A bit.

How could I know that she would use that ‘attendance’ to make me fill in a sudden date for her? I didn’t even know how she convinced me to show up and pretend to be her, but I did.

My eyes wandered around Twelfth, a coffee shop near my place that would not take me five minutes to walk to. I could not stop my mind from redesigning the place as I waited, since the arrangement needs a bit of help.

When my iced coffee came, someone was clearing their throat behind me. A guy, probably more than six-foot-tall, stood before me with a laptop and some files in his hand.

I was beginning to think that he was about to sell something to me so I said, “Hello? I supposed you’re Mrs. Huang’s son?”

It turned out that he is my date for today so we talked for a moment and took a picture together. He seemed busy and I did not want to stay there and chat, so we cut it short after he ordered his food.

After Desiree went home, I did not think that being alone with my thoughts would bring me back to a familiar scene where I’m Elisia again.

“I knew it! I knew I’d left something!” I exclaimed with a click of a tongue. “And you know what? They said they didn’t have the same charger as mine-”

Theo chuckled on the other line and interrupted me, “Of course, it’s an old model.”

“As long as I can use it,” I reasoned.

In between his laugh, he said, “It’s fine. I know-” then I could not hear a thing anymore.

“Theo? Hello? Perfect,” I groaned when I checked the phone to see if it was disconnected, but it was worse, the battery died on me. It was as if Elisia was telling me to throw the phone away if not for a voice that called me from the back.

“Ms. Diego,” the voice said. When I turned around, it was one of the tour guides and she was smiling at me. “We’ll start the tour after the thirty-minute-break, ma’am.”

I forced a smile then sighed as I walked away from her.

Elisia was angry. She was at the hotel’s lobby a few moments ago since she’s asking if they got the same charger as hers. I can relate to her in this specific scene because if I am in a hurry, there is a huge chance that I will forget something. In her case, she forgot her charger at home and it is one of the reasons why she was annoyed. It got fueled by the hotel not having, too, and by learning that there’s no tech shop nearby.

“Not even a universal charger,” I continued to mutter as I went towards the elevator to head to my room on the twelfth floor.

I walked and walked after I got out of the elevator when I thought, “Do I have my keys?” and started rummaging my bag.

I was focused on finding the keys, though my eyes trailed on Elisia’s priced lipstick for a moment, then the next thing I knew was my butt reached the floor.

I could not feel the pain, but Elisia cried, “Aw!”

“Oops,” said someone, a guy.

I was telling myself to inhale patience, even though I was chill at that time before I grabbed the hand that he was offering.

I immediately straightened my clothes after he pulled me back up. But before I could open my mouth to say ‘Thanks’ or ‘What the hell,’ he was gone. He already rode the elevator and he was going down.

“Ha!” was all that came out from my disbelief, but Elisia said to curse him as she stomped into another elevator to follow him while muttering, “You’re getting on my nerves, Leon Constantino. You didn’t even say you’re sorry, or anything!”

I picked the ground floor as if I’m sure he was there. When the elevator dinged open, I was shocked to know that Mr. Constantino was indeed there, but I could feel Elisia’s fury grew more when in the corner of my eyes I saw that guy rode the opposite elevator, again.

I was about to chase him, but a voice stopped me.

“Miss, Mr. Johnson called and was looking for you. He said that he can’t reach you,” she told me.

“Oh, yeah. I forgot about him,” I groaned as I put my palm on my face. I thought that she would leave after she told me that but she stood still, fidgeting. “Is there anything else?”

“I just want to ask…” her voice trailed.

Is it because anyone could feel Elisia’s rage, or because her eyebrows were united? She even made me say, “Can you make it fast?”

That was one of the times that I reminded myself not to pass my anger to someone who is not involved as that’s a shitty thing to do.

Her eyes got moist but managed to say, “Sorry, ma’am. I just want to ask if you’re okay with your room.”

I want to tell her the truth that I haven’t seen the room, but my lips were controlled, and said, “Yes, I’m pretty comfortable with it.”

My eyes would be huge as hers, too. I didn’t know why she lied, as well. The tour guide’s eyes were round and even her lips parted a little before she croaked, “Is that so, ma’am? Okay.”

Another round of seconds ticked away but the woman stood still, occasionally looking at me, then would puff her chest like she was about to say something, but hesitated until she excused herself.

I thought, “What’s up with that?”

I went back to the reception desk to call Mr. Johnson. Elisia seemed to have an invisible list of things that she mentioned to her boss like what time we arrived, the initial service of the crew, accommodation, food, almost everything. And, oh, about the forgotten charger.

His voice echoed over my head as he scolded Elisia for leaving the charger. Though she just absorbed every word he said, she was busy answering him in her mind.

“Duh, you called me in the dead of the night so I rushed myself here. You should at least expect something like this, or two. This old bald,” she even ended it with an eye roll. But when it was her turn to speak, she just told him, “Yes, Mr. Johnson. Goodbye.”

My fingers were ready to dial another number, probably Theo’s, but the tour guides shadowed behind me, stating that the tour was about to start.

I dragged my feet with Elisia as she groaned inside. Who starts their tour right after they land? Isn’t this supposed to be relaxing?

I’m glad that I sat on the end-most seat as I could close my eyes and it was easy to ignore the guides as they said, “We’re now starting our tour. Welcome, dear guests!”

It was pitch black before the scene shifted.

It looked like Elisia’s head bumped on the seat in front of her, waking her up.

“Aw,” I whimpered as I massaged her forehead. “What kind of driving is that?”

Someone from my side let a relieved sigh, “Good thing you’re finally awake. My shoulders hurt like hell,” said a now-familiar voice. I glared at him as he let me see a red spot on his arm. “Your head weighs a ton.”

“Sorry if I did that, okay? I didn’t know. I was sleeping,” I said with an eye roll.

I was not sure if Elisia blushed by the embarrassment but she held it nicely and pushed it away.

They were quiet for a moment, then I realized that I’m the only one occupying the last row earlier that made my eyes grow big, and growled at him, “Why are you sitting here, by the way?!”

“In case you forgot, ma’am, I’m part of this tour,” he said in a matter-of-fact tone that made me glare at him again.

“His looks are wasted on him,” Elisia thought but like most of the people in these memories, his face was a little blurry when I try to recall how he looked, except for his prominent pointed eyebrows that were bushier than anyone’s I know. So, I did not know how handsome he is for her to say that.

I balled my hand into a fist and tried to put one of my raised eyebrows down, but I had a hard time controlling my anger as this guy was staring at me. I looked around to change seats but the guests seemed to have already formed their little groups that I could not find a nice place to sit in.

I could still hear how Elisia voiced her thoughts in her mind, “I got no choice but to put up with him or I can sit by the driver. If only I can shout at him, punch him, or throw him in the nearest ocean, I will. I never thought I’d get mad at someone I just been with for a couple of hours.”

I shook her head and breathed out her forming anger. I bit her lips as I turned our gaze to the windows where we caught a glimpse of a sign welcoming us somewhere. The roads are filled with beautiful trees and it stretches to a big lake.

I looked at her watch when I saw the trees still let out dews. “It’s already seven, and if I were in the city, all I can see is smoke.”

The scenery calmed me, as well as Elisia. She was even about to close her eyes again when I heard his deep whispers. His voice was so low that it sent shivers down to my spine in a very weird way.

“I’m on a vacation,” he said. “I don’t need anyone’s permission to go on one. I didn’t ask for,” was all there was as the whispers stopped, or maybe his voice trailed since it was faint.

“Is he getting in trouble? A love problem, maybe? I wouldn’t wonder why. He got an attitude and it’s not nice. Ha!” triumphant thoughts of Elisia echoed in my head.

There was a feeling of content knowing he was in such a state, but I could feel a tug, a sting even, in my own heart that made me uneasy. It’s confusing. Crashing with someone else’s emotions is confusing.