La Manila

“Come here, honey.”, Alfred told Isabel, while he held out his hand to take hers. Isabel stood up from the bed and walked towards Alfred, smiling.

“We need to get dressed for dinner. We don’t want them to wait, don’t we?”. Isabel was tying up her hair in a neat bun.

“Well, they can entertain each other.”, Alfred said with a laugh. “Why don’t you just let you hair down? I love the way your hair falls on your shoulders”, he added while touching Isabel’s hair.

Isabel lets her hair down, running her brush over her hair a couple of times. She puts on some lipstick, and sprays her favorite perfume. She finally faces Alfred and says, “I’m ready, honey, are you?”.

“Then off we go!”, says Alfred beaming at her. She flashes a hesitant smile, but heads for the door.

The couple leaves their condo apartment, and heads to the nearby mall. They walk to the mall holding hands, both of them quiet, seemingly lost in their own thoughts.

They finally reach Carre Four, and heads for their favorite restaurant, La Manila. They go inside, and Isabel takes a deep breath and tightens her grip on Alfred’s arm. Alfred smiles at her, and kisses her on the forehead.

They see a couple, sitting in a booth for four, in a dimly lit side of the restaurant.

“Oh my God, it’s so nice to see you again!”, gushes Apple, while hugging Isabel. Isabel’s tense expression finally lightened up. “Yes! It’s been a while, Apple. So how are you?”, she says, while nodding towards the direction of the other man.

“Hi, Isabel! It seems like ages since I last saw you. You look…”, glancing at Alfred, “…happy.”.

Alfred, as if on cue, gives the man a bear hug. “Bro! How’s the most successful doctor in Manila? I saw the news, bro… “Tristan Reyes performs yet another successful cardiac operation.” I’m proud of you!”.

“C’mon! It’s not that big a thing, bro. Look who’s talking! Your stories are all over the Philippines. You got all the big news stories. Congratulations, bro! You are one of the most credible news personalities around.”, Tristan shakes Alfred’s hand. The two men, with wide smiles on their faces, hug each other once more.

“Hey, you two, stop complimenting each other, and let’s sit down and have dinner.”, Isabel quips while sitting down. Apple does the same, and takes Tristan’s hand, motioning him to sit down.

The two couples happily have dinner and talk about what is going on with their lives. Halfway through the bottle of red wine, Apple asked Isabel, “So have you started preparing for the wedding?”.

Isabel and Tristan exchanged uncomfortable glances. “Well, we already have a wedding planner.”, she says. And to Tristan, "We wanted to tell you personally, but we can’t get hold of you."

“It’s not a big deal, Isabel.”, Tristan drinks from his wine glass.

“And Tristan, we both want you to be there. Promise that you’ll be there. We want her to be there, and be part of the wedding.”, Isabel looks imploringly at Tristan. Alfred holds her hand, and looks intently at Tristan.

“Isabel, I’m sure it’s not a problem with Tristan. It’s ok, bro, right?”, he looks at Tristan, as if silently commanding him to say yes.

“Of course, she will be there. How could she miss such an important occasion?!”, he laughs mockingly. He adds, “At least now, she has one parent who will be legally married!”.

‘Tristan, stop it!”, Isabel orders Tristan. Apple looks away.

“Ok, then, it’s settled. I am sure she will be the prettiest girl in that wedding, aside from you, honey, of course!”, Alfred laughs a nervous laugh. Then to Apple, “You will be there right?”.

Apple seems at a loss for words, then finally speaks, “Well, yeah, of course Alfred. We won’t miss that for the world. We will be there, both me and Tristan. You can pick up the little girl a week before the wedding. For… you know… all the preparations”. Then looks at Tristan with a pained look.

Tristan, who seemed to have too much to drink, suddenly fills his glass with red wine, and raises his glass. “Here’s to the soon-to-be-married couple! A toast, to happiness!”. The couples toast and smile politely.

Tristan then faces Apple and says, “Too bad, sweetheart, they can’t make the same toast for us.”.

“Bro, let’s drop the subject. Tell me about your prestigious hospital?”, Alfred tries to change the subject, while Apple tries to suppress tears swelling on her eyes.

Meanwhile, Isabel has been quiet, intently looking down at her lap.

Tristan sits down, takes a deep breath and kisses Apple on her cheeks, “I’m sorry sweetheart, it’s the red wine talking.”

“It’s ok sweet. I’m ok… it’s nothing…”, her voice fades, but she touches Tristan face lovingly. “I’m sorry that my hands are tied at the moment, but you know that I love you, don’t you?”

“I do, sweetheart, I do…”, Tristan looks at the happy couple, catches Isabel’s eyes, then whispers to Apple, “…now, I really do.”




17 September 2006
Sunday
07:34pm
Penang