Novels by Huxeia

The first mai tai was strong enough to knock the stiffness out of my spine. The second tasted like a vacation. By the third, I had stopped counting, kasi masaya ako, and I hadn't been this happy in so long. Kalani's place was the kind of bar where strangers become friends in under ten minutes. A retired cook told Lex he had the posture of a man who'd been to charm school. Two nurses from Kapiolani Hospital taught me how to say cheers in Hawaiian. Tita Marites, ruling the room from a stool, corrected the karaoke lyrics out loud. "Tita, how did you and Kalani meet?" I asked her. Tita Marites put a hand to her chest. "Ay, anak. I came from Pampanga for a nursing conference, fifteen years ago. Thirty-seven ako, pagod na pagod sa trabaho, tapos broken-hearted. I walked into this bar for one drink. Isa lang. And there was this big stupid Hawaiian with a ponytail who said, 'You look like you need a lei.'" "And you married him the next morning?" said Lex. "The next noon," Pagtatama niya

My hand was on the doorknob, and I had about four seconds to decide who I wanted to be.Option one: the sensible woman who said goodnight through the door and went back to her lumpy sofa bed. Option two: the woman who had cried on a beach tonight and badly wanted to be held without anyone asking why.Bahala na. I opened the door.Lex stood in the dark living room in a gray T-shirt and pajama, one hand on the doorframe, the other closed in a fist. He looked like he had been standing there a long time, arguing with himself and losing."I couldn't sleep," he said."Neither could I.""I know. I could hear you turn over every eleven seconds.""Hindi yun reason to knock on my door at one in the morning.""No. But this is."He opened his fist and on his palm lay a tiny, slightly crushed, cream-colored crocheted moon.My breath left me. "You found it.""Under the sofa, after the lights came back." Pag-amin niya. "I should have told you in the elevator. I'm sorry.""Bakit hindi mo sinabi?"He

We danced the way two people dance when they are both pretending to be fine.His hand at my waist was light and careful and my hand rested on his shoulder. May six inches gap sa pagitan namin and the heat emanating from his body made me feel safe."You're a good dancer," I said."My mother made me take lessons. Every Saturday for six years.""That explains the posture.""It explains the trauma." There was a smile in his voice. "She said a man who can't dance has no business building houses for people who do.""She sounds wonderful.""She was." He said simply. "She passed away when I was nineteen."I looked up. His eyes had gone somewhere far away. "I'm so sorry, Lex.""Thank you. She dreamed of building small, sturdy houses for families who had nothing. After she was gone, my father kept the company going, and I'll always be grateful for that. He grieves by working. But somewhere along the way, her little houses turned into tall glass towers, and I don't think either of us noticed."T

Hindi kami nag-usap sa elevator.Twenty floors down, and neither of us said a word. Lex stood on one side with his hands in his pockets, as if they might get ideas. I stood on the other and stared at the floor numbers like they were counting down to something scary. Every ding sounded louder than it should have.That was when I touched my left ear and found it bare."Oh no! I lost an earring. One of my moons." I patted my hair, shoulder and scanned the elevator floor. "Nahulog siguro kanina.""We can go back and look.""It's fine. Sinulid lang 'yon." It wasn't just thread. It had taken me an entire night over the Pacific. Pero hindi ako iiyak over a crocheted crescent in front of Lex Legaspi.He didn't say anything, but his hand slid into his jacket pocket and stayed there."At least the lights are back on," he said finally, to the elevator door."Yes. Very nice lights.""Great lights. Excellent lights."Pinigilan ko ang sarili kong tumawa. He must have seen it in the reflection of th

By evening, I had six business cards, four investor meeting requests, and a clip of my speech with fifty thousand views.Ramon called from the hospital. "Hija," he said, and his voice was wet. "I watched it on my nurse's phone. I cried in front of a twenty-two-year-old nurse. Do you know how embarrassing that is?""Sir—""You showed it. I'm so proud of you." A pause. “Tell me, have you met the Legaspi boy?”"Sir? Opo. Same hotel kami, um. Mahabang kuwento.""Same hotel." Something in his voice sounded almost pleased. "Good. Be kind to him, Luna. “He bears more than people realize.”He hung up before I could ask a single question, which, for a man supposedly in agony, was impressive.I stared at the phone. Then I caught myself searching the crowd for a particular tall figure in a charcoal suit.Tigilan mo 'yan, I told myself.I watched his presentation and I had to admit, grudgingly, that he was extraordinary. No notes. No pacing. He simply stood in the light and talked about the glass

My alarm went off at 5:30 a.m., and for one confused second nakalimutan ko kung nasaan ako.Then the sofa bed groaned beneath me, the ceiling swam into focus, and reality returned with all the subtlety of a dropped brick. Hawaii. The summit. Alexander Legaspi, one wall away.I got up and tiptoed toward the bathroom, kung saan may gumagamit na ng six a.m. shower na buong yabang kong idineklara.The water was running. Someone was humming, sintunado."Rule three," I whispered furiously. "Rule three."The humming stopped. A pause. Then, through the door, in a voice thick with sleep and unmistakable amusement: "Luna? Is that you?”"You're in my shower.""It's six in the morning. You said six.""It's 5:52.""I couldn't sleep. Jet lag. My body thinks it's midnight tomorrow." He cleared his throat. "I'll be out in two minutes. Please don't wage war on me.""I'm not waging anything.""You're standing there glaring at the door, aren't you?"I was. I stopped. "No.”Namatay ang tubig. Lumayo ako