Chapter 003

“Ofcourse i will notice! Your group is the loudest in the crowd, so everyone really turns to look at your way.” I said to him as a way to brush it off.

“Okay, Miss, you said it! (He replied to me with a smile) By the way, I’m James?! Can I know your name?!” he said to me.

“As I said, I want to be alone, so please you and your friends leave me alone. I’m full of stress today. So if it’s okay, look for the other girl that will agree on your trip, you won’t get anything from me,” I told him. I took another shot of tequila and look at him.

“Miss, we’re not betting on you; you saw, right? My friends already left! Okay, let’s do this: just let me stay here with you and drink, and whoever does something inappropriate first will pay for everything.(He said to me) “Waiter!” (he called the waiter, who immediately came to us.) “You’re the witness. If I do something bad to this beautiful woman, call the police right away, and charge all our orders for tonight to me. Here’s my card and ID.” (He handed his entire wallet to the waiter; the waiter was laughing at what he was doing, I don’t know why, but it looked like this waiter was close to the man in front of me.) “Is that okay, Miss? Do you trust me now?” he asked me, and I couldn’t help but laugh at how over the top he was in this situation.

“Okay, fine! Just no attachments; I just need someone to drink with. Whoever messes up pays for everything.” (I also handed my entire wallet to the waiter too) I replied to him.

The waiter called his manager to inform him of our agreement. The manager agreed and smiled at us. It seemed like James had a strong connection with the people at that resort because he was allowed to do something that was technically prohibited—leaving personal belongings anywhere.

As the night deepened, we continued our conversation, with loud laughter between us. I couldn’t understand it, but after a few hours of talking to James, I started to feel comfortable with him, and he was gaining my trust. My initial impression of him was wrong. Earlier, I was annoyed at his quickness, but now it seemed like I didn’t want our conversation to end.

We ordered more drinks, and we were consuming quite a lot of alcohol. I could feel the fun we were having, which led us to dance along with the music.

Everyone was cheering to the loud disco music when suddenly the DJ changed the track. It turned into a love song, and I felt uneasy when James invited me to dance. He extended his hand as an invitation for us to dance to the tune. I accepted his offer. We danced to the soft music, with him holding my waist while my arms wrapped around his back. I suddenly leaned against his chest as tears started to fall. I didn’t expect the pain I felt would return upon hearing the song we had planned to play at our wedding, which was supposed to be with Michael. We stopped moving, and I suggested we go back to our seats.

“Let’s go, James; let’s just sit down. I don’t want to hear those songs anymore,” I wiped my tears away and forced a smile at him.

I called the waiter and ordered drinks in quick succession; I quickly finished each drink he placed in front of me, so I asked for a whole bottle of whiskey. James just looked at me without questioning, handing me tissue and then taking a sip of his drink.

Even though he hadn’t asked yet, I started to tell him what happened to me that morning, probably due to my intense drunkenness, I became chatty.

“You know, you guys, men, really have bad attitudes. Huhuhu. I can’t understand you; you’re never satisfied.” I began telling him as I continuously gulped down my drink and my tears flowed.

He just looked at me and listened quietly to my stories while he kept drinking. “You know, James? My fiancé is such a jerk! (I stammered due to my drunkenness) That guy, he got my sister pregnant! Isn’t he amazing? Hahaha (I laughed while crying) and the worst part is my mom and dad knew and let them live in our house, allowing that guy to continue his nonsense! They’ve only been together for five months, and he wasted the five years we spent together. You know why my mom agreed?” He still didn’t speak; he just looked at me, accompanying each gulp I took from my drink. “You’re so annoying; you’re not even talking!” I said, irritated.

“Why is that?” he asked me.

“Because I’m the one supporting my family! My sister was supposed to graduate; she’s such a fool, saying it was an accident. The jerk! Huhuhu (I sobbed and laughed a little at my memories) they don’t even know I’m going back to the Philippines soon. I was supposed to surprise them, but now I’m the one who’s surprised by their nonsense!” I angrily recounted to him.

I quickly wiped away the tears that kept falling from my eyes. I suddenly changed the mood around us. “Oh no, I don’t want to cry anymore; enough with the drama, Kate! Let’s just cheers, James!” (I raised my drink, and we toasted.)

“There, let’s just enjoy. Forget about your problems for now! That will just ruin your night! Didn’t you say you’re on vacation to enjoy? So just enjoy!” he said to me.

“You’re right! Wooooooh! Cheers to the single people who got cheated on!” I cheered.

James and I decided to move since the night was deepening, and the wind was getting colder where we were sitting.

“Where do you want to move to?! (He asked me, still not sure of my name, so he asked again for confirmation) Kate, right?!”

“Yeah, haha! By the way, I’m Kate.” (I extended my hand to formally introduce myself; we had been together for a while, but I hadn’t introduced myself yet.) “I don’t want to stay at the bar anymore; it’s getting a bit cold.” (James took off his polo shirt and put it on me. I smiled at what he did.) “Hey, you better not be falling in love with me; that’s not allowed!” I said, laughing.

“, Kate, you’re really different from everyone else,” he said softly. “So where should we go?!”

“Anywhere, James!” I replied to him. We laughed so much, nearly tripping a few times while walking due to our drunkenness.