Chapter 2

By the time I landed in Honolulu, twenty-six hours na akong gising and had eaten two sad airplane meals. I couldn’t sleep, my brain simply won't rest so I continued crocheting a very small bear that I started weeks ago. Isa lang ang mata niya kasi naubusan ako ng butones somewhere over the Pacific.

The strangest part was the date. Thanks to the International Date Line, I left Manila on Monday night and arrived in Hawaii on Monday afternoon, I feel I cheated time. My body, unfortunately, was not fooled. It insisted it was Tuesday morning and that I should be unconscious.

The air outside the airport was warm, soft and smelled faintly of flowers and jet fuel. Hinaplos ng trade winds ang mukha ko, and for one moment, nakalimutan kong maging miserable.

My driver was a round, cheerful man in a faded aloha shirt who told me to call him Uncle Dale. "First time in Hawaii?" he asked, loading my luggage into the van.

"First time in America, actually."

"Whoa. Welcome! You here for vacation?"

"Work. The sustainable cities summit."

"Ah, the big convention." Sagot niya na parang alam nya ang event. "Everybody here for work ends up here for something else, you know. Hawaii does that to people."

"Does what?"

"Makes you do things you didn't plan." Sabay tawa habang nakatingin sa akin sa rearview mirror. "My cousin went to a conference, met a girl at the hotel bar, and walked out of the marriage license office in Kapiolani the next morning with a license in his hand. No waiting period. Get the license by nine, get married by noon. Fifteen years strong now."

I laughed politely, "That sounds insane." 

"That sounds Hawaii." Proud pa nitong sagot.

I turned to the window. Diamond Head rose in the distance like a sleeping green giant, and Waikiki Beach spread out below it in a glittering curve of turquoise and gold. Surfers are lined up on the beach. Tourists in colorful shorts wandered Kalakaua Avenue, holding coconut drinks with tiny paper umbrellas.

Marriage by noon, I thought, almost amused. What kind of person does that?

Someone reckless. Someone in love. Someone definitely not me. 

The Hokulani Grand Waikiki was an open-air palace of white pillars and flowing curtains, with an ocean breeze moving straight through the lobby. A woman in a floral dress draped a plumeria lei around my neck before I'd taken three steps, at ang tamis ng amoy ay parang yumakap sa akin.

At the front desk, a young receptionist smiled at me. "Aloha! I am Leila. May I have your name?"

"Serrano, Soluna. Or maybe Katigbak, Ramon, for Kagawasan Builders. Long story. “

She typed and her smile slowly froze.

"Ma'am, I see the reservation. An Executive Suite, correct? One king bed, four nights."

"That's right."

"I'm so sorry. We have a small issue."

I closed my eyes at napasinghap. "How small?"

"The suite was double-booked. With the summit in town, we're completely sold out." Halos pabulong pa niyang dugtong, "Like, completely. There isn't a single room on this side of Waikiki."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"I know. I'm so sorry." She frowned at the screen. "That's weird. “It says here that the second booking was manually edited. It was made yesterday from an overseas account. Maybe it was just a glitch.” 

"Manual edit?"

"Probably a glitch," Leilani repeated, a little too quickly.

Before I could ask what that meant, may kilabot na gumapang sa batok ko. "Whose the other reservation?"

"The other guest is also here for the summit. Also from the Philippines. Sandoval-Legaspi Construction."

Natigilan ang buo kong katawan.

"No," I said.

"Yes, ma'am."

"There are thousands of hotels on this island."

"Yes, ma'am."

"And you're telling me—"

"Hello, ladies. Is there a problem?"

The voice came from directly behind me. Low, amused, annoyingly warm, like honey poured into whiskey.

Lumingon ako.

He was tall, yun ang una kong napansin. The second was the suit: charcoal, immaculately cut, the jacket slung over one shoulder as if he'd just stepped out of an ad for expensive watches.The third was the face: sharp jaw, dark eyes with a spark of of mischief, a mouth that looked permanently one second away from a smirk.

I knew that face. Every Filipino engineer knew that face. Nasa cover ito ng Philippine Builder Quarterly last year, with the headline "The Heir Who Builds."

Alexander Legaspi.

"Oh no," I said, out loud.

The corner of his mouth lifted. "That's not the first time a woman has said that to me. But it's the first time at a hotel front desk."

Leila made a choking sound and pretended to cough.

"Mr. Legaspi." humarap ako sa kanya.

"Ms. Serrano. Of Kagawasan Builders." He said it like he was tasting it. "Where's Ramon? I thought he'd be taking the stage."

"He is unwell."

"Ah." His expression changed. Hindi ito triumph o satisfaction, gaya ng inaasahan ko, kundi parang pag-aalala. "I hope it's not serious."

Hindi ko alam ang gagawin sa sincerity galing sa kaaway. I turned back to Leila. "Whose reservation came first?"

"Ma'am, both were made the same day. The system glitched."

"Then give us two rooms."

"We don't have any."

"Then call another hotel."

"Everything within miles is full, ma'am. Truly." She winced. "The suite does have two bedrooms, a king and a smaller one with a sofa bed, connected by a shared living room. The hotel can offer a full refund and a complimentary upgrade if you two would be, um, willing to share."

Silence.

Dahan-dahan akong lumingon kay Alexander. Tumingin siya sa akin. Tumaas ang kilay niya ng quarter-inch, na para sa kanya ay major emotional event na.

"No," I said.

"I'd like to point out," he said mildly, "that I haven't said anything yet."

"You don't have to. I can hear you thinking."

"I'm thinking that I've been awake for twenty-four hours and I'd like to lie down. I'm not fussy about where."

"Then lie down in the lobby."

"Ms. Serrano." There was laughter in his voice, but it was gentle, almost tired. "I'm not going to bother you in your sleep. Frankly, I can barely feel my feet."

Tinitigan ko siya nang masama. Gusto ko siyang ayawan. Totoo, gusto ko. It would have been much easier.

Pero nanginginig na ang mga tuhod ko sa pagod at namumuo na ang sakit ng ulo.

"Fine," I said through my teeth. "Two nights. And then I’ll find another room."

"Wonderful," sagot nya, and smiled, and for one treacherous second, nakalimutan kong galit ako sa kanya.