Chapter 1: Ghost from the Past

YEAR 2016

Herbie was at the time of his life when one could say he had everything - a nice fully-furnished apartment in one of the posh condominium buildings in Taguig, his own luxury car paid for by his company, off the charts pay rate and a lot of other perks that come with being President and CEO of Superb Semiconductor Manufacturing Company.

Nope, he didn’t dream of all the power and money. In fact, he didn’t have a plan at all. One could say he was just going with the flow.

When he was first hired, he didn’t even like what he was doing -  merely encoding numbers didn’t challenge his mind at all. That meeting one afternoon with the management team changed his life when he opened his mouth to explain to them what he thought the numbers meant. He impressed not just his boss and the board of directors but even himself! From then on, he was no longer an anonymous encoder in one of those cubicles. He got promoted year after year.

At first, he was hesitant to accept the promotion because for him it was just a temporary job he could keep until a better one came along. He didn’t really like the job, it was just he was good with computers and numbers and according to his bosses, in interpretation and analysis.

He was witty, smart and had a stable high-paying job but for some reason, he felt like he was not appealing to women. He would always feel awkward in front of them. For a while, he even wondered how he was able to get girls to date him especially during his younger years.

Not that he was not serious about relationships. He was! In fact, he would devote time and effort just to please his partner but just when everything was going well, he would start to panic. He would feel insecure and would start to do things that would irritate his girl or would think of a hundred different tiny reasons to break-up.

In college, circa 1996, he dated a girl named Annie Garcia. The relationship just happened. He would always say he just got lucky that during the first day of classes, they became seatmates.

No, they did not take up the same course. Annie took up AB History while he took up BS Computer Science. They became classmates in one general education subject, Mathematics. They found time for each other, worked their way around a schedule so that they could still spend some time without affecting their performance in school. They had built their own little world until she found her way into the campus circuit that by the time they graduated, she was already a campus figure, the typical beauty and brains that excelled in almost anything she sank her teeth into, including sports and pageants.

Herbie could not recall how they broke up or if they ever broke up at all. He couldn’t even recall being heartbroken because it happened gradually. They just saw each other less and less.

He had buried memories of Annie for years until it was resurrected 10 years ago when they became neighbors - same building at the La Consolacion in Makati City -  same floor, the twelfth, her unit number 1204 and his 1205.

YEAR 2002

“Ding.” The elevator to the twelfth floor opened as Herbie was walking towards his apartment. He didn’t bother to look behind him until he heard what sounded like boxes and cans falling on the floor. When he turned around, he saw a girl scrambling to pick up her things scattered on the hallway floor.

He picked up the ones that fell near him. That simple act gave him an opening to start a conversation.

“Twelve o’ four?” Herbie asked.

“What?” she asked puzzled.

“Oh, I mean you’re the new tenant to 1204?

“Oh, yes! Yes!… I’m sorry, I’m Mandy!”

“I’m at 1205, name’s Herbie!”

“Oh, hi, Herbie, nice to meet you!…. So, is it okay if you give me a hand?… I mean, you seem like a nice man and there’s that CCTV right about there!” Mandy pointing to it with her eyes as she had her hands full.

“Wow, this place looks even better than my flat!” Herbie said as he looked around.

“Okay, since you helped me with these boxes, why don’t I get you something to drink.”

“Sounds great!”

Herbie watched Mandy as she took a pitcher and two tall glasses from a box.

Then she took a pack of powdered juice from her bag of groceries, watched her wash the glasswares, empty the pack of juice and poured water into the pitcher. He heard the sound of the metal spatula as it hit the sides of the pitcher while she was stirring.

She then turned around holding the pitcher in both hands  - “Herbie, we have a problem!… Do you have ice?”  she asked with a crinkle on her nose that made her look even cuter. They both burst into laughter, their connection, instant and flowing.

Herbie took the pitcher from her hands and headed straight to 1205. Mandy was not far behind holding the two tall glasses that she already washed.

Herbie went straight to his freezer. Mandy was quick to take the ice cube tray from him. It seemed like she really knew her way around the kitchen. She walked past him taking with her the glasses that were already filled with ice.

“Herbie, you have crackers?” she asked as she poured juice on both glasses.

Herbie walked towards the couch in front of the television and noticed how Mandy had carefully placed the pitcher of juice and the two tall glasses on his placemat that was made of cloth.

Mandy took her glass of juice and raised it in front of him. “Cheers!”

Herbie took his glass and raised it as well. “Cheers!”

“Well, I’ve got this Frito Lay Potato Chips!… Will this work?”

“Sour Cream and Onion?! They’re my favorite!… Okay, I’ll go get a bowl… I mean, may I?” she asked already on her way to getting one.

“Help yourself.” He can’t seem to say no to this girl - this pretty girl! He had never brought anyone into his apartment in a long time and he couldn’t deny how much he was enjoying her company.

Herbie poured the whole bag of chips into the bowl and put on the television. They were not really watching, they just liked hearing sounds other than their voices.

“My sister’s calling.” Mandy said while pulling her cellphone that was on vibrate mode from her jeans’ pocket.

The phone was not on speaker but he could hear the voice from the other line.

“I am at 1205. Our neighbor’s really nice. Why don’t you come and meet him?”

And there it was again that crinkle on her nose as she made a face in response to what her sister was saying.

“Hey, I have to go back to our apartment but you have to come with me… You gotta meet my sister!”

“Oh, I don’t know.” Herbie hesitating.

“Oh, alright.”

Mandy divided the remaining juice from the pitcher between their glasses then drank her share bottoms up. Herbie did the same.

Mandy grabbed his empty glass and walked towards the door. She looked back to see that Herbie was holding the pitcher and was about to head to the sink.

“Where are you going?”

“Shouldn’t we wash this?”

“I’ll take care of that, Herbie. Come on! My sister’s waiting.”

Herbie closed the door to his apartment thinking that from that moment on, he could really be looking forward coming home for a change. Hitting bars almost every night after work had become common and unexciting even when it meant meeting really beautiful women night after night.

It had become tiring as well - getting the girl’s name, her phone number and almost reciting his resume to compensate for what he thought was his lackluster physical attributes.

Mandy handed over one of the glasses she was holding to Herbie so she could get her key and open the door.

They first deposited the glasswares on the sink afterwhich, Mandy proceeded to look for her sister in one of the two rooms. Herbie didn’t  need to ask. He already knew Mandy was sharing the apartment with her sister.

The open box stole his attention away from Mandy and her sister. It was full of photographs, some of people, some of things, some of sceneries. On top of all these photos was a picture of Mandy smiling for the camera. It was not a full picture of her face, just the right half of it. He picked it up and it uncovered another photo of Mandy, her face side-by-side with a very familiar face.

“Annie?”