Chapter 24
Eviction night…
“Okay and we are back on the show! Tonight one more housemate will be evicted
from the house so who will it be? Before
we announce the next person who’ll get out tonight, let’s talk to them
first…” The host said.
“ Hello, Ryan. How are you feeling?” The
host asked Ryan.
“Hi Tina,” referring to the show’s
host. “I feel like going to the CR but I
also feel happy,” Ryan joked.
“Oh haha! You are so funny Ryan. Don’t worry, after this you can go to the
CR. The question is, which CR will you
be going to, the one inside the house or the CR OUTSIDE.” The host said in suspense and turned her
attention to Ann.
“Let’s move on to Ann. Hi, Ann.
How are you feeling?”
“Hi, Tina. I feel really nervous right now
but I’m also happy.”
“Oh, that’s okay Ann. It’s only normal to be nervous in situations
like these. But, if ever, are you ready
to go out of the house?”
“Honestly?
I still want to stay here but if I do get evicted tonight, then I will
also accept it.” Ann said, trying to smile her nerves away.
“That’s good to know Ann. Let’s move on to James. Hello, James.”
“Hi, Tina.”
“How do you feel right now, James.”
“I feel a little nervous and I feel happy
as well.”
“I’ll ask you the same question as Ann, are
you ready to leave the house?”
“Yes, I’m ready to leave the house if ever
I do get evicted.”
“Wow, straight answer for a straight
question. James, you look unaffected by
what’s happening right now. Are you
really unaffected or is it just a façade?”
“Honestly, I wouldn’t be sad if ever I
would be the one to go because the experience alone, as well as the people I’ve
known, is enough prize for me.”
“Wow, that’s so mature of you James.” Tina complimented him.
“Okay, now will be the time to announce the
next person leaving the house. People,
let’s all do a countdown before I announce the next evictee’s name, okay?”
“All right, 10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1…and the
next person leaving the house is…”
Chapter 25
James couldn’t sleep that night. Only a few hours have gone and already he
missed Ann. He missed talking to her
before going to sleep and missed hugging her goodnight. He thought he was okay with Ann leaving the
house because he was sure that they would see each other again outside. He was wrong though. He was already so used to seeing her everyday
and every night that it felt so wrong to not see her tonight before he went to
sleep.
Still unable to sleep, he kept reminiscing
about the events that happened earlier that night, when Ann said goodbye to
him. Again she hugged him so tight and
kissed him on the cheek before she left.
In his mind, he could still see her crying face before she hid it in his
neck and hugged him.
“I’m going to miss you guys, I’m going to
watch you everyday…” Ann said to
everyone but was looking at James.
“We’ll talk after all of this, see you
outside…” was all James could say. It
was all so fast he didn’t have time to say goodbye to her properly. All the other housemates were also saying
goodbye to Ann that by the time it was his turn, she was already called to go
outside.
“Do you miss Ann, James” Ryan asked him.
“Yeah,” Was all he said.
“It’s okay, you will see each other in a
few days, anyway. Or maybe you’ll see
each other after a week.”
“Yeah.”
“Just don’t always think about Ann so you
won’t miss her. There’s still Rich, she
likes you. Try to spend more time with
her, she’s very pretty, and nice too.
Maybe you’ll learn to like her just like Ann.”
“It’s not the same, Ryan. It will always be
different with Ann. Rich is nothing more
than a friend. Yeah, she’s nice, she’s
pretty and she does like to please me.
But, there’s something about Rich that annoys me sometimes. It’s like she always tries to impress me, or
get my attention. I don’t even think she
gets me at all. “
“But whenever you’re not with Ann, you’re
with Rich. If she annoys you, why do you
spend a lot of time with her?”
“I’m not the one who makes the effort to be
with her. She always comes to me. I just don’t want to be a jerk to her, that’s
all.”
“Really? Oh, I thought you liked Rich too…”
“Yeah, I like her as a friend. All I’m saying is that Ann’s different, and
what we have is different.”
He fell asleep that night thinking about
Ann, and missing her.
Chapter 26
A few days have passed since the eviction
night but James still missed Ann. There
would be times when he would just be unusually quiet, causing the housemates to
ask him if there was anything wrong.
During nap times, when they would all stay and chat at the girl’s
bedroom, he would also lie down on Ann’s bed.
Instead of thinking about who the winner among the 4 of them who are
left, the thought of being able to see Ann again was more exciting to him. He wasn’t expecting to be the winner because
he knew that the three other housemates are more deserving than him.
“Hey,”
Rich said as she sat beside him on the couch.
“Hey,” he answered back. He had been playing the guitar when Rich
approached him. He had been turning to
the guitar a lot these days since Ann left.
He preferred it over the company of his housemates, except of course for
Ryan.
“You’ve been different these past few days,
James. Is it because of Ann? Do you miss her that much?”
He didn’t answer. He just smiled at Rich and continued playing
with the guitar.
“She must have really gotten into you,
huh…”
Again, he didn’t answer.
“…lucky girl, Ann…I just hope she knows it
and takes care of you…” Rich continued,
not minding the lack of response from James.
“Don’t get me wrong James, Ann’s my friend and I love her, it’s just
that sometimes she takes things for granted…”
That statement caught James attention.
“What do you mean she takes things for granted?”
“Well, Ann has a tendency to do that. I don’t know, maybe because she was brought
up with a silver spoon? She was kind of
spoiled when we were younger.”
“Ann was spoiled? I could never imagine her
like that…” James said disbelievingly.
“Oh, you didn’t know her when she was
younger. She lives with her mom, you
know that right? Well, her mom is pretty lax with her, gives her everything she
wants. Would you believe she already
goes to parties when she was just 13?”
“What’s
wrong with that? I go to parties too…”
“No, like parties where there’s beer and
all other alcoholic stuff…parties that can go wild most of the time…her mom
allows her to go to those things…she always gets what she wants and then when
she gets ‘em, poof! Discards them all like yesterday’s news.”
“Really…” James said, for lack of anything
else to say. Somehow, he was finding it
hard to believe the things that Rich was telling him. It sounded like Rich was painting a picture
of a different Ann. He was getting
suspicious of Rich’s motives for telling him these things. Still, his curiosity got the better of him.
“Were you with her in all of those
parties?” He asked.
“Yeah, most of the time we were together,
along with Lila and Chris. You know them
right?”
James nodded. He got interested in what she was saying
because he remembered that Ann got kind of aloof when he asked her about being
home schooled. Maybe he would be able to
get a clue as to what the reason behind it was.
“ We started to really hang out two years
ago. I was 15 and they were 13, but it
didn’t matter that they were younger than me.
They had more experience partying anyway. Most of the time, we would party for like, 4
times a week. We would all go home early
in the morning, wasted. Those days were
fun though, “ Rich said, reminiscing.
“
You said two years ago? I
remember you said you and Ann had a fight 2 years ago. Did it have something to do with the partying
stuff ?”
For a while, Rich didn’t answer him. Then, after a few minutes, “Yes, but that
part’s over now. Ann and I, we’re
friends again. It’s just that, sometimes,
I still see a part of the old Ann, and I’d hate to see you get hurt because of
her…” Rich said seriously, then left him
wondering about everything that she just told him.
Chapter 27
‘Hah…let him chew on that’ Rich thought to herself when she left
James. She purposely did that to somehow
place a seed of doubt on James’ mind about Ann.
She knew James cared for Ann and that made her jealous as hell. She wanted James for herself, just like she
wanted Brock for herself two years ago.
She wouldn’t let Ann have James, just like Brock chose Ann two years
ago. In truth, Ann was never wild in a
bad way, she was just always in high spirits which some people misunderstood. She just wanted James to be a little turned
off with Ann.
Yes, it had been two years but the wounds
on her heart and pride were not completely healed yet. Brock was the only guy she ever wanted but
never had. He was a challenge to
her. She knew him first before Ann
did. She was the one who introduced
them. They were both 15 then, and Ann
was 13 but they were all already party goers.
She met Brock when she was auditioning for
a commercial. Even at 15, she already
wanted to be a model. She wanted to be
famous, a celebrity. She had already
done a few photo shoots but she wanted to do more, and that’s when she met
Brock.
He was one of the models already picked to
do the commercial. Even at 15, he was
already gorgeous. He didn’t look like
the regular 15 year old teenager, who was lanky, nerdy and had no sense of
style. Brock was so manly, so handsome
and he treated every girl he met like a lady.
Brock was the nicest guy she had ever met and so naturally, she fell
head over heels for him.
Too bad she had to introduce him to
Ann. It happened when they ran into each
other at a party. She was so excited to
show Brock off to Ann and her friends so she went and introduced them. From that night on, Brock never left Ann’s
side. He even told her that he found Ann
really pretty and interesting. When he said that, it felt like a hundred shards
of broken glass pierced through her heart.
As hurt as she felt, she pretended she was cool with it. She asked Ann about Brock. Ann said Brock was just a friend but that he
did tell her he liked her. From that day
on, she secretly had ill feelings towards Ann but she also tried to be like
her. Brock said he liked Ann’s sweet and
bubbly personality the most so she tried to be sweet and bubbly too. However, no matter how hard she tried to be
just like Ann, in the end, Brock still chose to court Ann. Unable to control her feelings, she
confronted Ann and they ended up fighting with each other. She couldn’t help
but hurl hurtful words at Ann, pouring out all the bitterness and hurt that she
felt at the time. Lila and Chris sided
with Ann and so she started hanging out with her model friends.
A few days after their fight, Brock confronted her and told her to stop
messing with Ann. She asked him why he
cared. She wished he didn’t answer her because she only got hurt more when he
told her he loved Ann. A few days later
she heard that Brock and Ann were already together and again she was hurt. She
promised to herself she’d get even someday but over time her wounds began to
heal. A year later, she heard Brock and Ann broke up. She heard that Ann took their break up badly
and so she felt that it was enough revenge for her. Slowly, they became friends again. They were not as close as they used to be but
they were slowly working their way to getting there again…until James
came.
Chapter 28
Ann was still reeling from the realization
that a lot of people already knew her.
The first time she saw it was when she got out of the house on the night
of the eviction. A lot of people were
shouting her name, cheering her on. They
were telling her not to be sad and that they love her. She was so touched by it that it was only a
few minutes later that she heard an unfamiliar word repeatedly shouted by a lot
of people, including those who were supporting her. She thought they were shouting “Jenny” but
then when she looked over to the crowd, she spotted a yellow banner with her
picture as well as James’. In it were
the words “JAMLI is REAL”.
“Oh my God!” was all that she could say
when she realized that JAMLI was a combination of James’ name and her surname. She saw not just one banner bearing the name
JAMLI but 7 banners in total. She was so
overwhelmed by all the attention and support she was getting that she
momentarily forgot that she was still on the stage with the show still
currently running. She just kept waving
at the people and saying thank you to them.
When her mom was called on the stage she couldn’t help but cry. She was so happy but at the same time she
also missed being in the house, especially being with James.
That night, while she was lying in bed
trying to sleep, she couldn’t help but think about him. She wondered what he was doing now that
they’re not together. They both had
gotten used to goodnight hugs every night and it felt so different to not have
one from James tonight. She wondered if
Rich was still giving him massages and if James is now enjoying the comforts of
Rich’s ‘heavenly’ massages. Just
thinking about it makes her want to go back inside the house and snatch James
away from Rich. But of course, she
couldn’t do that, all she can do is wait and hope that by the time this all
ends, James will still have the same feelings for her.
Now, after a few days since the eviction,
she has been busying herself with meeting groups of her supporters, interviews,
pictorials with all the other former housemates. She was getting used to being asked and
teased about James in all of her interviews.
She can happily answer them that they are really close friends. She didn’t want to say anything more because
after all, when she left the house, they really were just close friends even if
they liked each other a lot. She was
also eagerly anticipating the day when she and James would finally get together
again. She knew they had to talk about the
two of them and she wanted that as well.
She was also curious to see James’ reaction once he finds out that his
supporters have divided into two groups: one supporting her and James, the
other group supporting Rich and James.
Sometimes it kind of disturbed her that she gets some hate messages on
the internet but her mom would always tell her to not mind those. As much as it bothers her, she just tries her
best not to be offended by those messages. She just hopes that as soon as Rich knows
about their popularity, it would not affect the friendship that they’re already
beginning to mend.
Chapter 29
On the night of the shows finale…
“Okay people, in a few minutes we will
be announcing this year’s teen big
winner. Are you guys ready?” the show’s host said to draw out an excited
response from the crowd.
Seated on the front rows were all the
former housemates, including Ann. She
was both nervous and excited for James and Ryan. Only the two of them are left inside the
house and one of them is going to be declared the show’s Big Winner. Even though she knew James will still be
happy even if he doesn’t get the grand prize, she still hoped that James will
win.
Inside the house, both James and Ryan were
sitting on two specially designed high chairs, nervously anticipating who the
Big Winner will be. Not in his wildest
dreams did James ever imagine getting this far.
In fact, he expected to be the first one to be called out of the house
when the show started. Now, as he and
Ryan are still waiting to go out, the anticipation that they were both feeling
is almost at it’s peak. He could feel
his heart beating so fast. His
anticipation was doubled by the thought that he can finally see Ann again after
tonight. He could already picture her in
his mind, smiling happily at him. He
knew Ann is already proud of him even if he didn’t make it as the Big
Winner. He was so excited to see her
because he felt like it was ages ago since they saw each other. Everything that Rich had told him about Ann
didn’t weaken the feelings that he had
for Ann. If anything, her absence made
him miss her more. To him, what happened
between Rich and Ann years ago was long over.
He knew Ann as a good person and if ever she really was a spoiled and
wild girl before, what mattered to him is the fact that she has already
changed.
“Good evening, James and Ryan,” they both heard the Tina’s voice on the
television in front of them.
“Good evening, Tina,” they both answered in
unison.
“Are you guys ready for the big
announcement?”
“Yes, we are ready,” Ryan answered Tina.
“Yeah,” was James’ short answer.
“That’s good to know, guys because in a few
seconds I am going to announce this season’s Teen Big Winner!”
James and Ryan could hear the loud cheering
of the crowd outside, which only added to the nervousness that they were
already feeling.
“All right people, this is finally it! Our
Teen Big Winner for this season is…James Reid!”
James was so shocked, he was
speechless. Outside he could her the
crowd go wild in celebration. He could
hear people shouting his name and it made his heart swell. He couldn’t believe that a lot of people
supported him despite of his many flaws.
Chapter 30
Ann was so happy she couldn’t stop smiling
the whole time that they were waiting for James to come out. She knew James was still in shock right now
because winning had been very far from his mind. Silently she was celebrating
with the crowd who supported James. She
was already so excited to see him.
At last James
came out to the stage. She was so
overwhelmed by the huge crowd that was cheering for him and majority of those
people shouted “JAMLI” as well. She
watched while James was presented to the audience as the Big Winner.
Amidst the
excitement of being proclaimed as the show’s Big Winner, much of James’ happiness
was the fact that he will be able to see Ann again. He was sure Ann is also happy for him right
now and he wanted to share his happiness with her. He scanned the people onstage for Ann but he
couldn’t find her anywhere. His sister
was called onstage to be there while the prices were being presented to
him. He was about to ask her where she
had been sitting, hoping that Ann was just close to where her sister was when
his eyes
glanced over a
lot of yellow banners held by a large group of crowd chanting the word
“JAMLI”.
“Look over
there, it says JAMLI and it has a picture of me and Ann!” James said to his sister Loreen.
“I know
right?” His sister answered back with a
wide, teasing smile on her face. She
must have sensed that he was looking for Ann because she told him after a few
minutes,
“James, look
over there!”
He looked over
to where his sister pointed and there he saw Ann, smiling at him. He was bursting with happiness when he saw
her that he wanted to just go to where she was
and hug her. Instead, they just
stared into each other’s eyes, silently relaying all the feelings that they
wanted to share with each other.
Chapter 31
It had been a
few days since the shows finale and both Ann and James have been very busy,
more so James for being the Big Winner.
They could not spend as much time as they wanted to because James always
had commitments and guestings. However, despite
his busy schedule, he always took the time to be with Ann, or even just talk to
her, even if it was just for a few minutes over the phone everyday. Without really talking about it, they both
felt that they already have an understanding about what they are to each
other.
Because of
their celebrity status however, especially James’ who also has a fan base with
Rich, it was getting difficult for them
to always be seen together publicly. The
bashing that Ann has been getting increased since James publicly said he liked
her. As a result, Ann has decided to
prevent herself from acting too comfortable around him and always gives vague
answers whenever asked about the relationship she has with James.
Her
relationship with Rich has also gotten its turn for the worst. She guessed that part of the reason why Rich
was again acting spiteful of her was what happened two years ago and with what
is happening right now between the three of them. As much as possible, she didn’t want to
aggravate Rich’s feelings toward her but she could not just give up James
either. Truth to tell, James has become
more important to her than Brock had ever been.
It does not
escape her knowledge that James and Rich are also being seen together in public
and as much as she tries to understand that it’s all just part of show
business, she still can’t help herself from being a little hurt. Good thing James is always there to assure
and reassure her that nothing is going on between him and Rich. He was always considerate of her feelings and
shows that by calling just to check on how she is or what she has been busy
with. He must have sensed that she feels
hurt by all the publicity between him and Rich.
As for Rich,
she has certainly been enjoying the celebrity status that she gained by being
one of the show’s top placer. She has
also been basking in the glory of being considered as a partner for James. She loved all the attention that she has been
getting from her supporters. If only Ann
did not get in her way, then she would have James all to herself as well. She knew James only thought of her as a
friend but the fans did not know that and she wanted to use that to her
advantage.
Chapter 32
One morning…
“Ann! Are you
online right now?” Chris said when Ann
answered her phone.
“No, why?” She answered.
“Go to youtube
and search for Ann and Brock, you’ve got to see this right now! Oh, I’m so
mad!”
“Why, what’s
happening?”
“Just watch it
first, I’m gonna go over there in a few…bye…” Chris said as she hung up the
phone.
Ann immediately
turned her laptop on, went online and logged on to youtube. What she found when she searched ‘Ann and
Brock’ were 3 videos, each more than 4 minutes long, showing her and Brock in
different parties almost 2 years ago.
She couldn’t
remember the exact dates of the parties but the videos were taken when she and
Brock were already a couple and were then so taken with each other. One video showed him holding a bottle of beer
while kissing her on the lips. Another
video showed him hugging her from behind while they were partying on the dance
floor. The third one showed both of them
drinking beer and being rowdy along with the other party people.
Brock had
always been so affectionate with her and so she kind of gotten used to his
public displays of affection.
Oftentimes, he would just hug or kiss her out of nowhere, even if they
were at a party or with just the company of their friends. However, not once did she feel that Brock
took advantage of her. He didn’t force
her to do anything she didn’t want and he always made her feel loved. Maybe it was just that they were both so
immature and spoiled at the time which is why they ended up in a break up.
She could not
help but read all the comments about the videos that were posted. Majority of the comments were really hurtful
and were aimed at her. Most of those
said that she was a flirt, a spoiled brat and a wild girl. Most of it also said that she was not a good
influence to all the teenagers who supported her. There were also those that said she didn’t
deserve to have James and the popularity that she has now.
She was so
shocked from everything that she was reading that she didn’t notice Chris and
Lila were already by her side, silently watching her. She was so hurt by everything that she had
read because she was not that kind of person.
She may like parties and she may have been a spoiled brat before but never
in her life had she influenced people to start vices or do drugs. She was not a flirt either, and had never
been one.
“Ann, it’s
okay. I’m sure these people who are
saying bad stuff about you are just closed-minded people who can’t understand
how it is to be young and have fun,”
Chris said as she comforted Ann.
“Yeah,
Ann. Just keep ignoring them. You’re already doing a good job of it with
those hate messages that you have been receiving. Just think of it as being a part of Show business,” Lila told her as well.
“But this is
just too much…Who took these videos?
This is just invasion of privacy guys and it hurts to look bad in the
eyes of the public. I’m not a bad
influence…”
“Look, Ann, you
just have to be strong. All of these people
don’t know you that’s why they’re saying those stuff about you. Think about those people who are supporting
you, okay? A lot of people like and
adore you Ann, always remember that…”
Lila said to Ann.
“But who took
these videos? And why now, when he or she could have shown it, what, like two
years ago?” Ann asked her friends.
“Honestly, I
think these people are fanatics of Rich…I mean, who would want to discredit you
that bad just so James would only have one partner? Or maybe it’s one of Rich’s friends. Her friends also know everything that
happened between her and you…” Chris
added.
Thinking about
that possibility, she immediately called Rich to ask if she knew about the
videos. Unfortunately, Rich wasn’t
answering her phone. She didn’t know
where Rich was either so she had no choice but to wait and wait.
Chapter 33
‘Why is he not
answering my calls? I haven’t heard from
him since morning…’ Ann thought as she kept trying to call James.
With nothing
else to do while waiting for James to call, Ann turned the TV on. While scanning channels for an interesting
program, she chanced upon one which showed news about the latest happenings in
Philippine show business.
Coincidentally, a video of James and Rich strolling at the mall with
just the two of them was being shown.
The hosts of the show were speculating about whether James and Rich were
a couple already because they were often seen together in public and Rich
seemed so sweet and attentive to James.
The news made
her think about James’ feelings for her.
It placed a seed of doubt in her mind and suddenly she was not so
confident about James anymore. She new
that he found Rich pretty and nice and he didn’t exactly deny the fact that he
liked Rich’s beauty. She was starting to
think that maybe the reason why James was not calling her was because he was
currently with Rich.
Wanting to
double check if Rich was already home, she went out of their suite and went to
Rich’s. She was about to turn the
hallway going to Rich’s suite when she saw James and Rich talking outside of
her suite. She kept herself from being
seen by the two and tried to listen in to their conversation. All she heard were snatches of their
conversation until she saw Rich hug James for a few seconds and kissed him on
both cheeks. It was like a dagger piercing her heart when she saw James was
hugging Rich back. What hurt her more was that he kissed her back, on both
cheeks as well.
Before she
could be discovered, she hurriedly went back to their suite, went to her room
and then she burst out crying. Her mom
saw her cry and asked, “Oh, Ann, what’s wrong?”
“Oh, mom…” Ann
just said, unable to say anything more.
Instead, she just hugged her mom tight and cried her heart out.
After just a
couple of minutes, they heard the doorbell ring. Her mom stood up to check on who was
outside. After a few minutes,
“Ann, James is
here to see you.”
“No, tell him
I’m not here mom. I don’t want to see him right now. Please, mom…”
Ann said pleadingly.
“Okay, stay
here while I tell him that…” her mom said.
James had been
a little worried ever since he noticed he lost his phone. He didn’t know that his phone was not with
him anymore until he decided to check on Ann and call her. He was a little worried that she might have
tried to call him, plus the fact that he missed her already.
Thinking to
make it up to her, he decided to buy her a gift and since Rich was already with
him, he decided to ask for her help. He
wanted to give Ann something that she would really gush over and so he knew
Rich can help him with that. In the end
he decided to buy Ann a bracelet. It was
something that just suddenly came to his mind.
He thought about the bracelet he lent her and that gave him the
idea. He bought them both identical
bracelets, a symbol to sort of reassure her that what they have is for
real. Aside from the bracelet, he also
got her a life-sized dog stuffed toy.
What he saw in
Ann’s mom’s expression made him suspect that something was wrong. He just couldn’t figure out what it was. He knew Ann was inside, he just didn’t know
why she didn’t want to see him. Deciding
not to press the issue, he just asked Ann’s mom to give her the stuffed toy for
him and went home.
The morning
after…
“Hey James,
man, did you already hear about Ann’s videos?”
Ryan asked James when they saw each other at the studio for a taping.
“What videos?”
James asked.
“Oh, I thought
you have already seen it. I hate to be
the one to bring you bad news. You
should just probably watch those and be the one to judge for yourself. Here,”
Ryan said as he let James borrow his laptop.
He searched
youtube for the videos and what he saw was nothing new to him. He was used to party girls, as he had a lot
of friends like that in Australia. Even
Denise was a party girl herself.
Although he did feel a little jealous over seeing Ann kissing another
guy when he has not even kissed her yet.
However, he just shrugged the jealousy off because after all, these
happened years ago and it did not matter anymore. What bothered him though were the comments
that were posted about the videos. Those
would really hurt Ann and he was hoping that she’d not be able to learn about
these videos. He knew though, that with
her being a celebrity, it would be inevitable.
What he would hope for now is that she learns about this when he is
there to comfort and reassure her.
He hasn’t been
able to talk to Ann since yesterday.
Again, he tried to call her but it seemed that she changed her
number. If only his schedule was not
this busy, he would go find her and talk to her.
Ann was still
crying over the videos but more because of James. She felt hurt, cheated and betrayed. Added to that fact was the call that her mom
got, informing them that she had been cancelled out of a youth-oriented show
and some commercial endorsements. It was
tito Andrew who had to break the news to them.
He told them that the videos and the negative comments have reached the
management and they’re afraid that if she were casted on the show, it might put
it in a bad light. They didn’t want
someone who was considered to be a ‘bad influence’ as part of a Youth-oriented
TV show. Tito Andrew was also sad about
the management’s decision but he could not do or say anything to dissuade them
from making that decision.
To Ann, it felt
like her world was falling apart. She
was being judged wrongly. Her pride had
been crushed because of her cancelled projects. Worst of all, James just played
her for a fool.
James had been
really worrying over Ann. He had already
heard of the news of her cancelled projects.
He was sure she had already seen the videos. He wanted to go to her and comfort her. The problem was he couldn’t just take off and
leave everything behind. He had to
finish everything that he needs to do today before he can do anything
personal. And at the rate that they are
going with this taping, they wouldn’t be done until early morning. He didn’t know why Ann wouldn’t talk to him
because her mom would not talk about it either.
Even her friends were acting cold around him.
“Ann, can I talk to you?” Her mom asked her.
“Yeah, what is it mom?”
“Your Aunt Marie called and is again
inviting us to stay with her in Taiwan
Ever since, her mom had always wanted to go
back to Taiwan and be with her sister.
However, because she didn’t want to leave the Philippines and her
friends, her mom decided to just stay in the Philippines with her.
Now, with everything that’s happening to
her, all that she really wants is to be free from all the pain that she is feeling. She knew her mom was giving her an
option. By leaving, she would be able to
forget everything and everyone that hurt her.
But that would mean that she would also be leaving her friends and
everything that she has grown up with.
“We don’t have to live there permanently,
Ann. Let’s just take a break from all of
this. Take a vacation, and as soon as
you feel okay, then we can still come back.
What do you say?”
“Yes, I’d like that mom.”
“Okay, when do you want to leave for
Taiwan?”
“Can we leave today?”
“I’ll see what I can do about that. In the meantime, why don’t you call your
friends and tell them of your decision…”
“Yeah, I better do that. I’m going to miss them so much…”
“What about James, don’t you want to call
him as well?”
“No. I don’t want to have anything to do
with him anymore.” With that, her mother quietly nodded and left her room.
That night, Ann and her mom took the last
flight for Taiwan. She didn’t know when
she’ll be coming back. What matters to
her most is the fact that she can finally get away from everything that hurt
her.
Chapter 34
Back to present time…
“Hello, mom? Yeah, I’m good…it’s okay, I feel fine…I slept
pretty well actually. Yup, I’m going to be busy today, I have to go to the
studio for my MTV ASIA taping. Then I have to meet with Julie for the interview
she scheduled, she said it’s for the magazine and that it’s for this month’s
issue. Plus, I also have a photo shoot
for Top Shop ‘coz they said they’ll be opening several stores here and they
need more posters and stuff for the advertising. I’ll barely have time to eat, haha! Yup, of
course I’ll eat, you know me, I love food! Okay, talk to you later, bye. I love
you!” Ann said as she hung up the phone.
At 20, she has become a famous celebrity,
not only in Taiwan but in
other parts of Asia as well. When she was 16, she was featured in a famous
local fashion magazine as being one of the youngest top models in the Taiwan
Fashion World. Her short experience with
Philippine show business helped a great deal in boosting her confidence. Unlike in the Philippines, Ann had a fresh,
clean slate in Taiwan. Nobody cared
about the negative publicity that were thrown at her when she was still in the
Philippines. People supported her for
what she can do as a model, and now as a VJ.
Because of her bubbly and down-to-earth personality, a lot of her
supporters have also become her friends.
Over the years, her supporters just grew more and more and now, she is
considered to be one of the most well-loved celebrities in Taiwan.
Her popularity started to spread throughout
other Asian countries when she auditioned and became one of the VJs of MTV
Asia. Again, people immediately noticed
her bubbly and cool personality, added to the fact that she always looked good
with her unique fashion sense. She
always got praises for being fashionable, witty and nice. Even with all the hype that she was getting
from people all over Asia, she still remained to be the same down-to-earth Ann
Li that they love. As much as she could,
she always spends time with the people who supported her, as a way of thanking
them. She was always vocal about
thanking her supporters and that is why she has always been well-loved.
Despite her current celebrity status, she
still had some misgivings about coming back to the Philippines. She wasn’t sure if people still remember all
the negative publicity that were thrown at her and she wasn’t sure if coming
back was a good idea. However, she was
not given a choice because currently, she was the only Asian VJ who new much
about the Philippines, so the assignment fell on her hands.
Chapter 35
First on her list of things today is a
taping for MTV Asia. She was supposed to
shoot a number of episodes featuring popular Philippine artists in the music industry. She didn’t have time to research about the
currently popular Filipino artists and so for the meantime she had to rely on
the script that will be given, together with a few articles and write-ups. She already did her make up and wore the
outfit that she would be wearing for the taping so that she’d have less time
spent on pre-taping activities. Hurrying
up to get to the studio, she didn’t notice the banana peel that she stepped
on. One second she was walking towards
the studio and the next she was slipping!
She let out a loud shriek and braced herself for the hurt that she would
feel once she hit the floor. Suddenly,
strong arms held her steady from behind.
She was so relieved that she didn’t fall on her feet and turned around
to thank whoever her ‘savior’ was. Her
smile froze on her face when she saw who caught her from behind.
‘Oh my God…’ was all she could think
of. Her mind went blank for a few
seconds as she stared into the beautiful pair of eyes that she would never
forget. Those eyes were staring back at
her and for what seemed like eternity they just stood there and stared at each
other, afraid that uttering a word would shatter that moment.
Chapter 36
“Hello Ann,” James was the one to break the
silence. He knew he would be seeing her
today. He knew that she will be the one
to do the interview with him. He knew
that she is a VJ. In fact, he knew a lot
of things about her. Ever since he saw
her on MTV hosting a show, he had never stopped from knowing everything that
was going on with her.
Yes, it had been 5 years since she
left. A lot has happened since then, and
a lot has changed in both of them. From
being the Big Winner 5 years ago, he had become an actor, a model and now, he
is finally starting to realise his dream of being able to create beautiful
songs as well as sing them. Music has
always been a part of him, whenever he
feels that everything is just too much to handle, music has always been his
escape. Now, after almost a year of
being in the music industry, his creations are finally reaching the hearts of
millions of Filipinos. His record label
was planning to launch his album to other parts of Asia as well, hence, the MTV
interview.
Although he still felt bitter about what
happened between the two of them, he just could not help himself from being
excited about this moment. The moment
when they would see each other again. 5
years ago, she just left without a word.
She just left him without any explanation and that hurt a lot. Despite it, he never lost hope that she would
call him and reassure him that everything was alright between the two of
them. For weeks, he had been in
denial. Until finally, he gave up. The hurt that he felt turned into
bitterness.
Now that he has finally seen her again, a
part of him wanted to rage at her. Yet a
part of him wanted to just hold her tight and tell her how much he missed
her. Torn between conflicting emotions,
he decided to just leave things as they are and be done with the interview as
much as possible so that he can get away from her presence.
“Are you ready to do the interview?” He asked her.
“Hello, James. And yes, I actually am. I’d really want to get this done and over
with as soon as possible so thank you for cooperating… busy schedule for today,
I know you understand.” Ann answered and
smiled at him. She gave it her best and
acted as normally as she could.
It was a shock to see him there. It was even more of a shock when he told her
she was going to interview him for the show.
She was not expecting him to be a singer because back then, he was
considered a matinee idol. After they
left, she chose not to hear or learn about him anymore, so she didn’t know what
had become of him.
Looking at him now, he had become more
handsome, more magnetic. The aura of
mystery is still there. In her mind, she
thought, this man has probably made a lot of women cry. She wondered how many women had there been
since her. Thinking about that only made
her heart surprisingly heavy but she wanted to show James the part of her that
has moved on. She wanted to make him
feel and see that losing him was not such a big loss after all.
“Ann! You’re here, that’s great. We’ll
start taping in a few minutes. Oh, and
you’re here as well, James. This is
great, we can start early and hopefully we will finish early as well.” The shows staff told them as they were
ushered into the studio where they will tape the whole show. “All right guys, just a few final touches and
we’ll be starting the show..” the staff told them.
Despite the feeling of awkwardness between
the two of them, they both managed to act as normally as they can, hoping that
it would diffuse the tension that has been hanging in the air ever since they laid
their eyes on each other again.
Chapter 37
“Cut! All right, the interview is done!
Guys thanks for being so cooperative, we finished taping way ahead of our
schedule. You guys are awesome,” the shows director told both Ann and James.
“Hey, no problem, sir John. Anything to make this show as problem-free as
we can,” Ann said and smiled at the show’s director.
“Yes, and besides, we all have busy
schedules everyday so better be quick about doing the assignments,” James
butted in as well.
“Yes, we all have busy schedules. Thank you both for understanding that.” John told them. “By the way, I haven’t formally introduced
you yet but it seems like you already know each other pretty well…”
“Oh, yeah.
We actually met 5 years ago in a reality show. You probably heard of it, ‘coz it’s where
James started to become famous…” Ann answered nonchalantly.
“Yeah, we already know each other. We were really young then,” James added.
“Oh, I see.
I’m so sorry Ann I didn’t really know you then. But it doesn’t matter
‘coz you’re a celebrity all over Asia now. A lot of other young celebrities here can’t
beat that, haha!”
“Oh, thank you so much! You are so kind, sir John. Remind me to send you food later, haha!
Joking! Well, anyway, I have to go, I have another interview to attend to. Bye, sir John, James,” Ann said and kissed both of John’s cheek. She didn’t want John to notice the tension
between her and James so she planned to kiss James on the cheek too.
James, who was intending to kiss her cheeks
as well turned his face towards Ann’s face just as Ann turned her face towards
his face. They ended up kissing each
other on the lips instead.
“Oh, my…” was all John could say.
Ann and James were both shocked as they
felt that jolt of electricity when their lips touched, even for just a few
seconds. Hoping to diffuse the tension
and awkwardness, “Oh wow, Ann, I didn’t know you liked me so much you couldn’t
help yourself from kissing me, haha! Joking,” James said.
“Haha! You wish, James. Keep dreaming,” she said, and fixed a smile
on her face. “Anyway, I really have to
go…bye guys,” Ann said as she hurriedly walked towards the door.
“I have to get going as well,” James said and started to follow Ann out of
the door.
“Guys, I just have to say this because I
can’t help it. You look good together,
as a couple, I mean. I won’t be
surprised if I suddenly see the two of you hanging out together…” John said as
he left his words hanging and walked away from them, smiling.
Chapter 38
Over the next few days, James and Ann
bumped into each other a couple of times in several celebrity events. Each of those times they were only able to
exchange hi’s and hello’s. Even though
they haven’t been talking much, James was very aware about what was happening
with Ann. He noticed that she was always
with Samuel, a singer-actor who he heard was very open in expressing his
admiration for Ann. He was curious to
find out if the two were already a couple.
Somehow, the thought of it being true ruined his good mood.
Ann was always aware of James whenever he
is around. Most of the time, she could
feel him staring at her. She didn’t want
to meet his eyes though because she knew he would want for them to talk about
the past, and that was something she was not ready to do just yet. No matter how hard she tried to deny it, she
was still in love with him. Even after 5
years, even after all the guys she dated and all the guys who courted her, no
one was able to replace him in her heart.
She could not count the number of times she wished that she could just
disregard him completely. Still, she
could not help but wonder if James already had someone special and the thought
of it being true somehow saddened her.
Chapter 39
“Yes Ryan, what’s up?” James said as he answered his phone. “I’m going to be there in about an hour, you go ahead and start the party without me guys, I’m going to be a little late. I’m still here at The Luxe. I’m just going to change and then head over there. Okay, bye.” He ended the call as he pushed the close button on the elevator.
The elevator doors were about to close when
suddenly a hand stopped it from closing.
He was pleasantly surprised to see that it was Ann. He nodded at her and smiled in greeting.
Ann was in a hurry to go to her friend
Ria’s unit because she was already so sinfully late. They were supposed to meet at Ria’s condo
unit two hours ago but they had some glitches at work plus she was stuck in
traffic. She did not want to be any more
late than she already was and so when she saw the elevator doors closing, she
hurriedly stopped it with her hand. Her
heart skipped a beat when she saw James inside the elevator and he was the only
one there. Answering his nod with a
smile, she went inside the elevator and stood in front of him, quietly waiting
for the elevator doors to close.
Ria’s unit was on the 14th floor
and she noticed James was headed to the Penthouse. ‘This is going to be one long, awkward
elevator ride,’ she thought to herself.
They were already on the 7th floor when suddenly the elevator
stopped and the lights went off. She let
out a shriek when the lights went out.
“Ann! Are you okay?” James asked her in the
dark.
“Yes, I’m okay. What happened? Why did the lights go out and
why did the elevator stop?” Ann
asked.
James heard the panic in her voice and his
heart went out to her. The urge to
reassure her was suddenly so strong.
“Ann, come here. Come closer to me. Don’t panic, maybe the electricity went out
but this should be fixed in minutes.”
James said calmly to reassure her.
“ Where are you?” Ann asked him.
“Just a few steps behind you,” he answered.
She stepped back a few steps so she can be
closer to James. She has always been
afraid of the dark, added to the fact that she was also claustrophobic. If this happened to her and she was the only
one in the elevator, she would be in a state of hysteria right now. ‘Thank God you’re here James,’ she thought to
herself.
James felt her come closer to him and so he
reached for her hand and held it. They
moved to one corner of the elevator, sat there and waited. After a few minutes of silence, Ann asked him,
“So, what brings you here?”
“I live here.” James answered.
“I see.
So you stay at the Penthouse?”
“Yes.
What brings YOU here?”
“My friend Ria lives here too. I was supposed to meet her 2 and a half hours
ago but some things happened and now I’m terribly late.”
“I see.”
Again, they fell into awkward silence. They so wanted to ask things that they could
not bring up to ask and so they both remained silent. Suddenly James put his arms over Ann’s shoulder
and pulled her closer to him. To James,
it felt so good to finally have her in his arms again. To Ann, it felt so good to finally be home in
his arms again. Despite the darkness,
they were both content to just sit there and wait in silence.
“Why is it taking so long?” Ann asked after
the long silence.
“I don’t know. Maybe they’re having some technical
difficulties..” James answered.
“Does this always happen here? Do you
always have blackouts here?”
“No. Even if there are blackouts here in Manila
“Really?”
“Yes, really. Are you still afraid?”
“No, not anymore. It’s just that it’s been like, 20 minutes,
and we’re still stuck here.”
“Don’t think about it, it will only make
you worry,” James told her. “Are you
sleepy? Tired? Hungry?”
“No, I’m okay…well, maybe a little
tired. I’ve had a busy schedule today…”
Ann told him.
“Try and have some sleep then. You can rest your head on my lap. Here,”
James said as he changed position to allow Ann to rest her head on his lap.
“Uhm…it’s okay. I can just sit here and lean on the
wall,” Ann hesitantly answered.
“No buts, Ann. I know you’re tired. I could see it on your face earlier, just lay
down and rest your head on my lap.”
James insisted.
“Okay,”
Ann finally agreed.
Chapter 40
James could not help himself from massaging
Ann’s head. It felt so good to do the
things that he used to do with her. It
so calmed his mind. The simple things
they did together was always so relaxing to him. Even before, when they were younger, she had
always been his doze of tranquilizer whenever he felt like bursting in
frustration. She had also been his happy pill whenever he felt so down.
Ann felt so relaxed and content just laying
there, with her head resting in James’ lap.
The feeling of awkwardness has long left them, replaced by a feeling of
familiarity instead. After a while,
“Ann, are you awake?” James asked while continuing
to massage her head.
“Hmm?” was all Ann said.
“What happened? Why did you leave without
saying anything?”
Ann stiffened. She did not want to be answering questions
from him right now, not when everything seemed so right. However, she sensed that he would not take
her silence for an answer so she just sighed and answered,
“I thought you didn’t care.”
“What do you mean I didn’t care? Why would I not care?”
“Oh come on James, don’t act like you were
really affected. I know about you and
Rich. Don’t even try to deny it.” Ann said as she got up and sat beside him.
“What? What are you even talking about?
Please enlighten me because I’m in limbo right now with everything that you just
said…”
“I saw you and Rich together, the night
before I left for Taiwan. You were
talking outside of her suite, you even hugged and kissed her. Now don’t tell me those were just friendly
gestures because I didn’t see anything ‘friendly’ about it. You just played me for a fool, James…”
“Oh my God, you saw that and didn’t even
ask me? All this time, that was the ONLY reason why you left me without even
saying a word? I only hugged and kissed
her back because she was so helpful in picking out a gift for you. She said that she loved you like a sister and
that I should take care of you. SHE was
the one who made the first move, I was just thankful that she wished us both
well. I thought you knew me, Ann…because
if you did, you would not have thought that I was only playing around with
you.” James told her.
Ann could feel his pain when he told her
that. Hearing those words, she wanted to
believe that he was telling her the truth, but that would mean that she did him
wrong.
“Well, it certainly was the conclusion I
made when I saw Rich’s face. She even saw
me when you two were hugging each other and she didn’t even bother to tell you… Anyway, I really don’t want to talk about
that anymore. That’s all in the past, a
lot has happened in 5 years.”
“Yes, a lot has happened. But the fact remains that we did not have
closure, because you just LEFT. I need
closure Ann, at least give me that. You
think I didn’t care for you? You were
the ONLY one I thought about. I was so
in love with YOU! Didn’t you feel it?
Obviously you didn’t, because if you did, you would have trusted
me. You would at least have given me the
benefit of the doubt…” James could her
all the frustration in his voice when he said those words to her. He wanted to be calm about it but he just
could not help himself. It hurt him so
much that the girl he loved so much did not trust him, at all.
Chapter 41
Ann was speechless after hearing everything
that James said. She could feel that he
was hurt because of what she did. She
could not stop the tears from falling as she let him vent all of his
frustration out on her. She felt that
she deserved it for not giving him a chance to explain 5 years ago. If she didn’t leave, then she could have
prevented most of the unhappiness that they both experienced years ago.
“Rich and I were never together. Even after you left, I didn’t…we were NEVER
together… Just so you know, Ann, I never
liked her as more than a friend. You
were the only one for me…” James continued.
After a while, they both became
silent. All they could her was Ann’s
sniffing in the darkness. James’ heart
softened when he heard her sniff. As
always, he could never stand to see her cry.
“I’m sorry I lashed out at you…” he said.
“I’m sorry too. I should have given you a chance to
explain. It’s just that a lot of things
were happening to me then and I just could not think clearly… I guess I was so
clouded with jealousy that there was no reasoning with me.” She answered him after a few minutes.
“I could have been there for you, if you
just let me,” James told her.
Again she fell silent. Hearing those words from him made her want to
cry again. At the time, she so wanted to
be comforted by him and she could have gotten it if only she listened to him first.
“It’s okay, it’s all in the past now. I got over it, I’ve moved on,” she said to
him instead.
“Have you really? Have you moved on?” James
asked her.
“Yes… In fact, I want us to be friends
again… Can you forgive me for doubting
you?” Ann hesitantly asked him.
James sighed. “Yes, I forgive you… Friends?” he asked and felt for her hand.
“Friends.” She said as she took his hand.
Chapter 42
It has been two hours but they were still
stuck in the elevator. They had already talked about a lot of things, about
what happened to them in the 5 years that they didn’t see each other. They were both running out of ‘safe’ topics
to discuss.
“What could be going on outside right now?”
Ann asked James.
“I really don’t know too…” he answered.
“Do you think we’d be staying here for the
whole night?” she asked worriedly.
“I hope not. I’m being positive right now because I’m
hearing the panic in your voice again,” James told her.
“Well, I’m not panicking. I just cant help
but worry. What if we get stuck here for
days? We’d die right? I’m still too young to die,”
James just laughed at her, “Oh Ann, you’re
too paranoid. Of course it wouldn’t take
them a day to fix this. You will not
die, okay? Stop worrying.”
“Fine, if you say so. I’m a little hungry
though…”
“I’ll fix you dinner as soon as we get out
of here,” James told her.
“Really? Thank you,” was all she could say.
“Oh, I forgot. You have to meet your friend
right? Maybe some other time then..”
“Well, maybe we can all eat together. If that’s okay with you.”
“Of course, why wouldn’t it be?”
“Well, I was just making sure…”
They fell into silence again, for lack of a
better topic. After a few minutes…
“Ann, was it so bad for you? I mean, the
videos and everything? I’m sorry but I
just have to know…”
“No, don’t apologize. Everything’s good now. But yeah, it was that bad for me. Even before you went out of the house, a
number of people were already saying bad stuff about me but I tried to just
ignore it. When the videos were made
public, that was just too much for me to handle. The haters grew in number and they would find
ways to bash me. It felt so unfair to be
wrongly judged by a lot of people. So yeah, it was that bad for me…”
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you,” was all
James could say.
“No, it’s okay. It’s my fault, I assumed, remember?”
“Stop. Let’s not talk about it.” James told
her. “Are you staying for good?” he asked her.
“I have the option to do that,
actually. But I’m really just here for a
month and as soon as they find a Filipino VJ, then I’m off to Singapore
“I see.
Is your mom in Singapore as well?”
“No, she’s in Taiwan but she often visits
me. Twice a month she goes there and
stays for a week. How about your dad? Is
he okay?”
“Yup. Dad’s fine, he still lives here. I
don’t think he’ll ever leave the Philippines.
He loves it here.”
“And Loreen? Is she here as well?”
“She’s in Australia
“Aww…I really like her too! Do you think it would be okay if I call her?
“
“Of course. She’d like that. I’m going to give you her number later.”
“Thank you, James. You know what? I’m really glad that we got to
talk about things. I feel way better
now. Do you remember when we saw each
other at the interview? It was really awkward for me…”
“I felt awkward too... Do you also find it
ironic that our first kiss happened when we were not in good terms with each
other? We didn’t even kiss when we were
together 5 years ago,” James teased her.
“Oh right, haha!”
“So now that were friends, I suppose we
could be ‘kissing friends’?” James asked naughtily.
“Shut up, James!” Ann told him and laughed out loud.
“Joking!” he laughingly said but in his
mind, he wished that it would be true.
CHAPTER 43
Over the next few days, James and Ann spent a
lot of time hanging out with each other, either with the company of their
common friends or just with the two of them alone. It was as if they were making up for the lost
times. Because the two were frequently
seen together whether on social occasions or just on a regular day,
speculations were already running around their circle. Celebrity reporters never fail to ask James
about Ann and he would always tell them that they are just good friends.
“Hello, Ann..” James greeted when Ann
answered her phone.
“Yes, James. What’s up?”
“Nothing much. I have this gig later at The Music Lounge,
can you come? It’d be pretty boring
being there all by myself, plus we could hang out later…”
“Uhm…” Ann said, hesitating. She had been thinking about her and James
these last few days. She couldn’t deny
the fact that she was falling into him again, and she didn’t want that because
she wasn’t sure if James felt the same thing. And she knew that getting
involved with someone as popular as James would be detrimental to her peace of
mind. She didn’t want to go through the emotional torture again. She decided to just tone it down a bit with
him.
“Dude, I have a deadline to beat on this
stuff I’m doing for MTV. I’m not sure if
I can go tonight. Why don’t we take a
rain check on that?” she said, hoping that her alibi sounded believable enough.
“Oh, okay. Yeah, some other time then. Bye, take care!” James said.
“Yup. You too, bye!”
“Oh, wait, wait!”
“Yes, James?”
“It’s almost lunchtime. Where are you? I’m
coming over.”
‘oh, crap…James, why are you doing this to
me? This is going to be harder for me when I leave if you keep on being like
this…’ Ann thought to herself. She had
no choice but to answer him truthfully.
One excuse was enough for today because she wasn’t good at making them.
James might notice she was just making up excuses.
“I’m at the condo, doing some stuff…”
“Okay, then. I’m coming over. What do you want to eat? I’m buying us lunch.”
“Just anything, “
“Alright, I’ll be there in a few..bye!”
“bye..” was all Ann could say. There was no stopping James. If he wanted to do something, he would do
it. How will she be able to stay away
from him if he keeps on making the effort to spend time with her?
Chapter 44
The doorbell rang an hour after James
called. Ann opened the door to find
James carrying a box of pizza on one hand and two paperbags full of food on the
other.
“Wow! You must be really hungry huh..” she joked.
“You couldn’t be more right,” James
answered. “I skipped breakfast ‘coz I
didn’t have time earlier, I was running
late for my shoot.”
“Well, let’s get started on that pizza
then, haha!” Ann ushered James inside her unit and went to the kitchen to
prepare the food that he brought.
Soon after, they were both heartily eating
lunch while talking about whatever came to mind. Ever since they patched things up, the
atmosphere around them had become very light and they had gotten even more
comfortable with each other.
However, even though they were okay again,
Ann still had to remind herself to watch her actions towards him, since she had
admitted to herself that she still loved him and could very well fall head over
heels again.
It was James who was always affectionate
between the two of them. Never a day
passed by that he didn’t give her a hug, held her hand or kissed her on the
cheek. She tried telling him off but he
just shrugged it off and told her that it’s how he is with people that are
really close to him. She didn’t have the
heart to say anything about the issue after that. Hard as it has become for her, she just let
him be.
While they were eating, James couldn’t help
but steal quick glances at Ann. He just
loved to watch her eat. She had always
been a hearty eater and she ate with gusto.
He had to admit, it was one of her endearing qualities. He was careful not to let her notice him
stealing glances at her because he didn’t want her becoming conscious and
awkward around him. Somehow, no matter
how hard she tried to hide it, he could feel that her attraction to him was
still there. He hoped though that Ann
loved him too and was not just having some shallow physical attraction.
He so wanted to take their relationship to
a higher level but he was afraid that he might scare Ann away and he’d end up
losing her instead. So for now, he had
to settle with what they have. Not for
long though, because he knew that Ann would be leaving and he didn’t want her
to leave without getting her to commit to a relationship with him. He just didn’t know how to go about it. So now that was his dilemma, he was
stuck. Trying to distract himself from
his thoughts,
“So, tell me, did you break a lot of hearts
in Singapore?” he asked out of nowhere.
“Huh?” Ann said.
“Come on, dude, you’re very pretty, you’ve
got a cool personality, PLUS, you’re a celebrity. You definitely are a great catch! Don’t tell me you don’t have men getting down
on their knees just to be with you…”
“Shut up, James! You’re exaggerating
things, haha!”
“What, it’s true!” James answered
laughingly.
“You’re just saying that ‘coz you’re my best
friend, haha!”
“No seriously, you ARE beautiful… and you
are being evasive…” James teased her for
not answering him.
“Shouldn’t I be the one asking that
question instead of you? How many girls
have you left crying?” Ann asked him
back.
“Come on, you know me better than
that. I’m no player.” James said, feigning a hurt look on his face.
“Really? Really?” Ann teased.
“Really! Geesh!” James teased and threw a
piece of chocolate mallow at her, which hit her right smack at the nose.
“What did you do that for, dude? Tsk…” Ann said. “You shouldn’t have started it because then
it gives me reason to do this..!” she
said and threw the remaining contents of her plastic cup at his face.
“What the..!” James sputtered, with
disbelief written all over his face.
“Food fight! Haha!” Ann said and slapped a large slice of pizza
on his face.
Taking advantage of James’ shock, she
hurriedly got off her chair and got as far away from him, expecting to be
thrown food at her any moment. She
didn’t expect James to calmly get up, go to the sink, wash his face and look
seriously offended.
“James, are you mad?” Ann asked hesitantly.
“What do you think?” James answered stiffly.
“Oh dude, I’m so sorry…I guess I went over
the top with that… Here, let me help you clean up,” Ann said as she moved closer to James.
“You shouldn’t have done that, Ann… because
then it gives me reason to do this!”
James said and caught Ann by the waist and held her tight. He hurriedly scooped some ice cream, placed
it on the table, got some with his free hand and splayed it all over her face,
all the way down to her neck.
“Stop it, James! Stop it!” Ann laughingly
begged, unable to get away from James’ hold of her.
“Not until you say Uncle…” James laughingly answered while continuing to
spread ice cream on her, this time on her arms.
“No, not on your life, James! Hahaha!” she
said and continued to struggle against James’ hold.
The floor had gotten slippery because of
all the spilt food and James stepped on
some melted ice cream. One minute they were both laughing hard and
then the next minute they were slipping
on the floor. In a protective gesture,
James wrapped his other arm around Ann’s head to prevent it from hitting on
something. His other arm was still
tightly wrapped around her waist. He
cushioned her body with his as they fell to the floor.
Knocked out of breath for a few seconds,
James just lay there, unmoving, but looking straight into Ann’s eyes.
Ann was still laughing when her face bumped
into his chest as they fell on the floor.
She raised her head to look at James, only to catch him looking intently
at her. Drawn to his gaze, she stared
into his eyes and got lost in them.
At that moment, James decided that Ann was
and has always been the one for him.
Images of them being together and looking very happy flashed before his
mind and suddenly he was so excited to spend the rest of his life with her.
Chapter 44
Ann could see
all the longing that James felt for her.
It was written all over his face.
Unable to
resist the urge, their lips met and it seemed that everything was perfect, just
as how it was supposed to be. It felt so
right to be in each others arms.
After a
while, Ann pulled away from the embrace and got away from him.
“Ann, what’s
wrong?” James asked.
“This! What
we’re doing, this is what’s wrong!” Ann answered.
“What’s so
wrong about it? It was perfect…”
“No, James..”
“Look,
Ann. I don’t know why you’re acting like
this right now but I want to let you know that I still love you. I always have. Even after all these years, after everything
that’s happened, you have always been in my heart. I just don’t want to pass up on the chance to
finally be with you again…”
“James, I
just don’t think that it will work out between us and I don’t want to risk our
friendship when that happens.”
“Why won’t it
work out? I know you love me too, don’t
try to deny it…”
Ann didn’t
answer him but just continued pacing back and forth.
“Ann, I’m so
happy right now, honestly. So I really
don’t get why you’re so up and worried about problems that may not come up
after all.”
“Look, James,
show business especially in the Philippines can be cruel to celebrities who are
in love with each other. I’ve seen a lot
of my friends break up and cry their hearts out because of negative publicities
thrown at them. I’ve had a taste of how
nasty negative rumors can get, and I ran away because of it. I just don’t want to risk it again. I’m sorry, James.”
“So that’s
it? You’re just going to let all your
negativities rule over what you obviously feel for me? You’re just going to run
away again?”
“James,
please understand..”
“No,
Ann. You have to understand me too. Even before, when you thought the world had
turned against you, I was always ready to defend you. I was always ready to comfort you,to take
away some of your pain. But you never
let me. You just up and left me. It was
you who gave up on us, not me. And now,
even when things are starting to be really good again, you’re still the one
giving up on us. I didn’t ever think of
you as a coward, Ann. But now, I’m
starting to think of you as one…”
With that,
James left, without saying another word.
Chapter 45
It has been
three days and Ann still had not heard from James. No calls, no messages, not even a single
word. Once, they saw each other at a
friend’s party and James treated her as if she doesn’t exist. He socialized with everyone, except for
her. He gamely flirted with the other
ladies who were present, but became cold when she joined in.
It hurt her
so much, the way he was treating her, but she couldn’t do anything about
it. She was responsible for everything
that was happening between them.
The day before
her flight, she summoned all her courage and finally called James.
“Hello,
James?”
“Yes, Ann.
What’s up?” James answered coldly, his tone seeming uninterested.
“Are you
busy?”
“Actually, I
am. What’s the reason for this call?”
“Uhm…I just…I
was just going to ask if we’re okay? I mean, I’m leaving for Singapore tomorrow
and I wanted to make sure that everything is fine between us before I leave,”
Ann hesitated.
“Really
now? By okay, do you mean that you’ve
finally toughened up and decided to fight for us?”
“James…”
“ Save it,
Ann. I don’t want to hear anymore of
your negative thoughts. Frankly
speaking, I’ve become tired of all of this.
If you can’t commit to us, then I guess this is goodbye for good. Have a safe trip. Have a happy life. I gotta go. Goodbye Ann,”
James said with finality in his tone.
He was so
frustrated with Ann and with their situation.
Unable to stop himself from ranting out on her, he felt worse after
saying all those things. He loved her so
much that it hurt him to know she didn’t love him as much. Because if she did, then she wouldn’t be having all these
doubts. He tried to distract himself by
working on his compositions. But somehow, he could not come up with ideas for a
song. His thoughts kept coming back to
Ann and how he missed her.
Ann was shocked, after hearing everything
that James told her. She wanted to rebel
at the thought of James saying those things to her. She wanted to lash out at him and tell him
how dare he treat her this way. But then
a part of her understood his hurt. That
part that longed for him. That part that
missed him so much. She didn’t know what
will happen to them after this, now that James is out of her life.
Chapter 46
The day of Ann’s flight back to Singapore
It was already 6 in the morning and James
still hadn’t slept. He lay awake all
night thinking about Ann. He just
couldn’t bear the thought of not being able to see her again or not being able
to hear from her.
It was already early in the morning when he
was able to come up with a decision. He
just had to give it one more try. If she
still will not commit to a relationship with him, he resolved to accept
whatever she was ready to give at the moment.
If all she could give him was friendship, then he will have to learn to
be content with it, for now.
Hopeful and yet anxious, he started his day
early to bring her breakfast. Arriving
at her condo suite, he pushed the button to ring the doorbell. Since no one was answering, he decided to call
her. What he got instead was a recorded
message saying the subscriber could not be reached.
A few seconds after trying to call Ann, her
next door neighbor came out if her suite and saw him.
“Oh, hi James..”
“Hello Ruby. Hey, do you know if Ann’s inside?
No one’s answering and she’s not taking my calls either.”
“Oh, she didn’t tell you? She said she re-scheduled her flight for an
earlier time. She said she wanted to be
at Singapore at the soonest possible time.
She’s probably in the plane right now.
She left really early by the way.”
Starting to become worried, James hurriedly
thanked Ruby and left. He didn’t have
any idea how to contact Ann in Singapore.
He thought maybe her friends knows her address so he decided to call
them later. The first thing that came to
his mind was to check if the plane had already left. He
didn’t know what time her flight was but he was still hoping to catch her at
the airport.
Despite re-scheduling her flight at an
earlier hour, Ann was now having second thoughts about leaving. She wasn’t able to sleep last night thinking
about James. She so wanted to call him
again and try to make him understand her side.
She so wanted to hear his voice before she left. But in the end, she decided to just let
things be.
She re-scheduled her flight for an earlier
time only to end up being delayed. They
were informed that there were some minor technical difficulties with the plane
and it was still being taken care of.
She had been staying at the airport for almost two hours now and the longer
she waited, the more restless she became.
With nothing on her hands but time,
thoughts of James kept popping into her mind.
Those thoughts made her miss him even more. The longer she let her thoughts run free, the
more she was getting convinced that she may be wrong. That maybe they WILL be able to make it
work. Just when she was almost convinced
to leave and reconcile with James…
“All passengers bound for Singapore via
Flight S-27, please proceed to Gate I-4
for boarding.”
Chapter 47
James arrived at the airport just in time
to hear the paging system announce that the
first flight for Singapore was just boarding its passengers. With his heart racing, he hurriedly looked
for Gate I-4, hoping to see that Ann had not yet boarded the plane.
Once he reached the said gate, he quickly
scanned the queue for Ann, but she wasn’t there. Starting to feel panic, he quickly approached
the boarding officer and was about to ask if there were already people inside the
plane when…
“James?”
It seemed like his heart stopped beating
for a moment when he heard his name called.
Turning around and looking for that voice, he finally saw Ann, standing
just a few feet behind him, with her luggage beside her.
“Oh my God, Ann!” was all he could say
before he crushed her in his arms for
the tightest hug he ever gave her.
“I thought you had gone and left me…I was
so scared..” he said while continuing to hold Ann in his arms.
“I’m sorry I said all those things. I didn’t mean it. I’m so sorry, Ann.”
“James, it’s okay..” Ann told him.
“No, Ann.
You have to listen to me first. I
don’t care if you only want me as a friend.
I’ll take that, for now. What’s
important is that I get to BE WITH YOU.
So yes, I’ll settle for what you’re willing to give, if it means that I
get to be a part of your life forever, “ James said, with all of his feelings
reflected in his eyes.
“James, you didn’t let me finish what I had
to say…” Ann looked into his eyes and smiled.
James smiled back at her and urged her to
go on with what she had to say.
“First of all, thank you for coming here
for me, when you didn’t have to. Thank
you for telling me how you feel. Thank
you for accepting my decision. And most
of all, thank you for making me the happiest woman ever.
Now to tell you the truth, I had already
decided to cancel my flight and find you instead.” Pausing for a while, “I’m
saying, let’s make this work. I love you
too, so much, and I’m ready to be IN IT with you. So there, do you still want to be just my
friend?” Ann asked, with a naughty look on her face.
“Oh my God…oh my God…Ann…” was all James
could say.
“I love you too, James. I promise to be the best girlfriend you’ve
ever had and I promise to give all that I can to make this relationship
work,” Ann said.
James just looked at her, happiness
reflected in his eyes. A few seconds
have passed but James was still not saying anything.
“Dude, you have nothing to say to me?” Ann
asked jokingly.
Before answering her, James took out a box
from his pocket and handed it to her.
Inside was a beautiful handmade bracelet. In it were the words, Ann Li – MY Angel. He took the bracelet out and put it on her,
“I got this five years ago. Remember that day, when you saw me and Rich
hugging? I bought this that same
day. She was helping me pick out a gift
for you. She suggested that I buy you a
stuffed toy and a pair of shoes because she knew you loved shoes. However, I decided to buy stuffed s toys
instead. I bought one large stuffed bear
and another one, a life-sized spongebob.
Those are still at the house by the way, waiting for their owner to pick
them up. Rich didn’t know about
this. After we bought the stuffed toys,
I bought this and not the shoes. I felt
that this is a more binding gift. This
bracelet expresses what I feel for you, as compared to some random pair of
shoes. So now that we are FINALLY
together, this would be the perfect time to give you the bracelet.”
“Ann, I promise to love you
infinitely. I promise to not only be the
best boyfriend, but the best life-partner you will ever have. If only I could marry you right now, I would
be the happiest guy ever. But I know
that you’re not ready for that yet. I
don’t ever want to hinder you from doing everything you want in life. Just know that I will always be waiting for
the time when you are ready to marry me.
I will always be here for you. And will always take care of you, until
forever”
“Oh my God, James! That was the sweetest
thing! Gosh you’re going to make me cry!”
Ann said and hid her face in his neck, unable to stop her tears from
falling.
After a few minutes of comforting Ann,
James cupped her face and tenderly kissed her, oblivious to the gathering crowd
around them.
NOTE:
This is the first story that I have ever finished, my first fan fiction (inspired by the JamLi PBB loveteam).
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