Weekend Wait

“Hey wat r u doing?”

Oh, joy! After days of not texting, I got a message from Marcus tonight. Ack, just when I was just at home, doing absolutely nothing. Roomate’s out. I half-hoped Marcus would ask me to meet him somewhere.

Me: Nothing much, u?
Him: At my cousin’s birthday party. Saya!
Me: Cool! Enjoy ka!
Him: Sana u were hr.

Yeah, me too. Sigh. He could have invited me out for a drink or something–it was so easy!

Questions swelled in my mind as I hopped into bed with my fave magazines. (Exciting life, I know. Hah!)

Was Marcus really just being a nice friend? Was he torpe? Or am I reading too much into all this?

Needed: Sound Advice

After the Bora fiasco, where I nearly gave in to a possible (yet potentially counterproductive) fling, I sought advice the next weekend from Jill, my best bud. “I really like Marcus, but first of all, I have zero idea on how he really feels for me,” I began. “Then again, I keep thinking that I have to go out more and widen my circle—if I really want to find The One.”

“And so you were tempted to make out with this Jess guy?” Jill teased.

“He started it!” I threw a pillow at her. “And I cut it short. I left him at the beach, remember?”

“Relax, C.,” Jill soothed. “I know you like Marcus, but maybe you shouldn’t focus on just one guy for now. Also, is he really still hung up on his ex?”

I nodded glumly.

“Give him time, and give yourself time,” she continued. “Don’t get into something you’re not sure of.”

Last note: I just opened my personal email, and surprise! A short note from Marcus. He was working late, he said. But what I keep thinking of is his last line: “Sarap, Bora! Wish I could have been there with you.”

My head (and heart) is spinning. Argh!

To Be Kissed

It gets lonely sometimes—especially after being without someone for a year. There are times I find myself just wanting to be kissed and held. Correction: I am simply craving to be kissed and held.

But first, Marcus’s text message: “Sori about cofi & hw I actd. Make it up to u, promis!”

That was Wednesday and so far, no text from him. He could be really busy—or maybe this undefined relationship is just going nowhere.

Plus, I have to get What Happened In Boracay out of my system. Had to go there last weekend with my boss for a client meeting. Afterwards, I had a much-needed drink at one of those candle-lit low tables by the beach.

“Hey C.! Is that you?”

It was Jess, an old highschool classmate. Crush ng Bayan, circa 1999. “You look great! As in!” Tall, ripped, and with such a dazzling smile, he looked more gorgeous than ever—and he was looking me over appreciatively.

I was extremely flattered. Back in the day, he never paid attention to me. He plopped down beside me on the sand and we were suddenly talking. More drinks came. He stroked my arm. Then he traced circles on my knee. Suddenly, he was very, very close. He was nuzzling my ear. In my tipsy state, it felt really, really good.

But then I pulled away. “Uh, sorry,” I looked at Jess in alarm. “Sige, sorry, I-I have to go!”

Humiliating, I know. But then again, should I have just given in? Wala lang naman kami ni Marcus, right?

More Mixed Signals

Finally, we had coffee today, at the café downstairs. He postponed it twice, but hey who was I to complain? We’re just friends, after all, ‘di ba?

Convo topics were mostly office chismis and stories from his department, marketing. However, something really revealing happened:

“Here you go, it’s my treat,” Marcus slid the tray with two steaming cappuccinos on the table in front of me.

“Ha?” I fumbled for my wallet for some cash. “No, here—”

Marcus waved me off, saying: “Don’t worry, malakas ka sa ‘kin!”
I swear, I practically glowed.

“Uh-oh,” Marcus’s tone suddenly took a seriously panicky tone.

“What?” I whipped my head about, half-expecting our boss at the door, demanding why we weren’t at our desks at this time.

Turns out, it was even worse.

“My Ex,” Marcus croaked out, grabbing the promo card stand on the table and hiding behind it. A pretty, long-haired girl in office garb had just entered the café.

Awkward moment! For both of us, I mean. Obviously, he was still affected. The reason for their break-up?

“She couldn’t understand my work, and how I really needed to devote time to it,” he told me with a big sigh, after she had left—thankfully without catching sight of him. “But after my dad passed away, I’m the only one my family’s counting on to contribute at home.”

I nodded, sympathetically. How very noble—I was more drawn to him than ever. Now, if only I wouldn’t feel so insecure.

Renewed and Ready

The story so far: Things seem to be going well for C., our bedroom blogger: She has a new job as an events organizer and is finally over her break-up with her longtime ex. Ready to plunge into the dating world again, she’s been “hanging out” a lot with cute officemate Marcus. She’s single, he’s single—so why aren’t they together yet? C. tries to figure out if he’s worth waiting for.

It’s been a year since my break-up with The Ex and it was only this morning that I realized: OMG, I am so ready to have a relationship again!

One problem, though: No one’s made a move on me—yet. It seems that while I’ve been recovering, all boyfriend-potential Pinoy guys have been busy hooking up.

Ack! Maybe I should go out more. Maybe I should look around more…like in the next hallway?

Ugh, I have to finally admit that I have a growing crush on Marcus, a guy at work. I sat beside him during my first office inuman, and he was so chatty and easygoing, he made me feel at ease instead of OP. Actually, ang bait n’ya!

Okay, so for three weeks after that, we’ve been hanging out (his term, not mine!), but oh, it’s been purely platonic. At least, from his body language! Sige na nga, there were mixed signals. I’ve been having daydreams na kami na. Only, labo text messages like this one send me plummeting back to earth:

Him: Hey how was ur day? Missed you at the l. Cofi soon?
Me: Sure! Tom at 4?
Him: Cge, txt u muna tom if I’m free. Myt hav wrk from boss.

Argh! Ano ba talaga?!