Lessons In Being A Flapper (28 page)

That wasn’t the case at all, however, because as soon as the hearts appeared they began to evaporate and in their place was a live shot of Bayani. My beautiful, wonderful, loving Bayani. My heart ached seeing him on the screen.

“Hi everyone! I hope you’re all having a great time at the first ever Valentine’s Day ball!” he said, waving through the camera at those inside the hall. “I’m sorry for interrupting your night but I just felt like if I didn’t say what I had to say now, I wouldn’t have the courage tomorrow. Basically, I want to say that I am in love with the most beautiful woman in the world. It’s not just her outer beauty that got to me, it’s her inner beauty as well. This girl…well, she is pretty much the sun to my moon; the water to my ice; the summer to my winter. She’s everything I ever wanted and I knew she was the one for me the moment she ran in front of my car back in the Fall. Unfortunately, we had a miscommunication and broke up but our time apart only showed me just how much she means to me. I can’t live without her nor do I want to. So, Autumn, I’m sitting here asking you in front of all these people to give me a second chance. I’m not sure if you feel the same but I need to know once and for all because every day without you is pure torture. If you don’t want to tell me on camera, I understand,” Bayani said, brushing his fingers through his hair and standing up. I watched him silently, with big, fat tears rolling down my cheeks. If he were here, I’d run over to him and never let him go again but the fact that he was on a screen in God knows what country made it so much harder.

Suddenly, the screen went black and everyone looked around in confusion. Then a spotlight came on and illuminated me. A second spotlight came on and illuminated an empty spot on the other side of the room. I looked around at the expectant faces, who probably thought I had something to do with all of this, and shrugged my shoulders. I knew just as much as they did, which was basically nothing.

Then it all made sense. Bayani stepped into the second spotlight holding an Orchid and looking divine in a grey tuxedo. He smiled at me in a hopeful way before walking towards me. I instinctively did the same and we met in the middle of the floor not ten seconds later.

“Hi,” he said.

“Hi,” I replied, grinning from ear to ear.

“May I have this dance?”

“You may. But there is one thing I need to do first,” I said. He frowned but nodded his head. I couldn’t wait one more second to bury my hands in his hair and kiss him like I never kissed him before. The second our lips met, everything felt OK with the world again. Unlike my kiss with Luigi, I felt at home with Bayani. We fit together like two pieces of a puzzle and everyone seemed to agree as the room erupted into applause.

“OK. Now we can dance,” I said. And we did. We danced until our feet hurt and our legs ached. We danced through slow songs and fast songs; through dessert and drinks. When it came time for the night to end, I knew with all my heart that every mistake I had made up until this point was a path to this moment. Every heartache and tragedy brought me closer to this incredible man. I felt a tap on my leg as I stared at him and wondered how I got so lucky. It was Marisol.

“Toots, I’m heading home. I just want to thank you for all you did. This ball was a roaring success! Take your time tonight and make sure you don’t lose sight of your palooka ever again!” she said, winking.

I wouldn’t. I knew that with one hundred percent certainty.

“Autumn, I’m so glad to have you back in my arms. You have no idea how glad I am. But, there are some things we need to talk about…serious things…” Bayani said. “Can you meet me for coffee at The Sticky Bun Café tomorrow?”

“Absolutely,” I said. Bayani smiled and kissed my cheek before turning around and dashing towards the door. He walked backwards for a second, as if he wanted to pin this moment to memory, and then he turned on his heel and was gone.

As much as I trusted him and loved him, I had a gut feeling that something was going on and tomorrow I’d find out what it was.

Until then, I only had my memories and
this beautiful gown to distract me.

To be continued…