Queen of the Clueless (Interim Goddess of Love) (13 page)

"I've got a signal," Sol said, even though she didn't. "Come back here, let's just check the map."

Turned out, they weren't lost. A few meters down they did find a spot where they could load the driving directions again, and had apparently spent all that time stressing over nothing.  But Neil hadn't spoken yet since he got back in the car.

Sol wasn't sure how she felt about that.

They passed the "Welcome to Camarines Sur" sign and she felt like she should say something.

"Home in half an hour," she said.

"It's not your home anymore," he muttered.

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"What is that?"

"A statue of a dolphin, I think."
I naturally thought that Robbie meant the very conspicuous, shiny, and slightly creepy sculpture that greeted us as we stepped out of the car. I mean, it was the first thing my eyes landed on. Not exactly the thing I was expecting at the driveway of someone's home.

Robbie laughed a little. "No, I meant the music."

Right, because the second thing anyone would have noticed was the loud music blaring from inside. Third would be the lights that alternately twirled and blinked.

We were not at Sol
's family home. Instead, we were taken to the home of Sol's godmother, who was hosting the birthday party for Sol's mother tonight. It was a short ten-minute drive away from the Delloro home, but was larger, roomier, and absolutely did not look like anyone could sleep there in that racket.

I knew Sol's family was well off, despite her being an SK. Sol never acted like she was rolling around in money, and in fact was probably the most down-to-earth rich person I interacted with on a daily basis.

So I was surprised that her mom was so
flashy
.

That part became a little clearer when Robbie and I met the driver at the airport, who was already expecting us. In the car, he continued to fuss over us, offering us chilled bottled drinks from a cooler, and comfy pillows.

I wasn't even done with my green tea yet and we had already parked at what I could only describe as an estate.

Once inside, Mang Boy held up a phone to my ear
. It was Tita Annie, profusely apologizing for being too busy to meet us, but we should totally help ourselves to the lunch prepared and waiting in the dining room.

Aft
er the meal, we were told to retreat into two different bedrooms, shower, and change into the clothes laid out for us there.

I started to remember Sol's stories about her mom essentially running her life for seventeen years. Hard not to, when I was washing my hair and then slipping into a fancy red and black dress without knowing why I was doing it.

The dress, by the way, was beautiful. It was a bit loose on top, because it was obviously Sol's, but it made me think of what prom might have been like for luckier people. There was a prescribed pair of shoes sitting by the dress too, and it was way taller—stilts really—than anything I was used to.

When I finally got to catch my breath, I realized that this was Sol
's room that I was sent to. It threw me off a bit because it was impeccably tidy, and her room near Ford River never was. But then I saw her dresser, and noticed what made it recognizably Sol: the small pile of dog-eared manuals, how-to guides, references. Rollerblading. Calculus. Chess. English-Tagalog dictionary. 

And then, a knock on the door.
"Hannah, did they give you stuff to wear?"

I made my way to it as quickly as I could without tripping, excited to
open the door and see the outfit Tita Annie had set him up with.

She
's so beautiful,
he thought immediately.

And I very nearly choked on my breath.

Instinctively he held my elbow as I coughed.

Do I help her into the room?
he asked himself.

I held up a hand, and cleared my throat. It wasn
't very attractive. But he didn't seem to become any less attracted to me. I marveled at that for a moment, realizing why someone like Sol would be colossally dense about someone like Neil. At some point, people just surrendered control. Take the keys, take the wheel, here's your willing passenger.

"
You look so good," I had to say. I almost didn't say it, because I knew what it would do to him. But it was true, and I didn't want to lie to him.

Robbie was in a suit. Black coat and tie, red shirt, shiny shoes. His hair was still wet from the shower and slicked back a little, not his usual college shaggy, and I just felt…

Lucky.

He and I thought that at the same time.

We were both still thinking it in the car, as we were driven to the party location. We were thinking it as the scent from our respective soap choices (the bathrooms had a selection!) filled the car. I was especially thinking it when our knees touched during a turn, and instead of being super awkward, he caught my eye and we both laughed.

So now, being confronted by this huge house with the crazy dolphin statue, the blinking lights, and the music only grandmothers listened to, it gave me some degree of comfort that Robbie was just as terrified and lost as I was.

Maybe I'd had enough of guys who knew what was best for me.

"I think it's ballroom dancing music," I said. "I think we're at a ballroom dancing party."

The effect on Robbie was as if I had said "serial killer's hideout." The blood momentarily drained from his face, but then he sort of shook it off.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, it's just... I've been to these things before. Not my favorite."

At that moment I got treated to an instant flashback of a friend of his mother coming on to him during the salsa, and tried not to smile. "We should have a secret signal, like if you need me to rescue you."

"I'm just going to say 'Hannah, rescue me,' is that all right?"

I wish I knew
what to say to make this a better memory for him, but my phone had started to ring.

Crap, my mother.

She usually called on Friday night. Because every few weeks I'd travel back to Manila for the weekend, and she'd check in the night before to find out if I was coming.

"Mom," I said. "
I'm not coming over this weekend."

"
Oh, okay, I thought… well why not?"

"
I'm actually in a birthday party right now? Sol's mother Tita Annie? I told you about her before."

"
Sol's mother is in Manila?"

I never lied to my mother. She and I had each other, relied on each other completely since my dad left us. Even when the truth hurt, I never hid it from her. So even though every other teenager already in too deep would probably do the opposite, I still told her the truth.
"No, I… I'm actually in Naga right now."

There was a pause. And then,
"
What?
How did you get there?"

"
I flew."

"
How did you… you've never been on a plane!"

"
It was easy, I got a ticket, it's not that expensive and I had the allowance saved up from the scholarship…"

"
Did you go by yourself? That's just… I can't believe you did this without telling me."

I looked over at Robbie, who had turned away
out of courtesy and was checking out the dolphin, and imagined my mom's anger levels rising already. "I'm actually with, um, Sol. And Robbie. You remember Robbie, right?"

"
Yes I remember Robbie. What is this, an out of town date? You were planning to tell me this when?"

"
I'm
sorry
, it was just really sudden. And it's not like that, it's not a date—"

He pretended not to hear that, but I knew he did, and I knew that it jabbed at his heart a little.

"What could be so important that you'd hop on a plane without telling me?"

"
It's a long story… I'm sort of staging an intervention… Sol's boyfriend is really bad news and I'm trying to get her to, well…"

"
Hannah, I can't believe this. I've told you… you can't just tell people how to feel about things. Are you seriously telling me that you went all the way to Naga because of what you think Sol should do about her boyfriend?"

My mother didn
't know I was the Goddess of Love. For now. But what she said still stung. My eye actually twitched.

"
Mom, we're actually in the middle of Tita Annie's party right now. Can I call you later? It's really not as bad as you think."

"
Call me as soon as you can, Hannah."

"
Yes, yes I will."

I dropped the phone into my bag and didn
't care where it fell.

"
Was she mad?" Robbie asked.

"
Yeah."

Breathe
, I told myself.
You can do this.
But it didn't help.

"
What did she say?" Robbie was now right in front of me, obstructing what would have been my entire space to breathe.

"
She said she told me before not to tell people what to feel."

"
You do this a lot?"

I cringed.
"Yeah. I kind of started with her."

Robbie took my hand.
"Look, you came over here with an instinct, and you care so much about your friend. You might as well finish what you started."

"
But maybe I can't," I said. "Maybe I shouldn't. Maybe he's too much for me to handle, and I should just let him and Sol figure it out. It's not like she asked me to do this or anything."

"
I think that's what makes you a better friend. You don't wait for someone to cry for help. If you think you know what needs to be done, you should do it."

Did Rob
bie really believe that?

He did.

I had his keys, was at his wheel, he was my passenger. There was something…
empowering
about this.

"
You're the best person I've ever met," I told him. "Let's do this."

Neil

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Sol looked really apologetic, which he appreciated, but he wasn
't mad. He had already driven the horrendously long way from Manila just to see her mother. A few minutes—or hours, however long this strange party was going to last—wouldn't matter.

He didn
't mind that he didn't get to even shake Mrs. Delloro's hand. Their arrival was expected but still sudden, and someone had quickly told Sol that she absolutely must pass by her house to change. He refused the same invitation, opting to stay at the party instead, despite being inappropriately dressed for the occasion. In any case, he didn't want to be put into someone else's suit and shoes just to fit in.

He didn
't mind the wait. He played chess, and knew that some games ran long; it didn't mean the victory was less satisfying. It would give him time to think about what exactly he would ask for, once he had Mrs. Delloro under his control. Should he go simple, and just get her to agree to Sol moving in with him? Or aim higher, ask for more?

Neil couldn
't help but do an inventory, based on that quick glance he got of his girlfriend's mother. Earrings, necklace, three rings, watch, bracelets. All big, all gaudy, but worth something. Maybe he could work in a housewarming gift request, or two, or three. He knew he should make this count, because he wasn't going to make it a habit to travel to Naga just to shake her hand and ask for things.

He hoped that the inability to control Sol wasn
't genetic, or today's effort would have been in vain. But there was just the one way to check, so he took the chance anyway. That didn't mean he couldn't practice while waiting though.

He made his way to the bar a
nd introduced himself to a man claiming a rum drink there. Theo Delloro, Sol's uncle. He seemed eager to get back to his table, so Neil made this one count – he asked what car Theo owned. A Hyundai SUV, similar to the one he had driven on the way here. Neil asked if he could drive it while in the city.

"
Here," Theo said, and his keys landed on the bar right in front of Neil.

"
You know what, I changed my mind," Neil said, handing him back the keys. "But maybe I'll talk to you again about it later."

So that worked. He wasn
't sure how, but it did. Within minutes of meeting somebody, they would do anything he asked. He had no clue what people felt when it was happening to them; he didn't see or feel anything different.

Except that they actua
lly did what he asked.