Rhythm (9 page)

I’ve been planning this surprise quite some
time now. I am trying to be discreet about it.

“There you are, lovely.” Grant stuns me.

I jump. “Oh. Hi there, love.”

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost, Rip. Are
you okay?” he asks, perturbed.

“Yeah, I’m okay. I just didn’t notice you,” I
answer in a nervous tone. I hope he won’t notice that I am hiding
something from him.

“Okay. Dinner later?”

“I can’t make it, love. I have something to
do. School stuff.” I scrunch my nose as I tell him a lie.

“Can’t it wait until tomorrow? I missed our
lunch date a while ago. I want to make it up to you.”

I want to say yes, it can wait because no,
it’s not really school stuff. “No, it can’t, love. I’ll see you
tomorrow, okay?”

He smiles, dejected, then says, “I miss you,
Isabelle. See you tomorrow. Bye.”

“I miss you, too, love. Tomorrow.” I wave at
him then leave.

Grant

I don’t feel good about my encounter earlier
with Rhy. I know that I should trust her, but something tells me
that she’s hiding something from me, and I have no idea what it
is.

I am on my way to my dorm when I realize I
haven’t eaten my dinner yet, so I decided to go eat first. But when
I am near the DINER, I see Rhy and Cale inside.
What
the?

I survey my surroundings—all clear. I am on a
mission now.

Many questions form in my mind. Why are they
together? Are they on a date? Is that why Rhy cancelled on me? Is
she cheating on me?

No. She better not.

I am unconsciously preparing my fist to punch
something—or
someone,
more specifically—when I hear someone
approaching. I compose myself and walk a little closer to them but
not close enough for them to notice.

They sit across each other, and I feel less
tensed. But their eyes, their look on each other’s faces . . .

Should I really watch this? Or should I just
wait for Rhy in her dorm to confront her?

Okay. Last one look then I’ll go.

But then I wish I didn’t.

Rhy puts her hand on top of Cale’s and rubs
it.

This is not happening.

I don’t know what to do. Confront them? Walk
away? I feel like I am punched in the gut.

I don’t realize that I am walking aimlessly
to Rhy’s dorm until I am in front of it. I stop and slump. Lola
opens the door. She’s probably going out.

“Grant, hi.” She scans around. “Where’s
Rhy?”

I lost it. I cry in front of her. She doesn’t
know what to do, so she pats my back. “Is everything okay between
the two of you? She told me she’d have dinner with you. Where is
she?”

“She told you that?”

She nods, puzzled by the piqued tone I
sport.

“I think she’s cheating on me, Lola.”

“She’s
what
?”

I cry harder instead of answering her.

“Come here.” She hugs me in an attempt to
comfort me. “Don’t jump into that conclusion until you talk with
her. Okay?”

Rhythm

Is what I’m seeing real? Why is Grant and
Lola hugging? Is he cheating on me? I couldn’t make it to our
dinner and he went with L?

“What is happening?” I ask, attempting to
calm myself.

“Rip,” Lola says in surprise. She looks at
Cale and back at me. “You and Grant need to talk.”

“I bet we do.” I can’t contain my anger,
though I know I need to be calm. I am anything but calm.

“Thank you, Cale,” I say my goodbye to
him.

“You’re welcome,” Cale answers then pats the
back of Grant.

Grant shrugs it off.

What is up with him?

“I’ll head out. Behave the both of you. Let’s
go, Cale.” Lola leaves with Cale tagging behind.

After they leave, I go inside the dorm
without inviting Grant.

He hesitates for a while then follows me. He
looks defeated. He sits on the sofa bed then cry.

I should comfort him, but why would I? I
should be the one crying with what I have seen.

“Are you cheating on me?” Grant asks.

“What? What are you talking about? Shouldn’t
I
be the one asking that?” I counter, enraged. I will not
let him turn the table 180 degrees and make me at fault.

“Don’t do this to me, Rhy. Please. I love you
so much. I gave you everything. I did anything that would make you
happy. Why, Rhy? Why are you doing this to me?”

His barrage of questions puzzles me. “Grant,
I just saw you and Lola hugging then you’ll pass on to me what I
think
you
are doing.” I shake my head in disbelief. “Are you
cheating on me? With Lola?”

“What? No, Rhy. I wouldn’t do that. She was
hugging me to comfort me because I saw everything, Rhy. I saw you
with Cale,” he says, pausing to take a deep breath. “I’ll ask you
one last time, and I want you to be honest with me. Are you
cheating on me with Cale?”

“Oh, my word, no! Of course not.” I tell him
with all honesty. “I will never do that to you, Grant.”

“Then please explain why were you together?
Why did you cancel on me? Why were you holding hands?”

“First and foremost, we didn’t hold
hands.”

He shakes his head. “I saw it, Rhy. You were
across each other at the DINER, and I saw that you initiated to
hold his hand.”

I thought for a while and try to remember
what he’s talking about. “Grant, I rubbed his arm while thanking
him for meeting me. No holding hands, I promise,” I explain to him,
desperately wanting him to hear me.

“You rubbed his hand—not arm. I saw it.”

“Okay, fine. I rubbed his hand, but it
doesn’t mean I cheated. Grant, I am not cheating on you.” I exhale.
“If I knew that this will be the result, I should never have asked
Cale to meet me.”

“Why would you want to meet him anyway?” he
asks, suspicious.

“Because of you. I want to surprise you on
your birthday, but I don’t know what to do. So I asked his
help.”

He thinks for a moment to analyze my reason,
if it’s acceptable. “Are you sure? There’s nothing going on between
the two of you? Coz I saw the way you look at each other’s.”

“Yes, I am 200 percent sure. About that look,
I don’t think he’s looking at me the way you look at me.” I pray
silently that he will believe me and trust that I am being
honest.

He lets out a deep breath, a sign that he
still has confidence in me. “I’m sorry I assumed right away that
you were cheating on me, and I’m sorry I thought negatively about
you.”

“I’m also sorry about Lola, and for not
telling you I’m meeting with Cale because well, it was supposed to
be a surprise.” I cackle at my failed attempt in surprising
him.

“Why are you laughing?” he asks, amused.

“Because I couldn’t pull off even a simple
surprise, but you could. Unfair.”

“We have different strengths, surprises are
mine.” He laughs. “Anyway, thank you for the attempt in surprising
me, and sorry for ruining it.”

“I prefer that the surprise be ruined than
our relationship.” I assure him.

“Ditto.”

Grant

This would have been the worst birthday I
ever have, had Rhy cheated on me, but thankfully, she didn’t—and I
believe that she won’t.

I wonder if she has worked on something for
my birthday, though I’m not expecting much after what happened
during her preparation in surprising me. She was supposed to
prepare a small party, which will be held on a real fancy
restaurant, but yeah, wouldn’t happen.

Rip’s right. Love is not jealous. If I truly
love her, I should not assume that she’s cheating on me just
because I see her with someone else. If I want to express my love
for her, she must see and feel that I trust her because in love,
there should always be trust. There’s still so much we could learn
in handling a relationship, but I’m glad I’m learning it with
Rhy.

A movement startles me. I get out of my bed
to check around and see if there’s someone with me in the dorm. I
know that it isn’t Cale because he told me he wouldn’t be back
until this evening.

I have a bad feeling about this. I get a
pillow for defense and prepare myself for the worst . . .

“Happy birt—” Rhy greets me in surprise the
same time I hit her face with a pillow.

“Rip! I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I thought . . .”
I reach for her to check if she’s okay.

“It’s okay, love. I’m okay.” She fixes her
hair and say, “I should know better and not surprise you. I guess
we get the memo by now that I am only made to be surprised, not to
surprise. It’s always a disaster.” She gives a half-suppressed
laugh.

“I’m really sorry, honey.”

“You are forgiven. But pillow for a defense?
Really?” she mocks me.

“Well, that is a blessing in disguise. If I
were more attentive, I would have gotten the baseball bat.
Thankfully, I’m still disoriented.”

She cringes at the sound of the baseball bat.
“I will never ever surprise you ever again. Never. Ever,” she
swears.

“Yeah. Let me handle that. Besides, I can
live without those.”

“Okay. Let me continue my greetings.” She
straightens up and speaks. “Happy birthday, my love. My birthday
prayer for you is kind of selfish. I pray that you’ll have more
birthdays to come so that I will have more days with you. I love
you so much.” She hands me something and I excitedly open it.

A watch.

“Rip, this is so beautiful. Thank you.” I
can’t help the crack in my voice. I know it’s a simple plain black
watch, but knowing that it comes from her, it means so much
more.

“What’s so beautiful about that? It’s just a
simple watch.”

“It may not be the most expensive watch but
what makes it beautiful is the genuine love I feel when you gave it
to me. It’s true that it is the thought that counts.” I am not keen
on wearing a watch, but I am now. I wear it giddily. “How does it
look on me?”

“It suits you. Now I believe that it is
beautiful.”

“See.” I smile at her smugly.

“Okay, I gotta go, love. I have classes. I
just want to be the first one to greet you.”

“That’s sweet, Rhy. Thank you for this.” I
lift my left forearm wearing her gift to me. “I’ll pick you up at
6? Birthday dinner date?”

“Yup. See you later, birthday boy. I love
you.”

“I love you, too.”

Rhythm

“L, stop it!” I shout at her.

“I won’t. Just think that you’re doing this
for Grant. This could be the surprise that will finally be a
success. Let me handle this,” she says, eager.

“What am I, a toy? A Barbie? You can’t play
dress-me-up with me. I wouldn’t let you.” Her zealousness is
aggravating me.

She smirks. “I heard Grant once calling you
Barbie, so yes, you are a Barbie. And yes, I can play dress-me-up
with you. I will make you let me.”

Gah. She is so determined. It’s almost 5, and
I only have an hour to prepare. Lola is totally not helping me.

“C’mon, Barbie, let me play with ya.”

“Stop it. I’ll be late if you won’t leave me
alone.”

Expressionless, she says, “Then you’ll be
late. That would make Grant sad. Grant sad? On his birthday? Uh-oh,
that wouldn’t work out for you. Nu-uh.” She wiggles her right index
finger in front of my face.

“Are you seriously blackmailing me?”

She shakes her head. “I’m just telling you
that I am helping you make a surprise for Grant. Don’t take this
against me. I’m doing this for you. And Grant.”

She’s brainwashing me. “Fine. Just this time,
L. Just. This. Time.”

She jumps in excitement. “Yay! This is going
to be an amazing surprise for Grant, Rip. Trust me. Now, take a
bath. Don’t forget to shave. Go.”

She’s hell-bent in dressing me up, so I give
up, go, and do exactly what she told me to. When I am done, she
dries my hair, fixes it, puts makeup on me . . . She practically
gives me a total makeover.

Lola doesn’t allow me to look in the mirror
until she’s done with her project.

“Turn around at the count of five,” she says.
Finally. “One, two, two and a ha—”

“Geez, L. Count faster. You’re getting on my
nerves.”

“I’m not. You know you love me, Rip.” She
laughs then continues. “Two and a half, three, three and three
fourths, four, four and . . . five!”

I turn around slowly—as per L’s
instruction—and the girl in the mirror, who’s staring at me
directly, astonishes me.

I take a deep breath. Inhale. Exhale. Then I
mouth, “Who are you?” at my reflection. I am nowhere to be found.
No, really. Where is Rhythm?

“Wow. What have you done to Rip?” I ask
Lola.

She shrugs, proud. “Look at you, dear. Grant
will be freaking surprised, overjoyed, flabbergasted, pleased . . .
He’ll definitely have a happy birthday by just gaping at you.”

“Am I really
her
?” I point at my
reflection.

“Uh-huh. Are you ready? Because he’ll be here
in a while.”

Just as Lola predicts, Grant knocks.

“Speaking of. You ready?” she asks me once
again.

“I don’t know, L. I think I’ll go wash my
face and change.” I start to do what I say when she grabs my
arms.

“You wouldn’t. Besides, there’s no time for
your hysterics. He’s here.” She prompts me to walk towards the door
and grabs the handle. “Enjoy, Barbie.” She winks and opens the
door.

Grant

Who’s this beautiful girl in front of me?
Whoa. Is this Rip? My Rip?

I gape at her, unable to produce a sound.

Her hair is, for the first time, isn’t
ponytailed. She has a natural, long, brunette hair with big curls
hanging down freely. Her makeup is done with a touch of
professionalism—it’s not too much that she still has a natural
look. She’s wearing black ballet flats, which is not surprising
because she has an awkward relationship with all the footwear that
has heels, and . . . she’s wearing a plain, scooped neck,
sleeveless, red dress that hangs just a little bit above her knee
which complements her overall look. Simple yet sophisticated.