Chapter 4

“Congratulations, Ameira!” her co-worker, Sam, greeted her first because she was just behind her.

She couldn’t explain her joy even though she was always the EOTM. But it was more fun now because she could win a prize.

“Congratulations, Ms. Sy,” her senior, Ms. Janda, greeted her while smiling from ear to ear. “You seem motivated. Are you planning to get married soon? That’s why you are working so hard?”

‘Married? Damn it!’ Her heart ached again hearing that word.

“Ah. N-no, Ms. Janda,” she replied weakly.

“That’s good to hear. I don’t want to lose a good and motivated employee like you just yet.”

“Congratulations, Ms. Sy!” Ms. Liberty greeted her too.

“Thank you, Ms. Librety,” she replied politely.

“Can we talk in my office? So that we can discuss your prize,” Ms. Liberty said, still smiling, and Ameira just nodded in agreement.

“Go on, Ameira. Get your prize. You deserve it!” Ms. Janda cheered her up once more.

“Thank you, Ms. Janda.” She started to walk to go in her boss’s office.

Ameira couldn’t hide her wide smile while standing before her boss’s office. She even breathed heavily before she entered.

“Congratulations again, Ms. Sy.” Ms. Liberty stood up and shook her hand.

“Thank you, Ms. Liberty.”

“You deserve it; your ranking is high on Janda’s list. And that’s very impressive. Sit down.” She guided her to sit down in front of the table. “I’m sure you’ll be happy with the prize you’ll receive. Here.” She handed Ameira a small but long brown envelope, who accepted it without a word.

‘What is this? Additional salary? Or is it a pin with SENIOR engraved because I’ve been promoted? Huhuhu. I’m nervous about opening it.’

Ameira gulped so badly while slowly opening the envelope. A white paper welcomed her sight.

‘What is this? A ticket?’

Ameira looked surprised at Ms. Liberty because this was not what she expected to receive. But even so, she didn’t show disappointment on her face.

Ms. Liberty smiled at her. “You got a super ferry ticket because you will have a one-week vacation in Coron Palawan, with a standard room and free meals. Add to that, you also have 20,000 pesos of pocket money. What do you think? Are you excited?”

Ameira still couldn’t react much. She was still determining if she should be happy with her prize. She would instead get a salary increase or be promoted than go on vacation.

***

[Fast Forward]

Ameira was sitting down at her friend’s house. She came home early from the office, so she thought of seeing her college friend Lexie who was only a few minutes away from Liberty Agency. She had two friends in life; one was Aya, who lived in the province, and the second one was Lexie.

“Wow. It’s good that you had a chance to visit me even though I know you’re busy,” her friend said and went straight to the kitchen to grab some snacks and drinks for her.

“I just don’t want to go home yet,” Ameira replied sparingly. She rested her head on the couch and closed her eyes. She felt her head was heavy because of the workload at the office.

But the real reason why she didn’t want to go home to her condo was that she would only feel sad again if she was alone there. Mateo always popped into her mind whenever she was alone in her bedroom. She couldn’t help but feel lonely.

“That’s okay. You can stay here whenever you want, Ameira. I’m also alone here in the apartment. What do you want? Juice? Water? Or coffee?” Lexie asked.

“Do you have a beer?” Ameira nonchalantly asked.

Lexie automatically frowned at her friend’s answer; then, she quickly threw her a look as if she was being suspicious. “Do you have a problem, girl? That’s not so you.” She still opened the refrigerator and grabbed some canned beers.

She knew Ameira so much that she could tell if her friend was struggling with something. Ameira didn’t like alcohol when they were both in college, especially when she got a boyfriend last year. She became a homebody.

“And besides, won’t your boyfriend, Mateo, get angry when she knows you drink? He will surely throw a fit at me. He might rush here to my apartment to fetch you,” Lexie laughed.

Ameira let out a deep sigh. She remembered that she hadn’t told Lexie about Mateo and her. When Lexie finally returned from the kitchen and sat beside her, she spoke. “Mateo and I are gone; we broke up,” Ameira said without emotion and grabbed one of the beers.

“What?!” The news caused Lexie to stop. She didn’t expect what Ameira had said, especially since Lexie witnessed that the relationship between the two was perfect.

After Ameira chugged almost half of the beer can, she placed it on the coffee table.

“Don’t make me repeat myself, Lexie. You heard me right.”

“Tell me a story. When? Why? What’s the reason? Is there someone else?” Lexie started to throw a lot of questions. “You haven’t visited here in a while so that news is kinda shocking.”

Ameira looked and paid attention to her friend as if she were lazy.

“You’re really a sadist, aren’t you? You want me to tell you everything when it’s obvious that I haven’t moved on yet. You want me to remember everything that happened to our break-up when it’s obvious that I’m trying to forget him. You are such a cold-hearted bitch! What a good friend,” Ameira said, full of sarcasm.

“That’s why I have beers for you.” Lexie pointed to the beer cans on the table, where Ameira’s eyes went.

Ameira just snorted.

“Just get drunk; you can sleep here in my apartment if you want,” Lexie added, handing Ameira another canned beer. “That’s what friends are for, girl. It would be best if you got drunk tonight because we have to celebrate this. We haven’t drunk together for a while because of your strict boyfriend, oops, your ex-boyfriend,” Lexie laughed.

Ameira just shook her head and took a sip of her beer.

“So, what? Why did your boyfriend break up with you? Tell me.”

“It’s hard to admit that one, but… he just left me for no reason,” Ameira answered. She even vented her anger toward his ex-boyfriend. Lexie listened to her, and as she said that, she sympathized with her being heartbroken.

“Mateo is such a heartless man,” Lexie said. “He’s just handsome, but he’s also worthless. That’s terrible. He just left you like that. Tsk!” Ameira drank the beer she held as she listened to her friend’s comment. “So, are you sure there is no third-party reason for him breaking up with you?”

Ameira immediately shook her head initially. Her other friend, Aya, also asked that question to her. And up to now, her response would stay the same.

“No. I’m sure Mateo doesn’t have a woman. He’s so busy with his work; he hardly has time for me, and then he will look for someone else? That’s unreal,” Ameira replied.

Even though she was angry with Mateo, she couldn’t defame him, especially since she knew him very well. She was one hundred percent sure that there was no third party involved.