The Story of Us

‘If it’s meant to happen, then it will happen.’

Savannah’s brows furrowed, and she couldn’t help but sigh deeply as she saw that slogan on a poster displayed as a big billboard ad. She was currently riding a taxi to Central Park alone. The atmosphere was still kinda dark since it was only five in the morning, but the road the taxi was driving on was really bright because of the streetlights and the lights coming from the different tall buildings they were passing through.

Savannah’s eyes were still puffy from all the crying she did last night, but it wasn’t that noticeable since her eyes weren’t red. If the taxi driver noticed it now, he’d probably just think his passenger had a good sleep and overslept.

According to the taxi driver, the travel time would be almost five and a half hours, so Savannah decided to just close her eyes—even though she wasn’t feeling sleepy at all—just so she could rest them.

She had rented the taxi and the driver, so she would be paying the driver later at a fixed price. With that, monitoring the taxi’s price meter every second wasn’t necessary anymore, so she could close her eyes and look at the roads whenever she wanted.

“Ma’am, is it okay if I turn on the radio? I’ll change it to the station you like…” the taxi driver asked, glancing at Savannah through the rearview mirror. Savannah just nodded, her eyes still closed.

“You’re a Filipino, right? There’s a radio station that plays OPM songs here…” the driver added.

For a second, Savannah’s brows furrowed again as she wondered how the driver knew she was Filipino. But since she wasn’t really in the mood to have a conversation, she just nodded and said, “Just do what you want…”

“O… okay…” the taxi driver replied. He switched his radio to a station that usually played OPM songs, then turned his attention back to the road.

As soon as the station changed, a very familiar song started playing. Its instrumental was dramatic, with an emotional piano tone that instantly gave Savannah a small pinch of pain in her heart.

That song was very memorable for her—Trevor had sung it to her back then, even though his voice wasn’t exactly admirable… not really the kind of voice girls usually fall for. But still, it remained one of the clearest moments in her memory… because for her, every moment with Trevor was a memory worth remembering. That’s what she always said to her friends whenever she told stories about him.

‘Sometimes I feel like I’m all alone, wondering what I have done wrong.’

As the song began, Savannah remembered Trevor’s last text message from the night before.

“Thank you so much, Dr. Savannah Perez. I hope to see you soon!”

One simple message… but it hurt Savannah so much because she knew that ‘see you soon’ was impossible. Meeting him again was impossible—because that’s the fate she chose for them: the fate of both of them being alive.

‘Maybe I’m just missing you all along… when will you be coming home back to me?’

Savannah was sure that Trevor didn’t remember anything—not even her—because that was her consequence. Everyone had forgotten everything about her and Trevor… except, of course, for her. She remembered every single moment she had with him… but it was all just memories. There wasn’t any proof those moments ever happened—no pictures, no videos, no text messages, no call histories, nothing. Everything that once connected them no longer existed.

That’s why, when Savannah told her friends about her and Trevor, they didn’t believe her at first. They only started to believe her when she shared personal things about Trevor—details they were able to confirm as true when Trevor was later interviewed on a famous TV show.

‘There were times I felt like giving up… haunted by memories I can’t give up…’

Savannah sighed deeply as tears began to stream down her cheeks. She immediately wiped them away, her eyes still closed.

‘Wish that I never let you go and slip away, had enough reasons for you to stay…’

She gulped, took a deep breath again, and tried to stop herself from crying. Then she opened her eyes and said to the driver, “Please change the radio station… I’m not in the mood to listen to OPM songs right now. Thanks,” just before the emotional chorus began.

Right after she said that, she closed her eyes again. The driver immediately changed the station, this time to one that played new Pop songs.

Savannah didn’t really like Pop songs, but she didn’t hate them either, so she didn’t complain and just stayed quiet. After about ten minutes with her eyes closed, she finally started to feel sleepy and slowly fell asleep.

***

After seven and a half hours—almost five and a half hours of travel time and two hours of stopover—they finally arrived at Central Park. Even though it was already sunny since it was 12:30 PM, the air was still cold, so Savannah didn’t remove her cardigan.

“I’ll be back after a few hours… I’ll contact you once I’m done roaming around,” Savannah said to the taxi driver as she got out of the taxi.

It seemed like the taxi driver was about to say something to her, but she had already walked away so fast that he probably wouldn’t be heard anymore.

As Savannah walked, she had no idea where she was supposed to go exactly.

“Austin… why did your family emergency have to be today, when we already had plans?” Savannah said, sighing deeply while looking around the park.

Austin, Savannah’s colleague and friend—who was supposed to come here with her today—was the one who knew the place well because he had been here before. But because of a family emergency, he wasn’t able to come.

After taking a few steps, she remembered that she needed to record herself just so she could have footage for her vlog. She needed to do it because she had promised her subscribers that she would upload a vlog right after visiting the park. She then brought out her vlogging camera, flipped the LCD screen so she could see herself, and pressed the record button.

“Good day, my Savvies!” Savannah waved to the camera with a big smile. “As promised, I am now at—”

She stopped speaking when she saw her eyes on the camera’s LCD screen.

“What the fuck…” Her brows furrowed as she zoomed the lens in on her own eyes and looked at the screen.

Her eyes were too puffy (which they weren’t earlier, based on what she saw in the mirror).

She scratched her head out of frustration, and because she didn’t want her followers and subscribers to worry about her, she decided she would just record the places—all of the shots would be from her point of view. She hadn’t vlogged like that before, so she was sure her viewers would love it.

She started walking while holding her camera in a position that was kinda aligned with her eyes.

As she walked through the park, she saw people strolling with their families… some kids running around chasing each other… leaves continuously falling from the tall trees. There were also small food stalls. All of these things—she captured them in the video while she walked with her camera.

Everything was just simple scenery… until she saw the only man she had ever loved. The man who messaged her last night… the man she loved so much… the man she was still in love with. The man who didn’t know her… the man who didn’t remember her… the man she could never be with… the man whom fate had already decided she would never see again.

Trevor Jill.

That simple scenery instantly turned dramatic. For Savannah, it felt like the environment around her shifted to a bluish hue, and it became even bluer when she saw that Trevor was with his girlfriend, Kiara.

Savannah stared at them for a few seconds, and just when she decided to look away and walk on, Trevor knelt down and pulled a ring from his pocket.

Because of the shock and the pain she immediately felt, the camera she was holding slipped from her hand and fell to the ground as she heard Trevor ask Kiara, “Will you marry me, Kiara?”

Savannah’s vision blurred as tears filled her eyes. Within seconds, they were already streaming down her cheeks.

She wanted to cry out loud… she wanted to make Trevor get up from the ground and stop him. But she couldn’t—because technically, they didn’t personally know each other. That had been the case ever since she decided to wipe out everything she had rewritten in their story. She didn’t hold a big part in his life anymore… Trevor didn’t even know her the way she knew him. She was just a famous doctor he was currently seeking help from.

She felt weak as she picked up the camera that had fallen to the ground. She immediately wiped off all the dirt stuck to it, then walked away quickly.