The ambiance suggested of a peaceful and relaxing evening.
So was the sight in Vimanmek gardens. Everything was perfect down to the triumphant smiles of two women. They had just parked their cars to view the sunset.
“I still can’t believe you did that to Matt’s prized toy,” Reina said as she lazily got out of her car.
“I don’t know what possessed me…. My blood just boiled when Mike told me that a drunken Matt announced to the whole of Bangkok about his cousin’s so-called feat,” Chrissie answered as she got out and checked the damages on her car.
“I didn’t plan to wreck his car, really. I just saw red when I saw him showing off his new Corvette as I was to park by the cafe. He was so cocky and awfully tacky that the idea dawned on me.”
Reina looked at her friend. She was now seated on the hood of her car and said, “Never cross Chrissie Yan!”
“Exactly!” Chrissie agreed and proceeded to sit beside Reina.
They both laughed at the memory. Then all of a sudden, Reina became quiet. Chrissie turned to her but did not pry.
A long uncomfortable silence passed between the two.
Reina hugged her knees, shut her eyes tightly and sighed loudly. She smirked and whispered loud enough for Chrissie to hear. “He called me a bitch, you know.”
Anger surged through her body. “The nerve of the guy!” She shivered at the thought and blinked back the tears that gathered in her eyes.
She sighed heavily and hugged her knees closer, drawing strength from them. “I wish I can make him feel as much pain as I did.”
She was now oblivious to the tears that flowed freely down her face. “As much shame as I do now…” Her voice trailed as sobs rocked her body.
Chrissie could only gather the sobbing Reina in her arms. The pain in Reina’s eyes is also reflected in her eyes. But all she can do and offer is her presence and a shoulder to cry on.
“Yang, you don’t need to get even. I think that today’s episode is enough to stop all the talk,” She whispered while continuing to rub Reina’s back.
Reina tore her body away from her friend’s embrace and waved her hands, “It’s not about the gossip anymore!” She took a tissue and blew her nose. “It’s about Sherwin and his accusations!”
She took another tissue and wiped away the traces of her misery. “He wants a bitch. I’ll show him what a bitch really is,” with that, Reina sat up defiantly and stared back into the horizon.
“Yang, a word of caution, if you take matters in your hands, rumors will fan anew,” Chrissie warned. She knows that once Reina has decided she will do it, no amount of lecture can make her change her mind.
Reina moved her head slightly to Chrissie’s direction and with a hard voice, she said, “I know. But I really want to get even….”
“I know! I want to see Xu flat on his face, too!” Chrissie reiterated. “But let’s wait and see what happens next before we do something again.”
========================================================
Reina felt a little better after a few hours of sleep. She showered and felt fresh after a long night. She hurriedly ran out of the penthouse. Chrissie will be fuming mad if she’s late!
They arrived in ABAC a few minutes before the bell. When she thought that nothing could be worse than what happened yesterday, boy, was she wrong! As she was trying to park in her usual space, the first thing that greeted them was Matthew Li. He was standing in the middle, making it impossible for Reina to park.
Her eyes narrowed but never made an attempt to slow down.
“Move!” Reina hollered at him.
Chrissie joined in, yelling “Get out of the way GIRL!”
Matthew didn’t call their bluff. He even threw his cigarette butt and stepped on it.
“Can’t say we didn’t warn you!” Reina stepped hard on the accelerator.
Matt moved away in the nick of time.
Reina was not bothered and just looked at Matt challengingly as she and Chrissie got out of the car.
========================================================
Sherwin was quite amused to find Matt gone when he woke up. He could still remember how furious his cousin was. Although he blamed the girls, he was still quite amused on how Matt reacted.
“Argh!!! I could kill her!” Matt was in the gym in their bungalow.
Despite of the grave situation Matthew was in, Sherwin can’t help but chuckle at his cousin’s reaction. “Calm down! You’ve been beating the daylight out of that bag for the past couple of hours.”
Matt stopped killing the bag and went over to Sherwin and pushed him on the chest. “What the fuck did you say?! Calm down?!”
“Dude, did you see what that bitch did to my car?!” and proceeded to whack the bag again.
Sherwin smiled at the memory. He looked at the clock. “Holy shit! I’m gonna be late!”
========================================================
It was Wednesday and the first day of the examinations.
Chrissie rubbed her temple. Her head throbbed from thinking too much. She felt drained!
“That exam was hard,” she thought. “Damn! How can I forget this? In an underemployed economy, an increase in investment leads to a rise in consumption. In a fully employed economy, an increase in investment leads to a fall in consumption. Damn! Why did I forget to include this in my explanation? It would have nailed my answer to the national income accounting question!”
She kept on walking and collided with something hard. She staggered backwards and almost lost her footing.
Never bothering to look up she said, “Next time, watch where you’re going, dumbass!”
She tried to pass by him when he grabbed her arm.
“Pay for the damages, Yan!” Matt ordered harshly, his face hard, his eyes blazing with anger.
“Damages?” Chrissie asked sarcastically. “Then we’ll sue you for moral damages. The case is defamation of character.”
His gripped on her tightened.
Chrissie didn’t flinch. “Don’t threaten me Li. I’m not afraid of you.” And she jerked his hand off and went on her way.
Matt just stared at her.
========================================================
“Smoking again?” Matthew smiled at his cousin.
“Business law sucks! Want some?” Sherwin offered his cigs to Matt.
Matt lights up, shook his head and said, “I don’t know why you kill yourself for good grades.”
“Hell! In case you’ve forgotten…we came from a prominent political family not to mention that your father rules the banking industry.”
“Fuck that!” Sherwin retorted. “I don’t want to take the reigns of the family business just because I happen to be an heir. I want to rise through the ranks on my own credit.”
“Hey, cool it, man! You’re too enthusiastic about the future!” Matt just chuckled.
“You should be, too,” Sherwin pointed at him. “I heard that grandpa is eyeing you to follow his footsteps.”
“Me?! Get in to politics?!” Matt was incredulous. “That would be the day!”
Sherwin flicked his cig and stepped on it, “Well, you have the so-called charisma. You could even charm a snake! Everybody falls at your feet!”
“Yeah! Except Chrissie Yan!” Matt did the same.
Sherwin gathered his books before answering, “Yeah! Except Chrissie Yan!” And patted Matt on his back and left.
========================================================
“Thank God, it’s Friday! The exams are finally over!!” Reina screamed as she stepped out of the St. Gabriel building.
“I can’t believe it! We’re done with our first year in college!!! Woohoo!!” Chrissie joined her.
“So, wanna hit Gold Coast this summer?” Reina glanced at Chrissie. They were on their way to the parking lot.
“Sure! But isn’t your mother expecting us to fly to Puerto Rico on Sunday?” Chrissie inquired.
Reina shrugged her shoulders, “I don’t know. I don’t feel like going Latino…”
Chrissie nodded knowingly, “Hmmm…but you feel like going Chinese…specifically Taiwanese!!!” She teased.
Reina whacked Chrissie on the head with her book. Chrissie fortunately avoided it. She ran away from Reina and headed back towards the side of the St. Gabriel’s. Reina ran after her, both were laughing all the way.
Reina has reached the side and was scanning the place for her friend, when she was suddenly pulled into the far corner, hidden from the front view.
“Hey!” she shouted in surprise.
“Sshhhh!!” Chrissie instructed and mouthed “Matt!”
========================================================
“Matt!”
Matt quickly turned his gaze to his caller and said, “Hey!”
He turned his attention back to the building and thought, “I’d know that laugh anywhere. That was Chrissie.”
“Hello, gorgeous!” and reluctantly walked over to her.
“Hi yourself!” Diane flirted, biting on her lower lip and looking seductively at Matt. Her right index finger is rubbing at Matt’s lip and tracing it down his chest.
Diane is a looker. Beautiful, tall, voluptuous body and lovely legs. It is a pity she is not as intelligent as she looks.
“I’m having a party later. It was a spur of the moment idea! I want you to be there. You could bring your nerdy cousin along!” she purred all the while twirling her finger on Matt’s shirt button.
“Uh-huh.” Matt replied absentmindedly. His eyes were scanning the area hoping to find Chrissie.
“Promise?” she pleaded.
“Yeah.” He looked at her and gave her his best smile.
She smiled back, “Don’t forget to bring Sherwin. I wanna see the guy who claims to have slept with Reina Yang up close!” and kissed him on the lips.
“I won’t.” He broke free from her arms and looked around. After a few more minutes, he gave up looking for Chrissie and left.
========================================================
“Whew! That was close!” Chrissie sighed in relief as they reached Reina’s car.
“He’s still hounding you for damages?” Reina asked.
Chrissie grinned, “Hounding is definitely the term!”
They both laughed and eventually sobered up.
“So the witch is having a party,” Reina thought. “Wanna crash?” she had this mischievous gleam in her eyes.
“You’re so evil!!!” Chrissie reprimanded. “But I like it!!” she finished enthusiastically.
“Then again, Yang, I don’t think it’s Diane’s party you’re after…” she raised her eyebrow.
“Of course it’s her party!” Reina answered defensively. “What better way to infuriate that hag than to show up and steal her limelight?” she fumbled with the keys and eventually succeeded and turned on the engine.
“Come on, Yang. This is Yan, remember? You don’t have to pretend…” Chrissie teased, a huge smile is on her face.
“Okay, okay…” she conceded. “So I wanna see him… I still want my revenge,” and shrugged her shoulders. She backed up and out of the school they were.
“RIGHT!” Chrissie drawled, still smiling.
“Fine! I wanna see him… period!” Reina finally admitted.
Chrissie laughed heartily. “So much for “I wanna make him hurt as much as I did!” And she laughed some more, obviously enjoying Reina’s discomfort.
“Okay, so there’s something I have for him that I want to explore…” Reina defended herself.
“You don’t have to explain, Yang,” Chrissie cut in. She wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes.
“I’m actually glad that one of us has considered behaving already or else we’ll totally be the epitome of the proverbial rich spoiled brats,” Chrissie said seriously.
Reina laughed in disbelief, “All it took was one drooling dork to make the Reina Yang behave.”
Chrissie faced her, “So what does Reina Yang have in store for delectable dorky tonight?”
Reina looked confused and said, “Nothing! I’ll just talk to him and then if I’d get lucky I’ll get laid!!!
“Sweetheart, use some imagination!!!” Chrissie suggested.
Reina smiled as realization dawned on her, “Ohh, seduction!!!”
Chris eyed her carefully, “Okay, who are you? And what have you done to my best friend?”
“Damn! You weren’t like this before! You used to come up with the down & dirty ideas!!!” she added and shook her head.
Reina grinned, “What can I say? Sherwin is the catalyst to my metamorphosis.”
“Hahaha!! I sound like a science project,” and continued laughing.
========================================================
Reina is soaking herself in the tub overflowing with bubbles. She cupped some bubbles and inhaled the delectable scent of vanilla oil and orchids. She smiled at the thought. “Mmm! Innocent and yummy!”
…