Beep…beep..
Message received from Jungwon.
“J.A.-yah, annyeong! oneul gibeun eotdae? (Hi JA, how’s your day?)
“Oneul gibeuni joh-ah (I’m feeling good today)”, she replied.
She looked at her wristwatch and it was already 7:00 in the morning. She was sure Jungwon was already at work because South Korea was just an hour ahead of Philippine time.
She couldn’t help but smile knowing that someone never gets tired of sending her text messages. How she wished she could reciprocate Jungwon’s love for her. But for now, it’s impossible because her heart only belongs to…
She took a deep sigh. How could she forget the love of her life? How could she ever forget the person, who inspired her to write again?
She set aside those sad thoughts because she doesn’t want to cry anymore.
After some time of exchanging text messages with Jungwon, they bid goodbye to each other.
She stood up and took a shower.
After a few minutes, she went downstairs to take her breakfast. Jareed was there already at the dining table. sipping a cup of coffee.
“Hi sweetie, good morning”, Jareed greeted her.
“Good morning boo”
“Umm, don’t forget to go to David salon, sweetie. Remember we will attend Nikko’s birthday party later, in the evening. Just call me when you’re done and I’ll come and pick you up”, Jareed reminded her and took another sip of black coffee.
She remained silent while taking some slices of bread. Then she brewed a cup of creamy latte and sat beside her brother.
She remembered Jareed told her to go to the salon to have her hair waxed and do some facials. She was thinking she needs some changes to herself because It’s been already a long time, since she had not gone to the salon for hair treatment.
“Umm, don’t worry about your dress. You can choose there whatever you feel comfortable with, okay?”, Jareed added, then he stood up and kissed her forehead.
“For now, I need to go to the office for business matters. Bye, sweetie. See you!” he uttered as he went towards the entry door.
“Bye boo, take care”
Jareed was about to flip the door latch when he turned around and spoke.
“Umm, sweetie do not bring your car. Just call the driver to take you to the salon”
“Okay boo.”
*********
At David salon.
She decided to have Shiseido rebonding because this is suited for her curly hair. Afterwards, she had undergone a Brazilian blowout to enhance the overall finish and results. The rebonding process took almost nine hours until it was fully done.
Afterward, the dress stylist let her choose what dress she is going to wear. She went inside the fitting room. She tried first the fuchsia off-shoulder fitted cocktail dress but, it was daring for her, so she tried another one. Until something caught her taste. She chose the collar V-neck light blue lace embroidery evening dress because it did not show off much of her skin. Afterwards, she grabbed her bag and took some accessories inside. She was wearing crescent shape earrings and a necklace that would complement the color of her dress. These precious things were her dad’s gift on her 18th birthday and it’s her first time wearing these.
Then the makeup routine began. She was a little excited to know what she would look like after putting makeup on her face. She called her brother and told him to come over for she was about to finish in 30 minutes.
After some time, everything was done.
“You are perfectly beautiful ma’am”, complimented the makeup artist.
“You really have an amazing beauty ma’am”, the dress stylist seconded.
“Thank you”, she responded and smiled at them.
Suddenly, everyone in the salon was looking outside, when a young man had gotten out of the car. She just smiled thinking how her brother caught everyone’s attention. Well, her brother was undeniably handsome, in his black tuxedo, with a plain white t-shirt under it and paired with well-tailored black pants. He was wearing a dark-colored necktie and black loafer shoes that made him more formal to look at.
As soon as he entered the salon, everyone greeted him with their eyes full of admiration.
“Hi boo!”
“Hi sweetie, wow! You look absolutely gorgeous”, Jareed smiled and hugged her.
Everyone was shocked because they had no idea that she knew the man who caught their attention. She heard someone said in a soft voice.
“Oh, he’s taken”
She smiled and looked at them.
“He is my brother”
And everyone giggled. Jareed was just smiling at them, and it made them flutter to the highest level.
Jareed went to the counter and made the payment through a credit card.
“Shall we go now sweetie?”, Jareed said and held her hand.
She nodded and smiled.
“Bye everyone, thank you!”, she exclaimed and then they went out of the salon.
********
At the party venue.
“Hey sweetie, are you okay? You seem so nervous”, Jareed asked.
“I am not used to this kind of event boo, you know that. I only attended Despedida party and Chris’ birthday party and after that no more.”, she said softly.
Jareed got what she meant to say, so he grabbed her hand and put it on his arm.
“Relax sweetie okay?”
Then they stepped inside. The place was beautifully decorated with beads and flowers. A red carpet was placed at the center starting from the entrance towards the big rectangular table. The whole ambiance was totally fantastic.
Some of the VIPs were already there and Jareed’s officemates. They were looking at them and men couldn’t take off their eyes on her. She became the center of attraction and it only made her uncomfortable. Jareed introduced her to some of his friends in the business world and most of them especially those who were single, obviously were interested in her.
Suddenly, Nikko approached them and tapped her brother’s shoulder.
“Hi dude, thank you for coming with your pretty sister”
“You’re welcome Nikko, happy birthday dude!”, Jareed replied.
“Happy birthday Nikko”, she greeted him.
Nikko just nodded and directed them towards the table intended for them. The employees of JJ tech greeted them but some especially women just ignored her and pretended they did not see her.
From a distance, she felt a man was seriously staring at her. The man was wearing blue long sleeves and black pants, but his face was not familiar to her. She was thinking that he might be Nikko’s close relative. She tried to look again in his direction, but he was not there anymore.
After a while, someone approached her. It was Lester, Nikko’s older brother and director of the school where she is currently connected.
“You look so gorgeous tonight, Jannah”, Lester complimented
“Thank you sir”, she responded.
The party had started. People were drinking champagne, eating, laughing, and sharing jokes. Then, sweet music was played. Everyone was dancing on the floor, with their partners, while she was just sitting alone on the couch because her brother was also busy talking with other business conglomerates.
After a while, the music stopped and Nikko grabbed the microphone.
“Good evening everyone, sorry for the interruption. First, I would like to thank you all for coming. You know, I have here a very special guest, all the way from Los Angeles, California. Actually, I asked him to sing a song for us, because this man really has an amazing voice. He is the vocalist of one of the famous male bands in LA. Ladies and gentlemen please welcome, my dearest cousin, Liam Mendoza.”
There was resounding applause. She looked at the man to whom Nikko was referring. And she was certain that he was the man who was staring at her a while ago.
The man stands 5’10 tall just like her brother. He had an attractive male face features and a strong sex appeal.
She stared at him while he was mounting the piano. She waited for him to sing the song. And as soon as he started playing the intro, she already knew what song he would be singing. That’s actually one of her favorite songs, entitled “What About Love” sung by Lemar.
And this Liam was really good at playing the piano and he had an amazing voice as well.
After he was done singing warm applause echoed the whole place.
Then, Nikko grabbed again the microphone and she felt nervous when Nikko was looking to where she was.
“Miss Jannah, would you mind if I ask you to sing a song? Please…Since Liam is here, can you two have a duet? Will you please sing “Endless Love”? Please…!”
She was stunned into silence. She had no idea that Nikko knew that she has a talent in singing. Maybe Jareed mentioned to him about her passion.
After a while, her brother approached her and held her hand.
“You can do it, sweetie, don’t you?”, he asked.
She clearly understood what her brother meant to say. So, she nodded in approval.
Her brother took her hand and accompanied her to the center.
Liam smiled at her and reached out her hand. He pulled a chair for her and let her sit beside him.
Alex gave her another wireless microphone.
“Hi, Miss Jannah, nice to have a duet with you. Who will play the piano, me or you?” Liam asked.
JA told him that it was better if he will be the one to play because she was feeling nervous.
And so, Liam began to hit the keys of the song intro.
Once they were done singing, they heard another resounding applause from the audience.
“You are amazing Jannah”, he complimented.
“Thank you, you can call me JA”
“Call me Liam. Nice meeting you JA”
“Likewise”
“Let me take you to your seat JA”
And so the two of them chatted with each other about music because they both were inclined to it. She noticed that Liam had a sense of humor and she couldn’t help but kept on laughing when he was throwing jokes at her.
“You know JA, you’re so lucky enough. I can see how happy you are. I know you have a beautiful family, you have a supportive brother, you are rich, and you have an amazing talent. And most of all, you have an irresistible charm and beauty that could captivate a man’s heart.
She was silent for a moment because she did not expect that Liam, would say those words of admiration to her. Well, Liam did not know anything about her. He was just giving impressions based on her outer appearance, but he had no idea what she had gone through in her life.
No one knows what she was feeling deep inside. Nobody knows, that behind her smile, there lie a thousand tears.