The First Option
The search for the man can wait. I have to attend to my job. While I was editing yet another article, the boss went to my cubicle and checked on my work.
"Alright, this is Miss Aguinaldo, our senior editor," my boss says.
What? Why is he introducing me? I turned my back and I saw my boss with his newest employee. By God, what is he doing here? Mateo! Does he really want to die? All he can do is give an annoying smirk! I could only feel the heat inside my mind. Why is he here?
"Sir, who is this?" I ask. "And what is he doing here?"
"Ah, this is our newest employee," the boss says. "Rosanna, meet Mateo. He will be an editor in for the paper. Mateo, please be kind to your senior."
"Oh, I'll make sure I will," Mateo says smugly while looking directly at me.
"That is good, Mateo," the boss says as he taps his shoulder. "Rosanna, I'll leave Mateo with you so you can show him around. I have work to do. Good day."
All I can feel are flames within my mind! He hurt Emma before! All I can do is look away from him in disgust. What a lying and cheating man! She was a fool to fall for him. I would have beaten him up if Emma hadn't interfered. Those were the times Eloisa was still herself, and in those moments, she was as pious as a nun was. She did not do anything except scold us like a nun. Emma was protecting him, and all I could do was attempt to beat him up! She was a fool! How could she protect the man that betrayed her?
"Looks like we meet again, Rose," he says smugly. "Are you still that fiery girl I know four years ago?"
"If she hadn't interfered, I would have beaten you up and made sure you regret everything you did to her!" I spat on his face.
"But, she did," he says. "She loved me."
"She was a fool," I say quietly. "And now, she remains to be a fool, even on her deathbed."
I turned to my desk and tried to resist the waters that form in my eyes. I knew I had said too much. She was my little-beloved fool – my foolish sister that I tried to protect from love's painful ways. Sadly, I cannot protect her forever. Perhaps, I cannot see love as she sees it. I still remain cold, but I do know that I love her as a sister. That is the closest thing I can get to actually feeling 'love'.
"Now, Rose," he says as he tries to comfort me. "I meant no offense, but thinking about the past where you seem to desire to kill me was laughable. I feel like a nun, a wrestler, and a mother was all over the place. We moved on, haven't we?"
"You and she might have forgotten about it and see it as a comedy, but I do not see it that way," I say coldly. "You cheated on her!"
"And I regret it," he says. "But hey, I knew she was too good for me. She deserves someone nicer and someone that will love her unconditionally. I'm sorry."
"Apologize to her," I say icily.
"I would if I could," he says. "No one has heard from her for a long time. I was hoping that you might have a form of contact with her. You see her as your sister, don't you?"
"Ha! I won't tell you where she is!" I exclaimed.
"You have to," he says coolly. "You said that she is on her deathbed. Where is her deathbed, exactly? Is it at home? Is it perhaps in a hospital?"
"None for you to know about," I say as I go to the printing room and attempt to leave him behind.
He won't really give up, will he? He kept on following me even though I truly don't want to talk about it.
"Come on now, Rose," he says. "I know what you mean. Now, if you want me to stop bothering you, just tell me where she is. Isn't that easy?"
I look at him oddly and all I can see is the face of a man that remains to be the same as I saw him four years ago. No, I won't let him reach her! I want her to die in peace, and seeing this man would only speed up that process.
"No," I say flatly.
I walked away from him and went to the printing room. Finally, a moment of peace. I give myself some time to realize what is happening. First of all, my friend's ex-boyfriend is my co-worker. Two, he is my subordinate since he is the newest paper editor. Third, I told him a secret that should never be told. All of those happened within five minutes! You are an idiot, Rose.
Suddenly, he joined me in the printing room with a smug look on his face. I want to punch that smug off and make him regret every bit of harm he caused towards Emma.
"You don't have to be silent with me," he says. "I know now."
"How did you know?" I ask nervously.
"Well, from your good old friend, the nun," he says. "She doesn't seem like the nun today. All I can hear is her slurry speech and deluded thoughts, but she managed to tell me everything I need to know."
I have two sisters for fools! How can she easily trust this liar? Emma would be so furious once she finds out that her health issue is spreading. This is terrible! She is her father's only heir, and once the media knows that the heiress is dead, it would cause unease within her father's company! This man is a journalist himself! This is dangerous! By God, Eloisa, you were a greater fool than I imagined!
"She said something about a search," he says. "A third lover came as a shock to me. I thought I only had one rival."
"Do you know the identity of this lover?" I ask.
"No," he says grimly. "But I know the second one knows. She was not as noble as you may think she is. He complained to me that she cheated on him for another man. But hey, she is pious, I suppose. He could be lying!"
"Enough games, Mateo," I exclaimed. "Do not play with this. I want to give her a peaceful part of this world by finding that man, but unfortunately, no one I know knows who he is. Her little maid knows nothing. We, her friends, her sisters, know nothing. Even you know nothing that she had a third lover. I want to find him. Sadly, the maid could only give me a poem that proves the third lover's existence."
"Where is that poem?" he asks.
"Excuse me?" I ask.
"Give me the poem," he demanded. "If there's one thing I know about your friend, it is that her poems can either be literal or metaphorical. If means it literally, the entire poem means literally. If she means it metaphorically, she means the entirety of it as nothing more than a metaphor – it exists, but we need to fathom its deepest meaning.
"You are no poet!" I exclaimed.
"No, but I dated her for a few months or so," he says. "And it wasn't her fault that I was a lying cheater, as you say."
I hate the way he feels like he could do everything. He cannot possibly interpret such complex poems that I cannot understand. She is too ambiguous about everything. All I can do is let my mind be enchanted by her seductive words that let me try to interpret it, but could mean a whole lot meaning at the end of the day.
Hesitantly, I handed him the paper the maid gave me. I have no choice. Maybe he can help me after all. He can give some descriptive information about this man. He read the poem through and through and he seems to be in deep thought about it. I am silently hoping that he might know the answer to it.
"I cannot interpret the poem," he says.
"Then why did you say you can do it?" I ask angrily.
"It's because usually, she puts a post scriptum behind the page," he says as he turns the page back. "A 'P.S' if you will. And there it is. It is written in French but backward. You might not have noticed it, did you?"
Wow, he is intelligent. He knew what I could not know and all I could do was be amazed by the talents he has shown me.
"Hmmmm, it says, October 10, 2015," he read slowly. "This is the day that he left me. The reason behind it is somewhat unknown to me, but I do know that I will continue to love him as he is. I shan't forget him, though the world may forget about our love." He put the paper aside and he began thinking things through. "That was sixteen days ago! So, this third lover truly exists and there is no denying that she is determined to hide him! He left her sixteen days ago. What a pity!"
Sixteen days ago. . . I have not seen her for months. She never called me or asked to see me. She only called me a week ago, on the day that she was taken to the hospital. Why did she hide this lover from me? What a fool! She is such a fool that she did not bother to tell me who it is. How could she forget to trust me, her friend and sister?
"We need to contact the second lover," he says. "He knows who it is."
"We?" I say. "You are not included in this search. Eloisa and I will find him in a week's time."
"One thing I know from your beloved friend is that when she wants something hidden, she will remove all traces of it. D'you honestly think that this search would be easy?"
"But, she is a human too," I say in response. "She must have left something."
"Yes," he says. "That is indeed true. Anyway, I am going to help whether you want it or not."
"Oh, really?" I ask. "Why is that?"
"Because I owe her a lot," he says simply. "And this is the only way I can repay her. I broke her heart, but she defended me from you. I cheated on her, but she remained faithful. Now, I think she deserves a true lover that would grant the peace that she needs."
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