*reprint from Mod Magazine
“Why would you think that Kara is upset about Jason having a girlfriend?” Noelle and Frances are talking in low voices between the racks of Forever 21.
“Oh, so you don’t know.”
“I don’t know what? Tell me.” Noelle’s curiosity is heightened.
“Jason and Kara went out for awhile. Jason’s sister is Kara’s good friend. She introduced them on Kara’s first year here in Sing. They went out a few times but didn’t hit it off.” Frances was close to whispering. Kara was just somewhere in the accessories area.
“Why?”
“They decided to be friends. And so, he is now one of our friends.”
“Kara decided that?”
“She actually saw the possibility of him being a boyfriend despite her being older. But I don’t know what happened exactly. Maybe he is like most guys who prefer younger girls.”
Both ladies were startled at the sound of Kara’s voice, “Noelle!” She is rushing to them, “why is your boyfriend calling me?” and hands her Iphone to her.
“Oh thanks,” she accepts Kara’s phone. David was apparently calling her on her mobile phone but she forgot hers at the dorm. She moves away from her friends to talk to her beau.
“He just called to say he misses me,” Noelle told her friends when she got back.
“Oh, sweet,” her two friends purred.
***
“Hey, Mark is coming to Sing!” Noelle excitedly announces while in front of her laptop checking her emails.
“You have so many boys, Noelle. Who is Mark?” Kara asks drowsy from her afternoon nap.
“He is my good friend, a wonderful preacher from my charismatic community in Manila. He is single and cute,” winks at her roommate, “but I know he is still with her long-time girlfriend, Sophie.”
“Preachers are not my type.”
“He is asking if we can show him around the city.”
“Why am I in the equation? I don’t even know him!” Kara asks pretending to be disgusted with the idea.
“Because you are my roommate and my good friend,” Noelle explains with the sweetest voice she can muster.
“No, those are not the magic words,” Kara tells her friend then asks, “will you treat me to a mani, pedi and foot spa afterwards?”
Noelle thinks for awhile then says, “alright.”
“Count me in!” was Kara’s quick reply.
***
Noelle and Kara sits by the restaurant close to where her friend Mark was billeted. They are waiting for him and his girlfriend, Sophie.
Kara asks, “so, we’re not going to show him around anymore?” Noelle shakes her head. ”Bummer. What about our spa date? Is it still on you?”
Noelle looks at her and says, ”all right since you are a dutiful friend.”
Kara claps her hands and cries, ”yipee! Let‘s invite Frances. She will get jealous if she finds out.”
“Yeah, let’s ask her to join us but don’t tell her about my treat for you.”
“Yeah, let her pay for her own. She can very well afford it.”
“There’s Mark,” Noelle alerts her friend.
“He’s cute all right. He doesn’t look like a preacher.”
“What does a preacher look like?”
“Dunno,” Kara changes the subject as she notices a pretty, slim and fashionably dressed lady with him.” Who’s that with him?”
“His longtime girlfriend.”
“Is that why we are not going around the city anymore?” Kara was speaking in a low voice.
“Maybe,” Noelle replies and stands to greet the approaching lovely couple.
After the greetings and short introduction, Mark holds Sophie’s hands and announces, ”Sophie and I are engaged!”
Noelle was shocked. She could not believe that her friend Mark is getting married. Sophie shows off her 18 carat diamond ring as proof.
“That explains the glow around you two,” Noelle exclaims. The ladies congratulate Mark and wish them both well.
“We couldn’t be any happier,” Mark told them but he actually didn’t need to say it because it was written all over his face. Sophie’s pleasant face was a picture of joy and love. They made a nice pair.
Mark explained that city tour with Noelle is a back-up plan. In case, Sophie rejects him, he has company.
“The guy with a plan,” Sophie comments.”Apparently, my whole family knew about his plan and I was the last to know.”
Without much prodding, Mark narrated how he asked for her hand aboard PAL flight to Singapore. He made arrangements with his friend pilot, and the crew who were happy to oblige. So while they were 30,000 miles up in the sky, this young preacher asked his lady love to marry him and she accepted his proposal in front of her family who were traveling with them and some 200 or so strangers. The passengers and crew were delighted to witness a profession of love up close. Some even took their pictures, or had their pictures taken with them. It was fun, everybody was happy.
Everybody even Kara, everybody except Noelle. She could not take any more of this. She wants to bolt out of the room and head back to her bed. The sweetness of the two lovebirds was killing her.
If truth be told, she suddenly missed David. As soon as she got to the dorm, she calls him up. But he was not answering. She dials again and again but no reply. Then she thought maybe he’s out, with somebody, somebody prettier, somebody there. And the idea killed her. I pushed him to somebody else’s open arms, she thinks to herself. Oh, what have I done?
