Chapter 49

That same night, Elyana sent Lucas a message to convey that she was willing to meet him. Attached to the message was the exact address of the Spanish restaurant she picked and other necessary information he might need. She knew that Lucas didn't know anything about the Philippines, and adding instructions and landmarks as a guide would help him find his way. Unless he had a driver, he was in the Philippines all alone because he traveled so secretly that even his mother didn't know about it. "Done!" Elyana exclaimed in front of her best friend while raising her phone to his eye level to show what she typed in it. "All set then. I'll be with you tomorrow to make sure you'll be safe," he replied. "I appreciate that you are coming with me," Elyana said with a smile, even though she was extremely scared and at the same time nervous about what would happen tomorrow. When Felicity reached his room, he called Quintin to tell him the news, "He's here, and Elyana agreed to meet him tomorrow." "I knew he's already here, but I'm quite surprised that Elyana will—-" "What do you mean you knew?" Felicity raised an eyebrow and interrupted Quintin. There was an idea that crossed his mind, and he immediately wanted to spill it to confirm, " Are you the one who gave Elyana's number to that freak?" "I-I…I did, but—-" "You stupid! Why did you do that?! Did you know how much she cried a while ago? I thought you wanted to help me protect her from him?!" Felicity burst on him. "Yes, I want to help you, and that's one of those ways I know," Quintin explained, but that didn't make sense to Felicity. "Hear me out first before you roast me. Lucas told me things and those convinced me to help him. He's not the enemy and not the person we should be protecting Elyana from." "What do you mean? He hurt my best friend—he broke her heart into pieces! He cheated, for Pete's sake, Quintin! Why are you going on his side?" "I told you to hear me out first," Quintin let out. He stayed calm, despite how much Felicity was firing him with questions. Felicity rolled his eyes. "Fine!" He let Quintin speak, and after hearing everything, he didn't immediately believe. "And you believe him? That can only be a tactic," Felicity commented. He disagreed with the way he chose to protect Elyana because, if he were in the man's situation, he would choose to protect her in a way that he wouldn't have to hurt the person who was so important to him. Felicity seemed to disappear for a moment. His mind was in a mess, with so many emotions mixing up with his anger for Lucas. Quintin, on the other hand, was left in silence for a while, thinking that Wilhems had fooled him. Felicity may be right that Lucas used his tactic because he knew how good he was at negotiating; however, he also couldn't erase one particular question, "What if he was telling the truth?" "I'm not sure, but what if he's not?" Felicity replied. "You're making me feel like I should regret what I did to help," Quintin said, feeling frustrated. "I wasn't meant to, though," Felicity sarcastically answered while rolling his eyes. "You're lucky Elyana agreed to my suggestion to be there too tomorrow; if Lucas hurts her again, I will surely make you both regret this," he continued, warning him. The next day, Felicity knocked on Elyana's door. "Hi, good morning!" he greeted his best friend, who seemed to be still feeling sleepy with the dark circles around her eyes. "G-good morning," she answered, turning around to go back to her bed while leaving the door wide open. Felicity walked in, following Elyana who dived back to her bed facing down and her face fell right on the pillow. "I'm just checking on you, and I want to ask if you're sure of going. You can change your mind anytime, you know," he said, and he stopped walking when he finally reached the foot of the bed. "I'll be going. Even if he didn't reply to the message I'm sure he will be there," she answered. She sounded brave, but deep inside, she was extremely nervous about what her ex-husband would be telling her. Felicity could sense it, but he remained silent and let her best friend do what she thought was best. Although deep inside him, he was hesitant. He was somewhat convinced by the story Quintin told him about, yet, doubts still linger in his mind. He also wanted to know the truth and it would be all up to Elyana if she would believe those or if she would agree with Lucas's main reason for coming to the Philippines which was to persuade her. He decided to go back to his room. It was still early because the time Elyana gave Lucas was 10 a.m. While taking his route, Felicity saw an image in his mind of seeing Elyana and Lucas together. The scene made him strangely weird and what he noticed, his heart was slightly aching. Felicity tried to brush off that strange feeling, convincing himself that he felt that slight pain because Elyana was his best friend and he didn't want to see her get hurt by the same guy again. He also had no intention of being a villain in his best friend's life, but it didn't mean he would be there to jump in between if he noticed things were not right. *** The clock continued ticking and Lucas's heartbeat became faster and faster as time flew by that morning since their meeting was at ten, Lucas used the time to make himself look so much more presentable for Elyana, spending his time inside the luxurious barbershop near the Grand Hotel he checked in, asked for a haircut, and shaved his beard and mustache. The signature men's attire was perfectly ironed already and was delivered inside his VIP room. While he was getting ready, Elyana was still on her bed. Her body felt so heavy, still sleepy and tired, but she couldn't get any more sleep even though she tried. "Hey, girl, take a shower now," he barged in and walked near her to check if she was still sleeping. "What is the time?" he asked in a low voice. "09:08—" "Oh jeez!" Elyana panicked. "Why you didn't tell me right away?" "Well, the reason I came here is that." Elyana ran toward the bathroom. Felicity followed her not even thinking that she would remove all her pair of nightwear without closing the door behind her. Felicity saw her bareback before she entered the shower area. He immediately turned around. His face flushed in red and his heart unexplainably started pounding. "Y-you doesn't have to rush. There will not be any problem if you come late, girl. That man deserves to wait for you there," he said, stammering. Elyana didn't answer. What Felicity only heard was the continuous rush of water coming from the shower. He decided to leave and prepare himself too, but before leaving, he picked her a nice dress first and a bag that would suit it on the bed. Elyana saw it right away when he got out of the bathroom in a robe. "Aww! How sweet of you, my bessy!" she exclaimed even though Felicity wasn't even there. She started drying her hair and put on the peach maxi dress on the bed. Elyana didn't even bother putting on lipstick, but when Felicity returned to her room, he glared at her. "W-what's wrong?" Elyana asked while combing her hair. "You're going out looking like that?" Felicity asked. "Why? How do I look? You're the one who picked this dress—" "It's not the dress that's the problem, girl! Look at yourself in the mirror," he instructed. Elyana did what he said. She faced the vanity mirror on her left and started examining herself. She furrowed and looked back at Felicity with a stern face. "I can't see anything wrong," she uttered cluelessly of what Felicity could see wrong. "Oh, gosh!" The matchmaker felt helpless. He quickly walked close to her and led her to the front. "Sit down, please. Let me do it." Elyana sat down and the moment she looked at herself in the mirror again, she felt some deja vu. Felicity was often the one who did her hair and makeup. He became his best friend living as a Barbie doll. Behind her pink spacious room, Felicity practiced toy makeup on her face and even stole their mother's makeup to try it on their faces there. Elyana became Felicity's keeper of lipsticks. He would buy different colors and use them on their lips. "Why are you smiling?" Her reminiscing was interrupted when Felicity noticed her smiling. He suspiciously stared at Elyana's reflection on the mirror who was also looking at him at that time, but he found it creepy. "I just remembered what we mostly did together back then," she answered sparingly, causing Felicity to stop for a second and think about those things too and a smile slowly formed on his lips. "It brings back memories indeed," Felicity uttered. "Yeah, until now you're still here on my side to help me with everything," Elyana responded. Her eyes stayed staring at her best friend who didn't look like a gay that day with his outfit. Felicity wore the typical, but he didn't put on thick makeup or his favorite bloody lipstick. It was Elyana's lips that he added color. He also fixed her hair to add a little volume. What he was doing was not something to feed Lucas's eyes. What Felicity wanted was to show the man that his friend didn't neglect herself even after the bathtub incident because of him. Some men would find that as an achievement. Ruining one's life made them feel they were too handsome and too good of a man by putting someone miserably. Felicity made sure that Elyana's lipstick could not be removed immediately, even if she cried or accidentally wiped it with a tissue. He was enjoying what he was doing too much. For him, it was similar to painting on a canvas. His hand was light, and careful, and even with handling Elyana's hair, it had care. "Perfect!" Felicity exclaimed when he was finally satisfied. Elyana took a look at herself in the mirror and couldn't hide her amusement. He made her look fresh and younger. Felicity finished it by putting concealer on some visible scars and after that, they were ready to go out.