Scribbles

hi, this is just something i wrote for a project in specialized writing... feel free to add a comment. i just hope you don't diss me too much. thanks


Just like any other day when she is out of the house, she keenly places a ring on her left ring finger as well as her right. Worthy of photography, Florian’s fingers are long yet she likes to keep her nails short and unpainted. Her right hand, with a calloused middle finger, is never without a pen and lifts decisively whenever she utters a command. Her elbows are smooth even as memoirs of the bruises show. With pearls and crystals on her earlobes, she turns her head at every bit of unexpected noise. Sleek and strapy are the two-inch sandals on her feet planted flat on the floor. On her neck is a vine of a necklace made of gold and silver that ends with a chain at her nape. Her shoulders, even if high and purposeful are always covered with a jacket. With her back in a straight no-nonsense pose, the chair on which she sits loses all justification. No amount of lipstick could soften the edges of her mouth. Neither could spectacles unsharpen her eyes.

Florian del Mundo is a remodeled closet of armor showing elegant varnish and luster, seeking to keep clandestine what ought not be known.

Flor scans through her palm organizer realizing she has yet to finish tasks she would rather set aside for a month. She has articles to write, people to interview and a new novel to edit. Sighing heavily, Flor switches the palm pilot off. Her mouth spreads to a smile as she sees the post-it attached to the organizer.

MICA and KAYE.

Although the piece of paper is full of scribbles and erasures, Flor decides she will get right to that after this meeting. The note indicates groceries to shop, DVDs to rent, cakes and balloons to order and casseroles to cook.

She impatiently looks at her watch. 10:43.

This is taking too much of my time! I need to be done with this before twelve o’clock.

Again she looks at the watch. 10:51. The watch. It isn’t as beautiful as it was the day it was given to her on her birthday some years back. A present from Ali.

No, don’t even think about it!

It was the first time anyone ever gave importance to that day of the year. Not her parents. They were always busy with the family business to even notice the date. Not Jake to whom she was about to be married to a week from then. Flor had spent the years of her life alone at the mall or in her room. To Jake it was just another ordinary day, which meant he was at the office or at a business conference at the opposite site of the globe. They were of the same feathers. Nothing mattered more to them than money.

Last year was different. Somebody made sure she got everything she ever wanted on her birthday. She met Ali at a friend’s dinner party. A short- haired thirty two year old, he was tall and muscular, smart and easy to talk to. Flor had fun talking to him that night. He seemed to find her attractive as exemplified by the twinkle in his eyes. Ali asked her out and she agreed. They met regularly from then on. They watched movies and dined out. Flor wondered why he was distant. He’s too much of a gentleman. The most memorable time for her was that date exactly five years before.

I remember the flowers, the music, the laughter, and the kiss….

Who would have thought the world she knew could change right after that?

“How could you?! After all that I’ve done for you?!”

Rubbing her face, Flor whispers, “You did nothing for me. The only thing that matters to you is your stupid business, Jake.”

“We’ve already sent out the invitations and made the arrangements- the church, the reception …” Jake was almost hysterical.

“There was never a ‘we’. You arranged that wedding together with mom and dad. Why don’t you go marry them!”

SLAP! She did not see it coming. Jake hit her hard on the face. He was blinded with rage. He shook her shoulders roughly and scared it with his nails. Flor felt the warm blood on her shoulders and fought to break free. Suddenly she was flat on the floor.

Flor was tired of keeping everything she had in mind all to her self. It was time to speak up. All the things that were bottled up inside her were about to explode. She finally got Jake off her. She stood up took the diamond solitaire ring off her finger and threw it at Jake. She rushed to the drawer and got hold of the gun. She aimed straight at Jake.

“Get out!”

She never thought she would have to leave her previous abode. Never have to find a new life. From the shy and timid lapdog that she was, suddenly, Flor had a voice. She knew what she wanted with her life and it certainly was not to be married to a control freak like Jake.

The next thing she knew, Flor was calling up Ali. She told him everything that happened and he consoled her over the phone. When Flor asked if she could come over to his house, Ali hesitated and finally agreed. What will she think of me when she finds out?

Ali gave out his address and tried to fix his house as best he could. He was nervous. For the first time in his life he did not know what to do.

The doorbell rang…. Footsteps were heard… A man’s sing song voice… “I’ll get it!”… He was dressed in very short shorts. He opened the door and smiled at Flor.

“Hi, dear. What can I do for you?” The guy said. This must be his brother. Flor was about to say something when Ali came out from behind the door.

“Hi Florian, this is my partner Alexi.”

Her mind went blank. The world is turning upside down. Lost for words, Flor tried ever so hard to stay on her feet. She finally managed a weak smile and spoke.

“I- I must be at the wrong house.”

She turned her back and walked away. She kept on walking until she had nowhere to go. There was a time when she could walk alone at dusk around her neighborhood greeting all the amiable people walking past. There was a spot just around the corner of the trees that came to a clearing to reveal the view of the world’s most beautiful sunsets. It was “her spot”. It was where she wrote most of her poems and where she spent most of her Sunday afternoons just staring at nothingness. But like everything else, her Sunday soirees would have to end.

Right after she left Ali’s house, she found that she had wandered to her spot. But on that day, she forgot to notice the freshly cut grass along the way. She smiled at none of the amiable people walking past. Flor thought the sunset was the most despicable thing she ever saw. Then it dawned on her. She knew what she wanted to do.

She took all the money she had saved up and moved to Saipan. She was fortunate enough to find a job as a writer at a Micronesian magazine. She never informed her parents about her whereabouts. They wouldn’t notice I had left. They knew where she was but her parents did not go after her.

After a few months, she took another job as an editor at a publishing house. She no longer went on dates. She despised men. Whenever her male co-workers would try talk her into going some where she simply replied- “I’m not interested.” The men never understood why.

She was happy now with her two adopted children, Mica and Kaye. They were going to have a party tonight. It was going to be just the three of them. They were going to celebrate her day.

11:15

She is still waiting for the author of the novel she was editing. The young lad is an hour late. Well this should teach her a lesson on punctuality! Florian picks up her purse and leaves the coffee shop. She has a list to attend to. Flor takes out her shades, puts them on and walks toward a green SUV..