ACCORDING to rumors, the woman was older than Gian by about five years.The relationship itself started way back in high school, but before then, they were playmates among kids in the neighborhood, so they already knew each other that long and well before the relationship.Her name, again, was Trina Cheng.Like Gian, she came from a wealthy background… and they said she really was so beautiful, and that they looked perfect together.They also seemed perfectly happy and in love from the beginning.But apparently, the relationship wasn’t as perfect under the surface as everyone thought it was.Trina started going out with a wild group in senior high, and she got hooked on drugs. That was the alleged reason for the breakup. That it might have been sudden, but to those close to the two, it was seen coming.The Verrazzanos sent Gian and his younger brother, Paulo, to the UK to continue their studies there. Madam Soniah went with them to personally supervise her boys.Trina was said to be on

ELISEThe apartment building was a four-storey building with one unit on each floor. My family owned the building. My mother and stepfather privately invested in real estate— renting houses and apartment buildings—and they owned several in other places. I lived here. Otherwise, I would be staying in one of the condo buildings/towers of the Von Schillers in Metro Manila. My father’s side invested in real estate, too, in partnership with the Verrazzanos. But this particular building was reserved for the family when we visited Manila.The first-floor unit was occupied by my cousin, Jason. The third-floor unit was for guests visiting from the province. The higher level on the third floor was a semi-covered deck. I kept my plants there in container boxes and big pots. On my free days, I could be found there tending to my plants or reading in my rattan hammock. We also do our barbecues there, drink there, and generally relax there at the end of the day. I was talking about me, my cousin Jas

ELISE“No, no… please… Itay…!”“Elise? Elise, wake up. Wake up, baby.”I was again in that nightmare. Like the first ones, I was just a presence here, a spectator who couldn’t escape from the scene. I could see what was happening but I couldn’t feel the coldness of the pit, nor smell the smell of the earth. I wasn’t the one who was imprisoned there. But I might as well be.I wanted to escape, but I wasn’t the one who must escape. It was very dark, and inside that casket was a man. It was very dark, but I could see him as if there was moonlight inside the airless, cramped space. I could see the shadows on the plane and the curves of his face. I could see the pain and the fear. He was pushing at the wooden board on top of him, scratching at it with his fingers. Dirt was starting to

ELISEI started eating as soon as Alia landed steaming plates on the table, and I took my meds as soon as I had a few mouthfuls of food in my stomach so pretty soon, the pain I suffered from my injuries started to get dull, too. I told her what happened in between the bites and chews of my breakfast, but I didn’t tell her how the bitch ripped my dress and exposed my boobsies to Gian. I didn’t know why she often teased me about him. Okay, I knew. It was because Gian was hot and delicious. She would just gloss over the fact that Gian’s type were statuesque, beautiful women, not diminutive and small-boned like me. The fact that I was in proximity to someone like him was all that was enough for my romantic friend to dream that Gian would suddenly forget all his preferences and fall in love with me.So, even before I finished telling almost all of it, my poor friend was mad as hell. She was so angry that she waved her spoon and fork in the

ELISEShe laughed. Loud. Between the two of us, she seemed to know—smell was what we called it—if a guy was closet gay. I wouldn’t know unless someone outed himself already or the person was a crossdresser. I didn’t have what they call a ’radar’ for it. “Yes, he smelled straight.”I sighed, relieved. “That’s a relief,” I even said. “And it’s not because I wanted him to be, but because his father is going to kill him. And I can’t believe we’re actually talking about this.” I just couldn’t picture Brandon, who exuded all-manliness, a homosexual.But as I thought more about it, I got more depressed.“So… we’re not in love with each other anymore?”She was done and the wet dishes were on the drain dish. She pulled a towel and dried her hands as she turned towards me. “Don’t be sad. It is a very good