Almost Perfect Date

“What do you think of their new upgrade?” he handed her a cup of root beer.

“Uhm.” was the only sound she made in answer to DT’s question. She still couldn’t believe the fact that they are in this gaming event, talking like the old times. Bantering over their different opinion towards a certain game. They used to disagree with each other choice of cool games from way back.

Ellise has been secretly pinching herself to know if she is dreaming. This situation was not something she never dreams of having again. She came back to China with the idea that she just wanted to do what she was not able to do two years ago.

She promised herself that she would get away from the manipulative claws of her Old People and that’s what she did.

Finding out that her biological father was Chinese was a surprise. Her mother was half Filipina, hence growing up it’s no wonder that she looked Asian. Her mother’s family from Cebu were Chinese descendant, looking Chinese was not something she questioned since she knew she has Chinese blood on her. What she didn’t realize was how much Chinese blood she had in her veins.

Her biological father was half-Chinese, half- Filipino. Her mother was a half- Filipina, half-German. She grew up thinking she was half- English, but no. The father on her birth certificate was just a cover-up.

Her mother got pregnant when she and her father had a one-night rendezvous at one of the parties in the oldest Chinese community in the world outside of mainland China - Binondo, Manila.

Her father was already married with two young kids, her mother on the other hand was on the peak of her rebellious stage. Her father was drawn to the wild child that was her mother. That night, her mother and father spent a night of laughter, alcohol, and throwing morality and responsibility to Pasig River, - with her as a result, after nine months.

Because her mother despite having no qualms sleeping around with a married man, and many other men after she was born, has no murderous intent on her body. She hid her pregnancy from her family in Oslo. She traveled all over Asia and just flew to London when she was eight pregnant with her and knocked at her aunt Joy’s apartment, asking for her to protect her from her grandparents and great-grandparents.

According to her aunt Joy, they came up with the idea of having another man to acknowledge her as his daughter in writing in order for her mother to bring her home. Her old people would never accept her if she has no documents and would just be known as a child from a one-night of sin.

Knowing those piece of information, making it possible for Ellise to have a cordial relationship with her mother now that she is older, and her mother stopped jumping from one man to another and started acting like a real mother to her half-brother. They are all now living in New York where her step-father works at NYU as a college professor.

“Do you have anything you want to buy?”

DT’s question snapped Ellise out of her thoughts. She looked at her cup which was now empty and then looked up at DT, shrugging her shoulder.

“I don’t think it’s the best idea for me to buy a game when I have to help Nina with her research and I have to finish my thesis on top of the training in the WIZ.” she stuck out her tongue on DT with his stupid question.

“When did you become so responsible?” he laughed at her antics. “Let me buy these games and let me know if you want to play them, I’ll let you borrow them.” he grinned.

Ellise watched DT queued on the cashier with his arms full of new games. She smirked inwardly thinking if she didn’t leave without a word two years ago would they still be friends. She did think of DT as a friend. She never had one. Because just like anything she has and like in her life, everything was taken away from her. DT is taken.

She had no idea of what happened when she left with aunt Joy for Tokyo that night. She remembered being emotionally hammered from the information she got from her aunt she had no time to actually find what happened to the press conference the WIZ and DT gave regarding the scandal of DT. She only found out the whole story when she was in Tokyo.

That night he asked DT but he was avoiding her questions and she didn’t push him for an answer. She just wanted to see him at that time because she would be gone away for a few years, but since they fought earlier that day, it was difficult to open a talk about goodbyes and promises of coming back.

However, in Ellise mind at that time she was hellbent on coming back to China and staying for good. That’s why she was willing to do anything her aunt asked in exchange. One of the deals her aunt asked was for her to give up drinking, going to college, and not get into any trouble with her Old People.

She did all of them, hence she is now back in Shanghai. Watching DT falling in line in the cashier to pay the games he bought that he would let her borrow was worth all the annoying things she had to suffer just to be back.

“Hold them,” he said, dropping all the games in her arms. “I will be right back, but if it is already your turn to pay, use this,” he said, pulling a card from inside his wallet while answering his phone.

“Hello, Asya,” he said on the phone, as he walked away from the line.

Ellise looked down at all the games he dumped in her arms, and asked herself, was it really worth it coming back to Shanghai. Was it a good choice, she wondered. She was surprised to see the games in her arms wet with some droplets of water.

She blinked and saw another droplet fell on the game. She realized she was crying, and the droplets that wet the games she was cradling on her arms were her tears.

She laughed softly thinking that she was crying over a guy who was in love and have a child with another woman!