In the hotel lobby, Uyenie is sitting by everyone laughing obnoxiously, making a scene. Suzy looks quite annoyed by her. After all, how can a mere person understand what they have been through?
Jennifer amuses her, “So how did you and your wonderful husband meet?”
“Oh my gosh! We’ve known each other like forever. You might get a little freaked out, but I used to be his babysitter. He was only four when we met, and I thirteen….
I was called in for a babysitting job. I was the best in the entire town, even though I was only thirteen. It was really weird working for Alex’s family. The house was huge, extravagant! I guess it would be a mansion. Gosh, his parents must have been loaded! So I walk into the door, and this butler escorts me to this huge, yet dark room.
The chair was faced the opposite way, I never got to see Alex’s father. He interviewed me: asked me questions on how I would raise his child and how busy my schedule was and stuff like that. After he finished, we sat there for a few minutes in silence. I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to leave or stay there, so I started getting up.
He said, “Wait, Uyenie, if you can clear all of your schedules including school and live here, I’ll give you 500 a week.” How can I turn down money? I would be insane to! Plus my parents never really cared what I did or where I went. All they did was fight, I was glad to leave the house. I took the job!
The butler then escorted me to Alex’s room. Wow it was huge! It was the cutest thing ever! There were cute little giraffes painted on the walls. The stuffed animals were huge! If they were alive, they would eat me and explode! Since they were already stuffed all the way. Alex was sleeping in his little elephant covered bed. Oh the little angel slept so peacefully.
I found a rocking chair and sat there, waiting to meet my new life for the next five years of my life. I couldn’t stay awake though. I dozed off. I had to ride my bike all the way there and it was like three in the morning when I woke up.
As my eyes opened, I see this brat staring at me.
“Daddy brought me a wife, he did!” he said with hope beaming over his face. I was freaked out by this statement. Who would want a four year old kid falling in love with you when you’re thirteen?
“Um, no, honey. I’m your babysitter, Uyenie,” I said, trying to pry him off from hugging me. He always knew we were going to get married.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So I continued to babysit him and raise him. I made loads of mistakes: taking home boyfriends and doing naughty things to them while Alex was “asleep”. But all in all, it was a good time. I would always have to sleep with him, or else he’d stay up all night.
One day, when Alex was nine, he had to leave with his parents to somewhere. I would have collected enough money to get my own place and go to college to be a plumber. When I woke up that day, Alex had drawn a face on my arm.
“I’m gonna get you for this, Alex!” He jumped out of bed and ran out the door. “Don’t think you can run from me! Get back here! Listen to your babysitter!” I ran after him, picking up the wooden back scratcher with me. “Don’t make me use this!”
He was a slippery kid, but I tackled him to the floor. As punishment, I locked him up in a garden shed. He was screaming and clawing at the door.
“Don’t draw on people when they sleep! You got that?” Then he was quiet. I knew Alex wasn’t a bad kid, so I opened the door. I found him sitting on the floor with his head buried in his arms. I sat by him.
“Hey, Alex, what’s wrong?” I made a small effort to move his arms out.
“Nothing. Nothing’s wrong,” he sniffled out. Tears started forming into his eyes.
“Hey, come on. You can tell me. Let’s go inside first.” I carried him back into the mansion and set him by the piano. He always felt better after playing. He stared at the keys, got comfortable on the bench, and gently lifted his hands onto the piano. I sat on the couch right beside it and watched him play. His face turned from sad to indifferent as his fingers scaled up and down the instrument. Then he stopped and stared at the keys as tears started falling from his eyes.
“Alex! What’s wrong? Why are you crying?” I walked over to him and sat by him on the bench. He wouldn’t look up at me; he just stared at the keys.
“Daddy says we have to go.” He paused and looked up at me with those watery eyes. “He said you can’t come with.” Tears bursted out of his eyes. “I don’t want to leave!”
I looked at him, shocked. I had no idea he would be that devastated with this, but I guess I did raise him. “Alex, don’t cry. I don’t want to see you sad. I want to remember you happy.”
“I don’t want you to go away! I, I love you.” He starts crying on my shoulder.
“Hey, Alex, we’ll meet up again one day, I promise we will. I love you too. We’ll meet up.” I kissed him on the head. Of course when I told him I loved him back then, it was a motherly love. I never thought I’d end up marrying him. He cheered up. Then the car came for him to go to the airport, and I was left there to pack my stuff and leave.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eight years later, I’m not doing so hot. I’m homeless, I can’t find a job, and I have no money. Luckily I still have the car, my phone, and my ad in the phonebook. One gracious day, I get a phone call to fix a heater in this hotel. Gosh, I remember first walking in this lobby. I was awestruck. How did such a fancy hotel ask me to fix their heater? I walked up to the front desk. The worker recognized that I obviously wasn’t a guest, but the cheap plumber. He called using the phone with this pompous tone and look. Minutes afterwards, Alex comes to greet me. He’s told me he recognized me immediately, but I was in denial. No way could this strapping, tall young man in front of me be Alex that little brat I babysat years ago.
So he greeted me a nice smile and introduced himself as the owner of the hotel and immediately asked me to follow him to the broken heater. We didn’t exchange names. To me, it was another job. I did warn him that I was a terrible plumber, but he insisted I try.
He led me to this amazingly bright room. It was like I was stepping on heaven. The lights were coming from the tiles on the ground! There was nothing else in the room besides me, Alex, and the heater. He laughed a little when I was jumping from tile to tile. He then left me to do work on the heater.
I was staring at that thing for the longest time ever. How do I fix this??? What is this thing? I wonder if that guy has a girlfriend. What am I thinking? Focus! Well, I know this goes here…. His hair looked really black and bold like his eyes. He was really nice too, always smiling. And, oh my gosh, his chest—ah! Focus! But the weird thing, he reminds a little of Alex. He does look really similar to him. No, it couldn’t have been him. Alex fell off the face of the earth eight years ago.
So after hours and hours, the day was late and I couldn’t stay and work on it forever. I asked an employee for the owner.
“So how’s the heater coming along?” He asked with his raised eyebrows.
“Oh, it’s coming along great, by some miracle! But it’s getting late, and I shouldn't keep working on it…. I’ll finish it by tomorrow!”
“Oh, that sounds great! I’ll have a worker show you to your room.”
“My room?” Did I tell him I was homeless? Did I miss something?
“Yeah, everyone who works here gets a complimentary room.” Yeah, they actually don’t. We would lose a lot of money if they did! He just wanted me to stay in the same building with him.
“Oh, by the way, my name is Uyenie. We never introduced ourselves,” I tried to get his name to make sure it wasn’t Alex, but he was called up. He left me with a worker.
So I was escorted to my room. I took some of my clothes from my car, because I assumed I was only going to be living her for one night. He gave me a suite! I opened the door and find freaking rich butt things! The room itself was huge! I could have an amazing dance party here. The bed was like emperor sized and had drapes covering it. The floor was a nice dark wooden color. There was a dining table fit for eight with a gold finish. What type of employee complimentary room is this?
Later that night, Alex comes to welcome me in a bell hop outfit.
“Why are you dressed up as a bell hop?” I was confused, yet pleased by this outfit.
“It’s the only way for me to walk around this hotel.” He carried in a cart full of midnight snackage.
“I, I don’t think I can accept this room. It’s way too nice,” I felt guilty. I started packing my stuff to leave. A homeless loser like I did not deserve this.
He watched me pack up a little, with this look of losing something he loved. “No, don’t leave. I don’t want you to leave. Please. It’s the least I can do.” By this time, I was really confused.
“What have I done for you? You’re paying me to fix your heater.”
“You don’t remember me?” He stares into my eyes, all watery. By then I knew it was him. “Uyenie, it’s me, Alex.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So about a month after I’m called to hotel, Alex finally asks me out on a date. Well, back then, I didn’t really want to date him, but it was the least I could do since he let me live in his hotel. I thought I was just going to live there until I can find a place of my own, but obviously, Alex had other plans.
The next day, or the day of the date, his employees woke me up at around seven or eight or so. Back then, I used to wake up around twelve or even one. What they did is they busted into the room, with the ultimate hotel key that gets you in any room, dragged me out of bed, put me in a light blue sun dress and a more casual heel to match. They also did my hair, washed my face, and brushed my teeth. Once they finished they ran out and left a note which said, “Meet me in the lobby and I’ll take you to breakfast. Love, Alex.”
I was a bit confused. I just woke up and I thought this was like a small date with the dinner and that’s it. Wait, where are we going for breakfast? Why am I wearing such a nice outfit?
Eh, I went anyways; after all, I was dressed quite cutely. So, I walked out to go to the lobby, but I see the entire hotel in the same shade of blue! It was like everyone was celebrating our date. When I walked into the lobby, I saw Alex with this light blue blazer, his usual buttoned-up white shirt, and black trousers. For a second, I was checking him out, since he was talking to the front desk. Then he looked over and I froze up. Oh gosh, what if he saw me staring at him? He smiled and walked over to me.
“Would you like to go to breakfast?” he said with a boyish charm and handed me a blue flower. I nervously took it. My heart was beating and I didn’t know what to stare at. Do I look at him? Bwah! He’s looking at me! Um, maybe the furniture, but we’re moving way too fast! Hey, there’s an old man.
“Hey, there’s an old man,” I blurted out. Oh shoot! Why did I say that? He must think I’m a weirdo! I was way too scared to look at him so I stared at the ground. I walked like that for a while, then I felt him hold my hand. My heart stopped. Is he really holding my hand? I looked up at him, and he was just staring at me, smiling.
We walked to the hotel’s café, but instead of sitting with everyone else, he showed me to a back door. When I opened it, oh my gosh, we were overlooking the hotel’s waterfall! But only for today, the water was a dark blue and the rocks were covered in, instead vines of green, the same blue flower he gave me! We had a private table set up just to see it.
He showed me to my chair and pulled it out, just like a gentleman. I sat a little nervous. Come on, Uyenie! Say something! This is still that little punk years ago. What am I nervous about?
“Um, what flower is this?” I asked him. Uh, what a lame question! Is there really nothing else I can say to him?
“It’s a forget-me-not. It’s just I never gave up on the belief that I’d see you again. I never forgot about you, and I hope you’ll never forget me.” He looked at me and smiled, glad to have me back in his life.
Oh gosh! This is like a dream! Am I actually asleep? What am I supposed to say? Where’s our food?
He stared at me, feeling the awkward. “Uyenie, how did you like the wake up service?”
“Oh, it was weird.” What am I doing? Why am I saying such ordinary, plain things? Think of something better! “I can’t believe you planned that! Did you choose this outfit?”
“Not the outfit exactly, but the basic idea, yes. We have to match!”
“Oh you…. That’s so sweet. How come your people didn’t put make up on me?”
“Well, honestly, I think you look beautiful, wondrous, and divine without make up. How can you make perfection better?” he said, half joking. Then the waiter came out with our breakfast. We sat there and talked of old times, bonding. I started to calm down and have a normal conversation with him.
After we finished breakfast, he took me to the pool that turns into an ice skating rink. He gave me the choice of swimming or skating. Honestly, I have never skated before and I told him. He thought it would be a great time to learn. Yeah, I fell a lot, but I guess it was great for him, because I fell in his arms. Sigh, because of that, I got so many bruises.
Afterwards, he walked me back to my room. As I opened the door, the same set of girls put me in another dress, white this time. As I walked out of my room, Alex was waiting for me in a full-on white tuxedo. He held out his hand and smiled with his boyish charm. A smell of man swept across my face and I couldn’t help but swoon. Mmm, Old Spice. He also noticed that I smelled like mangoes. Gotta love Victoria Secret.
He took us to another fancy restaurant in the hotel. We had lunch. It was great, but I would have liked to have a hardy meal. That was a nice, normal lunch. Well, normal for us anyways. We were spewing spit balls at pompous costumers. Okay, fine, I was….
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Afterwards, we went down to the lobby. He said where we were going was a surprise. He set me in a couch as he talked to some of his employees to make sure everything was straightened out. Oh you guys remember this, right? A bunch of dudes in black came running in. You guys were sitting and chilling with me, as they took us to a black van. Man, I was freaking out! You guys remember me screaming? They put duct tape over my mouth to stop my yelling. Oh gosh, that was a great show.
So they took us to their “secret hide out”, tied us up, and threatened us with guns and knives. Honestly, during that time, I was panicking like crazy. I was supposed to be on a date with Alex! I thought I was going to die!
Then Alex breaks down a door! Oh gosh it was epic! He started karate chopping all those black clothed dudes! Then he freed you guys, picked me up in his arms, and started battling more dudes with you guys. Hm, he didn’t untie me…. Well, I was just staring up at him the whole time, thinking, wow, he’s my hero! He would always check down and smile at me in his boyish way to make sure I was calm and okay. Oh gosh, I wouldn’t be anywhere else besides in his arms! Although, that time my heart was pounding insanely due to the fighting and due to his arms around me.
He then took us into his limo and drove us away. I was freaking out in the car, flailing around and screaming, “What’s going on?” except my mouth was muffled by the tape. Alex then embraced me and shushed me.
“That was great you guys! Thanks for helping out!” he said to you guys, winking. You guys looked a bit confused at first, but then totally understood what he said. “Look at her! She’s so scared! Uyenie! It was all pretend! Don’t worry!”
We went back to the hotel and it was already dinner time. Again I was changed by his employees. This time it was a curvy deep red. I opened the door, expecting him to show up to take me to the next place, but instead there was a trail of rose petals. I followed them to a secret elevator that led me to the roof.
When the doors opened, he was standing there wearing a regular tuxedo, half in darkness, smiling with his boyish charm. He led me to a table for two, illuminated by a pink covered candle. I sat down.
All he did was stare at me. “Why are you looking at me? Do I have something on my face? What is it??? What’s on my face! I bet it’s a mutant fly!” He laughed a bit, one of those “she’s so cute” laughs.
“You just look so perfect in the moonlight. I’m afraid you might get a moonburn.”
“A moonburn? Who gets burned by the moon?”
“Oh you never know. I just don’t want your lovely skin to get damaged.”
We continue to chat, eat, and look up at the stars. When we finished, he walked me back to my room.
“Well, here’s your room,” he said, quite unsure what would happen next. I was facing him, slowly trying to get in the room. He tried to stall me, “Did you enjoy your night?”
“I don’t know, I could have gotten moonburned,” I joked at him.
“You can’t get moonburned. You’re silly.” He leaned in and kissed me. Then he started writing on my arm.
“Alex!” I turned back into his babysitter, “What did I tell you about writing on people’s arms?”
“I’m sorry,” he said, smiling. He then kneeled down on one knee.
What was going on? Is he? No way! I looked at what he wrote on my arm. It said, “Will you marry me?” When I looked back at him, he had the ring box in his hand. He opened it and the most gorgeous, expensive-looking ring was sitting there! Oh gosh! I nearly had a heart-attack!
He stood there, waiting for my answer. I began to look serious, “Alex, I’m sorry, but not now. We’ve only met our new selves for like a month. We’re not ready. Not yet. I’m sorry.”
He got up, closed the case, and stared at the ground. “I, I understand. I’m sorry.” He left.
~~~~~~~~
The next morning, I woke up. I couldn’t sleep because of last night. Oh! He looked so sad! I had to reject him, you know? He was only seventeen! He was still a minor! Plus his life was so perfect. I was afraid I was going to ruin everything. I wished that I could have just left his life already, but there was no hope for me in the world without him.
So, I felt really bad about what happened. It was for his own good, you know? I got ready and left the room to go down to the lobby. He wasn’t there.
I asked the person at the front desk where he was. They directed me to his office. Why didn’t I look there? I knocked on the door. I hear some papers rustling. “Oh, um, come in!” I heard his voice coming from within. I guess he thought I was a guest complaining. Did he not expect to see me today?
I walked in. He tried to look like he was doing paperwork. Once I walked in he looked up and his eyebrows rose so cutely, just as they do.
“What’s up?” he said, acting as if yesterday never happened. I sat down.
“Um, I’m sorry about last night. I had a great time yesterday though! You were really charming, and any girl’s lucky to have you,” I didn’t want to leave it at last night. I continued to explain why I didn’t want to marry him, or definitely not yet. He nodded, but never looked at me. “But maybe someday, you can convince me. It’s just, right now isn’t a good time. Here, lighten up. Do you want some breakfast?” I offered him a second chance.
“Um, sure. Where are we going?” He was confused that I was in charge this time. I took him back to his own room. Why not have a cheap home-made breakfast? So I led him to the kitchen.
“You have eggs and soy sauce and baguettes and pepper, right? We’re gonna make something my parents used to feed me long ago, back when we were actually happy” I informed him of my plan. Back when I was babysitting him, we used to do this all the time.
About fifteen minutes later, the toaster oven is on fire, there is raw yoke everywhere, and we’re sitting on the floor with one perfect plate of eggs sunny-side up and soy sauce with a side of bread.
“You, sir, cannot open eggs. How can you not crack open eggs? Didn’t you learn from like the best cooking schools in France?”
“So….” He puckered his lips in that cute way he does. “You’re the one who had to make food for yourself every day, how did you set the toaster oven on fire?”
“Hey! I don’t know how to use your fancy, overheating tools!” He was staring at me, wanting. I panicked and immediately took a fork full of egg and stuff it in his mouth.
“At least it tastes good,” he said with his boyish smile. We quickly ate the plate of eggs which meant we were just sitting on the floor, shoulders touching.
“Uyenie, you have something on your face.” Before I could try to get it off myself, he held my face in his hand and wiped it off. With his hand still on my face he stared at me, still wanting. He leaned in, shut his eyes, and kissed me.
Oh gosh! My heart was beating so much! No! I can’t do this! I pushed him away.
“I’m sorry,” he said, “I just couldn’t help myself. I’ve wanted to do that for so long.” He looked away. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want him to be sad.
“It’s okay,” I muttered out, “What do you want to do today?” He looked up at me with hope. I guess after that act, he thought that I would think he was some monster who couldn’t control his urges. It was just a kiss though. Only God knows how many kisses I’ve given to people!
“I have something in mind. Come,” he said in a suspicious way. I was getting a little scared. He held out his hand and waited, looking longingly at me. It’s one of those, do you trust me thing, ripped off from Aladdin. I took his hand.
~~~~~~~~
So we went down the lower levels, it seems all the cool things are at the underground levels. Into a room, he led me. Gosh, the room was covered in this weird design, like hi-tech and stuff.
“Where are we?” I asked.
“We’re in the virtual reality room,” he said with a smirk. I guess he was real proud of it.
“A what??? How did you get…? And is that even…? How does it even…? What? A virtual reality room?” He just continued to stare at me, smiling.
“Here, let me show you,” he said, wrapping his arm around me. Suddenly, the ground turned into the deep blue water; the sun came blazing out; the sky was blue, and we were stranded in the middle of the ocean.
I couldn’t stop screaming and flailing around. How did we get stuck in the middle of the ocean? Am I going to die? Alex, throughout all of this, was calm, laughed a little even. He still had his arm around me and brought me closer to him, so I would calm down.
“Uyenie! Uyenie! Stay calm,” he hushed me while hugging tighter. I stopped moving. Somehow we were floating. He looked at me, wiped some hair out of my face, and smiled.
“Remember, this is a virtual reality room. We’re not really in the middle of the ocean,” he explained, “Come swim to the bottom with me.” He took my hand and dragged me do the sea floor. I was wiggling around, knowing I can’t breathe! “Uyenie! Uyenie! Breathe! This is a virtual reality room! You can do anything!” he calmed me down. I took a breath, no water! It was like flying!
As we swam by, a school a fish passed us. The water was shimmering on the ground. It was magical! And to top it off, Alex was right in front of me, holding my hand. He looked back at me, a little worried. I gave him a smile to signal I was okay. I guess he’s always worrying about me, which is kind of ironic I guess. Back a long time ago, I used to take care of him, and now he takes care of me. Do I feel any shame in that?No! Dude, man, I have one of the wealthiest, no, THE wealthiest person in this city taking care of me and making me happy. Back then though, I felt like a burden to him.
He turned and asked me, “So where do you want to do now?” He smiled and raised his eyebrows just like he does.
“I don’t know…. You take me somewhere,” I told him.
“I want to do whatever you want to do,” he said staring at me, wanting. I told him that I have no idea what this place can do. So he got us to wash up on the beach.
He set up a fire and we watched the sunset, sitting side by side. When it got dark, he said that he was going to go get more firewood, since the fire was dying. Then suddenly, it began to snow. More wind started blowing in my face. The sea froze into hill of snow, and I was in the middle of a blizzard. Freaked out, I started shouting for Alex. How am I supposed to survive in this weather without him? Where did he go? Is he even alright?
Then I see this lurking figure in the distance. Is that him? The figure started walking closer to me, crunching the snow. I was shivering cold. It was like a bizarre dream! The figure walked into some light.Thank God, it was Alex! He was wearing snow gear and looked down at me sadly.
“Are you cold?” he said quite upset. I stared up at him, sitting on the ground, shivering. He took of his jacket and handed it to me. Oh gosh it was warm. It was like being cuddled with love. He directed me to a little log cabin.
It was so homey in there. There was a fire in the living room, a tiny kitchen, and a bedroom. I didn’t even need the jacket anymore. He showed me to the extra cushiony couch right in front of the fire. I sat there, nesting myself in the couch. He came out, holding two mugs.
“Do you want some hot chocolate? In this room, we can trick our senses,” he started some small talk.
“Trick our senses? What do you mean?” I took the mug.
“Like, we’re not actually drinking hot chocolate, but you can smell it,” he says, holding up his mug.Then it disappears. “You’re not drinking anything at all.” He paused and recreated his mug, staring at it. “I never had hot chocolate. This is the best I can come up with in its place.”
“You’ve NEVER had hot chocolate??? My gosh! We got to get some sometime!” I was shocked!And it became quiet, a little awkward actually.
We stared into the fire, sitting a pretty normal distance from each other. No one said anything. Fire was moving, cracking, dancing. It burned and grew, flailing its flames around like a tempered child with a yoyo. It was red! It was passionate! The heat! The heat! I couldn’t take it anymore! Turned and looked at him. He was just staring at the fire. His face so nicely formed. You can see his jaw bone. His eyelashes were so long and pretty. He just stared at the fire. Then he noticed I was looking at him. He turned with his questioning face. Oh, he was so cute. I couldn’t help it! I quickly leaned over and kissed him.
What was I doing? He’s only seventeen! Now I’m leading him on! I immediately pushed away.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know what just happened. That was a mistake,” I stared at the ground.
He looked up at me and said, “Hey, I wanted it.” He touched my face and came for another kiss.No! This can’t be happening!
“No! This can’t be happening! I’m sorry! I’m just going to leave.” I started walking out to the door.“Um, how do I get out of this virtual reality room?” He looked sad and then the scenery changed back into the room we first started in, with all the dots. He pointed at the door.
As I walked out, Alex had set up a little grassy cliff overlooking the ocean. He sat there and stared into the deep sea. I was nearing the door, but I couldn’t leave him like that. I walked over to him.
I sat down beside him. I didn’t say anything.
He began talking, “It’s just, when I first saw you about a month ago, I couldn’t believe it, but in some way, I knew. Ever since you left and told me we’d meet each other, I never gave hope. I already lost you once, and I didn’t want to lose you again. You were the only person who was there.” I sat there and listened to him rant about us then I realized something. I love him. Why am I pushing him away? He’s like, no he IS the best thing I’ve ever found.
“Yes,” I said.
He continued, “My parents were never there. You raised me and loved me.”
“Yes,” I said again.
“My life is just so perfect and bland. It’s the same routine, no passion. But you came, and gave me something to live for.”
“Yes!” I said, becoming impatient. Was he deaf?
“You’re always so different, giving flavor and cheers to everything. I don’t want to imagine life without you. I—”
“Yes! I’ll marry you!” I shouted at him with such joy and hugged him. He sat there, shocked, happy.Then he looked at me. I looked back at him, looking the cutest I can. He smiled and reached into his pocket, pulled out the ring, and placed it onto my finger.
~~~~~~~~
