Mystery Date

He's late.

Tiffany Albarillo was not a patient woman, and normally she would have upped and left except she really needed this appointment to push through. Clearly, this wasn't her night. She'd just come from an eighteen hour shoot on a new soap, and had only had time for a two hour nap and a quick shower. Having woken up still sabaw, she'd forgotten her mobile phone at home. 

She'd already arrived at the food park called Nomnom Commons when she realized her mistake. Now she was left with no other choice but to sit it out until the private investigator her fellow assistant director Aki recommended arrived. Besides, rush hour had just started, and the thought of having to double-back to her apartment in mid-week traffic was out of the question.

She drummed her hot pink press-on nails on the formica-topped table in front of the agreed meeting spot and looked down over at the crowd mingling at the open air performance area below.

The seating area was prettier, cozier, and a lot more quiet on the other side of the food park's second level, with softer lighting and greener, more natural decor elements. Earlier she was tempted to plonk herself on one of the oversized sofas there, but thought better of it. This was a business meeting and it needed to have some semblance of professionalism. More practically, Tiffany did not want to accidentally fall asleep while waiting for the private investigator to show up.

Since it was a Wednesday night, live soft coffee shop acoustic guitar music filtered its way upstairs. Unfortunately, this unplugged cover of "Lovefool" failed to relax her. Instead, it reminded her of the reason why she was here.

She wanted to help her beloved Manang Trixie, the original lovefool, escape the marriage she was currently in by bringing irrefutable proof that her husband was up to no good. Manang Trixie was too trusting and too nice to ever pick up on any shenanigans the gold-digging jerk she married was up to.

At twenty-nine, Tiffany may have been five years younger than Manang Trixie, but she thought she was wilier and knew better than her sister, especially when it came to those who were interested in her sister's considerable wealth, which came from supplying hotels, chain restaurants, and yes, even food parks like this one with locally sourced, high-quality free-range meat.

Tiffany knew a player when she saw one, especially one that hit on her on the very night they were introduced. No, she never liked Basti, that bastard, and she'd rather skin a cow first than ever trust his gawky ass or his musical taste. His go-to videoke song was "Just The Way You Are". She didn't mind it before, but she fucking hated it now.

Her instincts had never been wrong yet, but sometimes Tiffany hated when she was right. She had been on location for work at the vegan place on Malingap when she spotted her brother-in-law just across the street cozying up to a woman who was distinctly not her Manang Trixie.

It was the last straw. Hell no. Not in front of her salad! She'd just about been ready to charge down the street and go full-on Solange on Basti, when Aki pulled her back and physically had to restrain Tiffany from causing a scene, which would have been infinitely more dramatic than the one they were currently shooting. Aki suggested she hire a private investigator instead. He was the kind of co-worker who knew exactly where and how to hire such a person. It was why they were friends.

Oh, she'd get her brother-in-law good, all right. Then Basti the bastard would be sorry he ever messed with the Albarillo sisters. 

The night's plan had one last minor snag, though. Tiffany had no idea what this private investigator even looked like, and worse she'd forgotten his name. Since she didn't have her phone on her, she couldn't message Aki to ask. But thank goodness she remembered that the P.I. was supposed to be wearing a blue checkered shirt. Oh, and that he had a black belt in Jiu Jitsu and he'd been freelancing as a private investigator for about ten years.

Tiffany kept her eyes peeled. It was a pretty generic outfit, but so far, nothing. Not a plaid shirt in sight in this mid-week crowd. She glanced at the wall clock. It was half past seven o'clock. He was thirty minutes late. Not very professional, is he?

The live band segued into their next song, "Shake It Off".

***

Holy shit, I'm so late, my date is going to kill me!

Roy Fangonon wondered what had taken him so long to believe that the best way to get over someone is to get under someone else. He'd finally stopped resisting and three months ago signed up for all the dating apps known to man, not to find The One, but to find several ones with whom he could make up lost time. He never had the chance to play the field, convinced that he and Christine would end up married one day, until she had made it clear that she did not want to, by sleeping with Connect2Connect Entertainment's VP of Acquisitions (a.k.a. Roy's boss).

Christine had been his first love. Roy had made the mistake of assuming they would be each other's only loves, and that there was no way she would ever be interested in his sleazebag of a boss.

It wasn't easy to get over someone he'd been in a relationship with since he was twenty years old. He was thirty now. He and Tin had broken up only six months ago, but the former Roy Fangonon was a hundred and eighty degrees from this current version.

The former Roy Fangonon never wanted to go out, and up until about three months ago was secretly hoping Tin would come crawling back. Any second now, he thought, willing his phone to ring with the ringtone he had assigned for her, "Just The Way You Are". It was their song.

Luckily for him, it was not that song he'd heard come on the radio when he was on his knees cleaning his bathroom floor three months ago. It was something older, from the 90s, a wistful song that talked about not wanting to wait for life to be over, and will it be "yes" or "sorry"?

Well shit, Roy already knew the answer to that question, so as soon as his bathroom tiles dried, he'd signed up for the dating app trifecta and thrown caution to the wind. He'd also allowed his friends and co-workers to start setting him up on blind dates. It was so freeing. As long as he and his date were clear that they were only seeing each other casually, a whole new world had opened up for him.

The current Roy Fangonon was, in his friend Cheska's words, "slutting it up", and honestly? He had never felt better. It was a whole new Roy, and he was living his best life, as safely and as responsibly as one can do that. He made a mental note to schedule an HIV test soon. Not that he was worried, but he wanted to be on the safe side. Not that he wasn't, he always used a condom.