Bucket List To Love

1

"You want to break up with me."


It wasn't a question.

Aya wasn't an idiot. All the signs were there. And attuned to Adrian as she was, the signs were pretty hard to miss. But even if she was deaf and blind, she would've found it odd that her boyfriend of almost six years had not only been unresponsive to her kiss, he had also pushed her away. An odd reaction, especially since they'd been apart for nine months. When she had asked him what was wrong, he looked away.

Her sisters were right—this surprise visit was a bad idea. But since she hadn't been able to meet Adrian when he'd arrived at the airport last night, this had seemed like the next best thing.

And it had been going so well. Gus, Adrian's younger brother, had let her in, just as he always had. He had winked and said his Kuya was going to enjoy his first day back. Tito Francis, Adrian's father, had smiled when Aya had kissed his cheek in greeting. Tita Nanette, Adrian's mom, had hugged her before shooing her upstairs to wake Adrian up for breakfast.

Apparently they didn't know anything was up either.

Adrian swung his legs over the side of the bed. He looked wary and unsure. "Aya, I'm sorry but . . ."

"Please," she cut him off, "don't give me the whole it's-not- you-it's-me crap." Aya had used it often enough in the past to know that the line was pure bullshit.

Adrian gritted his teeth. Aya had always been strong-willed. It was one of the things he loved about her. But in hindsight, he realized that her inflexibility had always annoyed him. But perhaps, it was his fault too. He'd been too scared she'd break up with him that he had always let her get her way.

"Aya, I'm sorry. This—us—it's just not working out." At her glare, he sighed and looked away. "I-I met someone, alright?"

"You . . . cheated on me?"

He raised his hands, as if to placate her. "No, Aya. I didn't cheat on you. At least, not technically."

He closed his eyes, and for the nth time wondered if he was making a big mistake. He was actually breaking up with Malaya Contreras. The Malaya Contreras, whom every red-blooded male had admired and adored since college. Having her pick him out of all her admirers made him feel like he had won the lottery. Though simply dressed in a shirt and jeans as she was now, Aya looked like she had belonged on the cover of a magazine.

But he owed it to her . . . no, he owed it to himself to be honest. "It's just that if I loved you like I should, I wouldn't be having all these feelings for another person. And it's just not fair to you. You deserve someone . . ."

Aya held up a hand to stop him. "I know what I deserve. And it isn't you. We're done, Adrian." Hand on the doorknob, she turned back, her voice saccharine sweet. "Oh, by the way, I brought you breakfast." And with that, she hurled a paper bag containing a pricey cappuccino and a bagel at his crotch.

He yelped as the coffee spilled everywhere.

"Welcome home and Merry Christmas." She smiled sweetly before she slammed his bedroom door. Ignoring the concerned voices of his family, she rushed out of their house.

It was only when she was ensconced in the security of her car that she finally allowed her tears to fall.

+ + +

"I'm guessing the whole surprise thing didn't work out."


Aya looked over to where her older sister, Mayumi, was doing a reverse warrior pose on their living room floor. She sighed. As much as she wanted to, there would be no escaping this interrogation.