Love At First Sit

by Ysa Arcangel

  Love at First Sit

  by

  Ysa Arcangel

  Copyright © Ysa Arcangel

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission in writing from the author.

  For information visit

  www.ysaarcangel.com

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Contact the author:

  Email: author@ysaarcangel.com

  Twitter: @Ysa_Arcangel

  FB: @AuthorYsaArcangel

  Edited by C. K. Brooke. Check out her website at http://ckbrooke.com

  Cover art by Lucy Rhodes. Check out her website to see her amazing works at http://www.rendercompose.com/

  For the single moms…remember that you deserve to have someone who loves you in part for being a mom, not despite it.

  Chapter One

  Speed Dating

  Who ever heard of speed dating to get a date for Valentine’s Day? How desperate can people get?

  When an ad on Facebook turned up, “Single Professionals, 25-35, event for 5 days only”, Roxanne felt like fate was mocking her.

  Her best friend Mina called and told her she saw the ad too, and thought it would be interesting to try it.

  Roxanne had always believed that dating is a numbers game, wherein you have to kiss a large number of frogs before you find a prince. Speed dating seemed like an efficient way to evaluate the frogs. Why not? She told herself.

  The event ticket was 1,200 pesos and was held at a bar called 212°F Tavern in Makati, a place famous for its pizza and beer. For their 1,200, the participants will get dinner and drinks.

  How bad could it be?

  Roxanne was not overly serious about finding anyone. She would be more into it for the entertainment.

  She didn’t know what kind of people would actually show up. She was so nervous, she might vomit.

  Roxanne was the type of person who would put in a ton of research to up her game, and that included Lisa Eldrige’s makeup tutorials on YouTube, and yes, how-to books on “flirting”.

  Mina’s advice was on-point. The neckline was all-important.

  Roxanne’s go-to ensemble was a floral cardigan over a small white tank top, which allowed her “puppies” to breathe. Together with skinny jeans and a pair of black faux-leather biker boots, it was comfortable and easy to put together.

  “Why are we doing this again, Wilhelmina?” Roxanne complained. Mina looked at her with her brow crunched up, as if silently running through a list of rebuttals that would convince her friend to stay.

  “For fun, Roxy. It’s on our bucket list, remember?” she answered. “This is going to be your dating, flirting, and rejection practice. You’ll be a pro-dater after this, trust me. And who knows? You might find your Prince Charming tonight,” Mina said, before Roxanne even had the chance of talking herself out of going.

  They made their way into the event and were given a number tag that stubbornly refused to stick to their clothing after presenting their IDs. Their first stop was the bar. They sat, waiting to be directed to their seats by the event moderator.

  “Just relax, okay? The Single Moms Tribe will be here in a minute. This is going to be so much fun, believe me,” Mina assured her, and gestured to the bartender to order drinks.

  “Hey gorgeous, what can I get you?” The bartender gave a flirty smile. He was about six feet tall. His brown hair was slightly unruly and his chiseled jaw was home to perfectly groomed stubble. Trailing her eyes down his chest, Roxanne noted the modest black T-shirt he wore, including the way it glued to his body and showed off the tattoos on his biceps. She thought he was the best thing the bar offered that night.

  Mina had once pointed out that one of the reasons why Roxanne was still single was because she was usually immune to the charms of men in bars. But the bartender’s smile turned the butterflies in Roxanne’s stomach into gymnasts. She could stare at him for hours.

  “This is our first time here. What do you recommend?” Mina asked, leaning on the bar.

  “Do you like shots or do you prefer mixed drinks?” He asked Roxanne instead of answering Mina, his flirty smile lingering.

  “W-what kind of mixed drinks do you have?” Roxanne spoke.

  “Some of the favorites are Tequila Sunrise and Sex on the Beach.”

  Mina looked at her and raised an eyebrow, a small smile forming on her lips. “Sex on the Beach would be nice.”

  “You have no idea. It’s the best, especially when done right.” He winked and took out a glass.

  Maybe, just maybe, I might get lucky tonight, Roxanne thought to herself.

  The bartender slid their drinks across the bar. Mina eagerly accepted her glass while Roxanne hesitantly cupped hers.

  “Here you are. Let me know how you like it. If you want another, don’t be afraid to ask. My name is Wish.” The handsome bartender grinned as he moved to the man who had just sat down on the other end of the bar. “Evening, Rick...the usual?”

  “Hey, Aloysius, man,” the old grubby man with a big belly and wild white hair greeted Wish. “You know me too well, but give me a Bacardi instead.”

  “Rough night?” Wish procured his drink.

  Roxanne found herself eavesdropping.

  The old man shook his head and shrugged. “It’s just one of those days, my friend, only today is worse than yesterday.”

  “Since you’ve had a worse night than me, let’s consider this on the house.”

  The man smiled and his eyes lit up. His stress seemed to disappear.

  Roxanne watched as Wish prepared the other patron’s drinks. It always fascinated her how bartenders worked. She enjoyed watching as he tossed bottles and flipped the cocktail shaker before filling it with the drink mixture and ice. He poured the concoction and slid the cocktail down the bar.

  “Don’t look at me like that,” he told the guy named Rick, wearing an amused expression as he motioned his head towards Roxanne. She felt like those words were directed at her. “And don’t get used to the free drinks,” he chuckled.

  Roxanne quickly looked away and began fiddling with her straw. She turned to Mina and asked, “This is your great idea for helping me find ‘the one’?” But Mina was preoccupied, laughing with a wide-shouldered stranger. Judging by his excessive muscles, he looked like a gym-rat.

  “No one said anything about ‘the one’,” Mina replied, and laughed again when the guy whispered something in her ear.

  Roxanne looked back over to Wish.

  He gave her a strange look, but didn’t say anything. He sauntered forward, leaned over and got in close. “Shouldn’t you be mingling with the rest?” He took her empty glass and replaced it with another mix.

  “Thank you,” Roxanne grabbed the new glass and took a sip. “I just want to drink my way through this. On second thought, I think I’ll be done after this one.”

  “First time?” he asked.

  “Drinking? No.” She shook her head.

  “No, attending a speed dating event.”

  “Yeah,” she nodded. “Just for fun.”

  Wish smiled again and Roxanne’s cheeks reddened at the way his eyes crinkled slightly when he did it. “Your friend seems busy. Will you mind if I keep you company?”

  “Alright.” She smiled in return.

  “Mina! Roxanne!”

  An ear-piercing voice called out their names. The other members of the
Single Moms Tribe arrived.

  “I’m glad you bitches made it!” Roxanne hugged each girl. “Luisa, I like your new haircut!”

  “Thank you. I love my pixie cut.” Luisa ran her fingers through her cropped hair.

  “Oh my gosh, you look gorgeous in your outfit, Kat,” Roxanne complimented. “And your makeup is stunning, Rio!”

  The two blushed and let out a sweet smile.

  “Wish, these are my friends, Luisa, Kat and Rio.” Roxanne introduced her new acquaintance to the gaggle of misfits.

  Wish politely greeted them. The exchange of teasing looks among Roxanne’s friends didn’t go unnoticed.

  “Where’s Mina?” Rio asked, her pretty features scrunching up.

  “There’s Mina.” Roxanne pointed their friend out.

  “Welcome, everyone!” The moderator had an incredibly loud voice. “I’m happy we have such a great turn-out. Please follow me and proceed through the tables in numerical order.”

  The commotion that had started with the commencement of the speed dating session was making it hard to hold a conversation.

  “If you don’t find your Prince Charming, come back and we can talk. Good luck.” Wish went to attend to the other guests.

  Roxanne sighed before Mina came to join them, chatting with their friends.

  “Let’s get this over with,” Roxanne said.

  Armed with Sex on the Beach, they wandered into the crowd and tried not to act like horrified aliens.

  As a woman in her mid-twenties who didn’t date, the event started to terrify Roxanne. She deliberately did not date because she had stuff to do: her work, her growing TBR list and her children. She was busy, and, well, she could procrastinate like anything.

  Roxanne followed Mina, along with a horde of other women, to a backroom set up with tables and chairs divided by partitions, each with a number placed at the top corner.

  As they entered, she looked back at the bartender and saw him flirting with some girl who had on more makeup than clothes.

  Don’t get your hopes up. She began to chastise herself at the thought of how intrigued she was by him.

  Who am I kidding? Maybe he already has someone. The way he looked at me - does he look at everyone like that? Questions burned through her mind as she continued to watch him from a distance.

  She looked over at Mina and said, “This is really ridiculous.”

  Mina rolled her eyes.

  Roxanne found her number in between two women she didn’t know. She sat there sipping her drink and listening to the lady, whose name was Connie, explain how speed dating worked. They would sit on one side of a table and one man would sit down with them. They would have a five-minute conversation, discussing anything from their personal interests to their backgrounds, occupation, and hobbies. Like that many women could share the conversation.

  Roxanne glanced at some of the others, who appeared to be sizing her up. Their desperation was as thick as their cakey, patchy foundation.

  On each table were cards and pens to write down the names and numbers of the men they talked to. Right across the name and number column were three small tick boxes – “friends”, “no thanks” and “hell yes”. The last column was marked ‘notes’, in which they could write bits of information about the person, like, “I’ve seen this guy on Shake, Rattle and Roll.” On the reverse side of the card were questions in case they got stuck.

  Connie informed them that, to get in touch with the person for whom they ticked “hell yes”, the guy should have ticked “hell yes” too. They would be informed of any matches within three days.

  “Unfortunately, we’re short of a few gentlemen,” Connie announced, and all eyes landed on her. “There are twenty women and seventeen men. Three women will have a round without a date, so I improvised.”

  Most of the ladies gave disgruntled grimaces in reply.

  Roxanne heard a chair across the table scratch against the floor. She turned her head and saw a bespectacled man with short, curly black hair. He had a smile on his face as he sat down and reached his hand across the table.

  “Hi there, my name is Alex.”

  Oh my gosh, call the police, I’ve seen this guy wanted on national TV.

  Five minutes later. “Hello, my name is Rob.”

  Could someone just kill me now?

  Inevitably, the bell rang again, and she was facing a new person. “Hi, my name is Josh. I’m single and a CPA, and I think you’re stunning.”

  And I think you’re creepy.

  And the bell rang again. “Hey there, my name is John. I’d like to know you better.”

  Hmmm, looks like he’s here for a quick shag outside by the back wall.

  Roxanne spent the next half hour vaguely paying attention to what these poor, hopeless men were saying to her. She even called the waitress over a few more times for a refill. She was scribbling on her card when the empty chair across from her moved.

  Here we go again. She went to lift her head and offered a polite smile when her heart suddenly skipped a beat.

  “Hi. My name is Aloysius but you can call me Wish,” he said with a smile.

  Roxanne sat there, her mouth hanging open like a big idiot. She’d bet one of her fallopian tubes that this was how Connie “improvised”.

  Wish had put on a coat over his T-shirt, brushed his hair up and smelled better than anything that had ever graced her nose.

  “Hey,” she managed to say. “I’m, uh... my name is Roxanne.” She extended her hand and he took it, squeezed it, and didn’t let go of it.

  “Oh yes, you are. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m a twenty-seven-year-old Sagittarius. I work as a bartender, as you can already tell. I live in Quezon City. I drink socially. I don’t smoke. I work out four times a week. I have dinner with my parents and three siblings every weekend, and I think you’re foxy, just as your name suggests. So, how’s your evening going?”

  “Wow, that’s a lot to take in.” She coughed and reached for her drink.

  “We don’t have all the time in the world, Foxy,” he said, and leaned a little bit closer.

  “Wh-why are you here? I mean, you should be making drinks and performing those flairs, right?” Roxanne was a blabbering mess.

  Wish chuckled. “Honestly, Connie asked me to fill in. She’s a friend, I couldn’t say no to her. My shift is over anyway, so why not give this thing a try?”

  “So, being the great friend that you are, you decided to help her out.”

  “You could say that. So, tell me something about yourself.”

  “What is it that you would like to know, Wish?”

  He leaned in further and whispered, “Everything.”

  She smelled his cool breath on her face. The scent was minty and spicy. She almost stopped breathing for a sec.

  “I, uh, I’m twenty-five. I’m working in a call center. I don’t have time to work out and I actually do smoke. Playing guitar is one of my hobbies. My parents are separated and I’m their only child.”

  Wish nodded and smiled sheepishly. “I didn’t think this night would be this fun.”

  “Me, too,” Roxanne smiled in return.

  She started asking him all kinds of questions about his job, the kind of tattoos he would want to add to his body, and although she could tell his ego was inflating, she couldn’t help it.

  All of a sudden, that stupid bell rang and interrupted their conversation. Roxanne wasn’t the only one disappointed. Wish had a sad look on his face.

  “Well, Foxy, it was sure nice meeting you. Hopefully, we can talk some more after this is all over.”

  “I would like that very much.”

  Then he got up, wrote something on his card and pushed it over to her.

  “Hey, you’re going to need this.” Roxanne pointed at the card.

  “I don’t think so.” He winked and then went to the next table.

  Roxanne flipped the card and read what was written. “Meet me in the back.”

  In the course of the n
ext hour, she caught him throwing glances at her.

  After what seemed like an eternity, the bell rang for the final time.

  Roxanne had met a lot of interesting men. Given the time constraint, they’d talked mostly about cursory things. As for Wish, they shared so much information in as little as five minutes that she felt she could’ve known him for years.

  She had met engineers, a bunch of call center agents like her, a few photographers, and a doctor. There were some who made her gay-dar flip, men who still lived with their parents, and those sick and tired of their jobs. They enjoyed going out and liked traveling. They were funny, inarticulate, clumsy, yet confident. While most of them were desperate, some were genuinely looking for a romantic connection.

  Roxanne wasn’t looking for anything. She’d merely played along. She just wanted to have fun and get “speed-dating” checked off her bucket list, but she could never have predicted meeting Wish.

  “Ladies, we’ll take a break. Feel free to mingle, order another drink and enjoy yourselves,” Connie announced.

  Mina immediately walked up to the bar and sat down next to the guy she’d been talking to earlier. Wish glanced at Roxanne and motioned for her to follow him to the back. Sick apprehension coiled in her stomach.

  She’d never clicked so quickly with someone before. It was astounding. She took a sip of her cocktail and gave her brain enough time to switch into flirt mode.

  Roxanne ran out, tapping Mina on the shoulder and telling her she was going to get some fresh air (to shag some random bartender by the back wall).

  She spotted Wish waiting for her when she exited the bar, and he smiled when he noticed her walking toward him.

  “What time is it?” he asked.

  “It’s 10:30,” she replied, looking at the silver watch around her wrist.

  “Come on, let’s walk.”

  That was it? Her legs didn’t move. She’d had the wrong idea about what would they be doing.

  “I don’t want to walk.” Roxanne sighed, frustrated. “What are we doing?”

  He turned around and let out a humorless laugh. “Trying to delay the inevitable.”