Chapter 12

Carlo woke up in a room he doesn't recognize. He looked around then he realized that he was naked and there's a woman with long wavy hair beside him. He is sure that she is not Isabella. He slowly got off the bed and looked for his clothes. He immediately put them on and looked at the figure on the bed.

Shit! This cannot be. He thought, he could hardly remember what happened last night but there were flashes that came through his mind. They were drinking at Jane's house, and he got so drunk he can't even carry himself. Then he was making love with a woman he thought was Isabella. She was on top, they were kissing then suddenly he can't remember anything more. He slowly opened the door and sneaked out of Jane's house. He immediately travelled home and took a bath. He took a tablet of aspirin to get his freaking headache off. He just hate hang overs. He looked at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. He hated himself, he hated the fact that he can't do anything to win Isabella back, but he hated himself more for letting Jane get the worse of him. He wanted to hit the mirror, to break it into pieces, but the thought of his grandmother finding out about it stopped him from doing so. He went back to his room and tried to sleep.

In the University, Isabella has been juggling her time for her academics and part time job in the library. She could hardly think about anything else, especially Carlo. She has been pretty busy and pressured with everything and the last thing she wants is to have any kind of distraction. She spent most of her time inside the library to study even after her shift. In the evening, before she goes home and during Saturdays, she stays inside the church, just praying, crying, hoping that the statue nailed on the cross in front of her will hear all her prayers. Months went by and she never heard from Carlo again, and she started to wonder what happened to him. Maybe he has already moved on, or perhaps found a new love, she thought, but she didn't feel any pain though at the very bottom of her heart, she still believes that Carlo still loves her.

Her two years in the University passed so fast, unfortunately, Isabella lost her scholarship because she failed to reach the minimum grade requirement. Isabella felt devastated, she wanted to die. After the semester, she packed all her things up and rode a bus that will take her back home, to the town that she left two years ago to chase her mother's dream.

She thought about visiting Carlo. Will he still let me in? She pulled out her wallet; their picture together is still there. His deep brown eyes are staring at her as if asking, "What happened to us, Isabella?" She can still hear his voice, garbled, pleading her to rethink their relationship once more.

She gave him up for her studies but the University betrayed her. She worked her ass out to complete every project, to pass every exam but she still failed. While Carlo, for one year, never got tired of visiting her, travelling long hours just to be with her for a day and the best that she can do is to break up with him. Unconsciously, tears fell from her eyes, feeling the guilt of how horrible she has become.

After three hours of travel, she finally reached home. She immediately put her things in her room and went outside, to Carlo's house. She knocked at the gate but there was no answer. She pushed the gate and it swung open. It looked like there's no one home. She sat on the wooden chair on the balcony and stared at the purple sky. It's almost six in the evening when she arrived from her dorm. The weather is very hot. She took the newspaper from the other chair and used it to fan herself. Everything seemed to be like yesterday. She closed her eyes and she remembered the days when Carlo and her would sit there and stare at the stars.

"Hey!" Isabella shook him, by the arm. "Stop daydreaming!"

After dinner, they sat outside, at the balcony, her head leaning on his shoulder. The wind is blowing slowly, making a soft sound from the rustling leaves.

"They said the stars can tell your future. Do you believe that?"

Isabella said as they stare at the millions of stars shining on the dark sky.

"No. I believe that we create our own future our own path. The stars are just celestial bodies that do not even know we exist. They can light our lives during our darkest hours but they don't lead us anywhere. They are just there, lighting. It's up to us which way we go."

Isabella rested her head on his lap and looked up to see his face.

"Carlo…"

"Hmmm?"

"I love you."

"I love you too, much more than the stars in the sky."

Everything was so perfect until… I ruined everything, she thought. Since she was so tired from her travel, Isabella dozed off. She slept on the chair with her head against its back. She was so asleep that she didn't notice that Carlo already arrived.

Carlo was surprised to see her sleeping on the chair in their balcony. It was already past eight in the evening. He was holding the food he ordered from McDonald's. He decided to order another meal to take home after his dinner with Jane. They've been dating for two months now, after Jane's persistence in courting Carlo. But they always meet outside. Carlo has never brought another woman in their house.

Carlo's heartbeat rushed at the sight of her. He slowly opened the door and put the paper bag of food on the table. Then he went outside again and sat on the chair right in front of Isabella. He doesn't know if he will wake her up or just let her sleep. He wants to hug her tight and thank God that she finally returned, but he just stared at her. Her eyes closed, her mouth slightly parted and her hair, she cut it short just like Hale Berry's. He was disappointed but he has to admit, it looked good on her. She looked hotter but more matured. Perhaps it's the pressure from the University, but he's still wondering what she is doing in their house. Is she going to ask him back? What if she does? What will happen to Jane? I don't care. Carlo just stared at her, waiting for her to open her eyes and see her reaction.

Isabella started to move her head. When she opened her eyes, she was surprised to see him staring at her. She immediately fixed her hair, wiped her face with her handkerchief before talking to him.

"Hi!" she said shyly. "How long have you been there?"

"Long enough to see your saliva fall from the side of your mouth."

"Of course not!" she replied as she touched the side of her mouth to make sure that he is really just joking. "My saliva doesn't fall when I sleep."

"Yeah, you're right, but your mouth is wide open a fly can easily get in."

Isabella laughed, "Good thing no one dared."

"You just arrived from your dorm?" he asked.

"Yes."

"When are you going back?"

"Why, you want me to leave right away?"

"No, of course not. I'm just curious."

"Curiosity killed the cat, they say."

"Good thing I'm not a cat. I'm a fox. Roar!" Isabella laughed at his gesture. Carlo smiled and said, "Let's go inside, I've got food from McDonald's."

"Cheeseburger and fries?"

"You bet!"

Carlo and Isabella shared the large fries sprinkled with iodized salt. He let Isabella finish the burger because he knows that she's hungry and tired. They talked about a lot of things but skipped the part about their break up. They talked as if nothing happened, as if they were still together. They talked with passion and love, though they don't really realize it.

"University, God! It was hell, killing me."

"What happened?"

"I lost my scholarship."

"I'm sorry about that." He empathized. "That must be very depressing, especially that I saw how much you worked hard to keep your grades up."

"Yeah, well, that's life. We can't control it. No matter how much we plan, no matter how hard we try, sometimes, it's still not enough. "

"Well, you can continue your course here."

"That's the plan. We'll see each other again every day."

"Yeah."

Isabella reached for Carlo's hand and looked into his deep brown eyes. Tears welled from her eyes but she tried to keep them from falling.

Carlo felt the electricity flow from her touch, the same one that he feels whenever their skin touch, but never felt from Jane.

"Carlo…" she whispered as the tears finally broke free from her eyes.

"Isabella…" He stood up and helped her up, too. They hugged each other tightly. She cried hard on Carlo's shoulder, she can no longer contain the pain, the guilt of leaving him.

"Sshhh. Don't cry, my Isabella, I'm just here."

Carlo kissed her softly on her lips as they entered his room. Then he looked at her and wiped the tears from her cheeks.

"I missed you so much, Isabella."

"I missed you, too, Carlo." He kissed her again, this time deeply, wildly, passionately.

"I need you, Isabella. I've never stopped thinking about you," he said as he laid her body gently on the bed. They shared the whole night together loving each other, making up for the lost year. They made love until they have reached the seventh heaven.

"I love you so much, Carlo. I'm sorry for what I've done."

"Ssshhh. It's okay. I understand. I know how much you have to endure. Though I suffered too, without you in my life, everything just do not mean anything, but now that you're here, that's all that I care about. I love you, Isabella."

"Where's Lucy?" she asked.

"Oh, she's on vacation. She visited her sister and she'll be back next week."

"Okay."

Isabella went on top of Carlo and started kissing him again. He returned the kiss and the room was filled with moans and giggles. After their love making, Carlo's phone rang.

Carlo grabbed it right away and when he saw Jane's name on the caller ID, he cancelled it immediately and turned his phone off.

"Why is she calling this late?"

"Uh, nothing. I don't know," he tried to brush off the issue and hugged Isabella again and closed his eyes.

"Are you dating?"

"Huh?! No!"

"I think you are…" she said calmly, no sign of anger or jealousy.

"What if we are?"

"Then you have to choose between me and her."

"You know who I will choose, always."

Isabella smiled and hugged him tighter until they both fell asleep.

It was already nine in the morning when Isabella woke up. She looked for Carlo but he's not anywhere in the room. She heard his voice outside talking to someone. She put her clothes on and went out. She saw him at the gate, talking to a woman, Jane.

"Why was your phone off last night?" her voice sounded upset.

"The battery went empty and I forgot to recharge it before I slept."

Isabella grinned and decided to go near them.

"Good morning, baby! Who's that?" she asked pretending to peek through the gate to see Jane, or to let Jane see her. Curiously and furiously, Jane pushed Carlo and the gate opened widely and she saw Isabella standing beside him.

"Oh, you're back," she said sarcastically.

"Yup, I'm back. I am so back," Isabella said proudly.

Jane nodded and looked at Carlo. He was both scared and proud of what Isabella did. Scared of what Jane might do to her and proud that the love of his life is back and ready to fight for them.

"You wanna come in for breakfast?"

"No, thank you. I'm leaving." Jane turned around to leave.

"Are you guys done breaking up?" Isabella asked mockingly.

"There's no need. He has always been yours."

Carlo closed the gate and let Isabella back to the house. Once inside, they closed the door and kissed her on the forehead, then on her lips.

"Breakfast?" he asked.

"Yes! In bed…" she clings on his neck and kissed him again, wildly and filled with desire. He carried her back to the bedroom and they made love again. They both felt like they couldn't get enough of each other. The fire between them is blazing hot that they are both in ecstasy. He wants her, all of her and he wants to consume the very woman in her. She is his now, and he knows that no one else will ever be able to take her away from him anymore.

It was lunch time when they decided to get up and look for something to eat. They were both starving and exhausted. They went straight to the kitchen and Carlo fried some eggs while she toasted the bread and made two cups of coffee. While they were eating, Isabella noticed that Carlo was not wearing his ring. So she showed her hands with her ring still on her finger. Carlo stood up and went to the drawer to get his ring. He gave it to Isabella who put it back to his finger. Then, they both smiled.

"Jane didn't want to see me wearing the ring. I didn't remove it until she insisted for me to."

"It's okay. I understand that completely."

"Jane has always been jealous of you. Even though she knows that we have no communication at all, she was afraid that when you come back, you're the one that I will choose."

"Who bought your phone?"

"I did. What do you think of me? I'll ask her to buy me a phone?" they both laughed.

"Well, who knows? Women like her would do anything to keep a guy like you."

"But she knows who I really love."

"Then why did you date her?"

"To give her a chance? To give myself a chance? I don't know. I was completely shattered when we broke up."

"I'm sorry, Carlo. I promise you, this time, I will never leave you again," she said, and kissed his lips.

"How did you feel about me and Jane?" he asked.

"Nothing."

"Nothing? Are you not jealous?"

"Nope."

"Why?"

"Why? I don't know. I felt like no matter how long we do not see each other, no matter how many women you date, I just know that at the end of it all, we will still be together, like soul mates."

Carlo laughed when he heard the term soul mates from her.

"Why are you laughing? Don't you believe in soul mates?"

"I do."

"Then why are you laughing? You're such a bully."

"No, it's just… I'm amazed to hear that from you."

"Why? Do I look like someone who doesn't believe in soul mates?"

"No, not that. It's because I was thinking of the same thing. Just like what you said, it feels like there's a certain force that brings us back together, that no matter how long we've not seen each other, we will still go back to each other's arms as if no time has passed."

"Soul mates," she held his hand and put it on her chest.

"Soul mates," he replied and placed her hand on his chest, too.