Chapter 9

The night sky is pretty but this Tuesday evening is boring for Cela. There's nothing to look forward to the following day. It's not even relaxing because she's still feeling the effects of everything that happened in the past few days and nights since her break started.

Her brother ordered some delicious dishes earlier that night. Besides wanting to be present in her life again and see her new place, he dropped by to tell her that they've been invited to their high school's grand reunion where all past and present benefactors of the schools will be honored. As children of their late mother who was one of the biggest benefactors of the school, they are invited to receive the award on her behalf. Of course, it's needless to say that she turned it down in an instant.

So now, there's nothing left to do. She tried sitting in front of her laptop hoping for any idea or inspiration to come in but nothing came. Even her searches returned uninteresting results.

"This is single's life. This is my life," she sadly told herself.

She set the alarm so she can wake up early and perhaps find more things to stir her imagination and eventually inspire her to write. Writing really saves. It takes her away from sad reality and let her float in wonderful places. The best thing is, it's the one thing she knows she can do on her own.

She drove herself to a nearby park to jog the next morning. Her jogging turned to brisk walking then to just plain walking in the park. Every activity seems to be boring to her now. She sat down and tries to entertain herself by watching people passing by. The park's visitors are mostly family with both human and fur babies. She finds the scene nice to see but it makes her realize what she's missing and really needing in her life.

Half an hour later, she decided to just drive around and find another place where it is easier to be alone. Never did she imagine that her wheels and tires would bring her to the least place she wanted to be - Trees Park.

The park is full of Portulaca flowers grown on green grass. It's well maintained despite being an old park. It has different benches named after the tree planted around it. The entire park is big with only a few visitors, mostly old people probably because it's a weekday. It's perfect for her to come here.

The Cedar tree provides the right amount of shade on what she personally refers to as the infamous Cedar bench that can accommodate six people.

Yes, that bench – she's finally sitting on it. It took her more than a decade for this moment to happen and when it did, it happened unexpectedly.

The place is so peaceful. And after all the traumas in the past and even in recent days, it's ironic that she feels calm here today when it used to trigger her trauma just by hearing its name back then.

Whatever led her here today is no doubt a good, positive spirit. She feels she can spend the entire morning here or so she thought.

"Oops," said someone who probably dropped something or stepped on something.

Knowing she's alone in the bench and only a few people are jogging or walking in the park, she immediately looked behind her to check who was it.

What unfolds before her eyes is the moment she's been waiting for. It seems surreal but it's real. It's magical even.

"Cela?" Nate said. His face is mix of surprise and confusion.

She herself almost jumped off of the bench. She could not remember if she even said hello to him.

They exchanged awkward "how are you" then shook hands like they had no past and just simple acquaintances. They even forgot about the incident that sent her to the hospital.

"I better go," Cela said afterwards.

"Oh no, please. You came here first. I should be the one to leave," Nate said.

They looked at each other and wondered why they have to take turns. Finally, they found a way to settle it and that's sitting at the two ends of the bench.

The awkwardness is obvious as it is overwhelming. They are two adults who knew each other from way back but are now behaving as if they were immature teenagers or two people meeting on a blind date.

"Why are you here?" Cela asked without even looking at Nate. She gathered all her guts to break the ice.

Nate is obviously thrilled by being asked by her but is still overpowered by awkwardness at the same time. "I come here once in a while and today's one of those days," he said without looking at her.

Silence.

"You were in the gallery the other day and yesterday, right?" Nate said.

"I was," Cela answered. She prefers to keep her answers short but she tries to glance at him.

"What brought you there?" he asked.

"Really, he asked that?" she answered in her mind before answering him with a lie. "Oh, just by chance."

"I have an artwork that's on display there. I hope you saw it," he said to continue the conversation.

"I did. You drew this place," she said.

"I really love to draw. I thought you knew," he said.

Silence.

"If I may ask, why are you here today. I bet you haven't been here before," he asked.

"Ummm…I'm trying to get inspiration for my next story," Cela said.

"Oh yes, I learned that you are a writer. By the way, I am an architect now," he said.

Cela couldn't help but smile. She heard the same line she was supposed to ask him had they met in the gallery yesterday. They were thinking alike.

"What's that about? Did I say something funny?" Nate asked. He didn't know why but he sure is happy seeing that smile on her face.

"Sorry, please don't mind me. Anyway, thank you for visiting me in the hospital the other day," she said.

"Ah yeah. How are you feeling now?" he asked.

"I'm completely fine. Everything okay. I'm ready to write," she said just to have something to say.

"That's good to hear. I was worried," he said.

"You were?" Cela asked.

She tries to look at Nate. He is trying too.

"Can I come here to think and write?" she asked.

Nate smiled. "But why would you ask me that? I don't own this place. I am just a visitor like you. You may come anytime as you wish," he answered.

Cela nodded. "Good. I will probably come around this time any day," she said like implying that her schedule of visit is around this time.

"Can I come here anytime especially in the morning like I did today?" he asked too.

Cela gave a quick smile. "Why are you asking permission from me?" she asked.

"The same thing I asked. We are free to come here anytime we want. Nobody will stop us from coming here," he said with a smile.

"Then, I'll come back tomorrow with my laptop. It's a cool place. I feel I can get a lot of good vibes here," she said before standing up ready to leave. "I'm really glad we're both here today," she added.

Nate smiled. "Did you come here alone? Is someone driving for you?" he asked.

"I drove myself here. Nothing to worry. That incident last Monday was just an isolated case," she replied.

"Still, please take care. Do you even bring an umbrella with you? The parking lot is quite far from here," he said.

Nate couldn't hide his concern for Cela. She's alone and was even in a terrifying situation just a couple of days ago. He secretly wished she'd have stayed longer but he knows that both of them are aware of their situation. There's no way this simple but unexpected meet will get in the way of his forever with Nina. He should just be content meeting her here today and be done with it.

Cela took a few steps before turning back to Nate who she caught watching her as she walks.

"Nate," she said his name for the first time. "If we meet here again, let's just smile or say hello and then do our own things. Is that okay? How does that sound to you?" she asked.

Nate thought for a moment. "You mean no obligation to talk to each other? I surely get that. Yeah, let's do that," he said though he really didn't know why he agreed to such weird arrangement or agreement but he thought it's still for the best.

Cela continues to walk away. There's no expectation of him walking after her to stop her from leaving. On the contrary, she secretly hoped that he would find the condition unnecessary and would not agree to it. But he did and he agreed quickly.

This is reality and not some fancy scene in a story.