Chapter Twenty-Five

For the first time since I had arrived in Manila, I finally entered an amusement park. How come I never thought of this before? Maybe it's because I was just too busy at school. Yeah, I think that's it.

Claire paid for our tickets and even allowed me to pick which rides to take. I, of course, chose the extreme rides first. We first rode a roller-coaster. We even picked the first cart to get the first-seat experience. When the roller-coaster dropped and sped up, Claire and I screamed with thrill.

After that, we saw on the map that the park had two more roller coasters. So, we went there next. Subsequently, we tried to ride the Big Loop. It was thrilling too. However, when I got off, I almost lost my balance because of dizziness. If Claire hadn't grabbed my arm, I would have face-planted on the site.

When I got over the whirling feeling, we went to the bump-cars. Claire, being the evil snake that she is, targeted me throughout the ride. She would bump her car at me with extra force. The kind that would have me flying out of the car if it wasn't for the double-strapped seatbelt.

But I wasn't about to let it slide. I did my best to take revenge by bumping her too. But I must say, she's a good driver and evaded all my attempts with success. In the end, I wasn't able to bump her. But, I was able to bump a few strangers, if that counts as an achievement.

We rode a few more extreme rides. Then, it was time to ride the Tunnel of Horrors. I don't like anything that has to do with horror but Claire insisted. Thus, throughout the boat ride through the tunnel, I was clinging to Claire like the coward that I am. To my surprise, she didn't make fun of me. The only thing she told me was...

"Open your eyes. It's over now."

Apart from the rides, the amusement park also has an arcade house. We played a Zombie Killing Game with guns as the game controllers. To say that I didn't scream every time zombies sprung up on the screen would be a lie.

Then, we played other games. The coin dozer was unexpectedly Claire's favorite. We spent more than an hour on that game and she spent not a little money on it. It's okay because we got tickets out of it. We were able to trade them for two free sodas and a premium notebook.

Since we already had the drinks covered, we decided to buy a hotdog sandwich. And I must say... these hotdogs are expensive as hell! Curse these overpriced snack vendors!

When we had our fill, we decided to take the mild rides. We rode the Merry-Go-Round, the train that tours around the park, and lastly, the Ferris Wheel. By the time we got in the Ferris Wheel, the sun was almost setting.

When we were on the top, Claire brought out her phone and began taking pictures of the sunset. We have a nice view of the sun going down the Manila Bay. I want to take pictures too. But then, I realized again that I don't have a damn phone anymore! So, I just watched the sunset with Claire.

Then realization struck me. Who would have thought I'd be on a Ferris Wheel watching the sunset with the woman who stole my girlfriend? Come to think of it, this almost feels like a date! I never thought of bringing my previous girlfriends to an amusement park before. They would always prefer the mall to go shopping anyway.

But this feels weird. Super weird. The weirdest part of all, this actually felt nice. Despite losing my brand-new phone, I can still categorize this day as one of my best. I was really happy today. The happiest I had been since my break-up with Aria.

I looked at the person sitting beside me who was viewing the pictures she had taken of the sunset. I know she'll deny it or would disregard it entirely. But still, she made this supposedly depressing day into a happy one. Since she would not accept my thanks, I said it to her in a voice only I could hear.

I thought this happy day ended when Claire said that it was time for us to leave. I felt sad not wanting the day to end yet even though it was already 8 pm. But to my surprise, I was wrong. So here I was, about to eat dinner with Claire in a Japanese Restaurant near the amusement park.

She ordered Chicken Teriyaki, Pork Tonkatsu, and Tempura with side stewed veggies. I offered to pay the bill. But it turned out Claire is a shareholder of the restaurant. So instead, the manager just charged it on her tab. Talk about rich people's benefits.

While waiting for our orders to be served, Claire began asking me for my thoughts on the amusement park. I said that I liked every ride. They had a variety of rides that even kids as young as five years old can enjoy. I, of course, did not forget to drag those overpriced hotdogs down. I also think some facilities are a bit old and need upgrading.

As I continued to narrate my perspective on the amusement park, Claire kept taking notes on her phone. She asked me follow-up questions and I answered every one of them as truthfully as I can. When she finished her business interrogations, she continued typing on her phone in silence. It was then I decided to ask her a question of my own.

"So... what business do you exactly have with that amusement park?"

Claire looked up at me for a bit. Then she spoke...

"The management of the amusement park wished to do a partnership with us. I went there to check if it was worth it to do business with them."

"Oh wow! But, shouldn't they give this kind of task to someone with longer work experience instead of a student?"

That question of mine had Claire raising an eyebrow at me. Oh damn!

"I-I don't mean that you're doing a bad job. You're actually very good as a student... Well, not just a student... I mean I am just impressed that they choose you to do this rather than an actual employee... which isn't bad. I-"

Claire cut off my embarrassing rambling by saying...

"I get what you are trying to say."

"Oh... okay! But why you? I guess that is what I am actually trying to ask in the first place." I said almost sheepishly.

Claire looked at me with an expression that I couldn't figure out.

"Oh? You're wondering why I am doing such an important task for my company?"

I nodded in response.

"It's because I'm the CEO. The unofficial one to be exact."

I did my best to suppress a gasp at what I heard. She's the CEO! The actual Chief Executive Officer! The President of the company and she's only 23! I can't believe this business student is already an executive. I'm so glad we are no longer enemies.

"You're the CEO of your multi-company corporation! But the unofficial one? What does that mean?" I asked.

"Well, since my current priority is to finish my studies, we hired an interim CEO. He does most of the CEO work. I only do the important decision-making work like this partnership. But once I graduate, I'll be the official CEO." She explained as if it would make it any less impressive. But that only instigated another question...

"But wait... If you and the temporary CEO are the ones who manage the company, what about your parents? What do they do in your company?"

I saw Claire's eyes grow wide at my question. But it disappeared as quickly as it appeared. She licked her upper lip before answering.

"They are no longer participating in any endeavor of the company."

"You mean... they already retired?" I asked to clarify.

"You can say that," she said almost dismissively. The atmosphere around us felt thick. It felt wrong. But despite that, I still pressed on and continued to ask out of curiosity.

"Retired? But why? Wouldn't it make more sense if they were the ones managing instead of a temporary CEO?"

"Well... they can't," she said starting to look nervous.

"But why?"

I saw her trying to calm herself by steadying her breathing. She closed her eyes a bit. When she opened them, her eyes looked as dim as the night. Then she said...

"Because they're dead."