"Come on, Trixie. It's late. Let's call it a day." Olympia leaned against the doorway of her office and pleaded at her friend with such sad eyes.
Trix didn't even look at her when she said, "Oh spare me your pity, P. I don't want it."
"I think you should take the week off. Go on a vacation." Trix opened her mouth to speak, but Olympia cut her off. "You can't keep living like this." Olympia looked at her with consoling eyes.
"P, I'm perfectly fine living the way I do."
"You call this fine?" Olympia threw her hands up in the air and stomped to her. "Have you looked at yourself lately? You can't tell me that you're pleased with yourself. There used to be days when you would come into the office without even brushing your hair. They look at you and they practically see a neon sign that says 'loser' flashing over your forehead! Come on, Trixie. You are lifeless here. You need to get out."
Trix looked up a few moments later with a resigned look on her face.
She is on top of her career as the head of the Marketing Department in a multinational financial corporation in Perth. A job with lots of money and recognition.
She's used to being independent, to doing things by herself. She wanted to be strong, so no one would have to worry about her. She was ultra-competitive, which was why her recent failed relationship hit her the hardest. That was the only thing she couldn't fix. She thought she was a failure.
"I'm tired, P. Just leave." Trix shooed her away. She didn't need anyone reminding her of how much of a loser she was. Olympia was right and it sucked.
"Do you remember the guy at the car show selling the 1970 Mustang? He's tall, dark and ruggedly handsome. Definitely your type. He gave you his card. Why don't you go out? Date him."
"I can't remember the guy. You know I'm bad with faces, P."
"What I'm saying is, have fun. You shouldn't be here this late. You're drowning yourself with work." Olympia plopped herself next to the window that overlooks the city. The lights from the buildings outside twinkled and illuminated the dark sky. The traffic and pedestrians below are micro-sized from that height.
"P, just go home. I'll be fine," murmured Trix in a lifeless tone. Her eyes remain focused on her monitor as her fingers danced over the keyboard.
The harder Trix worked, the less time she had to think and mourn her loss. The more of a workaholic she was, the less time she had to wallow in her own misery.
And yet it didn't work.
"I could stay with you for as long as you want." Olympia grabbed her friend's hand and stopped her from typing. "And for as long as you're treating tonight." She winked.
Trix squeezed her friend's hand and gave her an appreciative smile.
* * *
Trix and Olympia decided to hit a karaoke bar conveniently located in Queen St. just a block away from their office building.
They confirmed their reservation with the receptionist. Olympia booked a karaoke room for 3 hours and ordered a bucket of beer and finger food.
The ambiance was very convivial and they chilled out on their comfy sofas at the reception area and snapped photos while they waited for their room to get prepared.
After a few minutes, the staff led them to a small party room. Olympia squealed when the attendant turned the karaoke machine and the microphone on.
"Okay! I'm gonna go first!"
On the screen, a dozen song titles appeared.
Olympia searched through the songbook for songs to sing. Her eyes widened as she scanned the list. She grinned when she finally found her song. She picked her song plus added a couple more to the queue before the music started.
Trix smiled as she leaned back on the comfy leather sofa, next to Olympia. She felt grateful that Olympia invited herself to drink and have some fun with her. Whatever fun meant at that moment.
"Not having fun?" Olympia asked after she finished her song.
"I am." Trix forced a smile.
"I think you should go next." Olympia handed the mic over to her. "Come, on! You know you want to!"
Trix shook her head. "P, I'm not in the mood to sing."
Olympia rolled her eyes at her.
"Fine," Trix muttered, and chuckled at her friend's reaction. She grabbed the songbook and searched through it while Olympia belted out her next song.
Trix couldn't help but admire how cool her best friend was. She had a great singing voice, too.
Another song with an up-beat, pop rhythm came on next. Olympia happily swayed back and forth in time with the tune. Her grin was so wide, it was a wonder her face didn't split.
Apparently, Olympia had saved seven songs in a row. So much for giving Trix the chance to sing. Finally, it was Trix' turn and she chose the song "I Never Loved You Anyway" by the Corrs.
As the chorus of the song came up, she belted out the lyrics by heart.
Who was she kidding? Blinking away the tears, she shook her head.
When she finished, her face warmed up as a familiar melancholic tune emerged from the karaoke box and her heart beat faster. It was a song that resonated with a kind of love that is true but distant and hence, unbearably out of reach.
"Ooops, that's mine!" Olympia grabbed the microphone from Trix.
It was a song that reminded Trix of her ex. This particular Ed Sheeran song made her weep like a willow tree after a thunderstorm.
It has only been a week since she and Rafael broke up.
The weeks she spent investigating, gathering information, proofs and facts that Rafael was cheating had been the most miserable weeks of her life. Trix had looked older over the past couple of weeks and lost twenty pounds. She was so exhausted digging for the truth, and when she found it, her world was turned upside down.
Rafael was her everything: her high school crush, her first kiss, first makeout, first sex, first love and now, the first person to broke her heart. He was the only man she's ever wanted. She thought he was perfect.
After graduating from college, Trix got a job offer that she couldn't turn away in Perth. Also a chance to get away from her overbearing mother.
She and Rafael went through their options and decided to give long distance a shot. She left Philippines and worked abroad. They did well until their first year and then Rafael came down with a terrible case of "grass is greener on the other side". He eventually followed Trix and moved in with her.
She was the financier, the responsible corporate high riser with the strict daily routine who prefers intimate dates, quiet classical music and a day at the museum. On the other hand, he was horrible with money, a freelance photographer who finally graduated at 25, loves a big raucous rave parties, and a day spending with his Playstation.
They had a couple of years of bliss so to speak.
When she found out she was pregnant, Madonna's "Papa Don't Preach" comforted her as she sang and danced to it non-stop. Then there were miscarriages - one after the other.
Rafael made her laugh and told her what she wanted to hear. Then she caught him holding hands with a girl with a baby bump of her own. What a blow.
After that incident, she didn't want to listen to any music at all. She just wanted to lock herself in her room, call her best friend Olympia and talk all night, trying to convince herself that Rafael didn't mean anything to her at all. She still cried herself to sleep.
Trix isolated herself from the world since the break-up.
Rafael had stripped her down, taken away the final pieces of the broken shell that she was, so that she had no choice but to rebuild. She hated him for making her weak, but she hated herself even more for letting him do that to her.
Sensing that Olympia was watching her, Trix glanced at her friend but quickly avoided Olympia's gaze and chugged down her beer.
"I hate seeing you like this, Trixie," Olympia began. "Do you wanna talk about it? You know you're gonna have to get it out eventually."
Trix bit her lip. She has been crying since Rafael left, and frankly was tired of doing so. Her heart was like a dam dangerously cracked - stable one second and spilling over without warning. She finished the rest of her beer and banged it on the table with a sigh.
"What is there to say, P?" She stammered as she wiped away the two teardrops that snaked down her cheeks. "Raffy took everything from me. He left nothing but a broken heart and a few overdue bills." She chuckled bitterly.
"I know it's not easy going through this pain. But you just have to believe in yourself. Believe that you are strong enough to overcome this heartbreak," Olympia reassured Trix with a look of sincerity on her face.
Trix laughed a drunk laugh, the beer already gone to her head. "You know what, we had remarkably similar taste in music; most of what I listened to with him during our time together, I loved, and still love. Which means, I had to delete a bunch of my favorite songs because I couldn't bear the sound of them." She laughed in between her sobbing.
Olympia comforted her with a hug. "Trixie, sometimes you just have to delete the songs, erase the messages, block the numbers and move on. You don't have to forget who was he to you but you have to accept he isn't that person anymore."
"I'm scared to start from scratch again, P," Trix cried. "They say time can heal all wounds but sometimes the ticking is so loud, it feels as though time is standing still." Tears rolled down her cheeks. Olympia hugged her tight as Trix broke down on her shoulder.
"I know you're stronger than this, Trixie," Olympia gently stroked her hair.
"Had I known he was going to do this to me, I should've picked Eugene over him. Remember him? My childhood friend whom I betrayed," Trix slurred.
"Yeah, yeah, I remember."
"I should've told the truth and let Raffy suffer the consequences. I shouldn't have turned my back on my best friend," Trix sobbed uncontrollably.
"Shh…Trixie listen. No amount of guilt can change the past. It is what it is. Just don't make the same mistake twice." Olympia smiled.
"Maybe it was karma bitch-slapping me in the face. I ruined someone's future because back in high school I was another teenage girl who'd do anything for her boyfriend," Trix laughed and cried at the same time.
Maybe it was the alcohol or the fact that Trix was exhausted. She felt ridiculous.
"Better be slapped with the truth than kissed with a lie." Olympia cupped her friend's cheeks, turned Trix' head towards her own face, and grinned. "We're here for you, okay?"
"Thank you, P." Trix hugged Olympia tight.
Sometimes it only does take one person to reassure you that there is always a rainbow after the storm.