Chapter 11

We could tell from looking at Paulo's face that he was confused while reading Sera's letter to us. We asked him to come over to the Fixing Hearts Request or FHR office to talk to him about the letter. We know it should be confidential from the recipient, since she didn't even introduce herself in the letter. But we think this is the best way to solve this mystery.

"I don't understand," he said as he placed the letter back on Neil's disastrous desk. "Are you sure that Sera wrote this? This person didn't even introduce herself."

"We know that it was her because we matched the storyline to her story with you," Neil said as he laid his back on his seat, twiddling his fingers as his hands laid on his abdomen.

"I mean, the story is familiar to you, right?" I asked.

"Yeah. I kinda feel like I was the one that was talking about here," he said. "And how it was written, or how it spoke about me is also like Sera."

"And? What do you feel about this if Sera really said these things to you?" Neil asked.

He sighed, sadness written in his face. "Honestly, it felt like she already said this last night. So I kinda believed this letter already."

Me and Neil exchanged glances. We thought that this is already the end of their case. Although it may feel like it has its holes, there's nothing that we can do about it anymore. Relationships have their own endings. Not all of it was good and happy for the both people.

"We appreciate your time, Paulo," Neil said as he shook hands with the man. 

"Thank you, Sir. For calling me here. At least I was able to clarify some things," he said.

"Same with us," Neil said. 

Then Paulo's eyes landed on me. "You know, I feel like I saw you before already."

My eyes widened. "Excuse me? Me? In Starbucks?"

He shook his head. "No. Not just in Starbucks. But a few months back."

Hmm. Maybe he is one of Cristabel's clients? I don't know.

"I am a photographer to events so maybe you have seen me before," I said.

"No. Not as a photographer either," he said then I heard the door knocking and Neil headed towards the door to open it. Before I could even talk, a woman appeared by the door after it was opened by Neil. And that woman is Sera. 

Our heads turned at her. We were surprised with her sudden appearance and even her facial expression looked shocked when she saw Paulo here with us.

"Sera," Paulo said.

"I didn't know you're here too," Sera said in an awkward manner. 

"Yeah. We just discussed the letter that you sent here," Neil said as he walked back to his desk with his other hand inserted in his pocket. He picked up the letter and wiggled it while showing it to us. 

"Letter? What are you talking about?" Sera asked with a confused look in her face.

"Uh... you sent us a letter two days ago?" I asked while shrugging.

She slightly shook her head. "I didn't send no letter here." The three of us exchanged glances at each other.

"Then why are you here?" I asked.

"I-I was about to... " she paused as she looked at Paulo while she was twiddling her fingers. "I was about to ask for some advice."

It looked like she was telling the truth and she was clueless about the letter. Now things are getting complicated and interesting.

Neil asked us all to sit down then he gave the letter to Sera. She read it quietly, then her eyebrows furrowed and it followed a sigh. 

"So?" I asked, curious if she was about to say.

"Obviously, she's not the sender of this letter," Neil said as he laid back to his chair again while staring at the ceiling.

"Then who?" Paulo asked while the two of us were looking at Neil, waiting for answers.

"It's Sen," Sera confessed. The two of us turned our heads at her with a surprised expression. Neil doesn't seem to be surprised by all of this. Maybe he already guessed it a while ago?

"That asshole," Paulo cursed between his breath. "Sera, this is why you're so confusing nowadays! I knew that guy was something."

"How?" I asked Paulo, couldn't take off my curiosity.

"I know Sera that well. That guy has been leeching over her ever since I started dating her. And I could tell how she was changing as days went by. And I thought it was just that because she was really confused."

"I am confused!" Sera said. "Because I feel like I was forced to be with you. Like, if I say no, you'll do something that will ruin me."

"Did I? We broke up yesterday. Did you get a lot of death threats from people?"

Sera was silenced by Paulo's response then she lowered her head. "I just want to be alone for a while and think this through."

"And I am not stopping you."

"But why are you even here?"

"We called him here," Neil said with his arms crossed on his chest. 

"Why?" Sera asked.

"It's because of the letter," I said.

"Why did you call him instead of me?" Sera asked as she let out a nervous chuckle.

"Because we thought that it was you who wrote the letter. So we decided to discuss this with Paulo and ask him what to do with this."

She scoffed. "I should be the one you guys called," she said then lowered her head. "You could've clarified it sooner."

"Anyway." Our heads turned when we heard Neil speaking up in an almost loud voice as he stood up from his seat then walked in front of us. "Never mind who called who to ask about the letter. One thing that I noticed here—you guys just need to communicate." He said as he laid his hands on the sofa and glanced at each of them. "Since you guys are alone now, without the letter and the texting, or someone telling you what to do or not to do, this is a great opportunity for you to talk."

The two people glanced at each other while Neil remained standing in between the two of them. I was sitting at the chair, not too far away and near to them.

Paulo took a deep breath. "I am not forcing you to answer me right away. If what I am doing to you is bothering you, let me know. I'll be more than happy to be informed rather than keeping in the dark."

"But I needed space."

"And you will get that," Paulo said while looking into her eyes. "Even if it hurts, and because I love you, I will let you go, if that makes you happy."

Sera's eyes dwelled up with tears. It feels like she was really confused with the whole situation with Paulo. Hearing those words made her vulnerable once again.

Neil rolled his eyes then sighed. "Just stop holding on and if you like or really love that person, just go with it!"

Sera stood up from her seat without leaving her eyes on Paulo. Then she walked towards him and gave him a hug. Paulo's eyes widened as the arms of the woman was thrown at him. It was an unexpected sight to see but it was a beautiful ending. And I'm glad that Sera finally decided to be with Paulo without having any more doubts. Just love.

Since the case of these two were solved, they thanked us for helping them out and even promised that they would recommend us to their friends if they needed love and relationship help. That alone made me smile and felt proud to help their relationship be fixed. Which at first I thought would suck.

It was already evening when me and Neil were walking with the crowd of students, going to the direction of leaving the campus.

"If Sera could've just talked to Paulo instead of Sen, things would've been easier for them," Neil said.

"Yeah but, Sera and Sen have been friends for years. Sera only knew Paulo for months. So you couldn't blame Sera for listening to Sen all the time," I said.

"Some people change, Ella," he said as he lit the cigarette while we continue our walk. Some students around us walked a bit away from us because of his smoke. "You can't expect everyone to stay the same."

And he is right. People change. But I think it really depends on the person whether he or she can blend with the new mask of the person. What really matters is, no matter how much you have changed or this person changed, you should still respect their privacy and boundaries.