1 | Casa Antonio

Gianna gazed down at her wrist, looking at the small tattoo she got in her teenage years. It was a dandelion, some of the seeds scattered as if blown by the wind, forming a small musical note. Nothing about the drawing was unique, as surely, a lot of women already had the same tattoo as hers now. She had been thinking about erasing it many times over but decided not to. The black ink looked good in her milky skin, but she would rather it stayed hidden.

She was not someone who dwelled too much on regrets and easily went with the flow of life. She had enough share of dramas and troubles in her life, and now that she was about to turn twenty-nine, she suddenly felt like she wasted a lot of her time.

Twenty-nine, jeez! Time went by too fast, she thought.

Good thing was she got her mother’s genes, and even at her age now, she still looked a youthful twenty-five. She had long hair with big waves, falling just beneath her lower back. She had small frame, her face on a steady pensive mode and her small nose and heart-shaped lips added allure to her aura. She had always been tagged as beautiful, even though she could not see it herself.

“Oh my gosh, oh my gosh!” Shira shrieked, followed by a giggle. “Oh my gosh!”

“What happened? What’s wrong?” Gianna adjusted the bangle to her wrist, hiding her tattoo as she made her way to the register counter to check on her employee.

Casa Antonio was a bar and café built just meters away from South Ganuala’s welcome arch, a quick stop by for tourist who visited the town. In front of the café was the famous wide field of dandelions and sunflower farm. On the second floor of the café was where Gianna lived, together with her brother.

Shira bit her lips, pointing at the TV mounted at the side, increasing the volume from the remote on her hand.

The concert of the decade is coming your way! One of the greatest bands of all time will once and for all, grab their instruments and microphone to sing our memories. Orange Sky, together with some guest bands will give us one night, singing all their greatest hits! More details of the concert will be released by Mojika Label soon. Stay tuned!

“Whoah, is that really happening?” Apollo shook his head, his eyes full of amusement. Just like Shira, he could not contain his excitement. “Dang, I loved that band. Too bad about their two members, though.”

“Maybe they’re doing this for a tribute to them, don’t you think?” Shira said, turning to her colleague. “They literally stop their career when they lost Van and Keith. Oh my God.”

Gianna smiled to herself, watching her young employees get passionate about the band.

“Didn’t know you guys are fans,” she commented, looking at their young faces. “How old were you the last time they were active?”

“I was fifteen,” Shira answered, her eyes dreamy. “I remembered having a huge, huge, crush on Caden. Like, oh my, that guy is so talented and genius. And he’s from here too! Still love him today.” She pointed on the TV screen again, where it showed the Orange Sky’s three living members- Yohan, Hennesy and Caden.

“I know him,” Gianna murmured, staring at the TV.

“Who?” Shira asked, her attention shifted to her boss. “Caden? Or all of them?”

“Oh, just Caden.”

The girl gasped, her eyes grew wide like a kid who had seen her favorite doll. “As in you know, know, him? For real, Ms. Gianna?”

She just nodded.

Shira and Apollo huddled to her side, like kids awaiting bed-time stories.

“What was he like? How did you meet him?”

Shira waved her hand to Apollo, hushing him animatedly. “Is he as handsome as he was on TV? When did you meet him and are you guys like friends? Are you friends?!”

Gianna raised an eyebrow at the two of them. “No we’re not… friends. We just attended the same school- “

“Really?” Shira looked like she was hyperventilating, squirming from where she stood. “Is he good looking? Is he- “

The bell on the front door rang, announcing the entrance of a customer.

“There is a customer, I think,” Gianna cut her off, pointing at the glass door.

Apollo cleared out his throat and nodded, swiftly walking away to greet the customer. “Welcome to Casa Antonio!”

Shira nodded her head as well, composing herself. She smiled shyly and quietly stood at the counter to take orders.

****

“What’s wrong with him? I thought he’s okay with you.”

Gianna closed her laptop and gently pushed it aside. She had been working with a new graphic design for hours now until she felt her eyes getting heavy, as if telling her to take a break.

“There’s nothing wrong with him.” She stared at her mobile phone, moving it closer. Her best friend Eunica was on a loudspeaker, trying her best to understand the situation. “It’s just… I don’t know. He is a nice guy, responsible, gentleman… Good-looing, even. And, well, I do love his cooking. You would love his food. You really would.”

There was a chuckle on the other line.

“Yeah, sweetie, I don’t doubt it. Hell, I love everything about the guy. He is hot, Yanna! He’s way better than your douche bag ex. I mean, just looking at him, don’t you feel anything at all?”

Gianna bit back her laughter. “He sure is hot. But- “

“But what?!” Eunica exclaimed on the other line. “You haven’t tried the real dish yet and you’re already saying no. You said you guys barely kiss and here you are now running away.”

“But it just feels weird, you know? I mean, we’ve been friends for years now and suddenly he wanted a relationship.” She shrugged her shoulders.

“Ever thought he really wanted to pursue relationship all along?”

Gianna knew her bestfriend was right. Their circle of friends always teased them together.

“But he is Gaby’s friend. Isn’t that weird?”

Gaby was her ex-fiance, who cheated on her with a rich girl. She had only found out three months before their wedding, when all was set and ready, invitations already out.

“You’ve got a lot of buts, girl, I’m starting to think you’re just making up reasons again not to fall in love.”

“If you fall in love, you fall in love,” Gianna retorted, narrowing her eyes on her phone. It was Eunica’s words.

The line fell silent for a moment.

“Well, at our age, we’re not really looking into wild romance, are we? Not anymore. I get it, Yanna. But still. Let yourself lose sometimes. And Marson is the guy who would probably be your escape.”

Gianna sighed.

She hated being desperate. She felt like she had been desperate her whole life that she wanted things to go smoothly for once. Marson was what she needed three years ago, with him being the shoulder-to-cry-on-guy. It was easy for her to like him more, be her distraction, given that the guy was insanely good-looking and hot.

She smiled to herself when she started to hear a loud scream from her best friend’s end. It was Cassandra, Eunica’s six-year-old daughter.

“But you know what I always thought?” her best friend started, trying to overpower the screaming of kids at the background. “That you’ve never fully moved on yet.”

She had to roll her eyes, pulling up her foot on the chair. “Trust me, I’ve moved on from that ass. You think I’d waste my time moping for that cheater?”

“He’s not what I’m talking about, and you know that.”

She let out a laugh. “Here you go again with your delusions, Eunica.”

“Hey, I’m just sayin’.” She laughed as well, drowning the outcry on her end. “I just thought you guys have something deeper. Isn’t that why you guys got those matching tattoos?”

She rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest. “This means nothing.”

“Yeah right. Keep telling yourself that, sweetie,” Eunica retorted. “I gotta go. I’m afraid my kid is bullying her friends, I gotta step in.”

“Tell her I said hello and I’ll visit soon.”

Eunica’s voice got louder, as if she pressed her mouth on the receiver. “Will do. Love yah, see you soon!” She then ended the call.

Gianna looked at her tattoo again, a constant reminder of her angst when she was young.

Or maybe, just a plain reminder of a teenage stupidity. She didn’t believe much when it came to happy-ever-afters. Her father left her with an unstable mother, making her childhood a living nightmare for a kid like her.

She had always believed that love was not worth risking for and that both would end up just hurting one another when things started to get out of control. That was how she witnessed her parents acted, anyway.

Then someone came and changed her perspective.

A boy who put rhythm in her monotonous life, a melody she craved as days passed by.

But that part of her life was a lifetime ago. A page in her book that she could never rewrite. And the only memory she had was that stupid tattoo.