Page 9 of The Five Stages of Courting Dalisay Ramos

But now that she’s thinking about it, Evan exceeded that first criteria in her list. He wasn’t just handsome, he wasdownright hot. But a proper, respectable Filipino girl such as Dalisay should stamp down that warmth in her belly and distract herself by any means necessary.

She lifts her hand from Nicole’s mouth, certain she won’t be singing any more about that dumb list, and says, “I want to look at theflurbagerbagain.”

Defeated, Nicole groans in her patentedNicole-is-exhausted-and-done-with-todayway as they navigate to another showroom.

“Daisy, Americans don’t know about the Five Stages,” Nicole says, posting up on yet another couch and pulling blankets and pillows around herself to get cozy. People stare at her because she looks like she might just take a nap. Dalisay knows she really might.

“Unless you’re looking to date a Filipino guy, which Mom would be over the moon about, you’re sort of setting everyone up for failure.”

“I don’t want a Filipino guy. I just want … someone who gets it. I want someone who’s serious, who doesn’t want to hook up and leave.” But saying it out loud feels like an excuse.

“You won’t know unless you give them a chance,” Nicole says. “The only way to find out for sure if he’s that kind of guy is to actually, you know, go on a date. Throw that list away and live a little.”

“Is that an American thing?”

“It’s adatingthing. Period.”

“How do you know so much about dating?” Dalisay asks her perpetually single sister, raising a teasing eyebrow.

Nicole slumps back into the couch. Of course Nicole shuts her down, putting on her haughty, know-it-all face. “It’s common sense.”

Dalisay laughs and scrunches up her nose. “You’re right. Enlighten me, dating guru.”

Nicole moves to kick her thigh but misses as Dalisay swings her hips, making her swipe at nothing but air. “Rude! You have a pattern. The moment anyone remotely interesting comes into your life, you find every reason not to go for it.”

“That’s not true!”

“Oh yeah?” Nicole says it like a challenge. “Tell me you don’t always take the safe road, play disinterested because you’ve set your expectations so high that they’re impossible for anyone to achieve, and therefore you prove yourself right by default.”

“I don’t!” It doesn’t even sound convincing to Dalisay’s own ear, but she tries to smile anyway.

“What about that guy at church? The one with the tattoos.”

“He kept calling me sweetheart.”

“Fine, but what about the other one who asked to buy you a chai latte last month?”

“He snapped his fingers at the barista to get her attention. Big turnoff.”

“Okay, yeah, fuck that guy. But you hardly give anyone a chance!”

Nicole’s only half-right. It’s not just that. She’s terrified that if anything goes right in her life, something equally terrible will come soon after. The same week she got the job at Weisure, her dad was diagnosed with cancer. It’s a flawed wayof thinking, Dalisay knows, but she can’t help it. Everything comes in pairs: one good thing happens, and a bad thing is just waiting around the corner. When her father died, it was a stark reminder that good things were temporary. There are a lot of reasons why she’s been single all these years.

Their parents were adamant that none of them were to start dating unless they had gotten a college degree. Even though all three Ramos children—Dalisay, Nicole, and their older brother Daniel—have long since received their diplomas, none of them has dated much. But this lecture is rich coming from Nicole. She never showed any interest in anyone in Manila. She comes off as a little intense, perhaps too intense, for prospective suitors. Her wicked sense of humor and cleverness sometimes turn people off. Dalisay and Nicole are total opposites when it comes to personality, but they talk abouteverything. Maybe it’s a twin thing, maybe just a sister thing, maybe both, but Nicole always calls her out on her bullshit, whether Dalisay is ready to hear it or not.

“Who knows, if I keep my list, maybe I could find the perfect guy,” Dalisay says.

Nicole snorts in doubt. “Perfect guy. Yeah, right. No one is perfect.”

Dalisay doubts that. There must be someone in this world who is perfect, at least perfect for her. She just has to find him.

When she first laid eyes on Evan, she felt something shift, thrum, vibrate inside herself, like someone had rung a bell behind her chest. Those dark curls, the line of his nose, the way shadows played on the grooves of his pale neck … She digs her fingernails into the crook of her elbow and takes a shuddering breath to ground herself. While, yes, she can admitshe finds Evan attractive, she has to keep it together. She’s worked too hard for this new job to throw it all away for some guy. Theywork togetherfor crying out loud.

“I’m in no rush to date,” Dalisay says. “When I find the one, I’ll know.”

But Nicole isn’t listening. She’s staring up at the ceiling, one hand tucked behind her head, her gaze distant.

Dalisay nudges her, snapping Nicole out of her daze. “What?”

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