Page 108 of The Fallacy of True Love
After a quick call from Tala, Alonzo agreed to let their bodyguard drive us to my rental. As we sat in the backseat, it might have been a rerun of last night’s taxi ride if it weren’t for the fact that Kuya Lito wasn’t just any driver and that he would most likely report to Tala about me.
I wondered what Alonzo would tell her, or if I even wanted him to. From his stories, Tala seemed like she had been an honorary parent to him while he was growing up. What she thought of me mattered.
Alonzo leaned close to me and murmured, “I know this is weird, but I promise this isn’t how my life is normally.”
“Now you’re a celebrity by association,” I said, playing off the awkwardness that clung to my skin.
“It’s funny. When I found out Tala had a thing with Jason, I thought it was cool,” he said quietly as he stared at the back of the passenger seat. “I wanted to brag about it to my friends. Then when Tala and Jason moved here, I realized how much it sucks to be anything by association. Popular by association, rich by association—it’s all smoke and mirrors. I didn’t earn any of it. I never want to be measured by what someone else has or does.”
I mulled over his words. “But don’t you want that? The riches and the fame?”
He turned to me, his brows pulled together. “I want security and respect, and the freedom that comes with both. If you swing to the extremes, you’re in a different kind of cage.”
It amazed me how he’d put my own thoughts into words. “I get that. To me, success doesn’t mean being the best. It’s knowing that I can provide for myself and the people I care about, while having the freedom to do what I enjoy.”
He smiled and put his hand on mine. “See? We want the same things.” His eyes widened. “That reminds me—how was boot camp? You met with your manager, right?”
“Potential manager,” I corrected. “I did.”
“And?”
“It was okay.” I hadn’t planned to say more than that, but I found myself adding, “She told me they’re going to implement a new policy where they’ll have face-to-face days each month.”
His fingers tightened. “Seriously? So you’ll be in town once a month?”
“If I get hired. And I accept.”
“You will be hired.” He hesitated. “I thought you wanted the job. Are you having second thoughts?”
“I thought it would be fully remote.”
“It’s just a few days, right?” he asked. “Is Manila that bad?”
No. I’d painted it as the villain for so long, but the layers had chipped and faded over time. It wasn’t until Alonzo that I recognized the changes in my perspective. “It’s not that it’s bad. It’s just not for me.”
He flinched. Moving his hand to grip his thigh, he faced forward. “Got it.”
I did the same and caught Kuya Lito’s glance in the rearview mirror. His eyes shifted as soon as I spotted him, but I felt ashamed that he’d witnessed me hurting Alonzo.
Alonzo, who’d made me feel more seen in a few days than any other man had in my lifetime.
I wanted to grab his hand and promise him I’d find a way to see him more often. I wished I could be the kind of girl who believed in whirlwind romances and fairytale endings—the kind who could gamble everything on a guy who might as well be Prince Charming. But I didn’t have the luxury of risking this little life I built. Not when I was still trying to strengthen its foundation.
So even though my fingers twitched to pull him back, I balled them into a fist and fixed my eyes on the license plate of the car ahead of us.
It was better this way, I convinced myself. Better to cut this fantasy short before we got lost in it.
Yet that didn’t stop me from wishing I’d have this one last night with Alonzo.
Alonzo
After the longest ride of my life, Kuya Lito pulled up in front of Maya’s building. Maya and I thanked him, and I opened the door and stepped out, holding it for her.
“Aren’t you going to ride home with him?” she asked as she got out.
I frowned. “What do you mean? I told you I was staying the night.”
“But—I thought you were mad at me.”
