The Admirer I Never Met and the Flowers I Never Received

Years ago, while working in Makati, I got a call in the office from this guy who asked me how I liked the flowers he sent.  I said, “what flowers?”.  He said, “oh, you didn’t get it?”  To this day, I still don’t know whether he was pulling my leg or there were really flowers that were delivered somewhere else.  I thought he was going to find out what happened and then let me know but he never mentioned it again.  Anyway, we started talking, I can’t remember what about really but I did ask him how he knew me – my name, when, and where did he see me.  He didn’t give me a straight answer which was really weird.  He did give me his name and his office building.  We were not next door to each other although my building was also in Gil Puyat.  My office was at Comfoods building and his was at the Pacific Star building, assuming he was telling the truth.  I remember he had a really nice voice.  Very male and…. sexy?  I don’t know, but he sounded really attractive.  After a few minutes of talking we hung up and I thought that was that.

A couple of days later I got a call in the office again.  It was a Saturday so we were working half day.  I said I “got a call” because it was not him who made it but his assistant.  He asked her to call me to set-up, essentially, a date with me.  I believe the exact words she used was “he wants to see you”.  I was taken aback and honestly it did not sit well with me.  For one thing, it sounded like an order and for another, asking your assistant to arrange your date?  I really did not know how to take it.  Looking back, it sounded like I was acting a scene out of a Harlequin Romance novel.  Like a Lynne Graham novel, almost.  Unfortunately, I had stopped reading those kind of novels at that point and it felt weird to received such an invite. So, my response was, “he asked you to arrange a date with me?  Where is he?”  The assistant sounded surprised by my response and kind of stammered a little and asked me if I wanted him to give me a call when he was free.   I told her yes.  I wasn’t about to discuss whether or not I wanted to go on a date with him with his assistant.  

He called me a few minutes later and told me he wanted to meet at Shangri-la.  I forgot now whether it was to be at the bar, cafe, or restaurant.  He said his driver will pick me up wherever I wanted him to pick me up.  He further told me that I could bring a friend if it made me more comfortable.  I guess at that time I just really did not know how to react and I found the whole thing so bizarre that I refused to see him.  I made up an excuse that I was dressed casually and that I lived in San Pedro, Laguna (that was true) and didn’t want to go all that way to change.  Finally, I told him that I was quitting my job and going to my home city and so any further contact would just be pointless.

To this day, I still wonder…..was he married but wanted me to be his mistress…..single…..good looking….tall……rich (he sounded like it)……I think he was smart…….where did he see me…….how did he know my name…….?????  What happened to the flowers?  Should I have met with him?

Santa Fe, New Mexico

I decided to visit a former officemate who is from Albuquerque, New Mexico for a weekend back in July of 2007.  When she quit her job here she went back to Albuquerque.  My friend Gracie Lee decide to tag along.  My friend from ABQ told me that she and another friend were heading to Santa Fe the weekend of our planned visit to watch the opera.  I said okay, we’ll head to Santa Fe too since we’ve heard that it’s really nice up there.  The opera tickets were already sold out so we agreed that Gracie Lee and I will just hang around the old town while she and her friend Terri went to the opera.

We arrived in ABQ early Saturaday morning.  Annie picked us up at the airport and gave us a little tour of the University of New Mexico.  That’s where she works and is also an alumna.  After that, we dropped by her parents house to pick up her luggage and drove to Santa Fe.

 

Our room wasn’t ready yet when we got there so we went in search of lunch.  We found this southwestern food restaurant which seemed to be really popular – the wait was long – so we decided to try it.  The food was great although I don’t remember what I had anymore. Not the name anyway. I think I had some kind of green chile soup.

After lunch, we meandered around town and went into this small jewelry shop called the Crown Jewels.  They had some real interesting pieces and though I’m not much into costume jewelry, I ended up buying this ring with a really large rough cut stone which is yellow-orange in color.  Citrine maybe?  We had great fun in that store.  We even kept the staff amused too.

With our goodies paid for, we headed back to the hotel and checked in.  We went back out again and went to the town square.    It must have been market day since there were plenty of stalls with things for sale – from food, jewelry to paintings.

 

For dinner, we went to a restaurant called Cafe Paris.  My friend likes all things “Parisien” so I wasn’t surprise that she booked us there.

Back at the hotel, while waiting for my friends to finish changing for dinner, I was browsing through a Santa Fe magazine and on the cover was Ali MacGraw.  Apparently, she is a resident.  Well, when we were seated – we had patio seating – a group of women came in.  One of the women looked really familiar to me and I thought I’ve just seen her very recently.  Then, I realized I was looking at Ali MacGraw.  I would probably not have recognized her had I not browse through that magazine in the hotel.  People were not staring either so we wouldn’t have any indication that there was a celebrity dining there also.  Didn’t feel like going to a bar after dinner so Gracie and I just went for  a walk while Annie and Terri went to the opera.

The next day, we checked out after breakfast and then explored the town some more.  We went to the Georgia O’Keefe museum, did a little bit of shopping and then drove back to ABQ.  I wanted my rice fix so we went to a Thai restaurant for lunch.  Got some coldstone ice cream for dessert and then Annie dropped us off at the airport to catch our flight home.