Contemporary Romance, 340 pages
Cover art by Trisha FitzGerald
Excerpt:
February 17th
“Please be online,” I told Trang. “I have news for you, haha.”
“I’m here. I just finished lunch and I’m about to wash the dishes. What news? Ticket booked?”
“You got it! I found a round trip Manila-Hanoi ticket for $154.75. Good things surely come to those who wait. Thank God!”
“Cool! Congrats!!”
“I’m arriving in No(i Bài Airport at 12:30 am on March 9th, Sunday. I’ll leave by the 12th of March, Wednesday. I’m gonna ask Cherry to fetch me. I will see you and Anh, but don’t tell her. Tell her instead that you and Cherry will hang out on a Sunday, so she can cancel any appointments and the three of us can visit her house for my surprise.”
“Surprise plan again, wow! That’s just a few weeks from now but with only three days here, hmmm, that’s kinda short for me.”
“Well, it’s the quality of the visit and the moments I’ll spend with her. I hope she goes with me to Ha Long Bay for a date, haha.”
“It would be too cold by then and I'm afraid she has classes,” Trang said. “But I think exploring Hanoi is enough for three days and two nights, hehe.”
“Anh told me days ago that she still has time to hang out despite her schedule and oh, haha! I love cold weather.”
“Okay, wait ’til you come here and say that. Cold weather now comes with drizzle and high humidity. It’s the worst weather for me.”
“So I’ll better bring a coat, like the one we had in Tokyo?”
“Yup! Bring a thick one.”
“Maybe you can invite Anh for a group hangout on March 9th.”
“Aha!” Trang exclaimed. “March 8th is International Women’s Day!”
“Great! Invite her for a post-Women’s Day party. I’ll ride with Cherry on his bike and then you’ll drive Anh.”
“So you just want to have the three of us?”
“No, I mean, we will meet the rest, haha. But at night, maybe you and Cherry will stay so I can talk with Anh. You will be our chaperones. Or, you can suggest any creative surprises later.”
“I’m thinking of Cherry inviting everyone to his house for a celebration, then you appear as a surprise to all of us, or at least, to Thuy Anh.”
“Yeah! Cherry is a great host with his four-story mansion. Then I’ll give Thuy Anh flowers, or shall I do it only when it’s just the two of us?”
“We’re planning to have dinner at his house this weekend,” Trang said. “Probably you should give the flowers to her in private.”
“Oh yeah, because you VPYs love to tease.”
“March 8th in Vietnam is as important as Valentine’s Day. So, does Cherry know about you liking Thuy Anh?”
“Not that I know of. Why?”
“If he knows, he might be happy organizing it.”
“I didn’t know that. I’ll tell him when I arrive.”
“I can’t, however, ask for a post-Women’s Day party. It’s up to the boys if they want to do it.”
“All right, Trang. Is it expensive to travel from Hanoi to Ha Long Bay by bus?”
“Not really. Traveling there costs you about four dollars and it’s about two hours and a half.”
“Hmm, it looks like Sunday is the only day Anh could possibly be vacant for long, other than Monday and Tuesday. I’d love to take her to the bay on a Sunday but the problem is how to make her go. This couldn’t be a surprise as I have to check her availability. What do you think?”
No comments:
Post a Comment