She Was Ylian
The first time I met him...
I waited beside the guardhouse though I knew that some emergency at the hospital might prevent Arthur from coming. I amused myself by singing the chorus of my favorite Korean song repeatedly.
A man I didn’t know walked up to the guardhouse and stood there for several minutes. He wasn’t talking, just staring at me. I didn’t like it, of course; it irritated me. He was wearing a plain green short-sleeved polo over a white shirt, a nice pair of denim pants, and a pair of black flip-flops.
Finally, I couldn’t stand it anymore. “Do I know you?” I asked.
“You must be Ylian,” he said flatly.
Hearing my name spoken like that by a complete stranger almost made me go into hysterics. So I began refreshing my mind with all the guys I knew, and I just couldn’t find his image. I looked at him again and scanned his face but still couldn’t find anything familiar.
He began again, taking a deep breath before speaking. “The doctor sent me. I’m his brother. He has patients still waiting; he said he’s sorry.”
He seemed shy, a surprising contrast to his tan skin and masculine build. He didn’t look into my eyes when he spoke. But I got back to reality quickly. How could such a nice man have offered a date and then turned his back the next second?
The “evil me” had been right after all – all men were wastes. I scanned his face again to ease my anger. He wasn’t as good looking as the doctor. Dark skin, shy attitude . . . but I had to admit that he was a cutie. He must have thought that I was angry based on my expression when the doctor dumped me through him. Being the strong-willed girl that I was, I wanted to make it look as if that didn’t bother me.
“It’s fine. Just tell him I understand.” I pouted my lips, removing the tension as I tried to look convincing. “Anyway, I still have a class, so I should get going.” I turned my back on him.
“Please don’t go!” he shouted. It had taken him almost a minute before he could speak. I turned to look at him over my shoulder. From a distance, he didn’t look courageous enough to speak those words.
Honestly, I hadn’t expected that. I stopped, but I didn’t walk toward him; I didn’t even face him again. I didn’t really care what he had to say.
“Come back! Please!”
I faced him this time.
“Will you promise not to get mad if I tell you something?”
I thought he must be embarrassed by his behavior – creating a scene with more than forty students watching. I looked around me, and, unfortunately, dozens of eyes were staring at me as if I were the culprit.
I had no choice but to walk quickly toward him. When he could finally see me clearly, I glared at him as if he were a criminal. “What you have to say had better be worth it, or I’ll shout out that you’re a convict in front of all these students!”
He was quite terrified with the warning I gave. Seconds after he spoke, “I was the one who phoned.”
I didn’t say a word. My just disappointment faded, overwhelmed by a huge question – why?
“I saw you in the hospital the other night. You look just like someone I know . . . I . . . .”
I interrupted sarcastically, not giving him the liberty to finish. “Now I have a twin?” I quickly turned my back on the disgraceful person I couldn’t believe I’d given my precious time to. And he wasn’t contented; he kept me from walking away by pulling my left arm, forcing me to stop.
“I wanted to meet you . . . to know you. I’m sorry; my brother was out, and I looked in your files.”
He was really going overboard this time. I glared at his arm on mine, and he released me.
“Oh, wow! So now I’ve got myself a stalker!” I only acted angry. I weirdly realized, seconds after his confession, that it was no big deal to me – him, disguised as the doctor. I just wanted to know the true reason behind his bizarre behavior. I didn’t want to believe the earlier confession was the truth. Looking like someone he knew – it sounded too shallow.
“Please. Just this time, listen to me,” he said, in a passionate tone.
Well, he didn’t look like a rapist or a criminal. But I saw something in his eyes – an atypical form of sadness. His eyes were begging me to listen. I think that’s why I wasn’t afraid of him.
“How do I know you have no bad intentions?” I demanded.
He put his right hand inside his pocket and pulled out a piece of folded paper clipped between two fingers. Holding it out to me, he said, “I have my police clearance with me.”
In my mind then, I wished he’d speak the truth from his heart; I’d be glad to listen.
Impressed by the fact that he’d prepared that authority thing, I accepted his invitation to an expensive restaurant. Miguel, as he told me his name was, walked behind me as we followed the hostess to our cozy table, as if he didn’t want me to trip. His cuteness got every guest’s attention. I couldn’t believe that such a man was walking behind me.
We sat down, and I looked around me, bewitched by the elegant decor and the captivating music. I ordered fish fillets with marinara sauce while he had some meat.
Again, I looked at his face to scan it. Whenever I did and he saw it, he would voluntarily smile. He was starting to give me the impression that he was nice. The mystery behind his sad eyes attracted me; it’s like saying, unfold me. But it was too early to tell, still too early to trust.
Miguel broke the silence. “How are your studies going?”
“Pretty well,” I answered.
He was looking straight into my eyes; it made me a bit embarrassed. I wasn’t sure whether I blushed; I hoped not.
“Do you often do that?”
I felt self-conscious and rolled my eyes. “Do what?”
“Pout like you’re about to kiss,” he said, smiling. “It’s cute.”
I smiled briefly, not wanting to make him too comfortable.
His sad eyes looked more expressive, almost inviting. They seemed to be telling me nice things. If I had rated him then, it would have been a six out of ten – a friend. Well, not bad, the way he’d reached out, knowing that we were strangers to each other. Giving him a higher rating, let’s say, a nine, would put him on too high a level – not a friend but a crush.
“You really do look like a girl I know, now that I can see you up close.”
That hit me painfully. So, he was looking at my eyes, my face, but he was seeing another girl. How could he do that to me when I was starting to see the beauty in him?
“That’s not surprising,” I replied, trying to piss him off and maybe get the real score. “I always get that comment from guys I meet.” Did I really look like someone he knew or was he trying to get to me through that strategy? I had to know. “So, who is she in your life?”
“Who?” Now, he was pretending to be confused.
“The girl I resemble. Who is she in your life? Girlfriend? Ex-wife?”
Miguel didn’t answer. His face changed from looking light and relaxed to looking distracted. I started to regret my question, the tone I’d incorporated it with, the exaggerated drawl, and all that.
I saw his jaw drop, and then he exhaled deeply. “She’s not important,” he said coldly. He was drumming with two fingers on the table continuously.
“I see,” I said, ending that conversation for the moment.
The waitress brought our drinks, orange juice for me and black coffee for him, and left.
He squirmed restlessly in his chair after that exchange about the other girl. Somehow, I think he regretted mentioning her. His fingers wouldn’t stop making that drumming noise.
“Did you also go to med school?” I asked to break the ice and calm him down.
“Ah, no!” he responded quickly, looking ready to jump off his seat. What was wrong with medical courses to make him act that crazy?
He put down the coffee mug, ran his red tongue over his upper lip, and said, “I’m a civil engineer. But at the moment, I man stores.”
“Family business?” I asked, putting my glass of juice back on the table after a sip.
“Yes. My parents own a few pharmacies.”
“What happened to the engineering thing?” I asked, suddenly curious.
I was analyzing every part of him – especially his face. His expressive eyes had chocolate-brown irises, just a little darker than mine. Small ears, yeah, extraordinary small, like those of a three-year-old, perfect nose, and luscious red lips, as if he tinted them with an expensive strawberry balm. So, after observing him for a good while, I confirmed my original opinion – he was cute, so cute.
I had almost forgotten there was a hanging question. He seemed to have noticed that I was busy with his face, so he hadn’t responded yet. I’m afraid I blushed again when I realized that.
I took the liberty of asking once more, “You don’t really like engineering, do you?”
He smiled, flirty this time. “I was too handsome for all the dirt in that field.”
I smiled, too – widely! Not only had his face brightened, but he had also showed a good sign he’d soon get comfortable. And the smile he’d thrown at me was superbly extraordinary – with two dimples flashing! It just made me want to say – wow!
I hadn’t expected him to transform into a terribly handsome guy when he smiled. I mean, he’d smiled at me before but not in a very cool, unreservedly hassle-free way. I sensed that he was starting to feel good, and I liked it.
Throughout the night with Miguel, I just laughed and laughed. At first, I maintained a space between us. I was cautious and always resistant. I created a barrier on a physical and emotional level. But he had a good sense of humor, and the barrier crumbled.
He first got me the moment he showed me the authority thing and again when he made that joke about him not practicing engineering because of the dirt, and he got me even more with the dimples, of course. From then on, I just wanted to listen to what he had to say next, waiting for a chance to see that smile again, a smile that was starting to appeal to my fragile heart.
We went on talking and talking. He told me about his structural engineering classmate who always pursued him, boasting that she brought him lunches but he always managed to avoid her. He said that he would play sick and dizzy at times just to go to the clinic so she couldn’t bother him. The sight of her made him want to throw up, he confessed.
Silly boy. That girl was smart. She has good taste, really good taste, I told myself.
He told me that he wouldn’t comb his hair and wouldn’t brush his teeth for a whole day – all just to sweep away this girl’s infatuation. It was gross, yet I found it amusing.
He walked me home, each of us just a few inches apart from the other. As the cold wind blew across my body, I welcomed the sweet scent it brought – Miguel’s scent.
It was like the scent of cool water – refreshing, soothing, and lasting. We had spent less than four hours together, but his smell seemed familiar to me – the one that I’d always searched for in the moving air.
I felt sudden electricity piercing from some of my tiny fingers going to my nearby nerves. It was just a quick touch, a very quick one, but it meant a lot.
He glanced at me flirtingly with a smile.
“What?” I asked.
He didn’t answer. He just kept smiling.
I had to look away. I couldn’t keep looking at that smile; it almost made me faint. But I couldn’t let the feeling sink within me. I couldn’t.
We went on, walking without any words. I was busy sorting out my contradictory feelings, telling myself that this guy was not to be trusted all the way and that all I saw was a fantasy.
I didn’t know what was in Miguel’s mind. I didn’t have the courage to ask him, not even to look to my right – he might think I was peeking at him!
As we came near my house, he asked me a staggering question. He stopped walking and pulled me to a stop as well.
She Was Ylian
Synopsis
Just as twenty-two-year-old Ylian Lareza thinks that life can't get any better--she’s found
the perfect man and the perfect career--tragedy strikes and she dies of a heart attack.
But Ylian’s story is just beginning.
After dying in the arms of her fiancé, Miguel Montes, she awakens to find herself in Paninap,
a temporary dwelling place set aside for young adults who have died suddenly.
During her forty days in Paninap, she must visit the dreams of living people – family members,
friends, and strangers – to help her forget her earthly life and prepare her for Heaven.
With the help of a new friend named Micah, Ylian (now called Muriel) struggles to accept
her new identity and help a troubled little girl named Afriel.
Though she still loves Miguel, she begins to fall for fellow transient Gavreel,
who tries to erase his own shameful past through loving her.
She Was Ylian
Characters
Ylian Lareza
A young woman from Dau, Philippines who’s stubborn yet with a fragile heart.
She dreamed of becoming an accountant to give her family a better way of living.
She was her grandfather’s favorite granddaughter and many other girls envied her
simple yet irresistible beauty. Before she met Miguel, she believed that
good-looking guys are always unfaithful and looked for fun all the time,
while the ugly ones aren’t even worth looking at if they aren’t intelligent.
Miguel Montes
Always feeling inferior to his brother, Arthur, this young man always felt miserable.
When Lizzi left him for another guy, he gave in to his pain by ending his own life.
He did it not once, not twice, thinking it's the only way to erase the pain.
But fate had been nice to him to keep him alive. Years later, he met a young woman
with a not-unique face. From then on, he never did want to commit suicide again for he had
the best reason to keep living.
Veli Abrielle
She welcomed Ylian in Paninap telling her it is a gift. Along the way, she intended to protect
Ylian against the rebelling Hulkuma but knowing she couldn’t risk the secret mission, she didn’t.
Instead, she gave Ylian the best fetcher in Paninap – Micah. As a first-time guardian,
she tried her best to make every young dead cross Paninap but as evil is inevitable even in
such a place, she failed. Ylian and the secret mission are set to save her ruined reputation.
Meet Micah, Afriel, Gavreel, and a lot more.
Get your copy now.