Circles: An M|M Contemporary Romance

THREE

MIGUEL

To my immense relief, nothing untoward or unexpected happened, once the gathering kicked off. It started with a Eucharistic celebration led by Father Chua, followed by the opening program and raffle draw, introduction and greetings by the hosting batch, and then the on-the-spot canvassing of the search for this year's Alumni Homecoming King and Queen, which I had suggested myself.

It went mercifully smooth-sailing, up until dinner. Del had followed my suggestions, with her staff guiding and serving the guests. It was a pleasant affair, and nobody choked or died from food allergy on my watch.

Okay, maybe I was overreacting. I needed a distraction and in typical Miguel fashion, I resorted to thinking of the worst-case scenarios.

Anything. Anything, just to keep my thoughts from wandering back to the man who brushed me off like dust on his shoulder, as though we hadn't seen each other in fifteen years.

Fifteen goddamn years.

When the party was in full swing, everything went by in a blur. I tried to keep my spirits up. I smiled. I laughed. I chatted with friends and impressed a handful of committee members. But by dinnertime, I felt physically and mentally exhausted. One minute I was supervising the banquet and the next, we're on to the next set of programs for the night. I was so out of it, I hadn't eaten a single morsel or drank a drop of anything since the wine.

We were on to the second half of the program when a minor hiccup occurred. I was about to fix myself some food when Elise came lumbering toward me, looking a little nerve-wracked. Again.

"Miggy, I've come to tell you the host is still in the bathroom." She said it so matter-of-factly, I had to blink to process what she'd just said.

"Okay," I said, slowly. "And?"

"He's got an upset stomach and needs a moment to recover. We need to introduce the second guest speaker, Miggy. Like, right now."

I swallowed hard and set my empty plate back on the buffet table.

Okay. This isn't as bad as the food delay. I can handle this, at least.

I loosened the top button of my shirt , took a deep breath, and grabbed the program from Elise's hand. "Miggy, what are you doing?" she said cautiously, as I rolled my shirt sleeves up to my elbows.

"The emcee won't be back up onstage until the next raffle draw, right? Do you think he'll be okay by then?"

"I'm not sure, Miggy, but he said the cramps aren't that bad. He just needs a moment to recover."

"Okay. That's...that's good enough, I guess," I said, more to myself. "Listen, Elise. I'll take over, for now. Go and check up on the emcee, please."

"What? Are you sure?" Her question was pitched somewhere between surprise and doubt.

I nodded. Nobody else can salvage the situation, anyway. I squeezed Elise's arm lightly before letting go and stepping forward toward the stage.

"Oh, wait! Miggy, about the guest speaker, he's—" I didn't hear the rest of her sentence as I got up the stage and gathered my nerves.

The music faded and the crowd lowered their voices as I stood on the raised platform, microphone in hand. I couldn't tell if the crowd was surprised, confused, or curious to see their new host.

"Good evening, everybody! It's so lovely to see you all here tonight. I hope you're all having an amazing time!" A round of cheers and whistles erupted from the crowd. When it died down, I cleared my throat. "So we're on to the second part of tonight's program. Well, I know you're all excited for the next round of our raffle draw," I paused as some of the audience chuckled,"but before anything else, let me introduce to you our second guest speaker for tonight."