Bittersweet Café Basa

Caramel Macchiato (2nd sip)

That night, Vanna invited Maddie and Jake to go singing at a KTV for them to be able to bond together and become better friends as she put it.

 As Jake was singing Michael Bublé’s Everything, his eyes were fixed on Maddie’s that he didn’t even notice Vanna going through his cell phone. It was vibrating so Vanna took it to see who was calling. Just one of Jake’s buddies. She dropped the call. Then, she noticed the warning that the memory of the phone was almost full so she went through the inbox. 

Only 1 message from Maddie:                  

“Thanks for the caramel macchiato u had Starbucks deliver to my house. I  ddnt knw they had a delivery service. Btw, it’s not ur bday. Y r u treating me 2 a crml mcchia2? Is it bcoz ur depressed/unhappy? I think u shud make Vanna happy. Then, maybe ul realize ur happy 2... Bcoz I knw hw mch u luv Vanna. ul definitely be happy if she’s happy…”

That was the only text in his inbox. All the messages she had sent him had been deleted. But why was the phone’s memory almost full? 

Vanna, then, went through the drafts folder where it had more or less 40 messages all meant for Maddie. She read one of them and realized that these messages were love letters for her best friend. In these messages, Jake poured out the feelings he had for Maddie. Sometimes, these messages simply contained the happy moments of his day. Jake never bothered to tell Vanna these things. These messages… Unsent messages… will always remain unsent…

Vanna pressed “Options” then “Delete”. In a few seconds, the drafts folder was already empty.

Maddie went to the restroom after Jake’s song. Now that the couple  were alone in the room, Vanna thought this was her opportunity to clear things with her boyfriend. “Can I ask you something and promise me you’ll be honest with me?” Vanna began. 

“Sure, what is it?” Jake replied.  

“Do you like Maddie?” Vanna dropped the question blatantly. But Jake couldn’t answer. Instead, he just lookeddown not knowing what to say. “I see it now. You don’t like Maddie… You love her…” Vanna added, stressing on the word love. Jake didn’t even try to deny it. 

“Why are you suddenly bringing this up?” Jake asked. 

“I didn’t mind it at first ‘coz I thought you’d learn to love me, too. But until now, you haven’t had a change of heart. Why? Do you think Maddie will like you, too, especially now that you are my boyfriend? She never liked you and she never will. I’ll prove it to you and make you stop your insanity.” Vanna threatened. 

“Stop this craziness, Vanna! I am your boyfriend so why the hell are you making a big deal out of this? Just leave Maddie alone or I will end this so-called relationship.” Jake threatened back.

Then, Maddie stepped into the room, and the two fell silent. 

An hour later, the KTV fun ended and their first stop was at Maddie’s house. Jake offered to walk her to the door when they reached Maddie’s gate. But Vanna intervened and walked Maddie instead. 

“Maddie do you still like Jake?” Vanna began.  Maddie stopped on her tracks “No, Vanna! What makes you think that?!” Maddie denied. She thought that was the best thing to do. She hated lying to her best friend but she had to do it so that Vanna won’t get hurt. Even if that meant her own heart breaking every time she sees them together. 

“It’s just that you and Jake seemed so close with each other. And the way you guys talk and treat each other… It just looks like you guys are in love. I don’t know… Don’t mind me. It’s just my jealous mind. Well, good night, then.” Vanna said and gave Maddie a peck on the cheek. “Don’t worry, Vanna. I’ll try to keep my distance from him so don’t get too jealous…” Maddie assured Vanna and waved good bye to her. Vanna went back with a smile to the car after Maddie had gone into the house. 

That night, before Jake went to sleep, he texted Maddie about how happy today was for him that they got to hang out together and all. He waited for her reply but there came none. Usually, they’d be texting for hours but tonight, she didn’t even reply a single text.  

“Maybe she’s already asleep. Sweet dreams, Maddie. I better go to sleep. Maybe I’ll get to meet her in my dreams.” Jake said to his self. He closed his eyes and dreamt of Maddie. But that dream was a nightmare for him. What he feared Maddie would start doing is what she did in his dream. 

Jake awoke, jumping from his bed. He sure had a nightmare! He quickly texted Maddie. 

“Gud morning! How was ur sleep? Me? I had a nightmare! =(” He texted. 

After taking a bath, he checked his phone to see if Maddie had replied but, still, there was none. Jake wondered why Maddie wasn’t replying but he thought maybe she just hadn’t seen her phone. 

Off he went to school and looked for Maddie. He spotted her sitting by the fountain. He called out to her. 

Maddie heard Jake calling her but she didn’t look. Instead she gathered all her things as fast as she could, got up and walked away. He wondered why Maddie was suddenly acting that way. 

“Has she found out that I like her? Did Vanna tell her about it?” Jake asked to himself.

Maddie had a ten minute break in between her classes so she decided to go out and grab something to eat first. However, Jake was already waiting outside her classroom. He approached her and handed her a drink and something to munch on.

“Here, I got you some butterscotch cookies and a caramel macchiato.” Jake said to Maddie with his arm stretched out to give them to her. She just ignored him. She turned right and began to walk away without even looking at Jake.

Jake was about to go after Maddie when Vanna called out to him “Jake! Oh, you brought me some food! That’s so sweet! I’ve been starving! Thank you!” Vanna said as she took the food from Jake’s hands and ate them. He just let Vanna eat them all as he wondered why Maddie’s been avoiding him. 

After the break, Maddie and Vanna went to their Psychology class together, and Jake left for his Algebra class. As Maddie was quietly listening to the professor lecturing, a note was passed to her. It was from a guy asking her out. Vanna saw what the note said and whispered to Maddie, “You know what I think? Maybe you should create an imaginary guy to show him you’re not interested. He’d surely stop if he knew you have someone in your heart.” Maddie and Vanna both laughed in a hushed tone.  Vanna’s advice gave Maddie an idea. 

Jake kept texting Maddie quotes and jokes, hoping that she would finally reply. This went on for days. Sometimes Jake would even fall asleep with his cell phone in his hand and Maddie on his mind.

After days of patiently texting her, he finally decided to talk to Maddie because he couldn’t stand the loneliness he was feeling without Maddie in his life. He, then, tried looking for Maddie at places where she usually hangs out. Finally, after hours of searching, he saw Maddie sitting on a bench under a tree. He was about to approach her when suddenly a guy he had never seen before sat beside her and started tickling her. He stood there a bit shocked. 

He was ready to turn around and take his leave when Vanna arrived. “Hey, Jake! Watcha doin’ there?” Vanna said in a playful tone. She looked around and saw Maddie with some other guy. “Oh, look there’s Maddie… and she’s with Carlo! C’mon! I don’t think you’ve met him. He’s such a funny guy!” She tugged Jake along to where Maddie and Carlo were. Jake followed with a seemingly sour look on his face. As if every step made him green with jealousy. 

As days went by, Jake and Maddie were growing farther apart. To make things worse the two “couples” started double dating. Maddie seemed happy with Carlo—that‘s what Jake saw, but that was not what Maddie felt. It was the exact opposite. For every smile she made was a pound of sadness weighing down on Maddie’s already wounded heart. She was starting to like Carlo but, then, she can’t deny the fact that her heart very well knew whom she really loved.