WHEN SPARKS FLYby Ines Bautista-Yao
Genre: Sweet Romance
Twenty-four-year-old photographer's apprentice Regina has always
felt like the plain, dull orange next to the shiny red apple that is her
best friend Lana. But then she meets Ben—the first guy to ever break
Lana's heart, and the first guy to ever make Regina feel that he only
has eyes for her.
As Regina finds herself falling hard for Ben, she also
finds herself breaking all the rules of best-friendship. Will she give
up the love of her life for Lana, or will she finally realize that she
deserves her share of the spotlight, too?
After Lana had gone,
promising not to dig up more dirt about the newest hussy Ben was
supposedly dating, Regina sat on the grass as Katie and Chris ran
around the field with their other friends. That was where Tita
Beverly found her and plopped down next to her.
“Ever
notice how Chris just follows Katie around?” Regina forced a smile
at her tita.
Tita
Beverly looked at her for a few seconds, as if pondering what she was
about to say, then turned to look at her daughter and her friends.
“He’s a sweetheart. Katie bosses him around, but he doesn’t
complain. As long as I don’t get a call from his mom saying he’s
upset that he doesn’t get to do what he wants, I’m letting them
be.”
“Wise
words.” Regina snapped a few more shots, hoping to distract her
aunt from the earlier drama.
“So
what did Lana want?”
No
such luck.
Regina
put down her camera and let out a deep sigh. She turned her eyes to
her young aunt and studied the features she shared with her daughter.
“What made Tito Patrick different?”
Tita
Beverly let out a laugh. “I didn’t expect that. Where is this
coming from, Reg?”
Regina
shrugged and waited for an answer. It was better than spilling her
guts out and most likely getting a stern reprimand. Her conscience
was already doing that anyway.
She
watched her aunt’s expression soften as she gazed at her husband
who was standing next to the kids, holding their hotdogs. The
preschoolers were trying to throw rings around prizes that were laid
out on a wide piece of plywood. “I guess he was the one I felt the
most like myself with. Does that make sense?”
Regina
felt her head move up and down on its own. She too was looking in the
direction of Tito Patrick, but her thoughts were on someone else.
Someone with round, brown eyes who preened when he talked about being
on TV and complained when made to wear an apron and watch a cheesy
movie.
“What
does this have to do with Lana?” She knew her aunt wasn’t going
to let this go. Katie’s tenacity had to come from somewhere.
“She’s
upset that the guy she was dating is now dating someone else.”
“But
that never got her down before.”
“What
she doesn’t know is, the girl he’s dating…” Regina took a
deep breath, “is me.” She lifted her eyes to her aunt’s, afraid
of what she would see in them. But instead of shock and judgment, she
saw sympathy. And pain.
“Oh,
Reg.”
Regina
closed her eyes and shook her head. “I didn’t mean for it to
happen.”
“No
one does,” Tita Beverly whispered. “Are you going to tell her?”
“If
you were in my place, would you tell her?” Regina gave a
short, bitter laugh. “Sorry, that was rude. No. She doesn’t have
to know. Because nothing is going to happen between us. Nothing
anymore. We had one date. And it was lovely.” Then she straightened
up and clutched her camera to her chest. “But hey, one date doesn’t
make one true love, right?”
Tita
Beverly was searching her face with her eyes, her lips in a tight,
straight line. “No,” she murmured. “It doesn’t.”
“See?
You agree!” Regina didn’t know if this was a victory or not. But
she was going to see it that way anyway.
“But
it can be the start.”
“Tita
Bev, don’t say that!” Regina’s head fell into her hands.
“I
don’t know what’s going on, Reg, but I’m just afraid that
you’ve sacrificed your happiness too many times for Lana. Don’t
get me wrong. I love her. But I worry about you.”
“It’s
nothing, Tita Bev. It’s early enough to break it off.”
“But
I thought there was nothing to break off?” Her aunt threw her a
knowing smile.
“You
know what I mean!”
“Maybe
more than you know. Just stop selling yourself short, okay, Reg? It’s
getting old.”
Reading and writing are close
to Ines Bautista Yao's heart ever since she was a child. She graduated
from the Ateneo de Manila University with a degree in AB Communication
Arts. She has been a teacher at the Assumption College San Lorenzo and
the Ateneo de Manila University's English department.
Her debut novel One Crazy Summer
was first penned in 2007 when she was pregnant with her first daughter
Addie. Being a mother has taken much of Ines' time so she was only able
to write 13 pages of her novel. She completed her story in April 2011,
while three-year-old Addie was sleeping and inspiration struck her
again. Two months later her story was complete. After eight months, her
dream of publishing her own book came true. The book was only launched
last January 26, 2012, but Ines is already writing her second novel.
Most readers can remember Ines as the former editor-in-chief of
K-Zone Magazine
and
Candy Magazine
. At present, Ines is working as an editor of Summit Books.
She is also married to photographer Marc Yao, whom she says she
consults whenever she's stuck in the middle of a story she's writing.
