Summary: The ladies are spending their last night in China bonding and talking about their love lives and Hana begins to understand her true self.
After midnight, the rooms at The Peninsula Shanghai were usually quiet. But one of the luxurious suites of the hotel was filled the sounds of romantic pop music and bubbly laughter that night. Jade was painting Hana’s nails and talking to her as they watched a romcom during their sleepover. She has been talking for several minutes before she realized it had become a monologue. “Hana?”
“Uh huh…” Hana murmured, not really paying attention to what Jade said.
“You’re really taken by Hugh Grant, aren’t you?” Jade cocked an eyebrow.
“Who?” Hana replied distracted.
“Heh. It’s the actor who plays William Thacker in the movie.”
“Oh. He’s cute and clumsy, dorky and sooo dreamy,” she swooned.
“I knew you’d love this film.” Jade smiled as she resumed applying the black nail polish on Hana’s toenails, letting her friend watch the movie without any random babbling. When the movie ended, Hana was sobbing a little.
“Oh! This ending! It’s so beautiful.” Hana ran her fingers on her cheeks to wipe the tears that kept falling uncontrollably.
“Aww… Come here,” Jade pulled Hana into a tight hug. Hana slid away a little and lied down, resting her head on Jade’s lap. She stroked Hana’s hair, soothing her.
“Thank you for showing me that film. It was lovely.” Hana said, looking up at Jade.
“Anytime,” Jade beamed.
“I have one question, though.”
“Shoot.”
“How do I know if I’m falling in love?”
“It depends. Everyone sort of has their own personal M.O., but usually, you can’t stop thinking about the person you love, sometimes you get goosebumps just for daydreaming about them, you feel butterflies fluttering in your stomach when you see them, your heartbeat races when they come closer, you feel the urge to touch them…”
“Oh,” Hana looked down.
“Something wrong?”
“Maybe… I think I’ve never been in love.”
“You never felt that way about anyone? At all?” Her eyes widened.
“Not really. The only relationship I had was with my ex-fiancé and he didn’t even kiss me the way you did at Ramsford.” Hana confessed.
“Was that engagement photo kiss the only one he gave you?”
“No… He kissed me a few other times, but there weren’t these sparkles, these exciting feelings you said. He was nothing like William Thacker.”
“Hana, no real-life relationship is like the ones we see in the movies. They may inspire us, but it’s not how it happens.”
“So I can’t fall in love with a stranger who spilled juice on my dress or was just kind to me while I was waitressing at his bachelor party?” Hana smirked.
“I didn’t say that.” Her lip twitched, suppressing a smile. “What I meant to say is that falling in love isn’t always going to happen in a sweet clumsy way and you can’t expect love will always be about romantic gestures and picture-perfect scenes.”
“Why not? Isn’t Liam romantic? I mean, I just played piano with him once and even though he wasn’t into me, he was charming and sweet.”
“What? When did you…?”
“During social season. Every suitor had a moment with him at the time.”
“Oh, yeah…” Jade looked away, biting her thumbnail.
Hana giggled. “You don’t need to be jealous. Liam is just a dear friend.”
“I know that…” Jade narrowed her eyes before changing the subject. “Well, some people don’t fall in love easily. Maybe you’re one of them.”
“Yeah, probably… But I’m not even sure how it feels like.”
“Hana, don’t worry about that. When the time is right, someone will sweep you off your feet.”
“Okay. But how does it start?”
“It starts with the basic: attraction. You feel drawn to someone for some reason you don’t know why. Maybe you find them cute, or interesting, or intriguing. Then the other signs I told you will eventually come up.”
“Huh.” Hana’s brows furrowed as she caressed her bottom lip with her forefinger and middle finger.
“Mmm…” Jade smiled slyly. “What are you thinking about?”
“Uh, nothing.” Hana sat up abruptly and grabbed a nail polish. “Do you want me to paint your nails?”
“Oh no no no… You’re not dodging the subject now.”
Hana tried to hide her blushing cheeks turning away and walking to the door. “I need to go back to my room and get my pajamas.”
“Bullshit,” Jade smirked and followed Hana, who started to run around the room. They kept chasing each other until Hana tackled Jade. They lost balance and fell on the mattress, ruining the pillow fortress structure. They began to tickle each other and soon they both breathless from laughing. Lying on their backs on the bed, they exchanged smiles and Jade held Hana’s hand, squeezing it gently. “Hey, you know you can tell me, right? You don’t have to tell me anything, but I want you to know that you can trust me. I won’t tell anyone or judge. It’s friendship rule number one.”
“I know, it’s just-” Hana trailed off, blushing more. She took a deep breath. “Okay… I had a thing for you.”
“I knew that.”
“What?!” Hana stared shocked at Jade.
“I knew it since Drake’s birthday when we rode the mechanical bull together and you fell on me and stared at my lips.”
“That was a weird night. I barely remember things after all those shots.” Hana felt her cheeks heat again.
“Hmm…Interesting. Because I remember a very giddy Hana describing a warm tingling sensation spreading between your legs while riding the bull when we were freshening up at the ladies room.” Jade smiled mischievous, making Hana shift and lay on her stomach hiding her face under her folding arms.
“Mechanical bulls and whiskey are an evil combination,” Hana said, her response muffled by the pillow she pressed her face on.
“That’s true. But is that it? Because you don’t look like you’re still into me.”
Hana turned over and looked at her friend. “Yeah, I mean, I still think you’re gorgeous and I love you, but just as my best friend.”
“Okay, I get that. Who else?”
“What? There’s no one else…” Hana looked away. She could have diverted this situation easily if it was anybody else. But it was Jade she was talking to.
“Hana, don’t make me torture/tickle you again because I will.” Jade mockingly glared.
“Hey, you just said I don’t have to say it now. Friendship rule number one?”
“I could always torture you and send you a box of macarons as an apology later, but it’s alright. No need to tell me who is she.” Jade shrugged.
“Jade, I want to tell you. But I’m confused.” Her lips trembled.
“Confused? What’s going on?” Jade’s brows furrowed. She turned to the side and held Hana’s shoulder. “Hey, you don’t have to tell me who is, but you can tell what you’re feeling. Maybe I can help.”
“Uh… It’s-” she bit her lip nervously. “I like a boy now. But I still like girls. What is wrong with me?”
“Sweetie, there’s nothing wrong with you. You’re wonderful. Feeling attracted to both men and women is completely normal. From what I read about it, there’s a chance that 50% of the world population is bisexual.”
Hana’s mouth fell open. “Is that what I am?”
“I don’t know for sure. You don’t have a huge dating history that we could base on to analyze your sexuality, but you could be sexually fluid. Or maybe pansexual, or-” She stopped talking as soon as she looked at Hana, who seemed even more confused than before.
“That’s a lot of different terms. What are those? Where do I fit in?”
“That question is going to take some time to be answered, but you know what? Let’s put the labels aside for a second. We need to talk about you. How did you feel about me?”
“I felt charmed. You have that effect on people because you’re so outgoing, so easy to talk to. And you’re smart and genuinely nice. I could kiss you all day.”
Jade blushed. “Okay, I’m flattered. And a little uncomfortable with that many compliments. Did you want to get into my pants?”
“Err… I don’t know if I can pull off something like those skinny jeans of yours.”
Jade shook her head smiling. “No, I meant to say if you thought about having sex with me.”
“Oh… Yes, once. That night when I told you about the bull.”
“Of course it was that night,” she gave Hana a smug smile. “And did you think about dating me?”
“For a little while, yes.”
“Now think about this guy you’re into. How does he make you feel?”
Hana closed her eyes. It was as if he was right in front of her. She could see his dark hair, deep chestnut eyes, his perfectly sculptured body and lightly sunkissed skin. His smell is a thrilling combination of fresh citric scents and aged alcohol. He doesn’t smile much, but when he does, it’s as warm as a summer breeze. He’s sweet, even though he doesn’t like to show his soft side much. He’s strong, stubborn, grumpy. But he’s loyal and he can be gentle. He is always gentle with her. Sometimes a little overprotective. But she liked every single thing about him.
“He makes my skin tingle sometimes. His touch is so warm and his embrace is so comforting. It’s really good. And his kiss must be amazing. I mean, he kissed my cheeks and my forehead and I felt so happy when he did that. I don’t feel desperate to see him, but when I do see him, the day gets so much better.”
Jade smiled resting the side of her head on her knuckles. “Well, news flash, Hana. You are in love.”
“Really? But I just have the skin tingling sign.”
“Hana, the way you described how he makes you feel. You smiled nonstop, your eyes sparkled, when you had your eyes shut, your voice is softer and huskier while you talked about him. And when your eyes were shut, you blushed the entire time. You are in love and he’s a really lucky guy.”
“Oh…” Hana frowned. “But I don’t think he sees me that way.”
“Give him time. If he’s smart enough, he’ll see the beautiful woman he can be with.”
“Do you really think so?”
“I’m telling you, Hana. If it’s meant to be, he’ll see you for you are and he’ll love you dearly. Just give him time.”
“Thank you for all of this, Jade. I’m happy to be here with you.”
“You’re welcome, sweetie. And I’m happy you’re with me.” Jade beamed. They shifted on the bed, crawling under the sheets. Jade turned off the lights and fluffed her pillow before resting her head on it.
“Hey, you didn’t tell me about those terms. What am I?”
“Honestly? I don’t know. But don’t worry. You’ll have time to figure it out now that you can live the way you want and just be your amazing self.”
“Now I’m uncomfortable with these compliments.”
“Well, I merely stated the facts. You are amazing. Suck it up.”
They giggled and turned to opposite sides of the bed. Jade took a deep breath and smiled. He really is a lucky guy. If only he knew that.
