"Wow. Pink pa rin ang sulat mo."
Maia's voice sliced through the air like perfume—sweet, fake, and suffocating. Peachy blinked, the sticky note in her hand trembling as she turned to face the woman whose presence still haunted Charlie's silence.
Maia Hee was all sleek lines, expensive heels, and eyes that screamed superiority. She stood in the hotel lobby like she owned the place, which, given her past with Charlie, she almost did.
"Hi," Peachy said, voice small but polite. She instinctively tucked the sticky note behind her back.
"Peachy, right?" Maia smiled thinly. "You're... working here now?"
"O-occasionally. Tulungan lang po sa events." Peachy nodded, her smile strained but still intact. Her body instinctively shifted—defensive, unsure.
"Well, I guess Charlie's always had a thing for projects," Maia said sweetly, eyes gliding from Peachy's worn sneakers to her bare face. "Hope you don't get too attached. He... gets bored."
Peachy swallowed the lump forming in her throat. "I just want to be helpful."
"That's cute," Maia smirked. "But trust me, helpful doesn't mean permanent."
Later that day, as Peachy walked through the staff corridor carrying a box of flower arrangements, she bumped into Patty—literally and emotionally.
"Hoy," Patty hissed, taking the box from her. "Ano bang ginagawa mo, Peachy? Bakit palagi kang nandito? At bakit kayo ni Charlie Mo...?"
"Hindi kami," Peachy whispered, her voice barely audible.
Patty raised an eyebrow. "Hindi pa. But people are talking, Peach. May mga guests na nagtatanong kung ikaw daw ba ang bagong fiancée. You're always around him. Laging may sticky note. You look... smitten."
Peachy's cheeks burned. "I just want to make people smile."
"Well, maybe stop smiling at him too much. Alam mong hindi ka bagay sa gan'un."
The words hit harder than Maia's venom. Patty wasn't cruel—just brutally honest, like always.
"Charlie's not someone you fix with pink ink and hopeful eyes. You're too... you. Too trusting. Too soft. People will use that against you."
Peachy's throat tightened. "So I should stop being... me?"
"No, just... protect yourself, Peach. Hindi lahat ng fairy tale ay happy ending."
That night, Peachy sat alone in her small rented room, surrounded by a sea of sticky notes.
"You are light."25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQfivJZrr8C
"You make the ordinary magical."25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuagTwp1TVn
"It's okay to believe. Just not blindly."
She stared at them one by one. Were these notes lies? Delusions? Coping mechanisms she called hope?
Her heart ached with confusion. Charlie had smiled at her that morning. Not out of pity, but warmth. Or maybe she imagined it?
What if Patty was right? What if Charlie was just being kind?
What if Maia saw something she refused to see?
The next day, Peachy walked past the hotel café and saw Charlie sitting with Richard Mo. Both wore matching frowns, though Charlie's was tinged with exhaustion.
"I don't care if she makes you laugh," Richard said coldly, not noticing Peachy behind the corner. "You're not marrying a volunteer with no pedigree. Think of your name."
Charlie didn't reply.
Peachy froze, heart sinking. So this is how they saw her? A placeholder? An embarrassment?
She didn't leave a sticky note that day.
Charlie noticed.
"Wala ka bang sulat today?" he asked when they crossed paths in the garden. He was holding a thermos she gave him, now empty.
Peachy smiled faintly. "Ubos na yata ang ink."
Charlie blinked. "Are you okay?"
"Of course," she said, voice too cheerful. "I just realized something."
"What?"
"Maybe I've been writing to make people feel better... para sa kanila. But maybe I'm the one who needs it most."
Charlie studied her. Something was different. Her usual sparkle felt... dimmed.
"I know what people say about me, Charlie," she said suddenly, folding her arms. "Na gullible ako. Na I fall too fast. That I see love where there isn't any. Na I'm not enough."
"Peachy—"
"But I'm tired pretending I don't hear it." She looked at him, eyes glimmering with unfallen tears. "Do you think I'm naïve?"
Charlie took a breath. "No. I think you're... rare."
She looked down. "That's just a nice way of saying I don't fit."
"No. It's the truth. You're... different from the noise I grew up with. But that doesn't mean you don't belong."
Peachy smiled faintly. "Even if your dad disagrees?"
He didn't answer right away. And that silence said more than words ever could.
That night, she wrote only one sticky note. She placed it beside her mirror before going to sleep.
"Maybe fairy tales aren't real. But I can still be kind without expecting a castle."
And for the first time in days, she cried.
Not because she was weak.
But because she was starting to understand: Hope isn't about denying the truth. It's about facing it... and choosing to believe anyway.
Even when it hurts.
End of Chapter 9.
25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmLoBZnIUQf
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