A Barroom Story III

The girl was Leigh Dylan Sandstrom, a Filipino-American. She stood five foot six inches tall, smart, and doubtlessly beautiful. She was taking up a short course in creative writing after acquiring a bachelor's degree in literature. Her friends called her Dylan. They said she was too feminine and the nickname was supposed to give her a touch of masculinity. She could only smile at the thought of it. All other guys in the campus referred to her by the initials LD. No it was not from her name, but from a funny television program, Lovely Day. It was not because she acted funny or stupid but because, like what a poet in the school pub said, with her face and sweet smile, she seemed to bring joy to everywhere she passes by. By the looks of it, every man would probably think that she had thousands of suitors but no, she was a living Psyche. And her friends said that she has never found a Cupid all the years of her life. She was beautiful, she was smart, she was talented, she was too perfect that everybody admired her. And yes she was too perfect that her charm thwarted every man from courting her. They could not imagine themselves with a girl who, despite the innocent face effortlessly outshines everybody. And that was why she never had a man. But then again, that was according to her friends. Somebody knew her better, the only guy who calls her Leigh.
She was a newbie at the university when she first met him, the Batman. She could still perfectly recall why she called him such. It was because she met him at the Bat Cave, a bar and restaurant just outside the campus, wearing a Batman shirt she later found out to be a part of the limited edition. There was really nothing extraordinary about him that afternoon, just the funny idea of having a Batman inside the Bat Cave. A silly funny idea that never fails to make her smile whenever she was reminded of it at the sight of the guy.

“So you’re Julie?” asked Batman on their second meeting. Leigh was at The Square then, an open cafeteria near the university’s freedom park, taking her quick lunch at one of the small round tables.
“Huh?” she was surprised for they did not really know each other for him to be speaking as free as that to her.
“The other table moron!” yelled a man from Batman’s table.
“You bag of shit! You were pointing at her!” Batman hollered back to his already cackling friends. “Sorry, we were just ah... horsing around you know?” he said apologetically while trying to smile.
“Oh that was okay.” She replied.
“Yeah.” Batman was on his way to the next table when he turned back on her. “By the way, I ah... never met a girl looking that good on a bob before. I suggest you keep it.” He said with a grin.
“Way to go boy!” yelled another man from the group. Leigh knew what that meant but she just grew so indifferent of the attention guys gave her to let out any reaction worth noting.
Batman became somewhat special since then. Yes, special for she found herself quite old for crushes. She would always drop by the Bat Cave to have a glimpse of him if he was there. She was there on his ball games during the series of inter-college basketball competition. She was there on his band’s little gigs around the metro until they became regular at The Place, a bar at the heart of Manila. She was always there watching him. Always there waiting for him to notice her.
The real moment with Batman happened one day before the school closed for the Christmas break. He invited her to see his gig. But being a singer herself, she had prior commitments and had to turn him down.
“I’m really really sorry but... I, I have to perform in this Christmas concert and so I...”
“It’s okay.” Batman interrupted. “No need to explain” he said smiling. “You’ve been attending our gigs for quite a long time now. I just thought, well, you wouldn’t want to miss our Christmas presentation.”
Dylan just looked down on the floor and smiled. She felt stupid for explaining herself to someone who does not know her. Suddenly she saw his hand stretched towards her.
“Uhm you are?” he asked.
“Oh. I almost forgot you don’t know my name. I’m Dylan, Leigh Dylan.” She replied smiling out of embarrassment.
“So see you around Leigh.” And Batman left.
Dylan was all smiles that afternoon and her radiance became un-ignorable when she sat in front of the grand piano and played for the elite people who attended the concert. She received a heart-warming applause but what delighted her the most was seeing Batman at the audience just before she played her last song.

“Didn’t expect you to be that good.” Dylan heard from behind as she was standing at the cold marble steps leading out of the concert venue. She turned her head and saw Batman there.
“If I only knew that you were going to play solos and you’ll be that good, I would have bought a bouquet of flowers for you.” He said with the usual smile. “Congratulations” and he shook her hand. “Now care if I ask you what exactly is the beautiful lady doing here?”
“Oh I’m waiting for a cab.” She replied while suppressing an urge to explain herself again.
“A cab?”
“Yeah, a cab. I gave my driver a leave, my parents won’t be home until the twenty third, so nobody’s going to take me home but a cab.”
“Oh perhaps I could give you a ride.”
“No, don’t bother. I’ll be fine. Traffic at Parañaque might take forever at these hours.” She told him in an apologetic tone. She felt sorry for having to turn him down again.
“Did you just say Parañaque? That’s perfectly fine. I live there. Well, no. My parents live there but I’m actually planning to spend the night with them.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, my father owns this little grocery store in their subdivision there. It’s called uhm, Rosales’ Mini Mart.”
“Oh my God, Mr. Rosales!” Dylan exclaimed in disbelief. “Oh I can’t believe this, we’re neighbors!”
“Ah really? Now you should be riding home with me. I don’t wanna be branded as unfriendly neighbor.”
“Neither do I, so I guess it’s okay. I’ll be riding with my friendly neighbor.” And she let out a laugh.
What happened later was a thing to remember. The two of them had a great time chatting with each other totally ignoring the heavy traffic. Batman never ran out of good jokes to crack while Leigh, being a writer, always had a smart idea to share. They reached Parañaque in four hours, four long hours that went unnoticed.
“Here we are!” Leigh said while opening the door of the car. Batman also went out. “I would love to offer you at least a drink but it would look funny ‘cause we are already in front of your house.” She voiced out when she was finally standing at the pavement.
“Haha...” Batman let out quite a laugh. “I thought I was the only one carrying that stupid idea in my mind.” He admitted.
Leigh just smiled. “So I guess, good night? Or should I say good morning?”
“Yeah, good morning.” Batman replied and they both left the street. Leigh straight to her room and Batman to the garage to light a stick before retiring to his room.
They started seeing each other more often after that night. They would take their lunch together on fancy restaurants, go to movies, or have a drive along the high lands on weekends. And eventually their relationship got deeper.
Leigh knew she was having the time of her life. She had a nice family, a good academic standing, and most of all, the Batman to love her. She was at the point of her life where she could not ask for more. She was happy, so happy. And before summer came she decided to finally introduce Batman to her family. He was not staying in the house across the street for her parents to really know him.
The afternoon for the meeting came, and Batman went to her room in the university’s dormitory. He was carrying tulips he bought for her. He used to say that Leigh is like the sunshine and roses do not look good under the sun’s glow, tulips do. He gave it to her and she took it with both hands, contemplated on it for a moment, and then turned to put it on her flower vase to replace the wilting ones.
“They surely prepared something at home but would you like to have a snack before we go?” Leigh asked smiling at the flowers. Batman was silent. She turned to him and noticed the sombre expression on his face. “Are you sick or something? You don’t look okay.”
Batman breathed deeply, the last song he heard that morning was playing in his mind. It was a perfect musical score and it was making him hurt even more. “I... I’m breaking up with you Leigh.” He said almost like a whisper.
Leigh dropped the last tulip she was about to put in the vase. The expression on her face did not change that much but she turned her back on him. Batman was serious on his words. She let out a sigh and faced him again suppressing a frown. She was trying to be strong for a lady even though tears were beginning to form in her eyes and Batman knew it. “Care if I ask you why?” she said.

I held her close to me, ‘cause I know she breaks so easily...

Batman walked closer and hugged her tight. He pressed her lips against her forehead and Leigh felt the warm tears flowing on his chin. “I don’t wanna hurt you Leigh, believe me I don’t.” He said. “I would have wanted you to look away so I won’t have to see you hurting.”
“But I’m already hurting.” Leigh replied clearly although a tear lined her cheek while saying it.
Batman was heaving. He faced her. “Please don’t cry. Oh God please.” He pulled his hanky and tried to dry her cheeks and kissed her. “It’s not you okay? You never did anything wrong.” He was talking in between sobs. “It’s not your fault, it’s me. I lied. I screwed up. It’s me okay? I was seeing someone else before we met.”
Leigh stared at him. Her eyes meeting his.
“No, don’t get me wrong. This doesn’t mean I love her more.” Batman was getting frustrated. He could not take Leigh’s questioning eyes. “You were so good, you’re perfect so I want to set things right. I cannot fool you, I cannot love you the same way you love me. You deserve someone better, better than the piece of junk that I am. I need to make things right.”
Leigh, tears flowing in her eyes, just stared at him without a trace of anger.

She could have gotten angry and make me feel like a guilty child but I realize that never was her style. I wanted her to hate me, not treat me like a friend. And I wanted her to say there’d be someday I’d come crawling on my knees and ask her back again. But she acted like a lady ‘til the end.

“Go on.” Leigh said after a moment of silence. “You love her. I’ll get by.” She was crying but her words were still clear. “I guess things won’t change that much. Nobody knows we had each other anyway. It was just one of your affairs.”
“Shh...” Batman stopped her. “Enough. I don’t wanna leave you like this. You’re the best woman I ever know and how I wish I could be the best man for you but no, I’m not.” He hugged her once more wanting to take away all the pain he caused. “But let me promise you one thing...” he whispered to her ear. “I’ll never let you down again. I would end up in jail, I would end up dead but never, never would I let anyone hurt you again.”
And so that afternoon they parted. Leigh set her Batman free from the Bat Cave to fly over Gotham City.

It was four o’clock in the morning and Leigh was walking alone in the street. She just came from the clinic; her sister delivered a boy at around two-thirty. Suddenly she heard a car blew its horn from behind her.
“Why up this early? Come I’ll give you a ride.” It was the Batman.
She smiled and quickly entered the car. She did not answer her question until she was seated comfortably.
“I need to help my sister get to the clinic. She had just delivered a boy. And you?”
“Booze night.” He replied briefly, eyes focused on the road. The stereo was playing his copy of Snow Patrol’s Eyes Open album. Cris turned his head toward Leigh seating just a few inches from him. She was staring outside with a smile on her face. Suddenly, Gary Lightbody’s voice occupied the scene singing You Could Be Happy.

You could be happy, and I won’t know. But you weren’t happy the day I watched you go. All the things that I wish I had not said are played in loops ‘til it’s madness in my head.

Cris was whispering to himself. “Go on Leigh, smile like everything’s okay again. I was dying to see that smile that afternoon when I left you. Whatever it is with you right now, I wish you happiness. You will always be my sweetest downfall.”

You could be happy, I hope you are. You made me happier than I’ve been by far...
Moe than anything I want to see you girl take a glorious bite of the whole world.