On 'Fairy Tale Fail'

In a nutshell. Guy breaks up with girl and girl still roots for her relationship with now-ex anyway even if another good-looking guy is coming her way. New guy becomes her confidant and, unconsciously, she becomes his confidante, too. Turns out both of them had his/her heart broken recently and chose to heal in the company of the other. As friends, at least. Girl started to be okay and lots of things happened so fast--she started getting busy and unknowingly climbed up the career ladder, as if the cosmos is obliged to help in her speedy recovery. Naturally, ex now wants her back. Either not having enough self-pride or just in dire need of a closure, she agrees to a dinner he offered. In Bangkok. During dinner, realizations start pouring in and, having a clear picture now of what is actually happening, she started bombarding her date with questions which rendered him speechless. Almost. She gets the closure she wanted, rushes to the side of the guy who supported her in her not-so-glorious days, and finally ends her fairy tale on a good note.

It isn't something I haven't read or watched before. But the thing about this story, which made me read through it until the last leaf in one sitting, is found on the little details somewhere in between.

On 'That Kind of Guy'

It is not an uncommon trend on Philippine television shows and in romantic movies where the leading lady, often projected as someone who is plain-looking, will attract a bad boy type. You know the formula; boy is the appealing type with a long list of pretty and insecure girls that are now history, girl is your typical manang who still can't get over her last relationship which ended n years ago. Then the inevitable happened: boy meets girl, girl meets boy. For girl, the meeting was nothing special--she's wary of guys his type, and she's just not impressed. Meanwhile, the seemingly ordinary meeting for girl was actually a pivotal moment for boy, for he is, for the rarest of times, actually in love! We, girls, do not understand however this happened and so we begin to openly criticize the story for being so typical. But deep in our hearts, there is a very small question mark: "what are the chances that this can happen in real life?" Okay, I won't delve deeper into that. You get my point. There is a story that we know how it will end, always. Mina Esguerra's That Kind of Guy is not an exception. It is predictable, story-wise. But, as they say, it is not the destination, but the journey, which really matters. This chick-lit novella was a journey I was willing to take.

One of the reviews is right in saying that it is hard to put down. Primarily because it is a short and easy read. But mainly because it felt like listening to a girl friend I haven't seen for quite some time and there she was telling me her fairy tale all at once.