Simon wants to put things right with Ace. Except Ace is Cruz. He travels to Manila in the hope that he can meet Ace and Leonardo. Talk, and put aside the ill feeling he feels. Part as friends. Or learn he had been right a year earlier and leave for ever. He wasn’t sure why, it seemed the right thing to do.
It was Ace who had kept him coming back to Manila. He had met him in a macho dancer bar. He was new, young, naive. Fresh from the provinces. Shy, always kept his underwear on. Maybe that’s what intrigued Simon. And with very little English. That’s where Rey had come in. The staff had brought Rey over to help translate. Simon had tried to ignore Rey, but he kept butting in, and asking for a drink. He was about to tell the staff to remove Rey when this other guy walked over. Tall, handsome. He introduced himself. He was Leonardo, Rey’s cousin. If he hadn’t found Ace, Simon would have gone for Leonardo.
Simon’s mind went back to the early days.
There had been something about Ace. Simon couldn’t place it. He tried a few times in the early days to get Ace alone, but he seemed too shy.
All that changed, and he starts a chain reaction. Brothers and cousins, parents. All realise it’s time to be true to themselves, and find happiness. Except Rey. For Rey, there will be loneliness unless he can accept things.
