By Farah Decano

 

LOVE is trending this February so I am giving way to this narrative of my sorority sister, Atty. Eloisa Manlansing.  It is up to us to find gems in the stories of our daily lives and this one in particular has the elements of patience, sacrifice, frustration, thrill, surprise, even fear.  Most of all, it speaks of love despite being upset.

 

 (A Love Story)

There was a couple who wanted to have twinning mobile numbers with plenty of 8s.  These “special numbers” sell online at a premium.  And because sims are not sold in pairs, it took the couple five months to find an almost exact pair with one ending in 6888 and the other in 7888.

Their excitement was short-lived after receiving a message from the store that 7888 has been previously sold.  The couple suspected that the seller realized 7888 was priced much lower than 6888 and decided to sell the former at a higher price later.  Nonetheless, they bought 6888 and decided to try to make it a combo with another sim they have yet to find.

The couple did not live together and 6888 was mailed to one of them.  The recipient decided to try her luck by calling 7888 to sense if she can make an offer to buy it.   However, the number was not yet activated.  Days passed and the couple had a spat and the search was suspended.  They reconciled shortly but the search was not talked about anymore.

Three weeks later, 6888 got a surprise text from 7888 asking who 6888 is.  Apparently, 7888 saw the missed calls from 6888.  The couple, separated by pandemic, had a virtual brainstorming to discuss strategies to buy 7888.

They haven’t even replied when another text from 7888 came through.  The woman got nervous because it seemed a bidding war was brewing with both sim owners wanting to buy out the other.  She worried it will be costly to outbid 7888.

Then suddenly her phone rang and her heart raced.  At that point, owning 7888 has already become an obsession.  She did not pick up and instead summoned another brainstorming session.  The duo decided for her to return the call to outwit 7888 by pretending to be a senior citizen who wanted the sim for her spouse.  She calmed herself before she dialed the number.

Finally, the call of 6888 connected with 7888.  The phone rang until it was almost dropped for not being answered.  Then 7888 picked up but did not say a word.  6888 didn’t have a choice but to utter the first “Hello?”  There was silence and she decided to drop her second “Hello?”  Still, silence.   She figured 7888 wanted to play games and it meant she will have to negotiate hard like a pro.

Suddenly, 7888 replied, “Hello?”  This startled and confused the woman because the voice was bizarrely familiar.  She wondered whether 7888 was using new technology to steal 6888 remotely.  Her cautious mind quickly came up with strategies on how to exit in case the call was a ruse.

She felt her face warm and red instantly when she recognized that the voice at the other end belonged to the person she was collaborating with to outsmart 7888.  That 7888 was her beloved after all.

It was all a prank inasmuch as a surprise.  It was a simple yet grand gesture to tell her, “I finally got the number to match yours and we can now rest.”  She was then told how, even on days when they did not talk, her beloved continued the search.  Indeed, the announcement had to come as a twist to the story because they searched for the numbers together in a big way.

Their phone numbers are now identical, save for one digit.  They did not only contain the 8s; the numbers were ascending, repeating, and rhyming.  And each contained the couple’s life numbers: 3 and 7.

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