Jake and I walked out of the crowded bar, and the music and noise from the party faded as we reached outside. A cool wind blew and gave me shivers. I instantly regret my fashion choice for the night. I shouldn't have worn a string velvet dress.

I sighed exasperatedly as I hugged myself.

"My car is parked nearby..." Jake glanced at me and stopped walking. "You cold?"

"Yeah, stupid dress."

He looked me up and down. Not only was I wearing a body con dress, I was also wearing a pair of nude heels. He smirked and shook his head. "You really prepared for this night, didn't you?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

He asked me if I wanted to wear his hoodie. He was about to take it off but I stopped him. I told him it would ruin my outfit.

"All that for nothing," he teased, gesturing at my outfit.

"I'm not even mad that I got stood up. I don't care about stupid boys. I was just looking for fun. Obviously, my date didn't show up so I guess he isn't fun," I giggled. "I'm just annoyed that I waited there alone instead of partying with my friends."

"Well...I came to the bar alone instead of partying with my friends."

I laughed. "I just remembered a random guy approached me earlier. I think it would've been fun if we could party with some other strangers."

"Oh, I don't know about that," he responded, putting his hands in the front pocket of his hoodie. "You want to spend your Valentine's with me?"

"I thought I'd be the one to ask that too, but yeah. Sure. I don't think I have any other choice."

Between going home and watching some chick flicks and going out with a random stranger, the latter seemed way more exciting. It would be a better Valentine's Day experience.

"Boy, am I glad to know that my efforts won't be completely wasted tonight."

"What do you mean?"

"I had this whole night planned...booked and all."

He told me that he booked a restaurant for a dinner date tonight, a month ago. If that doesn't make him proactive, I don't know what will. This dude had planned a Valentine's date a month in advance. Unfortunately, he and his girl had broken up before Valentine's. What a poor guy.

"You want to have dinner with me?"

"Free food? I think that will cheer me up," I laughed.

We walked past a resto-bar. I glanced towards the entrance and saw a signage that read, 'Valentine's party here. P.S. this isn't just for couples.'

"I heard there's like a Valentine's Day fair..." a twenty-something female in a knitted long-sleeves dress said to another twenty-something female.

"Hurry up, they're already waiting for us," her friend said.

"You want to take a look?" I asked.

"Sure." He nodded.

Jake and I entered to see what the hype was about. There were tables occupied by couples. A service crew gestured that the party was right at the back of the resto. He led us through a back door, and we stepped out to what looked like a fair.

It somehow looked like a University Fair, only this was all about Valentine's. There were several booths set up around the ground. There were people dancing to the music, and there were a few getting all cozy with their date for the night.

There was a booth selling heart shaped pillows, balloons, and other Valentine's Day merch. There was a marriage booth. I didn't know people still do that. I saw a booth selling cupcakes. I pointed it, and Jake nodded.

"Hi, beautiful girl," the booth seller greeted me as we approached. "The cupcakes are just 3 for 50 pesos."

I eyed the cupcakes. There were several options to choose from, but I liked the red velvet topped with vanilla frosting and tiny heart candies the most.

"But if you and your guy would kiss, we could give you one cupcake for free..."

"I...uh..." a blush crept up my cheeks. I looked at Jake, and he just smiled at me.

"We're not really the showy type," he explained, scratching the back of his head.

Dude, I was ready to give you the advantage.

"Oh, okay. So, which one do you like?"

I pointed the red velvet ones. Jake pointed the chocolate cupcake with red frosting that looked like little roses.

"How long have you been dating?"

"How long do you think we're dating?" Jake asked.

"Probably half a year?"

"Wow...how did you know?" he chuckled, and then he glanced at me.

"You definitely have the chemistry..."

Jake patted the small of my back before replying to the seller, "So we've heard."

I opened my purse to pay for the cupcakes, but Jake beat me to it.

"Baby, you know I don't like you paying for our food," he winked at me.

The seller gave us another box of three for free. She said she thinks we're a cute couple. We both thanked her and walked away from the cupcake booth, giggling. Jake opened the box and gave me one of the red velvets.

"Aren't you gonna eat yours?" I asked.

"I'll save it for later."

I licked the frosting. "This is good. Hey, you know she gave us three free cupcakes because she has a crush on you?"

"You think?" he asked, feigning surprise.

"Don't tell me you weren't aware of that."

"I'm glad we got free cupcakes courtesy of my charm," he laughed.

If this guy wasn't attractive, I would easily be annoyed. He was full of air. But he looked good, and he was well aware of it.

I shook my head before taking a bite of my cupcake. A tiny frosting stuck to the tip of my nose, and Jake laughed and took out his handkerchief to wipe it away.

"How old are you?" he asked. "I just want to make sure that I'm not hanging out with a five-year-old."

I laughed. "I get that a lot...I think it's because I'm cute."

We continued hopping from one booth to another, checking out what they had to offer. We entered a photo booth, made wacky faces and walked out with four copies of our photo strips. We also entered the karaoke booth and won a box of chocolates. We also had some free shots of cocktails.

For our last stop, we ended up standing outside the marriage booth. We looked at the huge sign saying 'Let's Get Married' as if it was taunting us. A wedding song was blaring from their sound system.

"You think we should get married?" Jake asked without taking his eyes off the signage.

"I don't know...are we ready?" I asked, playing along.

"But it's a beautiful night and I think I wanna marry you."

We both burst out into laughter. Without thinking, we both walked into the booth. We chose our wedding bands. It was a pair of cheap rings available in assorted colors that you would buy as a kid. I chose the purple one and Jake picked the red one, because it was the only ring that fit his finger. I wore a veil and picked one of the four bouquets available. I was expecting some artificial flowers, but surprisingly, they used real ones.

There was a brief ceremony, Jake hesitated to kiss me so we settled for a hug, and the next thing I knew, I was signing our pretend marriage contract under the name Rox Ilagan.

If there's a Rox Ilagan out there somewhere, I hope she's doing and making better decisions than I do.

"Did you expect your night will turn out this way?" Jake asked as we made our way back to the resto bar.

"No. Hello? I got stood up, remember? But who cares? I married a stranger tonight," I yelled, waving the marriage contract in front of his face.

"And I turned into a chaperone tonight." He gestured at the box of cupcakes and chocolates he was carrying.

"I think I'm drunk. Marrying you was the dumbest thing I did in my whole life."

I opened the door for him, knowing that he couldn't do it for me. Finally, we were out in the street again and I was cold again.

"We've only been married for two minutes and you already regret it? That's the harshest thing anyone has ever said to me."

For no reason, I blew raspberries.

And I knew I wasn't sober. I was drunk from all the cocktails and fun, or should I say stupid decisions. But hey, I had fun. So much fun.

"Wait! Your dinner reservation!"

"Yeah, we missed it."

"Sorry..."

"No worries. I had fun in there. Not to mentionthe free cupcakes," he beamed like a five-year-old boy as he raised the box ofcupcakes.