This Could End

Chapter Thirty-Four

"Honey, I'm home!" I sang as I closed the door behind me. I took off my shoes and kept it on the rack.

I smelled the mouthwatering aroma from the foyer. I heard the familiar tune of Claid De Lune playing lowly from the speakers. I was never knowledgeable with classical music nor was I particularly fond of it until recently. Now I found comfort in it.

Ibinaba ko ang bag sa couch at tinanggal ang gloves na suot at sunod ay trench coat.

"Seph?" I heard Gio from the kitchen.

Doon naman talaga ako pupunta kahit na hindi siya tumawag. He would be cooking us dinner almost every night. Kahit na puro luto na ang ginagawa niya sa bago niyang trabaho.

Nang makapasok na ako sa kitchen area ay lalo akong natakam sa amoy ng niluluto ni Giovann.

"Hey. What's on today menu, chef?" I sat on the kitchen stool and leaned on the granite top.

"Chicken Tagine with Apricots and Almond." He boyishly grinned as he added a mixture to one of the pans on the stove.

I grunted. "I've gained so much weight because of you."

"And yet you're still booked with modeling gigs."

I squinted my eyes at him. "Only because I work out as much as you feed me."

"How was class?"

"We're about to work on our one year film."

"For your last term, huh?"

"Yeah. And then finally done with Film Academy." I heavily sighed.

It felt like the days had gone by so fast and at the same time it felt like it had been forever since we got here.

I genuinely liked Gio's company. It was a development in our relationship that I have visualized if my father was out of the equation.

We became good platonic roommates who were married on paper. I've heard about marriage pacts between friends or bestfriends. Maybe this is what it would be like. Just pure companionship with legal benefits.

"What's next after the academy?"

"I don't wanna think ahead. I just want to make it till graduation." I put on a smile and looked around. "Where's the wine?"

Gio knew that was the end of that conversation. He knew how I get whenever we talk about the future. I never want to think about it. Time paused for me when I left the Philippines one year ago. Everything that I was doing here was to keep myself busy, a diversion, to help past time because I knew every second would just be painful if I did nothing but sulk.

A part of me was still in denial about everything that happened. That I ended up following my father's order and married Gio, that I blew up my career, and that.. I left Hadeon.

I would be lying if I said that I didn't know any news about him. It had been my guilty pleasure to check up on his socials, not that he was active in it. His last post was back when we were together. Not that I'd put that against him. I stopped updating my old social media, too. I made a new one under a random username, only posting about Gio's well-plated meals and film academy.

I only get snippets of him from his friends' and siblings' social media. Lalo na sa kambal niyang si L at kay Takumi na mahilig mag-post ng stories. Apart from being in their final year in college, nothing changed much. They still hang out and go out to clubs. And in all of the photos and videos, Hades looked like his old self. Arrogant and smug. He was living his life. He moved on, like we never really happened.

I wish I could say the same for myself but I don't know if it was even possible. It had been a year and every night, on my idle moments, I would still dream of him. How could I possibly forget about him? He's my first love... and maybe that's enough answer. I will never forget him. He will always have that space in my life that I will forever carry with me. Like an unbreakable curse.