SECOND CHANCES(A Lesbian Story)

Chapter 3

On Friday evening, Mika moved into her new home. The owners of the house, being close to her, already hang some of her clothes in the wardrobes for her and semi-furnished the unit. She had brought from Baguio several ornaments, a couple of lamps and three paintings, one of which now hangs in her office. She put a stock of CDs and DVDs in her mini home theater component and moved from room to room, appreciating her good fortune in having a comfortable and colorful house to herself. The kitchen was small but compact, complete a fridge-freezer, and a small stove-oven. At least she can do some baking if she would have free time. Mika loves to bake. Her god-mother also provided her a washing machine and a tumble-dryer.

The living room was not as Mika would have furnished and decorated it, but it was nice nonetheless. The curtains were made from midnight blue and toned well with the three-piece sala set in dark blue. There was a carpet beneath the center table that was fussier, patterned and a mixture of cream and deep blue, but it added an air of warmth and coziness. She love her new space. Even if things won't work out well with her job at Galang and Galang, she decided to stay in the metro for good. She will manage to find work here.

Her parents phoned her the previous evening to ask if she was going home for the weekend. She told them no. She wanted to rest and enjoy the company of her shadow. Thoughts of Vic Galang were still annoying her and she would very much like to talk about her with someone who could be objective. Pero sino? She doesn't have that many close friends. She thought of her parents but dismissed the idea of calling them. She was supposed to be showing them that she could cope with anything... and this was really a very small crisis. She considered ringing her brother Perry who lives in Bulacan, but she abandoned that idea too. She does not want him to worry.

A brisk walk over Ayala Triangle helped her to put a different slant on things. She was sensitive, that is all. Half of Vic Galang's sarcasm was probably in her imagination. She was like that with everyone. Why would she think she was being singled out? In any case, she gets on extremely well with Kim, and that is what matters to her.

Over a solitary dinner that evening, Mika realized that Kiefer had not entered her thought even for once that day. It was an alarming realization and she don't want to interpret it as a good thing. In her mind and heart, he was very much alive and she felt guilty for not having spared him a thought. She closed her eyes, bringing his face into her mind, hearing his voice laughingly telling her that she worried too much, that she was too sensitive. It was Kiefer who would tell her that time and time again. But he was sensitive too... kind and gentle. Mika had fallen in love with him the moment she'd set eyes on him. Love at first sight happens... at least to her.

She had cried for him all this years since his death... hoping that one day the tears would just stop from falling. She had gone through a period of anger --- with the world, with herself, with the cruel fate which had taken him away from her, even with Kiefer himself for leaving her. She had gone through the If only stage too... uselessly telling herself that if she and Kiefer had made different plans for their honeymoon, he would still be alive and she would have had the life which had been so carefully planned with him.

All that remained now was regret. There were too few memories and an excruciating regret that she had never actually shared a life with him as his wife.

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The next week at the office was hectic. Vic Galang's absence threw more work in Kim's direction, which in turn added to Mika's workload. Vina Alinas, Cienne's young assistant, coped with her boss's phone calls and had been left with enough work to keep her busy for the week that was why the younger girl was unable to help Mika with her additional load.