When He Loved Me

Ch. 9 The Night Bus

When we reached the bus terminal, it was all very quiet. There's hardly any soul roaming around, except for a few bus drivers and conductors. The stores have all closed and one can only hear the engine of the few buses which are still waiting for passengers to board the last trip to Manila.

"Thank you so much, Mandy. I don't know how I can make it up to you." I said, reaching out my hand to her.

"No worries, Liza. Nico's friend is my friend, too. I'm really happy to be of help." Amanda replied sweetly.

"Do you live near here?" I asked.

"Yeah, don't worry about me," she waved her hands in front of her. "I'll just drop Nico at his boarding house then I'll go home too. We live near each other actually," she added.

Nico then appeared from behind the car after getting my bag. "I'll just carry this over for Liza then I'll be right with you," Nico told Amanda.

He then gestured for me to follow him to the bus and I bid my goodbye to Amanda.

"Will you be ok?" He asked me as we approached the bus.

"Yes, thank you so much. I'll take it from here," I said, reaching for my bag.

"No, it's ok. I'll see you to your seat.

"Oh, Buendia, Buendia! Paalis na!" The conductor shouted.

We ran the remaining distance and I quickly got inside the bus. Nico followed me too and we saw that the bus was actually empty. He approached the driver.

"Boss, you don't have any other passenger? Nico asked.

"No, just the two of you," the driver replied sleepily.

Nico looked worried. "Are you ok with travelling like this?" He asked.

"Well, I have no other choice, don't I?" I replied. "Don't worry, I'm a big girl now," I added, smiling at him and tapping his shoulder.

"Ok, bye then," he said awkwardly.

He took a few steps away from me and I've just taken my seat when he turned and said "Call me when you get to Manila. I'll be waiting."

"Ok," I smiled at him.

***

The bus left the terminal at around 10:15 pm after waiting for a few other passengers who, unfortunately, did not come.

I was the lone passenger and the conductor told me I was fortunate to make this trip as usually the last one leaves at 9:00 pm. It was just that they were asked to travel back to Manila because their bus line anticipates a surge in the number of passengers who will travel back to Batangas for fear of being locked down in Manila.

I was just starting to fall asleep when the bus suddenly stopped. I pulled aside the curtain to look outside and see what's happening when the hydraulic sound announcing the opening of the door called my attention.

I craned my neck to see what's happening in front and to my astonishment, I saw Nico walking up the steps of the bus.

I stood up suddenly, "Nico, what are you doing here?"

"You forgot something," he announced.

"What? What is it?" I responded nervously.

"Well, give it to her then," the driver interrupted. "We're on a schedule, man." He added, annoyed.

Nico started to walk towards me gingerly, "Uhmm, I'll just give it to her on the seat..." he said as he pointed towards me. "...I'll go to her and...uhmm, you can go again." He told the driver who was getting more confused my the second.