Mirage

five

 "Ate Cielo!" Stella called when she saw Cielo, her senior and now a choreographer in a music talent agency.

"Stells! Hi, musta ka na? And Jo?" Cielo greeted her with an excited smile and hugged Stella.

"Eto ngarag sa pagiging senior," the younger girl sighed. "Si Jo nasa school pa with Sam."

The two were at Cielo's company studio. Stella asked her senior for advice in choreographing and a place to practice. The latter was happy to help and invited Stella to her studio.

Cielo nodded, "Mag Bffs parin sila huh?"

Stella chuckled. "Ano ka ba ate Ciel, since birth na yon mag best friends! Hindi na yon maghihiwalay."

"Anyway, ang ganda ng building niyo ah! Ang lawak ng mga studios."

"Oo, one of the reasons bat ko tinanggap offer dito." Cielo laughed.

They started walking and Cielo guided Stella to the dance studio.

Stella began explaining about her concept to Cielo and the two were brainstorming about the choreography. Cielo gave the girl tips and know-hows until they created a full piece. The young girl was focused and had a serious face on, the whole time they were practicing. Cielo couldn't help but look proud while seeing the girl dance. Stella was already a good dancer when they met years ago but the girl still gained a lot of improvement and more cleaned and detailed moves.

"That was great! Tingin ko complete na 'to, konting polishing na lang." The senior exclaimed and clasped her hands. Stella was still looking serious and staring at the mirror while breathing heavily. "Okay na ba ate? Feel ko hindi ko magawa ng maayos ung chorus part."

"I think okay naman? More expression na lang sa chorus."

The young girl nodded and laid down at the floor. "Ahhh kapagod!"

Cielo laughed and brought a water bottle for Stella.

"Thank you ate Ciel."

Then suddenly Stella sat up and looked at Cielo like she thought of something important. "Ate Ciel!"

"Oh bakit?"

"Gusto mo kumain sa saturday? Sama ko sila Jo at ate Liyah!" Stella asked in excitement.

"Si ate Liyah ung kapitbahay niyo?"

"Oo diba nag meet na kayo non? Pumupunta yon sa campus dati."

"Ah oo pero di naman kami nakakapag usap," Cielo chuckled. "Pero sure g ako diyan."

"Yon! G yan ah!"

After cleaning up the studio and fixing their things, the two went out to the lobby. Cielo and Stella were talking about their choreo when Stella bumped into someone.

"Ay! Sorry po," Stella said and looked at the person.

It was a girl wearing a cap and holding an envelope. She didn't react but only nodded then walked away. Cielo's eyes followed her as she patted Stella's shoulder.

"Kilala mo ba yon ate? Mukhang dancer eh." Stella asked.

"Nope, di ko pa yon nakita dito."

Stella nodded, "Una na ako ate ah, thank you ulit!"

Cielo smiled and said goodbye. They hugged before Stella went home.

At the office

"Here's your schedule, pwede ka na mag start sa friday. Wednesday and Friday shift mo, as requested."

Mira nodded at her new boss. She applied to be a janitress in a company. Since her work at the gas station was only part time on only three days a week.

"Thank you sir." She grabbed her cap and envelope and walked out of the office.

On the way home, Mira again passed by the coffee shop. This time it reminded her of Aliyah. Last night when the girl was trying to talk to her and said that caramel macchiato was great, she agreed. Caramel macchiato was now her favorite.

She liked sweet flavored coffee drinks rather than the bitter ones and the coffee Aliyah gave her a few days ago was good, not too sweet and not too bitter. "Huh, her coffee also tastes good." Mira said to herself after remembering about last time.

She sighed because now she's in front of the cafe thinking of buying caramel macchiato for Aliyah. Why? Because she feels guilty remembering her disappointed face last night.

"Whatever, wala naman akong pake." she mumbled but groaned and finally went inside.

'It's for a neighbor naman and diba kapag new neighbors may binibigay na gifts? Eto na rin yon.' She's trying to justify in her head. Refusing the thought of being guilty because Aliyah looked sad last night. Different from her usual vibe, nice and joyous.

The girl was on her way home now with two coffee cups on hand. Before she went inside her unit, she decided to leave the other cup on Aliyah's door step.

'Iwan ko na lang to dito tas doorbell...pano pag walang tao? Katukin ko na kaya?' Mira was in a serious dilemma like giving the coffee was a big deal and like she didn't knock on the door the other day, giving the mug back.

Before she even hit the doorbell, the door opened. "Mira."

Mira widened her eyes in surprise, "Aliyah."

Aliyah saw the take-out cup on the floor and smiled. "Ikaw pala ung kumakaluskos kala ko kung ano."

She didn't say anything and just fixed her cap.

"Para sa akin ba to?" Aliyah looked at her in the eyes with a wide smile. Mira didn't know what was happening again, the first time this happened was when she brought back Aliyah's mug and the girl gave her that kind of smile.

"Here's your mug." Mira said.

"Oh right, thank you." Aliyah smiled at the girl. Mira looked at her for a second then proceeded to walk away. That smile felt so nostalgic to Mira. It reminded her of what the feeling was like before...before she got trapped into a cage.

It made Mira stare for a second because it just felt so warm. Aliyah's smile was warm, she almost didn't want to feel it.

"Mira?"

"Yes."

Her neighbor looked at her in curiosity, "Really? For what though?"

She shrugged her shoulders, "Hindi ako madaldal na tao...so...."

Aliyah raised an eyebrow and chuckled. "So parang pambawi ganon?"

"Yes, and sorry nung first time natin magkita. You know, wrong door."

The girl laughed and grabbed the cup, "Thanks for this, wait is this caramel macchiato? You were listening." Aliyah emphasized the word were and continued to smile, looking amused. Mira just nodded and started fidgeting. She wanted to go home but it looked like Aliyah was going to talk more.

"I'm not going to hold you anymore. Obvious na gusto mo na umalis." Aliyah laughed. "Thanks again for this."

Well, she was wrong, Aliyah seemed to know that she wanted to go. Mira just gave a small nod before going away.

Aliyah is so warm, like a fire. And I don't like fires.