"ken, ano ba? baka mamaya may pumasok bigla ng restroom eh. we're in a public gathering, for goodness sake."
"but i need you to talk to me. it's been another week since that night sa parking lot ng building niyo. you're not answering my texts and i even risked calling you but still, hindi ka sumasagot. iniiwasan mo ba 'ko?"
"ken, can you stop? busy lang ako nitong nakaraan. plus, paulo and i-"
"tangina naman! puro ka nalang paulo!"
"asawa ko 'yun, ken! anong gusto mong gawin ko?"
"iwan mo nalang kasi si paulo, stell. bakit hindi ka nalang sumama sa'kin? hindi ka ba naniniwalang magiging masaya tayong dalawa?" pain was evident in ken's voice as he said those words. he was almost pleading, wanting stell to take him.
he took a step closer to stell, reaching out for the other's hands but stell moved them away from him.
"fuck." ken whispered through gritted teeth and shut his eyes close.
"ken, i think we should stop. itong namamagitan sa'tin, whatever the fuck you'd want to call this, itigil na natin. tama na, ken."
"really, stell? it's been two fucking years since we started cheating on our partners tapos ngayon gusto mo nalang itigil bigla? that's messed up!"
"pero ayoko na! hindi ko na kaya, ken! i'm so stupid for cheating on paulo when all he did was love me wholeheartedly." tears fell from stell's eyes as he stated every word. his chest felt heavy with regret and pain and he just wants to escape from it.
tears also fell from ken's eyes but unlike the other, he was fuming with anger. "ayaw mo na?" he asked in a very taunting way, taking steps closer to stell while the other backs away from him.
"ken..."
"ano, stell? ayaw mo na?"
stell's back hit the cold bathroom wall and ken placed his hands on either his sides, caging him with his arms.
"ayoko na, ken."
"i don't believe you."
-----
will it really end there? it might.
however, ken badly hopes it won't, for the reason that he hasn't prepared himself for that to happen. he wouldn't know how to go on without stell, the person he learned to love and do unfaithful things with.
