A/N: Keep an eye on the special giveaway announcement open to all readers of TQ&I at the end of this chapter 🥰—————
There's a mystical kind of magic that comes with sunsets — the golden orange rays that say goodbye and melt with the dark bluish purple hues of the night sky is such an alluring sight to witness. As the day bids farewell, it gives you the hope of seeing it once again. I'm lucky that I get to have a good spot to catch the famous sunset of Manila Bay.
I read somewhere that it's almost impossible to watch a sunset and not dream. Gazing at this gift from nature makes me a bit nostalgic — Naalala ko yung mga araw na kapag umuuwi ako galing eskwela, nilalakad ko yung karatig na palayan kasama ng mga kaklase ko para lang maabutan namin yung napakagandang takip-silim.
Nangangarap at pinag-darasal namin yung mga gusto namin marating sa buhay — lagi ko winiwish sa paglubog ng araw na maiahon yung pamilya ko at pumasa ako sa mga exams.
Sobrang simple lang ng buhay ko dati. Siguro, kaya rin medyo magaan yung loob ko kay Eric kasi may similarities kami habang lumalaki. Nakaka-relate ako sa mga stories niya, ganoon din siya sa akin. Simpleng tao.
At this moment though, while looking at the sunset, all I wanted was for my future to have a resolution. That I may be able to overcome the struggle that I'm feeling and for the pain I'm hiding behind my sleeves to disappear.
"Tingnan mo yung sunset".
My eyes drifted into the golden waters of the bay.
"Ang ganda diba?" Eric reached for my hand that was resting on top of the white table with a bouquet of white roses.
I smiled at him without exposing my teeth. I just didn't feel like smiling all-out lately.
"Kasing ganda mo".
I sighed, pulling my hand away. I chuckled a bit.
"Baka naman nadadala ka lang sa ganda ng pag-lubog na araw", I said while remembering what Andre told me back in Los Angeles — the time he fell in love with a girl because of the sunset. Nakakadala nga naman talaga. Sunsets are romantic, and the place I'm in right now is undeniably romantic.
"Hindi —— maganda ka naman talaga. Kahit anong anggulo, kada tingin ko sayo, mas lalo kang gumaganda", his smile was charming. He's cute naman. Actually, type ko yung itsura ni Eric — maputi, may katangkaran with an infectious smirk. If it were a different day — or if my head was not in constant chaos thinking about a certain person that I don't even want to remember, kinilig na sana ako. Kaso here I was physically, but my mind was wandering to someone else — I wonder if her mind's becoming restless like mine.
Eric invited me to dinner tonight. I said yes, since wala naman akong gagawin. MJ was busy and so were my other friends. Si Janick and Bernadette naman were all sleeping, nakakahiya if I wake them up dahil lang wala akong makausap. So instead na mag-stay lang ako sa condo doing nothing—well, probably just staring at the TV again and crying about someone, I might as well distract myself by going out on a....date.
I know MJ wouldn't like this, and I'm not even sure what I'm doing is for the best, but this is the easiest option I have right now. Ayaw ko rin naman kasi na mag sulk lang sa isang tabi mag-isa, torturing myself because of my dismay. I have to at least continue living my life, and it's not like my life exclusively revolves around one person — I don't want to allow myself to end up like that.
I gazed at Eric and he was smirking at me — then I realized, ibang ngiti pa rin yung hinahanap ng puso ko.
That made my chest ache a bit. Naiinis ako. Why does she even have to haunt my thoughts everyday on a random basis? It's like my mind's addicted and that my day wouldn't be complete without thinking about her — it doesn't matter if my thoughts were about missing her, getting really mad at her, or absolutely regretting the things I did with her, at the end of the day it's always something about her.

BINABASA MO ANG
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