Ace of Clubs

Saturdays Together

It was another Saturday and they weren't supposed to meet, but they did. Risa finds herself doing the most spontaneous things when boredom strikes and recently, she visits Leni whenever she feels that way.

"Lens, I'm bored," she said around the third time she's done it.

"Hindi ba dapat busy ka? Saka, don't you have better things to do than watch how I spend my Saturdays?"

"What better way to spend my Saturdays than be with my wife?"

Since then, Leni never asked what Risa was doing at her doorstep on a Saturday morning, sometimes with a container of whatever it was that she baked or with a new book that she wanted to read. Often though, she ends up not reading at all.

Sometimes, they'd sit in silence in the living room, both in their own worlds, other times they'd be laughing loudly while exchanging stories. Saturdays were "wife days" as Risa put it. They didn't go over the divorce or any other work-related matters. Risa would ask (or force rather) Leni to drop the VP work even just for a little while. Leni almost always ends up not going back to finish what she was doing earlier that day.

Risa also started to fall into the habit of helping Leni with her household chores. They would do laundry, iron clothes, do an inventory of Leni's pantry, water her plants, cook their food for the day, sweep, and mop around the condo.

One Saturday morning, Risa woke up to the sound of her doorbell. Leni stood on the other side of her doorstep, cleaning supplies in hand. "Dito naman tayo maglilinis" she said. From then on, they spent Saturday mornings alternating between Leni's condo and Risa's house.

Now Risa was standing at the balcony of Leni's condo with a spray bottle in hand because Leni asked her to water the plants while she cooked their lunch. "Your herbs are growing nicely," Risa pointed out.

"Oo nga eh. Remind me to give you some when they're fully grown, okay?"

"Okay."

When Leni was finally done cooking, and Risa finished watering the plants, they sat across each other and ate in comfortable silence. Leni was the first to speak. "Ris, busy ka next week Saturday?"

"I don't think so. Baka puntahan lang kita ulit dito. Bakit?"

"A friend invited me sa isang art exhibit sa araw na 'yun. Pwede raw ako magsama ng kahit sino so naisip ko yayain kita. If you're not busy lang naman."

"Why not the girls?"

"I asked already and they're busy daw. Kaya ikaw na lang niyayaya ko."

"That sounds nice. Say please muna."

"Ah, sige. 'Wag na lang." Leni rolled her eyes playfully and turned her attention to her food instead.

"Ang damot mo, Leni. Isang please lang eh." Risa grumbled. "Leni. Hoy."

She started to prick Leni with her fork because the other woman refused to acknowledge her. Deep inside, Leni was laughing at Risa's amusing behavior. She wanted to tease Risa about it but kept her mouth shut for the time being. She wanted to see what Risa would do if she got fed up with the silent treatment.

Risa kept calling her name for a few more minutes until she had enough. "Nakikita mo ba 'tong tinidor ko? Kapag hindi mo pa rin ako pinansin tatagos 'to sa braso mo."

"Ito na pinapansin na," Leni responded quickly, suddenly frightened more at the tone of Risa's voice than her actual threat. "Sabi ko nga please na eh."