Cosmic Hearts

Prologue - The Last Time

It was a bad day. She was having a bad day. A very, very bad day. Her office was a mess. Bureaucratic problems keep on popping up. Heavy rain came pouring down from the night sky.

The two lone figures were enveloped in silence. The atmosphere was tense. Both were clad in unassuming clothes, enough not to warrant any unwanted attention as both women were public figures and are very hot in the public's eyes, especially their enemies'.

Kaya pa ba namin 'to?

These were the words that keep on echoing inside Lenora's mind. She never thought she would ever love again after the death of her beloved years ago. Theresa came barrelling into her life at a time where she thought that it was her and her children against the world. At lightning speed, she came, with her loving and bubbly persona in the presence of her family, especially her children, while being a total force to be reckoned with in the shark-infested political scene.

"I-",

Rain continued to heavily pour down, some lightning and thunder here and there. Lenora looked up at the night sky. She could sense its anger. Hell, she was angry, too. Angry at the world so unfair. Is it really that hard to have permanent happiness?

"Siguro nga, dapat na natin itigil 'to. Marami nang nasasaktan. Pagod na pagod na ako, Len.", utter defeat was obvious in the other woman's voice.

It got Lenora thinking. Worth it pa ba ipaglaban 'to kung may gustong sumuko na?

"I love you. I love you so damn much, Lenora, that it kills me to do this. But my children are my priority. Alam ko na if you were in my shoes, you would do the same, too. We both love our children to death that it pains us to see them suffering because of us."

Deep breaths.

"For years, our children has always been our priority. Masama ba talaga na kahit ngayon lang, maging selfish tayo? For once lang naman sana, Ris. Is it really wrong for us to choose what makes us happy?"

"I- I think it's over for us, Len. The moment na may nasasaktan na sa mga mahal natin sa buhay, it was over."

It wasn't...

Lenora bit the inside of her cheek, a wave of emotions crashing over her.

It wasn't over.

"I never liked you,". Breath. "I never liked you kasi I never knew how to not like you. I had to lose you so I could begin to understand how you're like an incredible piece of art. Beautiful, interesting in your own way, but sometimes people just won't like you. Maybe for being too open-minded. Maybe for just being bluntly realistic. Maybe for being brave... so brave. And I was afraid. I was a coward. I took you for granted. I didn't know how to enjoy what we had, I was afraid of learning to like you because I knew at that moment that there would be no turning back. I love..."

An overwhelming sense of panic threatened to engulf her, still she continued.

"I loved you without liking you. Hindi ko alam how that's even possible, but it happened. And I think you loved me without liking me and maybe, in the end, that's how it was always supposed to be. Just like that."

"You set yourself free," Lenora looks at her. Taking in the magnificent, beautiful person in front of her. "From everything. From me. And you're happy and I'm happy because you're happy. I don't know what will happen from now on, what the future will hold, but I know now that when I look back in retrospect, my heart will fill itself with joy for knowing that it was here, it was with you, that I found love in all of its shapes. You made me a better person and I wish I had appreciated that when I had the chance, but you know, sometimes we only value things when we lose it. Sometimes we only value people when we lose them."

Her heart skipped a beat.

Theresa stared at the person in front of her, not saying a word, a single tear falling down her face.

"I wish our story had a different ending." Lenora whispered.

Theresa locked eyes with the person that once held all of her love, eyes that were so expressive that you'll find yourself lost in the stories that it may tell, but had also broken her heart into a million pieces and never mended it back.

"No one lives happily ever after in real life", she says "but we live long enough to try."

They stood there looking at each other for a while, not saying anything.

"Well, it's time to go", Theresa uttered, getting up. She then reached out for her lover's... no ex lover's, hand and Lenora grabbed hers. Their hands were warm.

She was the first one to walk away this time, leaving everything behind, and Lenora followed her.

Once they were outside, they stared at each other for a few more seconds. Taking each other in, a niggling fear in the back of their heads that it might be the last time goes on rampage and causes them a heightening distress.

Before the tears could come pouring down, Lenora started heading the opposite direction — literally and figuratively. She turned around and the other woman smiled, but the smile never made it to her eyes. She, too, then started to walk away.

She was halfway towards her car when she heard a noise that made her blood go cold.