There's No Way

One

2016.

Leni was never the type to attend parties. Let alone drink beer or wine (mainly because she never found the appeal of drinking something that bitter, and of course, the headache that comes after it).

Yet here she was, in the middle of the night, sitting in a roundtable with her fellow candidates, listening attentively to whatever was coming out of their lips. Leni, who was nursing a glass of soda, giggled as Mar, her running mate, tried to imitate a funny incident in the hotel earlier.

"Leni," Leila, who was running for the Senate, taps the congresswoman lightly. "Sure ka talaga ayaw mo uminom?"

She shook her head. "Hindi naman ako marunong uminom." She admits. "Hindi kasi ako pala attend sa mga party."

Leila hums before taking a sip of her beer. "Kaya pala." The senatorial candidate waved for another round to a passing waiter. "Okay lang din yan, para may umawat sa mga magagawang kahihiyan ng mga 'to mamaya."

The congresswoman laughs. Given that they were the  only women on the table, Leila decided to whisk Leni away from the conversation of the drunk men that surrounded them and envelope them on their own bubble; talking about their respective childrens and their lives.

Suddenly, Kiko stands up (and almost stumbled if Leni wasn't there to reach out and hold him by the arm and made sure that Kiko could support his own weight before she let go of his arm) and points towards the door. "Hoy Hontiveros!" He drunkenly hollered. "Late ka na!"

Leni turned to the direction of where Kiko was pointing to and found a woman, who was around her age, walking towards them with a bright smile. The said woman fondly rolled her eyes as she stopped behind Leila.

She wasn't drunk, she knows that, but why did the world around her suddenly slowed down? Leni could only do nothing but stare at the woman as she and Kiko exchanged their interactions, her heart slowly stopping the more she stared.

"Eto pala si Leni, running mate ni Mar." She hears Leila says, pulling the congresswoman back to reality. The woman looks at her and gave her the same bright smile she was sporting as she entered the hall. "Lens, she's Risa Hontiveros, one of the senatorial candidates and representative ng Akbayan. I think you remember her."

Risa sticked her hand out to Leni. "Nice to finally meet you again, Mrs. Robredo. " She says. "I apologize if I haven't introduced myself properly back—"

"Ah it's okay really, I've heard of you from Jesse." Leni cuts the woman off. "Leni nalang."

Risa blinks, obviously confused. "I'm sorry?"

"Kako, Leni nalang itawag mo sa akin, huwag na 'Mrs. Robredo'."

"Ah." Risa laughs and Leni swore it was the gentlest sound she had ever heard in her life. "Do you mind kung maupo ako sa tabi mo?"

Leni motions to the empty seat beside her. Risa sat down and motions for a beer to be taken to the table. "So, how are you Leni?" Risa starts.

——

2022.

"Okay naman ako, Risa. Calm down."

"Hindi ka okay, tignan mo nilalagnat ka nga! Kung hindi pa ako sinabihan nila Tricia, hindi ka titigil sa kakatrabaho mo." Risa scolded her. "Teka nga, uminom ka na ba ng gamot?" Leni shook her head. "Apaka pasaway talaga! Nako, Maria Leonor sinasabi ko sayo kukurutin kita sa signit!"

Leni chuckles as she watches Risa exit her room to grab some medicine. They have been friends now for years now and and a lot of things had changed since then; Leni and Risa won the 2016 Elections as Vice President and Senator respectively, and the recent 2022 Elections where she won as President and Risa re-elected for another term in the Senate.

Yet despite the physical changes and, of course, work changes, their interactions (like their weekly visits to each other's houses, late lunches or dinners, budget hearings, and all) haven't changed. Risa still looks after Leni while Leni became Risa's personal diary.

"Inumin mo na 'to para bumaba lagnat mo." Risa handed over the medicine and given the hard stare she was currently receiving, Leni had no choice but to take it.

Once she felt the medicine making its way down her stomach, Leni laid back and covered herself with the blanket.

"Hindi ka pa uuwi?" Leni asked the senator as she made herself comfortable in the nearby couch.

"Not until I see you snoring the night away." Risa answers. "Baka mamaya pag umalis ako ng maaga, bumalik ka nanaman sa harap ng laptop mo."

"Aika told me the same thing a while ago." Leni says, chuckling. "Buksan mo nalang yung TV kung naiinip ka, may Netflix dyan."

Risa perked up. "Talaga? Panood ako ah? Tapusin ko lang yung KDrama na sinuggest sakin ni Sinta nung nakaraan."

The older woman didn't notice she fell asleep until she heard a commotion happening inside her room, Leni opens her eyes and found Risa sleeping in a awkward position in the couch, TV left open and still playing the said KDrama she wanted to watch.

"Hay nako, Theresia." Leni grumbles as she tried to stand up. Surprisingly, she felt better than she was a while ago and was able to do small things.

Leni went to the nearby cabinet and took out some extra pillow and blankets to cover Risa with. She doesn't know how the woman fell asleep in such position when the couch was large to begin with.

Placing the pillow down first, Leni tried to tap Risa's cheek lightly to see if she would wake up but failed. The woman was in deep sleep. And so, she gently pulled Risa down and placed her head on the pillow before pulling the blanket over her.

Leni stared at Risa and chuckled slightly when she heard soft snores coming out of her. Leni couldn't help but to admire the woman and how beautiful she looked even while in deep sleep, she was so fine that it had to be illegal to look like that.

Her heart starts to race again the longer she kept her eyes on Risa. Bakit ba ako nagkaka-ganito? Leni sighs as she pulled away from the senator to return back to bed. Keep yourself together, Leni. Di na tama to.

She couldn't deny that for the six years they have been together as friends, Leni felt something strong for Risa — the connection, the chemistry, everything was there. It was the very same thing she felt when she first met Jesse, her late husband.

But that idea of having a strong feeling for someone close to you is terrifying.

Also, it was impossible that Risa would feel the same thing anyways.

——

Author's Note:

I tried huhu ayun lang wala ako masabing iba eh AHSKSKDKA kayo na bahala mag judge netong gawa ko ;))