SOMEONE

Chapter 33

After driving through the Manila traffic Leni and Risa finally made it to Leni's condo.

They were in the elevator when Leni sighed, she didn't like the fact that Risa was being too silent.

She started thinking that maybe she hurt the senator's feeling.

Once they were inside the condo Leni put their food on the table and turned to Risa.

"Do you want to talk first or eat?" She asked her

"Kaen na muna tayo, kanina ka pa walang kaen"
Leni smiled at her.

Leni and Risa ate in silence.

Once they were done they sat on the couch with a little bit of space between them.

"So what should we do?" Risa asked first facing Leni.

"We should consider a lot of factors first. Ris, this is not only about us and as much as I want to do this our way unfortunately we live in a society where it's still a taboo, especially for people our age" Leni said

"I agree"

"You're still a public official and it can impact your career going forward. We really have to think about how this will affect your work especially if you want to push for certain bills" Leni knew Risa still had a lot she wanted to accomplish and she was afraid that her career would be put on hold because of their relationship.

"If they discover us now or later it will affect my work yes, but I don't want people thinking that we're pushing for inclusiveness and living freely while being oneself and then we're the ones hiding our love because the society doesn't accept this. My work is important but we also matter in this."

"I know. But they could use this to block your work and your bills. And those are important too because at the end of the day it will also affect how we can live in the future" Leni pointed out

"Also if this goes out you're the one who's going to receive most of the bashing and hate, I don't want you to go through that because of me" Risa added

"I can handle it and you know I don't really mind what other people think as long as you and our kids are okay. But our kids are what concerns me the most, they are strong but I don't want them to go through a hard time because of us. Especially Sinta, she's still in school and sometimes even young people can be mean. This could affect her studies"

Risa was speechless again. Even in a situation like this where they could choose to be selfish Leni still thought about others first, not only that but she's making Risa's kids her priority too.

"So you think it's better we don't tell the public yet?" Risa asked

"Not yet at least, we can tell our families and our most trusted friends and colleagues but I really think we should wait before going public with this, at least until Sinta's graduation"

Risa nodded, she knew Leni was right and she too agreed to the idea of keeping this to themselves for now.

"I also don't want them to use our relationship to question the foundation, especially since it's just starting"

"Ris"

"Yes?"

"I am sure and serious about you, I don't think we should tell people yet, but if it is important to you then we can tell everyone. I want to protect us and our family but if it means that you're going to get hurt then we should consider the other alternative"

Risa shook her head.

"No, we should wait before telling people. And one day I hope we will. But please know that for me, you and our kids are the most important thing too. We'll wait but if they find out about us I would prefer us telling the truth" Risa said. Keeping their relationship a secret was one thing, denying it was a completely different story.