Black Out

Chapter 6

"It's just that.. I really don't think if I made the right decision.. Maybe.." she sniffed, "Maybe I should've given us more time."

It's been three days since she broke up with her boyfriend, a Board Member from a certain province, after two months of being together. Even though time ran by really fast with our busy lives after the elections, a lot of things could still happen in two months and it seemed that Risa was greatly affected by their short-lived relationship.

The tropa had a strange reaction when the two got together and seemed to look at me in concern which I soon figured out why– it was because of what happened between us before. After that incident on the rooftop, we explained to them one more time how it was all just out of affection, a spur-of-the-moment thing that would sometimes happen when we're drunk; a thing that was not supposed to be taken seriously. But apparently, they were still surprised by the fact that everything just went on as normal even when the two went official.

Luckily, they got over their delusions quickly and stopped looking at me and Risa like we were some aliens from another planet. Life went on. We would have meetings, forums and catch up together just like before.

It was a surprise to me, actually, when Risa announced their break-up in the group chat a few days ago.

I could tell that she had a hard time in the last couple of days but she never cried, not even with some of our friends or her children, we managed to talk to her about it for a bit. With her schedule at the Senate and different work trips, one could've assumed she was tired from the long working hours but to me, it was obvious that it was way beyond that.

Once we came back from dinner tonight for another event earlier and entered our shared room, she immediately collapsed as if she was a doll who lost her battery.

And now, I could only sit next to her on the floor and rub her back with my palm, trying to soothe her for a bit. I didn't really know what to say but I knew I hated seeing her like this. She cried a little more. She hasn't had the chance, or maybe she was just unable to cry it all out in the past few days. Perhaps, it only really sank in by now. Perhaps, the alcohol erased it from her.

I sighed, feeling pain gather up in my chest at the sight of my desperately crying friend, knowing there was nothing I could do to help her.

I want to change into something more comfortable but I felt obligated not to leave her alone for even a second in this state. Baka kung ano pa ang gawin.

Honestly, I didn't know either if she made the right choice or not. They seemed to match well together. They were both from Iloilo and were friends since she was still a new senator. There were moments when I felt a bit odd about him, that's true, but Risa's boyfriends have always... never mind. The point is, it looked like things were going well for them. But she said it was not what she expected and that something just did not feel right with him. I already told her that if she wasn't sure about her feelings after almost two months, it's probably better that she let him go but she kept insisting that maybe, she should've tried harder to make it work.

I really don't know.

Risa keeps on telling us that something was off, that it wasn't right for her to keep doing this when she could feel that he wasn't the right one.

She says that, but I think that doesn't make her feel any less guilty.

We already told her how we think it's better that she listened to her heart and that she shouldn't blame herself that things didn't just work out the way she thought they would. Even her kids said the same. It's not like she wanted to not fall for him enough, it's not like she had control over something like that.