Lifetime

Unang Kabanata

From 09*******42:
Hi, how are you? How was your day? I hope you were happy today. Because mine... It was totally awful.

Napailing si Niko matapos mabasa ang panibagong mensahe mula sa hindi niya kilalang numero. Maraming beses na siyang nakatanggap ng mga messages mula sa hindi pamilyar na numero.

At first, he thought it was one of his friends who was trying to pull a prank on him. But seeing the messages, he realized that it was a serious matter and that she needs someone to listen to all of her rants.

Hindi siya nagrereply sa tuwing nagtetext ito sa kaniya. Hinahayaan niya lang.

Knowing that he is not so good in giving advice and constructing words, baka may masabi lang siya para mas lalo itong madown.

"Nagtext na naman?" Tumango ito bilang tugon sa tanong ng kaibigang si Silas.

"Ginagawa ka ng personal diary," he laughed and jokingly patted Niko's shoulder.

"Lumabas na top 3 this final, nasilip mo na ba?" Tanong ni Silas, dahilan para tumingin si Niko sa kaniya.

"Tanga, hindi naman ako kasama do'n!" He chuckled, shaking his head lightly.

"Si Raki kasama."

"Gago?" He slammed his hand on the table before turning his back away from his friend.

It was easy for him to find Raki knowing na tambay ito palagi sa library.

Oh, and by the way. Niko's been admiring her for quite some time now.

Of course, Raki knows. Sa kapal ba naman ng mukha ni Niko na sabihin dito na gusto niya ang babae sa halos araw-araw na ginawa ng Diyos.

"Raki!" He called.

Sweats are visible from his face down to his neck, his uniform's sleeve and collar were soaked, caused by running from their building up to the library.

Raki glared at him, clearly annoyed by his presence. And it wasn't only her who was glaring, the librarian too.

He bowed as a sign of apology before sitting beside the latter.

"Congrats, boss." He said, offering his hand for a handshake. Raki did not flinch even a little.

"Sungit naman," he murmured.

Raki remained silent. Patuloy lang siya sa pagbibigay ng atensyon sa binabasang libro.

"Pansinin mo naman ako, boss."

She sighed then looked at him, "ano na naman ba, Niko?"

"Sabi ko, congrats."

"Salamat. Pwede na ba?" Tipid nitong sabi bago ibaling muli ang tingin sa aklat.

He grinned and nodded, "baka naman pwede kitang ilabas minsan, boss. Date tayo? Friendly date lang."

"Busy ako. Iba na lang ayain mo. Wag ako."

"Raki naman. Lagi mo na lang akong pinagtutulakan. Gusto ko ikaw." He made a sad face.

"Gusto mo 'kong ilabas?" She asked.

He immediately nodded.

"Fine."