Black Out

Chapter 7

My head rested on Risa's shoulder and I could smell her hair very well from here. It was really nice. Somehow, the fragrance appeared to bring a tingling feeling alive in my senses. It must have been the combination of her shampoo and perfume but I felt a mixture of fresh, fruity smell, and something a bit like cinnamon.. or maybe.. some other spice that made your brain go fuzzy.. I don't know but I liked it.

I inhaled her scent and then chuckled at myself because I inhaled pretty loudly. Baka narinig ako. In other words, I basically sniffed her hair. Then I turned my attention back to the dialogue between the main characters and, by this point, I was sure they had both fallen for each other. It's just that the guy was too dense to realize this.

"Mga lalaki talaga. Hindi naman sa I have a lot of experience pero–"

"How is it?" Risa asked.

I shook my head. "Why is it that men are so dense, seryoso, hindi ba halata na–"

"No, Lens. I mean.." I brought up my head from her shoulder curiously, "How's my hair? Smells good ba?"

"Oh." I was taken aback. Akala ko naman kung ano. "Oo. Mabango. Parang ano.. fruity and spicy. Kung may pagkain na ganyan, kakainin ko." I replied and momentarily wondered if I would've told her this if I weren't under the influence of alcohol. Parang ang weird pala pakinggan.

"It's good to hear that," she said with a frowning smile of hers, you know, the one that she always does when I say or do something not Leni-like (in her words) aka stupid. And she's amused by my stupidity or sometimes, sa katigasan ng ulo ko. Or actually, to make it sound nicer, let's just say Risa enjoys it when I act dorky.

I turned my attention back to the screen in front of us.

"Pero why are you smelling my hair, Maria Leonor?" she asked all of a sudden. The scene in the movie switched to the woman with her parents about her arranged marriage. I looked at Risa again, searching for an answer. Instead, all that came to mind as my eyes met her piercing gaze was that I really wanted to kiss her.

"Kailangan.." my eyes involuntarily traveled to her lips for a moment, "kailangan ba may reason?" I met her gaze again.

I only registered licking my lips after I'd instinctively done so.

Risa knew what I wanted.

"No," her face was dangerously close to mine and her breath made my lips tingle, "I guess not." I didn't retract a bit, though.

And then she closed the gap between us.

I turned my upper body completely to the side, towards her, and while my left arm rested on the back of the couch now, my right pressed down on my knee as I claimed her lips greedily, pushing against her harder– body leaning forward in the process.

"You don't have to make choices for my life. I'm an adult now." I heard the woman shout from the screen.

Our lips are busily smacking softly.

"Do I really have to spell it out for you?" The protagonist continued.

I slowed down the pace of our kiss for a moment by slowly sliding my parted lips closer to each other and sucking in Risa's lower lip between them.

"But.. we have always supported you." I could still hear the dialogue from the screen given the fact that we were busy.. kissing. It makes sense because I'm used to using korean dramas as a white noise whenever I'm working before. I would open the Netflix app on our TV and then proceed with my paperwork.

Our lips accidentally separated for a moment but Risa quickly changed that by coming at me again, head tilted to the side, and I would lie if I would say I didn't like this new position and the access it allowed to the both of us. It was as if we didn't even have our mouths anymore. I was literally confused about which tongue and which breath belonged to whom. It was like we were one. Heat rose rapidly in my body and I tightened my grip on the backrest of the couch while my other hand formed a fist.

"Kakaiba talaga ang Western movies ano? Hindi nirrespeto mga parents nila once naging legal age na sila." I suddenly broke away, breathing heavily. The thought had been bothering me too much to be able to concentrate.

As I looked at Risa, I could see that she was clearly disappointed. It was like she's giving me that Really-Leni?-Ngayon-talaga?-look. She exhaled loudly as she gave me that look, pulled a cushion to herself, and threw one leg under the other.

"Sorry. Random thought lang." I apologized. "Nabother kasi talaga ako sa dialogue."

Risa sighed. "Well yes. Maybe because we're used to our virtues as Filipinos. Pero honestly," she raised an eyebrow at me. "Are you siding with the parents here? Kasi she's totally right, she can do whatever she wants."

"Yes. Kasi as a parent, I would be offended. Pero siguro if my parents told me na I couldn't date someone I like before, hindi katulad nung sa movie 'yung gagawin ko. I'm sure of that." I shrugged.

"Really? I thought ikaw ang matigas ang ulo between the two of us pero I totally would do the same like that woman," Risa turned back to the screen and I did too.

"Hmm." I wouldn't have expected it any other way. Between the two of us, mas matigas talaga ang ulo ni Risa when it comes to relationships. That's totally her. I smirked to myself, looking at the protagonist of the movie.

"You know, Lens, kasi.. If you really love someone.." she continued calmly after a few seconds of silence. "Shouldn't you try to protect them.. Protect your relationship in front of your parents or other people?" she looked at me pointedly, brows furrowed. "Would you just sit there and say, "Ah yes. Tama kayo. This person is horrible and we shouldn't be together." Even if you love that person talaga? Could you just do that to the one you really love?"

"Hmm.." I thought about that for a moment and it did make sense. If I truly loved someone, it had to be for a good reason. So not only would it be really hard to separate just because of my parents' or other people's opinions. It would also feel like a betrayal if I didn't even try to fight for someone I love so much. My parents, or in my case right now, my daughters. They have been always supportive of me. So honestly, it was a hard concept to wrap my brain around. Especially right now in the middle of the night and with those cocktails still making my head spin a little.

Risa and I continued watching the movie in silence.