Love Lingers: Hearts Collide

Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Heart on the Sleeves

He didn't want to regret it. Alam niyang ayaw ni Marty do'n sa lugar. And by the looks of it, she seemed pretty upset, too. But of course, why wouldn't she? Kung siya nga mismo hindi niya rin gusto 'yong naaalala niya sa lugar, si Marty pa kaya?

He could recall how he held himself back that time even though he missed her so much . . . all because he thought he was doing her a favor by keeping his distance along with his assumption that she was already seeing someone else.

And for all the years they've spent together, he had already memorized the there were different levels when she's upset.

The first tier, when she's being sarcastic. Kasama na rin do'n 'yong pag-irap at pagtaas ng kilay niya. There are times she'd still smile or laugh even when he knows she's slightly pissed. In his mental notes, suyo at lambing lang katapat ni Marty dito. Little kisses here and there and his arm around her waist does the trick. Plus points kapag nagtimpla siya ng favorite na matcha drink ni Marty.

The second tier, when her responses are becoming limited. One word replies pero kapag sa messages, emoji na lang sinasagot ni Marty. If it's like that, one thing he knows is to communicate with her about the problem before she could shrug it off and bottle it up just for it to explode even bigger the next time it happens again.

And lastly, the third tier, when she becomes awfully quiet. Marty's currently on this tier and she was acting as if he doesn't exist. Not a single explanation from him could go through and all of his ways to make it up to her doesn't work. Hindi nadadaan ng lambing, hindi nadadaan sa ice cream o sa favorite na matcha ni Marty.

The last time this happened, she didn't talk to him for two days.

Kaya medyo kabado din siya ngayon. It was really a dumb idea.

"Bee, wait lang. Mainit. Dito ka sa may payong," sabi niya. But Marty didn't slow down, he needed to catch up with her.

He tried to hold her hand, but Marty easily avoided his gesture by crossing her arms over her chest. He sighed, shaking his head. All he wanted to do was to change their memory of the place.

Pero mukhang imposible ata kasi hindi naman siya pinapansin ni Martiana. Ni ayaw nga siyang sabayan maglakad tapos ayaw din magpahawak ng kamay.

"Saan mo gusto pumunta, bee? Gusto mo ba umakyat sa walls?" he asked.

And as expected, Marty didn't say anything. She was walking aimlessly on her own and he was just following her trails.

Deretso lang din ang tingin ni Marty. She didn't even bother throwing him a glance, pero siga itong maya't mayang napapalingon sa asawa niya.

Harley placed his arm around her waist and Marty took a pace so his hand would easily drop off. Humabol din naman siya agad para mapayungan si Marty. Nahahalata niya na rin kasi 'yong pamumula sa pisngi niya. There were also beads of sweat on her temple.

"Gusto mo ba, upo muna tayo? O pagod ka na? Bili tayo ng drinks? May nagtitinda din ata ng halo-halo dito."

Wala pa rin.

This time, he tried placing his arm around her shoulder, medyo sinadya niya ring bigatan para hindi maalis ni Marty at hindi rin siya makapaglakad nang mabilis tulad kanina.

They walked to the nearby stalls to so he could buy some refreshments. Umupo lang din si Marty sa isa sa mga bench na malapit.

He bought halo-halo for them. Bumili siya ng ka-partner na turon, squid ball, at tubig.