Losing You's a Thing That I Dread

Chapter 11: Roxy

A/N: This one's short, more like a filler chapter. This is still set in December 2023, before Christmas.

Bagal ko kasi mag-update. Sorry na!

A huge shoutout to SevLovesHori for the new cover art! Try to guess which chapter it was based from nga. :)

***

Wednesday 11:42 AM

ARCHIE: Are you hungry?

Her brow furrowed upon seeing his message, but she decided to reply anyway.

ROXY: Medyo

Her phone vibrated again, and she saw a new message come through.

ARCHIE: Drive-thru tayo?

ROXY: Pwede

ARCHIE: One-word replies are rude, you know.

She angled her body toward his and shot him a quizzical look, but he was looking at the timer, counting down the seconds until the light turns green. His left hand was impatiently drumming his fingers on the steering wheel, while his right was on his lap, fingers loosely wrapped around his phone.

While her Ate Ria was able to take care of her discharge papers that morning, she couldn't take off early since the hospital was still understaffed. On the brighter side, her request to go on leave for Christmas was approved, which meant Roxy won't be spending the holiday alone.

Archie had been offering to give her a ride home since the attending physician gave her the all-clear during the morning rounds anyway, so it all worked out.

ROXY: Bakit ka ba kasi nagte-text? Magkatabi lang naman tayo.

"Archie, pwedeng palakasan yung aircon? Medyo mainit sa backseat," Kenji requested.

Archie scowled while turning down the AC. "Does that answer your question?"

Wednesday 01:02 PM

"Just great, Kenj. Your family owns those cars, and you still made us drive all the way here?" Archie asked as he pulled over in front of Kenji's house.

"They're all busy nga," Kenji replied. "And yung pinsan kong si Kendra, she hates hospitals. So..." Kenji shrugged his shoulders.

Kenji might be Northford's resident CCTV and the ultimate Marites in their batch, but at that very moment, she felt bad for him. She may not live in a huge house and own three cars, but her grumpy Ate Ria would always take care of her and make her feel loved.

"Don't you have a driver? Do I look like one to you?"

Roxy winced.

May hindi nanaman po nakakuha ng memo, Lord.

She gave Archie the fakest smile in history and said, "Ayaw mo 'non? Diba basta driver, sweet lover?"

Archie just gave her a blank stare, and she realized that the old movie reference went straight over his head.

Mayaman pero walang CinemaOne.

She looked at Kenji instead. She smiled widely and added, "Besides, patay na oras naman, so hindi traffic."

"Easy for you to - Ow!"

Kenji was looking at them curiously, but he didn't seem to notice that she pinched Archie's leg.

Roxy then assumed a serious face. "Hoy, Kenji bawas-bawasan mo yang kaka-milk tea mo ah," she said in a stern voice. "Tignan mo nangyayari sa sikmura mo."