Losing You's a Thing That I Dread

Chapter 13: Roxy

A/N: Almost 9k words of landian without plot! Merry Christmas, I guess? Baka mahilo kayo sa chapter na ito. Bonamine is key. 🤭

Honestly, hindi 'to ganon ka-pulido, so I don't know how to feel about it. But I don't wanna sit on it for another week so, bahala na.

Pag may na-catch kayong typo or grammar lapses, paki-DM na lang ako. 🤣

***

Sunday, 07:29 PM

The rider peeked inside the red eco bag and a huge smile appeared on his face. “Ma’am, thank you po sa pamasko! Magugustuhan ‘to ng misis ko.” 

Roxy returned his smile and said, “You’re welcome, Kuya! Merry Christmas sa inyo ni Misis!” 

“Merry Christmas po!”

She heaved a sigh of relief. Now that the last two boxes of cookies were on their way to her customer, she could focus on her little Christmas project. She closed the gate and headed back inside. Yawning, she pushed the door close, remembering to lock both the knob and deadbolt as the memory of Archie passionately talking about B&E statistics and safety measures drifted in her mind.

“That's 269.8 per 100,000 residents in the US. What if it happens to you, too?”

“Ang OA, Archie ah. Wala naman tayo sa US. Nasaan yung burglary rate ng Pinas? Patingin nga.”

A smile tugged on her lips. Archie may be a lot of things, but he could be really sweet and thoughtful when he wanted to be. 

The delicious aroma coming from their small kitchen beckoned her back to the present. 

Roxy wanted to do something special for Archie, something that would tell him how much she appreciated his time, effort and… attentiveness in the past month. 

The idea came to her when she and her Ate Ria were planning their Noche Buena menu. 

She remembered how much he loved lasagna, and with all the baking she’d been doing, she thought she might as well give it a shot. Roxy found a simple and easy-to-follow recipe online, one that she had rewatched multiple times in the last 24 hours. She took her phone from the stand and replayed the YouTube video for the nth time, taking note of how the chef was layering the noodles and the sauce in the baking dish, and getting to work.

Sunday, 08:24 PM

The last hour had been busy, but she was almost done. The two pans of lasagna came out perfect and were cooling down on the counter. The chicken was in the air fryer, and the two tubs of mango float were chilling in the refrigerator.

All that was left for her to do was set the dining table before midnight and pack the food for Archie. He and Gino raised their middle fingers to family dinners, and since Poch’s parents were out of the country, they all agreed to spend Christmas Eve together in Archie’s condo. 

“We’ll order pizza, have a few beers, watch a movie… That’s way better than the stuffy dinner Mom prepares.”

“Inom lang ah.”

“Inom lang, I promise. Hey, what's that look for?”

“Beer and pizza lang handa niyong tatlo sa Noche Buena?”

“Yeah. Beer, pizza… Oh maybe chicken wings, too - we’re all set. 

Her phone alerted her to a new message, and she excitedly grabbed it from the dining table. There were only two possibilities - it could be Archie letting her know that he’s already outside, or it could be her Ate Ria asking again if she wanted anything else for dinner.