Tanikala

153

Nicole raised an eyebrow after reading what Theoden had sent her.

Ace Savvy 🦖:
You’ll See :)

“You’ll see? Really?” She thought to herself. “Ayan lang ba talaga ang sasabihin niya?”

Before she could think of other ways to question Theo, the doorbell suddenly rang throughout her condo. She dropped her phone on the center table of the living room and marched towards the door. She looked at the peephole and saw a man in the condominium’s security guard uniform, who was carrying a package she thinks is from Theo. Binuksan niya ang pintuan at pinaunlakan ng ngiti ang guard.

“Magandang araw po.”

“Magandang araw din po, Ma’am. Ipinadala po ni Theoden Zendejas. Para sa inyo raw po,” sabi nito bago inilahad kay Nicole ang kahon.

“Salamat po,” aniya at tinanggap ito. Nang umalis ang guard, isinara niya muli ang pinto at naglakad pabalik sa sala.

Nicole gently placed the box on the center table, surprised to see what was in front of her. She looked at it, eyeing it with intense scrutiny. It wasn't big, it wasn't even heavy at all when she carried it. She remembers so clearly that she had left plenty of things in Theoden’s condo unit. Why is the “package” that he sent is only close to a size of five Monopoly boxes?

“So he really sent me back my things, huh?” There was a hint of bitterness in her tone. Perhaps because of the stale reminiscence she had yesterday while cleaning her room. Because despite giving back Theo's things, her whole condo unit still reeks of him.

She was a little bit disappointed to get that message from Theo. May parte sa kanyang gustong hindi nalang ibalik ng lalaki ang mga gamit niya. She has already accepted that Theo and her are done. Even a part of her wants to just throw the box away, never opening what's inside. But just the thought of Theo giving back her things meant that he had finally let her go.

And she didn't want that.

Kaya naman hindi rin maitanggi ni Nicole ang pag-aalinlangan na buksan ang kahon. Huminga siya nang malalim bago binuksan ito, at mas lalo lang siyang naguluhan sa nakita.

Her eyebrows furrowed when she saw a unicorn-shaped cake that has the word “gotcha” written on it in cursive, elegant writing. She let out an angry scoff. Hindi siya makapaniwala sa ginawa ni Theo.

“Is he mocking me?” A great sense of irritation was starting to boil in herself.

She pulled the cake out of the box and placed it on the table. When she thought that Theo no longer had any tricks on his sleeve, she spotted a bunch of papers being rolled together by a pink ribbon. She reached for it, still puzzled. As she opened the paper, her heart raced even faster.

It was a handwritten letter addressed to her name.

━━━━━━━━━━━━

TO:
Ms. Struggling, One-Eyed Jack
Nicolette Cortes

You might wonder why you can't find any of your things here in this box. No unicorn-designed jacket, no hello kitty pajamas. Not even your newly purchased PS5.

Well, guess what? I don't want to give back your things. I refuse to. Not when I'm determined to hold on to you until I make things right between us. Not unless I win you back. And I don't take no for an answer. Trust me, I'm stubborn. I'm sure you understand.