Losing You's a Thing That I Dread

Chapter 19: Roxy

A/N: The song softly playing in the background once you reach Sunday 04:27 AM is Aqualung's Brighter Than Sunshine.

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Saturday, 09:47 PM

“Medyo mababa yung kaliwa,” she murmured distractedly while typing on her phone.

Even though her bedroom was not always in pristine condition, much to her Ate Ria’s chagrin, Roxy was actually a well-organized person. It was something she took pride in, an invaluable skill that helped sustain her small business.

“Okay na?”

She shook her head without looking, eyes still glued to her phone screen. “Paki-angat pa konti.”

Her organizational skills were unparalleled, at least that’s what Sanya said a few days back, while they were helping the clean-up crew sort chairs and sweep confetti after the year-starter party, which turned out really successful.

No thanks to Bree.

Due to an earlier than expected schedule, pressure was almost always high inside the Office of Student Affairs. And with the limited preparation time, it was all hands on deck. 

Bree prioritizing her spa appointment over the program dry run was the last straw, and Sanya kicked her off the planning committee.

There might have been an extra pep in Roxy’s steps after the whole thing went down much to Archie’s amusement. 

“Hindi ka naman nakatingin, bhie,” Tim grumbled.

“Bhie ka diyan,” Poch muttered.

That caught Roxy’s attention. She waved her hand dismissively and told Poch, “Force of habit lang.” Then she glared at her ex. “Umayos ka, Tim.” 

“Ikaw naman kasi. Puro cellphone,” he chastised her before shifting his gaze to his boyfriend and smiling apologetically. “Sorry nakasanayan ko lang.”

Poch grinned. “Binibiro ko lang kayo. Masyado kasi kayong nate-tense.”

“Mag-aalas diyes na kasi, pero negative pa rin yung cake,” Roxy explained. 

She may still appear quite composed on the outside, but inside she felt like screaming. She had always been the girl with a plan, and her boyfriend’s birthday salubong should have been a piece of cake (no pun intended). 

It’s just that the start of the year has been busier than usual. It was already hard to juggle both the event preparations and her academic deliverables. And then she got a request to tutor Alex - Ava’s younger brother, and help bring him up to speed. Apparently he missed a lot of classes due to health-related reasons.

Her phone beeped.

SKY: Pasalamat ka, mahal kita.

Roxy frowned. Another message appeared on the thread - an image, but it was taking forever to load.

The heavy rain must have something to do with it, although she couldn’t blame the weather solely because the signal in Archie’s building was already terrible to begin with.

After a few moments, the image finally appeared, and a loud squeal escaped Roxy’s lips. “Thank you, Lord!” 

It was a photo of Obet, holding a motorcycle helmet in one hand and a box of cake with the other.

She realized that no matter what happens, even when all else fails (and by ‘all’ she meant Grab and Food Panda), her friends will have her back - always.

Saturday, 10:52 PM

“What do you mean Kuya’s downstairs?”

Seeing the panic clouding Z’s eyes, Roxy immediately tried to calm her down. “Okay lang! Ready naman na tayo.”