To Catch a Gust of Wind [COMPLETE]

Chapter 7 - Last Flight [#32]

"Please, Rica, if I said something that made you upset, I'm sorry. I'm trying to be honest. It's what I'm thinking right now. I'm telling you what I'm feeling towards you. It's me. I hope you'll understand," Rafael explained.

"You know Raffy, you're not being romantic right now. Perhaps you haven't realized it, but your sense of love has turned platonic," Rica said. I wish that would wake him up, she thought. "You think you're telling me what any sane, love-struck woman would want to hear. Well, you're not. You're telling me exactly the opposite."

Yes, girl, say your piece. You sure know how to ruin the moment, with great oomph that borders on the cerebral.

Rafael could not believe what he was hearing from Rica. This is not her, he thought. She's not the Rica he once knew, much less the one he expected to be still. This is the true Rica. The one that has changed through the years. How naïve of me not to think about her like this, of what she would have become, Rafael thought.

Get up, man. Say what she would want to hear. Say it differently, or much better retract your statement about the ideal woman.

Rafael stood up. He placed his hands on Rica's shoulders, Rica facing away from him. She didn't move. "I'm sorry, Rica. I take back what I've said about the ideal woman. My bad. I didn't expect you're vehemently opposed to the idea. I ---"

Rica cut him off in mid-sentence. She faced Rafael. "Because that's not me. This is me, Rafael. Look at me directly. Stop looking at me behind the veil of your idealism."

"Why, Rica, is it wrong? Is it bad for you, for the both of us, for this relationship?" Rafael blurted out. He knew he should softly explain his position to Rica, but his temper got the better of him.

Relax, man. Talk to her softly. Win her over again. Do it.

"You're really like Kansilay," Rafael said softly.

"A what?" Rica stepped back, surprised.

"Kansilay, the native princess-ruler whom this city was named after. She's romantic, really in love with her husband but she lost him because she thought she should be pragmatic enough to solve her kingdom's problems," Rafael said. "The book you gave me as a parting gift before I graduated. I've read it several times over. You think I forgot about you all these years. It's what kept me thinking about you." Rafael looked at Rica directly. "It's what's giving me hope that someday we'll see each other again. You can't imagine how happy I was when we met this morning and knew you're still uncommitted. If it's not destiny that we meet again, I don't know what it is. But I do know there's a reason for all of this. It involves both of us. Let's give each other the chance, Rica. Don't you want to see how this relationship would turn out to be? I can't assume to know how exactly this will end, but let me tell you, we'll come out of this the richer for both of us."

Kansilay, Rica had forgotten that part of her youth. The book she gave to Rafael, she forgot about it, too. You really don't know what a little gesture, an act of kindness or a little remembrance can do to a person obsessed with someone or something. That someone happened to be her. And she could not fault Rafael for that. Poor Rafael.

"Rafael, I'm sorry," Rica said. For how long they stood there, they didn't care. They embraced once again. And kissed, as if they owned the place and controlled the night. They didn't bother, for their love knew no bounds, didn't listen to reason, neither it revealed true intent, only what it felt at the moment, borne out of passion that was out of fashion long ago, but still strong and alive and brimming with warmth.

But only for tonight.

Someone else was there in the ruins of the old church, hiding in the shadows. Thea Marie. She walked towards the couple. She's been standing there a few meters away under the acacia tree the whole time, a silent witness to the drama unfolding inside the ruins.

"Ahmmm, Rafael," Thea Marie softly called him. Rica and Rafael abruptly parted, surprised not so much at finding someone else was inside the area as knowing that someone else came unnoticed. The two remained standing, staring at Thea Marie. Both were thinking different things: Rica was thinking, Who's this woman? And Rafael, Rica, this is Thea Marie, my ex-girlfriend.

It was Rica who spoke first. "Rafael, do you know her?"

Rafael said slowly, "Rica, this is Thea Marie, my ---"

"His girlfriend," Thea Marie cut him off in mid-sentence.

"His what?" Rica said, disbelieving what she just heard. She faced Rafael. "Is it true, Raf?"

"Ermm, we broke off this afternoon. She's the one---" Rafael was cut off again in mid-sentence.

"How could you do this to me, Mr. Rafael Cruz?" Rica blurted out, this time in anger mixed with jealousy and hatred and all the negatives there were when one was caught in an unstable emotion, especially when it's about love. She turned her face away from Rafael and started to walk away from the two.

"Rica, wait. I can explain," Rafael said, walking towards Rica in an attempt to grab her hand. "She's not my girlfriend, I'm not going to lose you again. Never again. Please don't go, don't break my heart." But Rica pushed Rafael away. "Stop it, Raffy. You already broke mine." She started to run towards the arched stone entrance, out of the ruins, followed the concrete path beside the church until Rafael could no longer see her figure, swallowed by the darkness. Everything was going great until it wasn't, Rafael thought.

There goes his ideal, lost in the dark like a puff of smoke.

"Rafael," Thea Marie said. She walked towards Rafael who was left standing, obviously stunned to make the next move. She tried to hold Rafael's hands, but he pushed her away.

"Don't you touch me, Thea, don't you ever..."

"Raffy, Raffy," Thea Marie was shaking his arm. He felt warm beads of perspiration running down his forehead though the air around was cold and dry. He felt the shaking once more and somebody was calling his name. He recognized the voice as Thea Marie's and she's seated beside him, and he was shaking again, this time more forceful that roused him from sleep. He could hear the gentle humming of the engines inside the cabin as the airplane flew through turbulence.

"This is your captain speaking," Rafael heard the announcement. "Please return to your seats and fasten your seatbelt."

The turbulence died after a few seconds and Rafael was fully awake. He turned towards the window and he saw puffs of smoky clouds outside. Then he turned to the woman seated beside him. Thea Marie, and she's pregnant. She smiled at him as she unbuckled the seat belt.

"You fell asleep, Raffy. You must be tired. You were really excited to see your classmates last night at the homecoming party. You came home drunk," Thea Marie said.

"And you were talking in your sleep. You mentioned a woman's name..."

-End of Story-