Boy Next Door (LeAga)

Sunset

As I enter our office late in the afternoon, I found my beautiful Lea sitting in her swivel chair; drown in her thoughts, she didn't notice me enter the room. She is facing the large glass window overviewing the sunset.

Ang sarap n'ya lang titigan. Ang sarap isipin na kahit wala s'yang maalala, may mga bagay pa rin pala na hindi nagbabago. She is still fond of watching the sun set.

-----

As we walk our way to their home that night, I asked her, "Why are you walking alone at the middle of the night? Delikado yun ah. Where have you been Miss?"

"It's Lea. It's my number one to do thing in my bucket list."

"Bucket list? Ano naman yang number 1 na yan?" I eyed her waiting for a response. She looked at me too before answering.

"Watch the sunset along the Golden Gate Bridge." She said then smiled.

"Sa Golden Gate bridge talaga? E ang layo-layo naman yata sa inyo nun. Kita mo nga, kanina pa tayo naglalakad, hindi pa tayo nakakarating sa inyo."

"Eh, hindi naman kasi ito ang papunta sa amin. Sa kabila kaya ang way papunta sa bahay" She said then winked at me.

"Ano?! E saan tayo pupunta? Nababaliw ka na bang babae ka?" She have this weird look on her face. This woman is something.

"Hindi ah. Tutuparin ko lang yung number two sa bucket list ko." She stated then looked at me slowly forming a grin on her face.

"Seriously Lea, after what happened, yung bucket list mo pa rin yung iniisip mo?" Hindi ko alam kung maa-amaze ako sa kanya o maiinis ako.

"Yes, Mister. Ano nga pangalan mo?"

"Aga, Aga Muhlach." I said and offered my hand to her to which she immediately took and we shake hands.

"Yes, Aga. Minsan lang matupad ang dalawang to do list ng magkasunod agad-agad no." She said while playing with the tip of her hair.

"Ano ba kasi yung number two na to do list mo na yan?" I asked a bit irritated and amazed.

"Be in The Palace of Fine Arts, sit beside someone I just knew and stargaze with him."

Masyado akong nag-enjoy at naging komportable sa tabi n'ya, hindi ko napansin na doon nga kami papunta.

"And that someone is me?" I asked, amazed on how weird her bucket list is. She nodded in response.

"Yes sir!" She answered like a soldier and held my hand. Just then, cliché as it may seem, there's this electricity flowing from our hands holding each other to the other parts of me. Serendipity, I think.

We shared the night just looking into the skies.

"Why'd you do this Lea, the bucket list and all? "

"I'd love to give my life the best shot before I die."

"Kakakilala pa lang natin, die agad naiisip mo. Can't we be friends for like years?" Or maybe, more than friends soon, I want to add.

"It's true. I have cancer."

"That doesn't mean you're dying."

"That's CANCER for Pete's sake! It's not curable." She said a bit loud and tapped her forehead slightly.

"Come on, Lea, we're not in the Old Stone Age. Lahat ng bagay ngayon, nagagawan ng solusyon ng tao."

----

"Drown with the memories the sunset reminded you?" I was a bit surprised when she talked.

"Ang ganda 'no?" She asked again.

I looked at her and answered, "Oo, sobrang ganda."

"Ang ibig kong sabihin, yung sunset maganda, hindi ako. Baka matunaw ako nyan ah." She said then laughed a bit.

"Have you noticed how beautiful a sunset could be? It resembles a lot like -"

"How you survived another day and know that maybe God will give you another to spend tomorrow?" I smiled as another line from her resonates in my head.

"You will appreciate its beauty more if you spend time to watch it with someone special."

"Wow. You sound so in love!" She chuckled, paused for a moment and added,

"But really, I don't know why, but watching the sun set has been a hobby and every time I do, it seems like I'm longing for someone else's presence. And when that happens, I feel incomplete."

My lips formed a smile and my tears are almost welling up when I heard what she said. She's longing for that someone else's presence because she had always watched the sunset with him and I don't care if she doesn't remember it's me.

God, it's me! I am that someone she's longing for. She is longing for me!

"But I am not feeling that anymore. Someone is already making me feel complete."

Just then, my smile faded.

"L-Lea, paano kung malaman mo na may amnesia ka pala?" I asked just to cope with what I feel. I feel so heartbroken that I just wanted to spill everything.

"I'll let it be. I won't force myself to remember everything, every memory, if I can create new ones."

I sat in a chair next to her, joining her as she watches the sunset.

"Let it be? Paano kung nasa memories mo pala yung way for you to find your true love, your happiness? Hindi ka ba nanghihinayang?" I asked stealing glances from her gorgeous face. She's as lovely, as vibrant, and as young as I last saw her this near.

"If it's true love, it'll find a way. If it's meant to be, it will happen. " She then looked at me intently.

"Kahit yung mga masasayang memories ayaw mong alalahanin?" Eye to eye, I asked as if we're having a staring contest.

"No, because memories have the capacity to hurt us."

She's right, but you've got to save memories that are worth remembering, those that can put a smile in your face and a wound in your heart yet you'll still want to reminisce then for they are precious to you.

"But they are happy memories." With you, anything is happy memory, Lea.

"Even happy memories can hurt you, especially when you know that they'll forever remain as memories."

"What if-"

"You cannot move forward in life if you keep coming back to live in the past."

I am not living in the past, Lea. I am holding on to my life and that means, I am holding on unto you, unto your love.

"Sometimes it's not living in the past, Lea. It's holding on: holding on even if it hurts you the most because you cannot and must not let true love pass by you without fighting for it. I just won't, Lea." I told her staring straight to her eyes.

You know what they say, sunsets are beautiful too. Yes, they tell you something is coming to an end but it can symbolize new beginnings too.

xx xx

Original publish date: Aug. 13, 2015