RJ and Maine

Kaba

Road to Forever

(One Shot)

As soon as the freeze scene of KS was done, RJ tried to get Meng's attention but she had been ushered out of the barangay as she had a TVC shoot to get to. RJ tried to call her but his calls was not going through. He didn't want to just text her, he NEEDED to talk to her, he NEEDED to hear her voice. He tried to calm down and reason to himself but to no avail. Hearing those words from Maine had shook him. He knew that it wasn't true, that it was all acting, instructed by the writers, scripted. But he still couldn't get her voice out of his head as she said, "HINDI NA KITA MAHAL!". It wasn't real, she didn't mean it but, oh god! He felt like a bullet went through him when he heard her say those words. For a moment there he couldn't breathe and felt his world crumble around him. It felt like a part of him died the moment she uttered those words...."May iba na akong mahal". He tried calling her cellphone again but still cannot be reached. He finally decided to call Direk Pat as they were usually together after KS. After several tries, DIrek Pat finally answered.

"Hello Direk? Kasama mo ba si Maine? Kanina ko pa sya tinatawagan pero out of reach."

"Hi! Alden. Galing nyo kanina ha. Feel na feel ko yung scene nyo ni Meng."

"Salamat po. Si Maine po? Kasama nyo pa ba?"

"Ay, hindi na kasi sa may Makati yung TVC shoot nya. Magkikita na lang kami mamaya sa MBL set."

"Yun lang naman TVC shoot ang sched nya di ba? Tapos sa MBL set na?"

"Oo. Diretcho na sya sa MBL mamayang hapon. Bakit? May problema ba?"

"Ho? Ah, wala po. Gusto ko lang syang makausap."

"Sus! Ikaw naman! Halos magkausap na kayo buong araw at gabi ah! Miss mo pa rin", napatawa si Direk.

"Actually, may itatanong lang sana ako".

"Ah, ganun ba. Try mo na lang sya ulit tawagan."

"O sige. Salamat Direk!"

As soon as Direk hanged up the phone, RJ tried calling Meng again but still no answer. He tried to clear his head as he needed to get to his own TVC shoot and then a magazine photo session. Plus he had a mini concert at a mall to promote his new CD. But Meng's voice was still resonating in his head.

He tried his best to concentrate at the TVC shoot but he still couldn't get Meng's voice out his head saying those hurtful words. And the fact that he still couldn't get a hold her was doing nasty things to his psyche. He kept trying to call her in between takes but to no avail. Until finally, just before he was to go on stage for his mini concert, Meng's phone was answered.

"Hello Pach?"

"Ay, Alden! Si Marg (Maine's PA) 'to. Nasa kabilang tent si Maine, kasama si Direk Joey at Bossing."

"Bakit na syo ang phone nya?"

"Eh nakalimutan nya kasi tinawag sya ni Direk. Heavy daw yung scene nila ni Bossing kaya gusto ni Direk read through muna sila bago mag take."

"O sige. Paki sabi na lang kay Meng tawagan ako pag nag karoon sya nang break."

"Sige, sabihin ko,"

Nag thank you si RJ at binaba na yun phone at the same time na tinawag sya nung stage director. RJ always tries to give his 200% whenever he's performing but with the KS episode, Meng's voice in his head and still not being able to talk to her, RJ was having a hard time concentrating on stage. There were a couple of moments that he forgot the lyrics and had to adlib but his fans didn't mind. They were all too happy just to see and hear him up close. After the concert there was a meet and greet with some fans, RJ has always been more than happy to meet with his fans as, after all, if it weren't for their support then he wouldn't have the career that he has now. But today, his heart was just not in it and for the first time he wanted to just get up and leave everyone so he can talk to Maine. He smiled, hugged and made small talk for another hour before his handler finally broke up the group and pulled RJ away. Luckily he had no other commitments for the rest of the night so as soon as he got in the car, RJ gunned it and drove to where Maine was shooting MBL. Luck was on his side as traffic was light and RJ made it to the set without any incident. As it was nearing midnight, there was only a handful of fans left waiting to get a glimpse of Maine. RJ jumped out of the car as soon as he was parked and made his way to Maine's tent. Several staff of the movie set was slightly surprised to see him as he had no scheduled scene that night. But then they remembered that Maine was still there and some of them even teased him about missing Maine too much. After chatting with a couple more of the production staff, RJ finally made it to Maine's tent. He stopped in front of the tent and took a deep breath before clearing his throat and announcing his presence to whoever was inside. Someone said to come in and RJ slowly lifted the tent's door opening and walked inside. Inside was Maine's PA, Marg, and Maine. Marg was sorting out Maine's clothes, getting ready to pack up for the day. Maine was sitting on a chaise lounge, checking her phone messages. She just saw the several missed calls from RJ when she looked up and saw him. Her face lit and a big smile had formed when she saw that it was RJ but instantly frowned when she saw his expression. He wasn't smiling and there was a tension around him. Maine immediately went on alert and was getting ready to get up when her PA spoke.

"Ay, Den! Ikaw pala! Sorry ha. Kababalik lang ni Meng dito sa tent kaya ngayon ko lang nasabi sa kanya na tumawag ka."

"Ok lang. Busy din ako sa TVC kanina tapos yun concert sa mall. Ummm, Marg, pwede paki iwan muna kami ni Maine? I just need to talk to her for a few minutes."

Marg looked at RJ and noticed the tension in him as well.

Marg and Maine looked at each other and Maine gave Marg a short nod indicating it was ok. As soon as Marg was out of the tent, RJ rushed to Maine, scooped her up from the lounge chair and hugged her. Maine started to get worried as she felt RJ shaking and he was hugging her so tight that she was starting to feel faint.

"RJ? Are you ok? What's wrong?" she asked. But RJ only held her tighter.

"Hoy! Tisoy! Ano ba! Kinakabahan na ako ah. Ano bang nangyari?"

RJ slowly loosened his hold but kept his arms around her. He placed his forehead against hers and just stared at her as if memorizing every each of her face.

"Will you please tell me what's wrong? You're starting to scare me." Maine whispered.

In a soft voice, almost whispering, RJ said, "Mahal mo pa ako di ba? Wala tayong problema? Tayo diba? Always?"

Maine was startled by RJ's questions, what's gotten into him. She's not very vocal about telling him that she loves him but she shows him her love in different ways. She always makes sure that he never questions her love for him so the question had surprised her.

"Oo naman. Alam mo naman na mahal na mahal kita", she assured him.

"Tisoy, ano ba? Bakit ka ba ganyan?"

RJ took a deep breath but never braking contact from her, "Kanina sa KS....nung sinabi mong hindi mo na ako mahal...."

Maine gasps and hurriedly said, "You know it wasn't true! The writers gave me a short script to work on just before going live. Sabi nila, sabihin ko daw na hindi na kita mahal."

Maine held RJ's face and said, "Pero sa KS lang yun hindi naman sa totoo. Ikaw talaga."

RJ let out a sigh of relief, "Kasi yung pag sabi mo tapos hindi ka tumitingin sa akin....."

"Eh paano naman ako titingin sayo eh hindi ko nga kasi masasabi yun sayo. Kung tumingin ako sayo nung sinabi ko yun, tiyak na pa hagulgol na ako sa harap nang camera noon. Baka nga naglupisay pa ako!"

RJ pulled Maine against his chest and said, "Walang iwanan. Walang susuko. Tayong dalawa. Forever."

Sagot naman ni Maine, "Walang iwanan, walang susuko. Tayong dalawa. At dapat lang forever no. Sayang naman ang initials ko."

RJ slightly frowned and said, "Initials mo?"

"Oo. Di ba sabi pa nga ni Miss A ganda ganda nang magiging initials ko." Tawa ni Maine.

RJ just kept looking at Maine, hearing her laugh felt so damn good. She had no idea what he'd been through that day. She had no idea how scared he was, just the possibility of them breaking up tore him up inside. He was still slightly shaking and was trying to get his heart rate to go back to normal.

"Bakit ano ba ang magiging initials mo?" tanong ni RJ.

Napatawa nang malakas si Meng at sinabi, "Eh di MMFF! Maine Mendoza Faulkerson Forever!!"

Sa sobrang lalim nang ngiti nya, nagging chinito na naman si RJ. Hindi lang masarap pakingan ang halakhak nang Pach nya, masarap din pakingan ang magiging last name nya one day (one day soon he hopes).

Suddenly RJ lifted up Maine and twirled her around the tent. Laughing and loving the feeling of having Maine is his arms. After several turns, RJ slowly put Maine down and looked at her. Slowly cupping her face with both hands, he dipped his head and placed a soft kiss against her lips. He whispered, "Please don't ever leave me. No matter what happens, will work through it. Will get through it together. I don't ever want to hear you say that you don't love me anymore."

Maine got teary eyed. For RJ to say those things to her he must have been really affected by the KS scene earlier. Maine looped her arms around his neck and said, "You will always and forever be my one and only Tisoy".

***FIN***