Tahimik lang si Aldrin pagkatapos nang sinagot ko sa kanya. "Mahal mo ba ako?" ang sunod nyang tanong.
"Oo," mabilis kong sagot.
"Do you want to stay with me?" he asked.
"Yes," tango ko. "Yes, I want to stay with you Honey. I have enjoyed us. It's just hard to erase someone you have known... or known to love for a long time, from your system. It's just hard to shake... I'm not sure if you understand-"
"I understand. Ang ayoko lang Maggie yung nakakagulo sya sa'yo, tulad kanina."
Gusto ko sanang sabihin that he doesn't bother me at all pero hindi yun totoo. "Okay," ang naging sagot ko sa sinabi nya.
"Girlfriend kita," he stated.
"And you're my boyfriend," sunod ko.
Dun na sya tumingin sa'kin. Ngumiti sya. "I want us to be like Hugo and Therese. Magtatagal tayo, we will go through life's challenges together. We will have happy moments. We will travel together, we will do all the things we want to do, together. Magiging masaya tayo Maggie. Just stay with me. And don't just stay for the sake na girlfriend kita. I want you to really be in this, if you will stay with me."
I nodded. Tama naman sya. I needed to be in the relationship, our relationship – ako at si Aldrin, no one else.
He smiled and kissed my cheek. "Patatawanin kita ng patatawanin hanggang sa mga matatanda na tayo," sabi nya.
"Promise?" I asked.
"Promise," he said.
After eleven months...
"Happy Birthday Honey!" bati ko kay Aldrin. I kissed him on the lips at iniabot ang gift ko sa kanya. "Buksan mo na! Buksan mo na!"
"O what's this?" sabi nya habang binubuksan ang gift ko sa kanya. "Watch. Thanks! This is nice."
"Kasi lagi kang late. So hopefully hindi ka na ma-late lalo na sa kasal nina Hugo at Therese next week."
Tumango sya. "Salamat."
"Ba't parang malamya ka? Ngayon na nga lang ulit tayo nag-kita o. Two weeks ata tayong 'di nagkita. At birthday mo pa!"
"Ang dami kasing trabaho talaga," iling nya. Sumandal sya sa upuan na pabagsak.
Pasama na ng pasama ang kutob ko sa mga kinikilos ni Aldrin. For the past two months, he was different.
May hinala ako that this has something to do with a girl at his work, Janice. I met her once dahil nakita ko sila having lunch out when I surprised him at work. It was an awkward meeting. Babae ako and I felt something pero kahit paano kilala ko rin kasi si Aldrin. It's far-fetched to think na he'd do something that's not right. Pero hindi ko sya ma-confront dahil ayokong malaman ang totoo, kung meron ngang dapat malaman.
He was just silent after. Parang ayaw nya ang nangyayari.
I was fighting the urge to cry. Birthday nya and I just gave him a gift! What is his deal? Hindi ba sya masaya that I booked this hotel room for us so we could have the whole day together?
Tiningnan ko sya. Alam kong hindi sya masaya, o hindi na sya masaya.
Bigla akong umiyak. "Hindi mo na 'ko mahal!" sigaw ko sa kanya.
"What?!" gulat nyang reaksyon. "Ano 'to Maggie?"
"Hindi mo na 'ko mahal!" sigaw ko ulit sa kanya.
BINABASA MO ANG
The Unfinished Business (Completed)
RomansaThis is not my story because mine ended abruptly. I died kasi. You know, that hassle. This is the story of two people who were very close to my heart but they cannot seem to move on from the pain and the guilt of my passing. Her the pain, him the g...
