Adventures

Night Stroll

Alden was oddly quiet tonight. He wasn't his usual makulit and clingy self when he fetched me from my condo for our usual Saturday date night.

Dinner with him was usually enjoyable as we tried out different restaurants every week, but as I cut through my medium rare steak at Outback, I felt the awkwardness kick in.

My conversation starters to kill the awkwardness ranged from ice cream flavors to amusement parks, and it frustrated me when he'd respond with one-liners or a mere nod. Ano ba talaga ang problema nito? Tisoy naman. I don't want to play mind games with you tonight.

"May problema ba?" I asked, stopping dead on my tracks. We were currently strolling at a park nearby.

Alden's forehead creased in confusion.

"Huh? Anung ibig mong sabihin?"

I scoffed. Did Alden really think that I was that insensitive towards him? We've been boyfriend and girlfriend for over a month now, and sure, for most couples, that duration wasn't long enough to fully know your significant other, but it was different for Alden and I.

Ever since I decided to fully open my heart to him, I felt like I'd known him all my life.

"Richard, I know there's something wrong." I said, sternly. Whenever I started using his real name, Alden knew that I was serious. "Kailan ka pa natutong magtago ng feelings sa akin? Akala ko ba no secrets?"

Alden breathed heavily.

No secrets. One of the promises we weren't hesitant to make the moment I'd said yes to him. And today, I knew that that promise wasn't going to be broken. Alden and I weren't the type of couple that would eat their words just because times were rough.

"Oo nga, no secrets." Alden said. "Di ko lang talaga maiwasang magselos kay Miggy."

The moment I heard my ex's name, I felt weird. Alden and I weren't really fond of talking about our ex-flames, so it came off as a bit of a shock for me when he mentioned the latter. Hindi naman awkward. Ang weird lang talaga.

"Magselos? Kay Miggy? Bakit naman?" I wondered.

Miggy and I have long been over. Yes, we communicated every now and then, but we were living very different lives now. Uy, nangangamusta lang yung tao ha. Huwag bigyan ng malisya ang pag-"communicate" namin. I mean, we're still friends naman. I don't think there's anything wrong with that.

"Wala lang.." Alden shrugged. "Wala kasi akong magawa kanina kaya bumisita ako sa blog mo. Eh ayun.. nakita ko ang mga posts mo tungkol sa kanya. Di ko talaga mapigilang magselos eh. Parang minahal mo talaga siya ng sobra sobra."

I looked at Alden, obviously failing at trying to hide the smile that was forming on my face. He was always so adorable when he felt jealous over someone or something. Parang batang inaagawan ng paborito niyang candy. 'Wawa naman ng Tisoy ko.

"Bakit parang masaya ka pa?" He pouted cutely. "Okay lang ba sa'yo na nagseselos ako?"

I walked closer to Alden and caressed his face.

"Siyempre, hindi. Kailan pa ako naging okay sa tuwing nagseselos ka?" I said.

"Yung sa amin ni Miggy, matagal na 'yun." I started. "Andami ng nagbago sa buhay namin. He's happy at what he does, and so am I. Kaya wala ka talagang dapat ipagselos."

"Pero.." Alden said. "Gaano mo ba talaga ka mahal si Miggy noon? At.. pumasok din ba sa isip mo na baka pwedeng siya na talaga ang lalaking nakalaan para sa'yo?".