January 2016
"@MsLeaSalonga: BROADWAY IS OPEN TODAY!!! If you can make it into the city, come and watch Allegiance!!! After today, only 3 more weeks to go!"
52 retweets 326 likes
She just came home after the show, fatigue and radiance simultaneously residing within her as usual. Everybody's been asking how she manages to work so hard without risking the time she allots for pampering herself. She looks gorgeous for an extremely tired Broadway diva.
After looking at her tweet, she stopped by her notifications, as she always does, and scrolled down, smiling along the way, mentally thanking everyone who wished the show well and offered their congratulations.
In the process, one particular tweet caught her eye. Can't blame her, the username itself somehow affected her right away.
"@_muhlachsalonga: https://youtu.be/dr5vzWg1PxU walang kupas pa din to 😍 @MsLeaSalonga"
"Such a random time to tweet me about this..." She thought. Of course she knew it had to be something about him. Curious, and knowing she won't be able to fall asleep right away, she clicked the link. After seeing the first few seconds from a video shot two years ago, she chuckled and said, "Oh, this. Seriously, why can't people get over things easily?" Talk about hugot.
She laughed once more, seeing herself being such a tease when she took his arm and wrapped herself around it. "You can do that, it's okay!"
Certainly, she had seen this footage before, not this particular offcam version, though. She continued to watch her playful self, but her attention unknowingly drifted towards the man whom she had dedicated the song to. She closely observed him -- his reactions, his eye movements, his smile....
"What were you thinking about as you listened to my song, Aga?" Her thoughts drifted further and further as she felt her chest tighten from an unprecedented emotion. The song was approaching the end. She had to look at herself again as she sang the last few words.
🎶Mahal pa rin kita...🎶
"Oh look at you Salonga. Stupid." She mentally scolded herself. Even to her, it was obvious how endearingly sweet she looked at him for that one second -- at the man who was simply laughing away as if this was all an act. Well, it was staged, but it was still a live performance. He came up even though he knew he wasn't supposed to. And at that time, it affected her... His actions had affected her... so much.
She remembered struggling to keep her tears contained that night as she said, "Thanks Aga," and how... how she did not want to let go of that embrace. She mindlessly stared at her screen, observing her pathetic self two years ago, trying to look cool with what just happened.
She puts her phone away and laid down on her bed. She was tired, but thoughts kept her awake. Her long-suppressed tears slowly made their way down to her pillow.
"You can't blame me Aga. We had... something special. I may seem such a strong woman in front of the camera, but I do have a soft spot too. Everytime I sing that song, I can't help but remember what we had... How things used to be... I'm happy with the friendship, but that's all there is to it, right? -- for you, at least. No matter how much time passes, masakit kantahin ang isang awiting may kaugnay na napakaraming ala-ala. Did you really not know, you idiot. Ganun ka ba talaga ka manhid sa mga oras na yun? I wish I could tell you how much I meant the words I sang for you that night. I miss you babes..."
And Lea slowly allowed sleep to overcome her emotions, with these words as her last thoughts before she drifted off...
