Only Ever You

O N E

1) This whole chapter is a flashback. :) I will be alternating between the past & the present for every update. :)

2) Updates will come every Friday!

3) ENJOY! :)

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C H A P T E R  O N E

Maine enters the room and suddenly, she's all that RJ sees. Everything else zooms out of focus as his eyes land on her.

She's breath-taking in her simplicity.

She's wearing a dark gray, knee-length sweater dress that hugs her small frame, a silver clutch bag in hand, and cradling her feet are strappy sandals in white. Her hair is combed down and she's wearing minimal make-up. She isn't all dolled-up but she can easily outshine the beauty of any other woman in that place.

"Alden," she greets giddily, kissing his cheek as she settles on the stool beside him. He smiles at her fondly in return.

'Alden' is a nickname Maine gave him back when they just met in their music class in freshman year at college. She had told him that since he looked like a celebrity, they might as well give him a nickname that sounds fancy enough for an actor; hence, she came up with 'Alden Richards' and he didn't have much choice but to go with it because it sort of stuck during the course of their whole friendship. And only Maine ever uses it, anyway.

"Nasa'n sina Sam?" she asks him. "Si Valeen daw 'di na makakapunta dahil sa work."

"Ano ba 'yan. Tagal ko na din siya 'di nakikita." He orders her a drink from the bartender before he answers her question. "Nasiraan daw ng kotse si Je. Mukhang matatagalan."

"Hala. E 'di ba kasabay niya din si Sam?"

RJ nods his head. "Kaya mukhang mamaya pa sila dadating." The bartender comes back with Maine's drink and RJ pushes the glass to her gently.

"Thank you," Maine says with a bright smile, taking a tiny sip. She gestures to his drink. "Soda?"

He nods. He's put it upon himself to be the designated driver tonight. "Did you bring your car?"

Maine shakes her head. "Hinatid lang ako ni kuya. Magtaxi nalang ako mamaya to the nearby hotel tapos dun muna 'ko matutulog."

Upon hearing this, RJ looks at her in confusion.

Maine elaborates, "Nandito din somewhere sa Manila si ate Niki, taking care of some business stuff. Sabay nalang kami umuwi tomorrow."

"Or," RJ says, "Hatid nalang kita after."

She raises her eyebrows before shaking her head. "To Bulacan? Don't be ridiculous."

"Bakit? E alangan naman hayaan lang kitang maghotel." Then RJ gets an idea. "Pwede ka din matulog sa condo ko. Sleep-over. Like the old times." Back in college, their group of friends used to sleep over at his condo unit -- especially in those times they had to pull all-nighters for thesis. He still has that same unit now so he brings it up. "Old time's sake, yeah?"

Her face lights up. "Oooh! Namiss ko 'yun. Tsaka 'yung place mo." She pouts. "It's been so long since college. Sucks that we work in separate places. Makes meeting-up too hard."

"Sus -- kilala mo'ko, Meng. Ako isang tawag mo lang, pupuntahan kita." And he means it.

Maine only rolls her eyes. RJ's telling the truth, of course, but she's never complied unless absolutely necessary. Maine and RJ are the absolute best of friends and have been since college began until now that they're employed, but she has never been an abusive best friend to him.