Bits and Pieces

O N E

shoes were meant for walking; set about 2 years after their break up

She wore blue. There was nothing wrong with rooting for a team, right? His team. Two years had passed, and the only people who haven't moved on are the fans. By this point, they were already cordial with each other. Some can go as far to say that it was as if nothing happened.

Dawn likes that. It's a game of pretend to her, like acting. She loves to act as if nothing really happened. The sound of pounding feet on the floor signaled to her the end of the first half. She sat front row in the player's booth, the way she did even since before.

They were losing. The men in red jerseys were leading by 8 points. Richard had only scored 2 points in that half, leaving all the work to his teammates.

"Love, papunas naman o," Richard said as he bent on his knees in front of Dawn who sat crossed legged on the little wooden bench. He put each hand on either side of Dawn, and tilted his head up to hers.

"Gomz naman, I told you to stop calling me that. Ano nalang iisipin ng mga tao," she said as she wiped the sweat dripping endlessly off his face.

"Ano naman pakialam mo doon? Ang importante, alam nating dalawa na wala na yung nakaraan. Okay na tayo, diba?"

Camera flashes from a far snapped the sweet moments being shared by the two. Dawn kept her head down low, knowing this would cause another big ruckus tomorrow morning. She could already see it, the headline pushing on wether or not the two are back together.

She sighed heavily and said, "Why won't they just back off?"

Richard flashed his cheeky grin, and said to Dawn, "Paano kung pakitaan natin sila?"

Dawn knew that devilish smile. It was no secret that Richard loved to play with the media. You mess with him; he messes with you. She already knew it was a bad idea. She smiled anyways.

"This is not good," she said, giggling softly.

As the coach called them in for the second half, Richard stood up and took Dawn's hands in his. He bent down and put a kiss to her forehead, leaving her utterly shocked. She smiled in return, and gently whispered, "Good luck, babe."

Richard walks away all smiles.

//

They won the game. The moment he entered the court for the second half of the game, his goals were set. By the end of it, Richard had scored more than half of the team's points. They planned for a victory party, but he declined.

"Oy, Gomz. 'Bat ka tumanggi," Dawn asked.

"Bakit, gusto mong pumunta? Sige, sama tayo."

"Hindi naman. Akala ko lang gusto mo mag celebrate. MVP ka yata, eh," she replied. She once again wiped his sweat, while he rested on the space beside her.

"Kung pumunta pa kasi tayo, magkakagulo lang. Alam kong ayaw mo rin nun. Tara laro muna tayo, siguradong maraming umaabang sa parking lot ng stadium. Mamaya nalang tayo lumabas," said Richard.

"Tignan mo kaya 'tong suot ko. Makakalaro ba ko ng nakaganito?"

"Asus arte. Jeans at tsaka t-shirt? Okay na 'yan noh," he says as he stood up reaching for a ball.

"Ay, bulag lang? Naka heels yata ako, noh."

"Edi mag paa."

"Ayoko. Kung gusto mo, ikaw nalang mag isa."

With one hand on the ball, he used the other to reach out for her. With her loud protests, he carried her over his shoulder, with one hand supporting her waist.

"Goma! Ibaba mo 'ko. Hoy! 'Pag ako nahulog, ha. 'Di na talaga kita kakausapin uli. Richard! Hoy, ano ba," she said all this while pounding on his back. With her  protests falling on deaf ears, Richard carried her hurriedly to the court.

He put her down, laughing to himself. "Bilis, tanggalin mo na sapatos mo."

"Ayaw ko nga. Richard naman eh," she says, pouting adorably. He only laughed in return.

"Sige, ayaw mo ha. Ako nalang mag tatanggal."

"No, no! Oy," she says backing away slowly. Richard took a few steps forward, until it turned out to be a full on chase. With Dawn being in heels, she became a tad bit slower than usual. They were both laughing hysterically as they ran around the court.

It wasn't long before he caught her by the legs. He was kneeling on the floor, taking a hold of her shoes. Dawn held on to his shoulders for balance, laughing in between shouts of protest. The shoes came off, and another goose chase was on the go.

Dawn chased him all across the court till she got him cornered by the walls keeping the shoes held behind his back.

"Hand them over."

Richard smiled cheekily and said, "Sige, pero kiss muna."

"Gomz," she said smilingly, "Ibigay mo na please."

He scoffed and said, "Akala mo, ha. 'Di mo ko madadaan diyan sa pa-cute mo na yan. Dali kiss na, kahit sa cheek lang."

"Hay naku," she said as she then reached over for the shoes. Richard dodged her leap and then tossed the shoes over to the hoops.

"Oh, shit," he said as it dawned on him what he had just done.

"RICHARD!"

The pair of classic Jimmy Choo high heels were tossed into the net, and stayed there. They were stuck.

Richard started laughing while saying sorry repeatedly. Dawn's face was a rollercoaster of disbelief, shock, rage and then just pure amusement. They laughed hysterically together, looking up upon the pair hanging on the nets.

"C'mon, bubuhatin na kita palabas."

Still giggling quietly, she obliged and Richard then carried her out piggy-back style. She entangled her arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder. He held on tight to her legs and them proceeded outside the stadium, leaving behind the shoes and forgetting about the basketball that lay on the center of the court.

The cool breeze of the evening air hit them like a wave. She tightened her hold on him, searching for warmth. By then, the lot had cleared out leaving the two at peace.

With bated breath, she whispered to him quietly, "You owe me a new pair."

//

The following day, along with the morning paper headlining Richard's kiss to her forehead, Dawn found a box wrapped in a lace ribbon. She brought both the newspaper and the package into her home and opened it  to find a glorious pair of high heels in blue.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Hey there :) So a few weeks back, I published a story on this same account. I didnt like it much so ive decided to just delete it. This is a new one im starting and unlike the first, the chapters on this one are not connected. Im kind of new to this and maybe my writing style is not the usual youll find here, but im open to suggestions, however i only do ask for some consideration for i may not always be able to adjust to the kind of writing you may want to see from me. Furthermore, i have the tendency to update rarely, and this is a habit i wish to get rid of. Please help me with this and constantly remind me to update and so forth.

I appreciate any sort of feedback and i promise to take them into account. Thanks for reading this far. I truly am thrilled if anyone actually does support me on this. Salamat, uli :)