moirai

melancholy

Maisie and her mom stayed at Rj's house for over 2 weeks. In those days, Rj would rush home immediately after work. Sometimes, he would take Maine with him and she would stay until late at night then he would bring her home afterwards.

Maisie was doing some therapies at home so Maine got to observe and even helped out every so often. Like Rj, and the rest of his family, Maine was drawn to Maisie and loved the little girl like family. When Maisie had to go back to Bacolod, Maine felt bad. It took her several days to recover from the separation anxiety she was feeling. Rj felt bad as well but since he more used to this set up, he knew how Maine felt and supported her.

"Don't be sad na....she'll be back soon naman....pila lang ka weeks, she'll be here again...." he reassured her.

"Haaay....thanks, Pangga....I guess la-in gid if you have a little sister 'no?....I don't remember feeling this bad when Dean would go away for a while for an overnight thing...." she shared.

"I guess....I always used to feel bad when Rizza would not be home for more than 24 hours...."

She looked at him and smiled. He smiled back then gave her a kiss on the lips.

Things were pretty "normal" at work for both. Rj would regularly pick Maine up after work if he didn't have meetings in the afternoon and they would either have dinner at Maine's or at his house. On weekends, if they didn't meet up with friends, they would stay home and watch tv or sleep.

Several weeks after Maisie had left, Rj noticed that Maine was not herself for a couple of days. She seemed like she was always in deep thought, spacing out even. When he would ask her, she would either not reply or change the subject altogether. At first, Rj just let her be. He thought that maybe she was just being emotional or hormonal. But after more than 3 days of being all "weird", he decided to ask her again.

"Pangga....what's wrong?" he said as he sat down beside her on the park bench. They were at the park that late Saturday afternoon after taking a stroll around her village.

She was once again staring into space, lost in her thoughts. He nudged her shoulder with his and asked, "What's bothering you?"

She rested her head on his shoulder, still staring at the distance. The sun was slowly setting. She stood up and walked a little ways away from the bench. He followed her with his gaze. Then suddenly, he noticed that her cheeks were glistening as she stared into the sunset; she was crying.

He stood up and walked towards her. He then put his arms around her waist in an embrace and kissed her on the cheek, resting his chin on her shoulder. "What's wrong, Pangga?"

She turned and buried her face into his chest. She sobbed quietly, her shoulders shaking. Rj couldn't quite understand what was going on so he just hugged her more and rubbed her back, consoling her.