a sacrifice for love

production number

It's the Saturday after their European sojourn and they're rehearsing on stage for their production number which they would later do live during Kalyeserye. Rj seems distracted and misses steps. They've been rehearsing since 9am and it was just an hour since they started.

"20 minute break! Rj...okay ka lang? Inom ka ng tubig...." the choreographer calls out.

"Love...okay ka lang?" Maine bumps Rj as he stands seemingly dazed, looking out at the audience area.

"Huh?...ahh...okay naman....bakit?"

"Parang wala ka sa sarili mo e....sleepy ka pa?"

"Medyo...jet lagged pa ata ako e..." he rubs his eyes.

"Ako rin e...pero keri na..."

"Huh?...sure ka?...." he looks at her. "Your eyes look tired nga....tara, upo muna tayo" They sit down on the floor as someone from the crew hand them bottles of water. They opt to share just one.

After 20 minutes, the choreographer calls everyone back on the stage to polish the dance. After 1 sloppy routine. "Ano ka ba, Rj!?"

"Sorry....sorry, teach!" he apologizes. Rj manages to pull off a better routine next.

"Okay! Good luck mamaya! Rj, ayusin mo please!" The choreographer ends the rehearsals and everyone retreats backstage to prepare for the show.

Maine and Rj share a dressing room. They were both in workout clothes when they arrived and rehearsed. Maine noticed that Rj was sweaty after dance rehearsals so she came up to him and started wiping his sweat with a towel she had been using on herself.

"Thank you, Love...."

"Bakit parang pawis na pawis ka?" she asked as she wiped his sweat.

"Mainit e....diba ang lamig-lamig sa Como?...tapos dito, ang init-init naman...."

"Sabagay....okay...sige, dress up na...."

"Thank you again..." he said as he kissed her on the lips.

Maine and Rj stood behind the led panels before their production.  They were to enter the stage through the doors.  Rj was restless and distracted.  He kept on pacing around.  Maine had to hold his hand to keep him from walking away.

"Love....okay ka lang?!" she asked.

The show resumed, the doors opened, and they did their production number as part of Kalyeserye's welcome back episode for them. The dance number went on without much of a glitch. Except for a few missteps, Rj was able to dance through it without showing the audience his mistakes.

The dance number ended with a pose of him kneeling infront of Maine. The camera focused on them and Ma'am Poochie cued for a commercial. The audience, who were clapping and cheering, suddenly fell quiet as the cued music started to play. But for some weird reason, the music suddenly died and the commercial cue button didn't want to function.

"Ano na?! Pindutin mo na!....Camera 2, off! Yung steady cam....off din...." Direk Poochie was shouting at the staff through her headset.

"Ma'am.....ayaw..."

"Anong ayaw?"

"Ayaw mag-off....walang gumagana!" people who worked the switches were looking at each other quite confused

"Kuya!....Lipat mo na yung camera!" Reeza called out to the cameraman

"Ayaw gumalaw!..."the cameraman was trying move the wheeled camera's focus away from Maine and Rj on stage. "Ayaw gumana!!" he was panicking a little as he flipped switches. The production staff all around were in a frenzy.

Production people from backstage were making their way to the main stage while the hosts who were waiting in the wings stood around looking confused.

"Maine...Love....", Rj spoke. The audience and production staff suddenly hushed....Ryan, who was standing nearby with a mic, handed the mic to Rj.

"....alam mo naman na ikaw lang talaga ang pinaka-importanteng tao sa buhay ko..." Rj started, his voice breaking. "At sinabi ko na rin sa yo na di ko na ma-imagine yung buhay ko na wala ka...so, Love.....my.....Nicomaine....Dei...Mendoza....will you be my forever? Because I know, deep in my heart, that you are mine..." With tears now streaming down his cheeks Rj pulls out the ring he kept from Italy from his pocket and slips it on Maine's finger.

Maine started to tear up. She pulled Rj to stand and embraced him tightly. She framed his face in her hands and gave him a kiss on the lips.

The audience and production staff cheered. Suddenly, all technical equipment resumed their function, just like that.