Titas of Philippine Politics: In Snapshots [Multiple Pairs]

Double Life [Grace]

A/N: Single character vignettes like these are more exposition pieces. What drives them to live, love and long for what's next.

For every facet of Grace there's a corresponding alter-ego to it.

There's Grace, the polished, professional Senator in her neatly-coiffed mane and crisp polo shirts, then there's Grace, the hands-on, doting mother to her three children who loves to get down and scrub every nook and cranny in the house without a care in the world.

Then there's Grace, the loving wife to a military man in their picture-perfect life in a gated community in San Juan. She seemed to have it all.

But alas, settling down young has its downsides, as she learned the hard way.

Every other plenary session or so, Risa has a new story about a new date with the girl of her dreams. The joy and euphoria poured out each story she tells.

She remembered the junior senator's retelling of her favourite date. "So after dinner, nagpunta kami sa may Rizal Park. Tapos wala lang, nilibot lang namin. Holding hands while walking pa. Something needs to be done with the view though. Eyesore talaga nung Torre Lorenzo, eh."

My how free Risa must be feeling after disclosing in her privileged speech for the Anti-Discrimination Bill how proud she is of her decades-repressed bisexuality with a matching alampay in an ombre of blue, pink and purple to go along with it, and how being a widow, while the most devastating, life-altering experience of her life, also freed her from the shackles of the iron closet she hid in.

How Grace wished she could free herself the same way even just for one day just to explore how her personal life would be beyond the perfect iron gates and brick walls of her home. Who knows?

If only I could turn back time to when she's a carefree, go-getting teenager all over again.

But then her children burst through her door. The chants of "Mama! Mama!" surround her and pepper her with bear hugs and feathery kisses.

Grace wouldn't trade her children for anything, yet she felt an uncertain pang in her stomach.

A longing for something she's not even sure she could ever fulfill.

Oh well, there's always that hidden stash of lesbian romance and erotica stories in a locked drawer in her dresser. Hopefully that would be enough to get her by for now.