Romantic Short Stories [DUBREDO]

III. Malacañang Garden

It was another ordinary school day. Leni finished her class and headed home to do some studying. As she was walking towards the gate, she ran into Rodrigo and a girl.

"Uy!" She greeted her boyfriend. "Leni." He uttered bothered as he realized that Leni saw him with another girl.

"Pauwi na ako." She told him.
"Oh. Okay. Ingat?" He slightly stammered.
"Okay, bye." She walked away.

Rodrigo felt bothered, Leni saw him with Angel, one of his ex and he despite that he didn't want Leni to get jealous, he also didn't want to look so afraid of making her jealous or disappointed and so he went with the flow instead.

Later that evening, Rodrigo went to Leni's dorm to talk to her. "Hi." Leni greeted him surprised by his presence. "Anong kailangan mo?" She asked. He pulled her inside and closed the door. "Usap tayo." He said. "Okay?" She replied.

"Yung babaeng kasam ko kanina, kaibigan ko lang yon." He began.
"Oh...?" She uttered clueless of where the conversation was going.

Rodrigo found her response as something sarcastic. "Oo nga. Ex ko siya pero wala na kami." He admitted. "Oooh." Leni uttered again seeming like she is now figuring out where he was coming from.

"We- uh... Wala namang issue sakin yon." She replied.
"Walang issue sa'yo?" He asked. "Oo, wala naman sakin yon." She replied.
"Hindi ka nagdududa or nagseselos?" He asked wishing she would say yes.
"Hindi." She replied shortly.

Rodrigo paused and thought about whether to be fine or annoyed. "Kahit konti?" He tried again. "Hindi talaga." She assured. "Pero boyfriend mo ako." He brought up silencing her. "Kahit konti talaga?" He pointed out.

"Ex ko yon, pwedeng may nangyayari samin ng hindi mo alam." He added.
"May nangyayari ba sainyo?" She asked.
"Ha? Wala! Syempre wala." He replied. "Okay? So bakit ako dapat magselos?" She sounded so clueless. Rodrigo grunted and closed his eyes trying to control his fury.

"My point is, boyfriend mo ako—"

"Ano ba 'tong meron tayo?" She cuts him in. Rodrigo remained silent. "Tayo ba talaga? Totoo na ba 'to? Nakikipagcommit ka na ba saakin? Nagsesettle ka na ba saakin?" She swarmed him with questions. Despite that he wanted to say yes, his ego prevailed. "Settle— Hindi. Hindi ako nakikipagcommit." He denied. Leni gulped. "So anong point nitong pag-uusap na 'to? Anong point nitong lahat ng 'to?" She pointed out.

"Nakikipaghiwalay ka ba?" He asked with a fear inside his head. "Hindi." She replied and relieved him. "Dapat lang, may usapan tayo eh." He pointed out.

"Alam ko." She replied.
"Oo." He replied.

"Rodrigo." She called him.

"Sana maisip mo na sa oras na makahanap ka ng katapat mo, wala ng kontratang sasagip sa'yo para magkaroon ka ng excuse na hindi mag-effort kahit konti. Kung ako yung tatanungin? Ngayon palang sanayin mo na yung sarili mong nag-eeffort sa girlfriend mo kase hindi mo gugustuhin i-fùck up yung unang babaeng mamahalin mo." She told him.

"Anong pinagsasabi mo?" He refused to listen.

"Makakahanap ka rin ng katapat mo, yung taong hindi ka bibigyan ng choice kung hindi mag-effort." She continued. "Hibang ka kung tingin mo may babaeng makakatapat sakin." He continued denying and left.

—

As soon as he left Leni's place, he reevaluated his thoughts about her and it bothered him so much so he decided to go to the club and get drunk.

"Inuman tayo sa Sherwood." Rodrigo told his friends. Some hot chicks flirted with him that evening, they danced and made out for a while but then for an instance the last chick that he kissed, he suddenly had a hallucination that it was Leni that he was kissing. He withdrew himself from the kiss and drunk a concentrated beer.