Once and Again

Chapter One

"Back in Manila. Welcome home, Self!" Maine tweeted. 

Three years ago, she opted to pursue the rest of her University studies abroad after finishing her freshman year in Manila. That year, Rj – or Alden, as he was now more known – achieved the success he was looking for and she just couldn't seem to escape seeing his presence, which was not helping her move on.

She begged her parents to allow her to go. After applying for scholarships, she got one in New York and she presented to her father why she should take the chance.

There were a few things she learned while she was away:

1 – Distance does help you heal. There was nothing in New York that reminded her of Rj, except perhaps branches of the fast food chain, but that was easy to escape. Besides, even if she was feeling hysterical one moment and wanted to run home to beg him again, she was too far away to give in to that;

2 – Social Media was her life. She set up a You Tube account and a blog, in addition to Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and many others and she was actually good at writing her thoughts and sharing it with people. She now has a solid following and her YT account and blog are getting endorsement offers. This, she finds, was what she wanted to do with her life.

Maine has decided to still continue with managing the stores, among a few other businesses their family has decide to acquire. However, she cannot give up vlogging/blogging and she was determined to find a balance for both.

At the moment, she was unpacking her luggages in the room she still shared with Coleen. "Ang gwapo na talaga nitong ex-jowa mo."

Maine turned to the TV and saw Alden hosting a segment in a very popular noon time show. She was glad to note that she could look at him now without feeling like she was going to breakdown. However, seeing that he was being teased with someone he worked with still brought a tinge of hurt. Plus, she was slightly annoyed that time has just made him look even better.

"Why are you watching that? Hindi ba dapat yung kabilang channel na ang pinapanood natin?"

"Mas masaya 'tong show na 'to kaya. You should watch it again. In fairness to Rj, ang cute ng dynamic nila ni Sam YG."

Maine chose to ignore Coleen and continue unpacking.

"By the way, pumunta ka bukas dun sa store ha? You need to get a hang of things again. Marami na changes sa systems since you last worked there."

Maine agreed.

Two days later, she walked into the store she trained in all those years ago and met the current manager, Katrina, who will be giving her a crash course in the next couple of months. Her body clock was not yet used to being back on Philippine time, so she took the late shift first.

After two hours of running through the new point-of-sale system, the current equipment and attending to some customers, she asked to take a break. She sat on the corner of a section cordoned off when it was off-peak hours, where she took her snack and closed her eyes for a bit.

Half an hour later, she fixes up and moves to return to her place in the counter, but she bumps into someone standing at the entrance of the cordoned off area. "I'm sorry, but this part is closed. Please take some of the other seats."

"M-Maine?"

She looks up at the person's face for the first time and her breath hitched. "Oh. I-uh- Closed pa dito. Sa iba ka nalang umupo."

The manager, who was behind him spoke up, "Ma'am Maine, regular po dito si Sir Alden. Pinapa-upo po namin siya dito para hindi magkagulo yung fans."

"Hindi na, Ms. Kat. Closed pa. Nakakahiya naman. Sa labas nalang ako." Alden said.

Maine felt illogically annoyed. "Dito ka na. Nakakahiya naman hindi pagbiyan yung artista, di ba?"

And with that she took her exit and headed straight to the rest room. "Way to go, Menggay. Hindi ka naman bitter!" She said to herself.

She was just not prepared to see him that moment. What was he doing here anyway? Didn't showbiz people hang out at some showbiz-y restaurant and not in a simple fast food place?

Once she was back at outside, Rj kept on stealing glances at her for the entire half hour that he spent eating, while Maine constantly attempted to avoid his line of sight. As he was about to leave, he approached the counter personnel. "Thank you ulit sa inyong lahat."

"Walang anuman, Sir Alden!" said the giddy staff. Since her back was turned and she was sure he couldn't see her, Maine rolled her eyes. "See you po ulit next Thursday!"

When he left, Maine turned to Katrina and asked, "Pa'no niyo alam na babalik siya next Thursday?!"

"Lagi po siyang nandito pag Thursday. Madalas sa gabi pag katapos ng mga shooting o taping. Minsan din sa umaga. Pero every Thursday po siya nandito. Hindi lang siya pupunta kapag wala siya sa Pilipinas or pag out-of-town. Ganun routine niya since na-assign po ako dito almost four years na ho, Ma'am."

Maine didn't know what to make of this, so she decided, "Katrina, sa staff schedule, pakilagay na ang day-off ko is Sundays and Thursdays."

"Kasi?!" Coleen yelled at her later that night. "Feeling mo naman bumabalik siya ng Thursdays para sa'yo? Wow ha. Ganda mo, Girl."

"Wag ka makialam. Basta. Mas mabuti nang hindi ko siya makita."

"Akala ko ba over ka na sa kanya."

"Oo nga. Pero, may part pa din sa kin na gustong dukutin yung mata niya sa inis."

"Wow, over ka na nga." Coleen teased. Then, her mood shifting, she said, "Alam mo, kung wala na talaga sa'yo yung sa past, then don't let it affect you nalang. To be honest, lalo pa siyang nagiging popular ngayon... which means that even if you avoid seeing him at the store every Thursday, you'll still see him most of the time."

"Excuse me, hindi siya ganun ka-sikat."

"Sumisikat nga eh."

"I'll deal with it, Coleen."

"Okay – fair warning, may bago siyang lalabas na billboard sa EDSA."

Great, she thought. 

She opened her Twitter app and typed, deleted, then typed again... Then deleted it and closed the app.

For tonight, there was nothing for her to say. She wasn't yet sure what to make of today's chance encounter. All she could think of was, "Ang daya naman. Bakit siya gwapo pa din. He broke my heart. Dapat pumanget siya."

But life doesn't work out like that, does it?

With a sigh, she forces herself to sleep.