Pieces of Me

Two

Six forty five. Kamusta naman Nicomaine? Walong oras ka ng nakatitig sa screen. Hanggang ngayon blanko pa rin yan. Anong title ng bago mong libro, Blank Pages? 250 pages of clear white paper. Panalo. Ugh. I just need sleep. Namamahay lang ako ulit. Naks, palusot pa more. Sige na self, itulog mo na yan. Time to call it quits.

Bbbzzzzzzt.

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🎶Look at the stars, look how they shine for you. And everything you do... Yeah, they were all yellow.🎶

Tap tap tap

Tap tap

Tap tap tap

Bbbzzzzzzt

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🎶Look at the stars, look how they shine for you. And everything you do... Yeah, they were all yellow.🎶

"What the-- hello?"

"Nicomaine?"

"What do you want? Ang aga aga pa nambubu--"

"It's 10:30 AM. This is Richard, your PT. I've been buzzing your unit and calling you and knocking on your door for half an hour."

"What?"

"We have an appointment today. If you don't wish to push through, it's fine but you have to sign off on it so the center knows it's your decision to cancel the appointment. I also need to make sure you're okay."

"Fine fine. Give me a minute."

Kakatulog ko lang diba? Diba? Istorbo. Lakas magpa-guilty. Bakit? Kasalanan ba niyang magdamag kang gising at nakanganga sa harap ng laptop mo? Ssshhh self. Wag magpadala sa guilt. Resting bitch face activated. Sign the damned form and boot him out the---

"--- door. Tangina ang gwapo naman nito."

"Excuse me?"

"Ha? Anong excuse me?"

"You said something about the door?"

Shit. I said that out loud? Punyeta naman kasi o. Ang gwapo jusko. Asan ang hustisya? Mukha akong day old balut tapos ganitong kagwapo ang makikita ko aaay jusko may dimple pa. Hoy magsalita ka! Wag mong pagnasahan si pogi.

"Nicomaine?"

"Sorry still a bit sleepy. Pasok ka. Uhm... sit down... wait.. sorry I just got back from staying at my parents' kaya magulo pa dito. I should unpack soon. Anyway, since anong oras na and I only get an hour or two of PT time a day, resched na lang natin? Sorry ab---"

"You have me for the day."

Can I have you forever? HOY ANG HAROT MO SELF.

"Wala kang ibang appointments?"

"None. One client per PT. So we can tailor fit the kind of therapy you need when you need it. Usually we temporarily stay with our clients so we can assess yung progress nila pero your records show that that option wasn't checked. For now, I'm on call lang."

Naks. One call away si pogi. Can I call you when I'm feeling lonely?

"Yes you can."

"Ha?"

"You asked if you can call me when you're feeling lonely. Yes, you can. It would help if we develop a good working relationship kasi I'm really going to push you to your limits. There will be days na you will want to kill me. Or feed me to rabid dogs. Pero kung friends na tayo, baka maawa ka sakin. So yeah, call me anytime."

Oh my god Nicomaine ano na? Sige magpakita ka pa ng kaharutan mo. Eh kasi naman hooo stop smiling at me that way. Kakagigil. Sarap kurutin ng cheeks. Hmmm.... no ring. Hindi married. Pero baka may girlfriend. Ay ano at bakit may pagcheck ng singsing. Feeling mo papatol sayo yan? Pull yourself together, my god.

"I'm afraid I don't have anything to offer you. Like I said kakarating ko lang. I don't think there's food in the fridge sa kitchen. The one in my room has bottled water and that's about it. I'll just have stuff delivered. Pasok ka na sa guest room. My sister had it retrofitted into a gym slash PT room. I'll get changed lang."

"My sister reads you."

"Excuse me?"

"My sister. She reads your books. She's a huge fan. She actually bribed me with a week's worth of free breakfasts if I could get you to sign her book."

"Sure. No problem. Magpapalit lang ako so we can start na. Uhm.. yeah okay sige I'll be back. Teka lang ha, Richard?"

"RJ."

"Hmmmm?"

"RJ na lang. Is that okay?"

"Only if you call me Maine. Deal? Ang formal ng full names eh."

"Deal. I'll start calling you mine shit I mean Maine."

WAG KANG MAGPAKITANG KINILIG KA NICOMAINE JUSKO.