Sasa's Dollhouse

Maling Akala

As soon as she got inside Loren's house, she found Risa in her living room with a glass of wine in her hand slurring every word she said. Two empty bottles of wine lay strewn on the floor.

"Kailan pa to, Loren?"

Loren shook her head. "We arrived here an hour ago. Medyo marami na siyang nasasabi. Daig pa ako."

Leni scanned around the room. "Where's Pia?"

"Bukas pa balik niya from her tri in Davao. Kaya nabisita ko pa si Risa kanina."

Loren then approached Risa and placed her arm around Loren's shoulders. "Alright, dahan-dahan lang sa stairs, okay Bubs?"

Risa nodded before the three of them made their way up to one of Loren's spare rooms by the stairs.

"Sige, dito muna kayo para di ka na bumiyahe at this time of the night." Loren said, guiding Risa to the bed where she could lie down.

When Risa and Leni were all done and settled for, Loren stood back up. "O, Leni, can you take it from here? Gusto ko na kasi magpahinga."

Leni nodded. "Oo, kaya ko na 'to. Salamat, Loren."

Loren smiled and closed the door behind her, leaving just the two of them behind. Leni looked into Risa's eyes. The sadness and despair filling them proved too much for her to handle and she burst into tears. She then saw the bruises from the accident reminding her of her own role in this predicament.

"Lagi na lang siya nasasaktan dahil sa akin."

Just then, Risa began to speak in the same slurred speech she did when she got inside, bursting out in what was her first smile in weeks. "Leni? Leni...hi Pangga...Ang ganda mo doon sa picture mo sa wallet mo...iba talaga ngiti mo pag si Jesse kasama mo..."

All of a sudden, Leni had flashbacks of the time she opened her wallet to give Agnes money for the flowers. She must have seen the photo of her and Jesse she kept inside since the dawn of time.

Her heart shattered into tiny little pieces and she could no longer the tears anymore. She then held Risa's uninjured hand. "I'm sorry, Risa. Sorry, sorry, sorry talaga."

To her surprise, Risa shushed her and cupped her cheeks. "Shhh...Okay lang ako, Pangga. Alam ko naman na di mo ako kayang mahalin tulad ng pagmamahal ko sa kanya."

Risa gave a tiny smile, a tear rolling down her cheek. "Pero sana balang araw, matutunan mo rin akong mahalin. Kahit na hindi buo, kasi alam kong may kahati ako lagi sayo. Okay lang. Sana lang di ako mapagod sa kakahintay.."

After those words, Risa drifted off to sleep as the tears flooded down Leni's face.

The following morning, Risa woke up to find Leni fast asleep beside her. Without waking her up, she limped slightly to the bathroom and gave herself a shower. When she finished her shower and got dressed, she found that Leni's finally woken up.

"Gising ka na pala. Okay ka na?"

"Oo. Bakit ka nandito? Tinawagan ka ba ni Ate Bloss kagabi?"

Leni jolted at Risa's sudden suspicion and use of codenames she wasn't privy to. "Ate Bloss? Sino un?"

"Si Loren un, Leni."

"Umm...oo. Tinawagan niya ako kagabi."

Risa scowled and stomped around the room. "Si Ate naman talaga. Sabi ko wag kang tawagan, eh..."

Leni's heart shattered into tiny little pieces. "Akala ko okay na kami. Hindi pa pala."

Before things got even more heated, she changed the topic. "Gusto mo mag-breakfast?"

"Hindi. Busog pa ako."