Untitled ( A Work in Progress)

i. We Start With Ten Months Ago...

The jeepney ride was neither quick nor long, but Riley found it tiring to close her eyes and pretend to get some shut-eye the whole thirty minutes. She might have gotten stiff neck from the uncomfortable pose she was in when she sat behind the driver seat. It was her technique. That is, pretending to sleep so her fellow commuters wouldn't bother her 'slumber' to hand their fare to the driver. She also hated sitting in between people, because she'd end up drooling on an entire stranger's shoulder every time.

Everyone felt squeezed inside, like ten pieces of sardines in a 40mg can, and they were all sweating excessively without the need for a dumbbell or a treadmill. It was a struggle for Riley to find a cozy position to sleep in.

Without any other options left, she decided to lay her head on the headrest of the driver seat with her hand supporting her head and her elbow plopped on one part of the backrest. It was also times like these when she fully appreciated that she wasn't tall, or else it would also be a real challenge for her to stretch her legs inside the jeepney that looked like it was a ride made for Frodo and Yoda.

The plan worked. No one woke her up. It was the middle-aged woman to her right with a highschooler daughter sitting across Riley who ended up handing all the twenty peso bills and seven peso coins from all the passengers to the driver.

But that plain act of laziness asked for a painful price in return. When they had already reached the last stop of the trip and Riley moved to get off, she realized that there was a twinge of pain whenever she would try to look to her side.

Everyone scrambled inside another jeepney to Alabang but stiff neck aside, Riley began walking as part of her routine. It was just another 7AM walk from work.

"Yeah, it hurts a bit, but I'll manage," she managed after she finished telling Kevin about her stiff neck.

Most people she passed by stared at her incredously, perhaps still not aware that it is possible to answer a phone call without putting the phone by her ear

She could sense his hesitation through the phone. "Are you sure?" he asked, with a gentle worry in his voice.

Riley fished for the phone in her bag. "Positive. I'll see you later," she reassured Kevin before releasing the call.

Another call came in as she put her phone in her pocket. She looked at the screen to see who it was. Klaire, it said, her friend in the US.

She was still contemplating if she would answer the call, but at the same time, as if by habit, she also tapped on the answer button.

Her friend's screeching voice was worse than the sound of newly-bought chalk against the blackboard. When Klaire began asking awkward questions, Riley then regretted drunk chatting her last Tuesday night.

"And if you really meet him?" Klaire asked excitedly.

Her eardrums felt like breaking, but Riley kept her cool and only lowered the call volume on her phone. "We'll never know until then. But I hope I never do."

"What about that hug you've promised him?"

"Then it's just gonna be a hug."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Don't make a big deal out of it."

"Are you really saying that?"

"Snap out of it, kid."

"Really?"

"Fuck you," she cursed the poor kid, whose voice suddenly dropped to a dismayed tone.

A forty-something woman selling some smoke and candy at a trike terminal outside Golden Gate subdivision looked at her in disgust. "Bastos ng batang 'to," the woman told the driver she was selling a cigarette to.