Begin Again - A KaRa (Mika Reyes & Ara Galang) Fanfiction

Fifteen

Ara stopped eating and took her phone out. She seemed to be looking at the mysterious picture.

"Mukhang may connection siya sa atin," Ara started. "I mean, paano niya nalaman na nasa Starbucks tayo? May sinabihan ka ba?"

"Wala, wala. Aside from Jerome, pero, hindi ko sinabi na nagkita tayo dun, and..." I paused, suddenly remembering that Ara might not know Jerome, production pa naman si Ara at operations siya. "Jerome works sa operations. Friend ko, sumasabay kasi ako sa kanya papunta and pauwi." Ara nodded, pursing her lips. "Sinabi ko lang naman sa kanya na sa Starbucks ako maghihintay, pero, I didn't say na nakita kita dun."

"Actually, I'd really like to find out kung sino nag-t'take ng mga photos na 'yun," Ara confessed, going back to her meal. "Ang creepy."

"Oh, edi let's message the fan account that posted it and ask kung sino nag-send sa kanya! Really, Ara, it's that simple."

"No, Mika, it's not," Ara said, suddenly being serious. "'Pag nag-take action tayo other than asking them to delete it then we pretty much confirmed na..." Ara paused, and her serious tone slowly faded. "May some sort of connection ulit tayo." Ara laughed as I rolled my eyes. "Mas okay nang nag-a'assume sila without us having to confirm it. Besides, wala naman talaga diba?"

"Walang wala." I replied immediately. "So, anong gagawin natin?"

"Nothing," Ara casually said, while continuously munching on her fish fillet.

"Ano?! Nothing? Edi para saan pa 'tong meeting natin?"

Her eyebrows curled. "Bawal ba makipagmeet sa'yo?"

"Pwede naman! Pero... hindi ko talaga gets kung bakit ayaw mong tanungin na lang natin sa fan account na nagpost kung sino ba talaga yung nagsend sa kanya para malaman na rin natin kung sino!"

Ara stopped eating and breathed deeply. "Mika, three years ago we were, after all, UAAP volleyball players. Kahit ilang dekada pa ang dumaan hindi na magbabago 'yun. Three years ago we had hundreds of mysterious photos and hindi natin alam kung sino ang nagpicture, tas kinakalat pa sa social media. Pero did we message each person who posted it? Hindi. Hindi nga natin alam kung iisa lang 'yung nagpicture nung sa office ko tsaka nung nasa Starbucks tayo e."

I squinted a bit as she'd mentioned a bit of our past. These occasions were rare, and it always makes me a bit uncomfortable every time it comes. Pero, professional lang dapat, Professional. No personal feelings attached.

"But this is different! For all we know she, or, he, could be a stalker. And those were our fans, kaya okay lang, but this one is definitely not our fan. Paano kung holdaper? Paano kung one day bigla na lang siyang sisipot tas holdapin tayo?!"

Ara sighed, giving up. "Ang kulit mo! Wala akong laban sa'yo! Look, I won't make any promises, but I'll try to message the fan account who posted it. Leave it to me."

"Pero, like you said dati, hindi nila ma-a'assure kung ikaw ba talaga si Ara--"

"Mika." Ara raised her hand to stop me from talking. "Leave it to me."

I sighed. "Palagi kang may way of disagreeing to me, 'no?" I asked jokingly.

Ara laughed then nodded. "I guess so. Katulad ng countless ways mo of offending me."

I bit my lip to stop myself from smiling.

For dessert, Ara ordered two glasses of Harry Potter's Butterbeer from Migo's. I remember when Ara was reading the Harry Potter books nung nasa dorm pa kami, and when she found out that I've only watched the movies and haven't read the books, she was furious. I smiled, remembering how she almost hit me with her hardbound version of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.