Letters from Spring Street

Chapter 6.1

Chapter 6.1

(Sometime around 2002)

One would think that young Tisoy hated the summer's sun prickling his fair skin—yet he secretly loved it. He loved the outdoors, he thrived for the small adventures he had around the perimeter of Le Chateau. He longed for one great adventure—preferably one outside the confines of his home, or away from the eyes of his nannies or bodyguards.

But being the responsible child he was, he always knew his place.

Menggay, meanwhile, is a totally different case. She was bubbly and bright, like a ray of sunshine. So it came as a total surprise to Tisoy that his new friend wanted to stay inside the hotel lobby café on a particularly perfect summer's day.

"Seryoso ka ba, Menggay? You really want to stay inside? Sayang naman yung araw."

"Nah, I'd rather stay here and sketch. Baka hanapin pa ako nina Mama."

Richard lifts his hand to his chin, in deep thought, "Hmm, but wouldn't it be nicer to draw outside? Ang dami mong pwedeng inspiration, imagine the things you can..."

"Okay na ko just looking outside the windows, Tisoy. Ang kulit mo today ha." She giggles and starts to rummage her small yellow backpack to take out her sketchbook.

"Sayang kasi—the sun's out and..."

She looked at him with those doe eyes of hers and replied, "Please, Tisoy. Can we please, please, please stay in? The sun's too bright out, saka parang mas masarap ung panahon kung medyo maulan di ba? Hindi masyado mainit?"

Richard sighs, attempting to hide the grin on his face—he could not resist her at all. He plops into the plush couch in front of the floor length windows overseeing the hotel garden, their favorite spot, feigning defeat and annoyance. "Okay, my little padawan, Menggay. You win this round."

She grins at him, teeth out, as she starts to rummage around her things again, "Wait! Tisoy!"

"What? What is it?"

"I think I forgot my pens upstairs. Can you please come with me to get it? I really don't like riding the elevator alone."

"Menggay, I don't think your parents will appreciate it if you take someone else into your room."

She rolls his eyes at him, "Naman, Tisoy! Lighten up a bit! Stop being so uptight, ang prim and proper mo masyado." She nudges him to give her a smile. "Please? Doon ka lang naman sa labas ng corridor, mabilis ko lang kukunin yung pens ko, promise!"

Of course he says yes—he had no idea why, but he always felt he had to say yes to her.

*********

As the elevator dinged open, Maine drags Richard out with her, hand firm around his wrist. Her feet was bouncing and she almost had a spring in her step—she had seen what she had told Richard was the prettiest flower patch she had seen and she had been so excited to attempt to sketch it.

It was making it harder for Richard to catch up, but he was too amused by this girl in front of her to even be annoyed.

As they reached Maine's hotel room, they were both surprised that it was left slightly ajar. Her hand still on Richard's wrists, Maine slowly peaked inside the room—at first oblivious to the murmurs coming from inside.

And then she hears it.
She hears them.

"Why are we still doing this?"

"For Menggay, we're still doing this for our daughter."

"Shouldn't we be honest to our daughter, instead? Ann, lumalaki na sya."

"Exactly. Lumalaki na ang anak natin and you bring this up?"

"Because this isn't working for us anymore. The more we prolong this, the harder it gets. Please Ann, just sign the papers."

"Is this really unfixable? After all this years, ganito na lang?" She hears her mother sob and cry—and she had never heard her mother cry.

Richard feels her tiny hands tighten its hold around his wrists. He looks at her and notice how her eyes were starting to water, how her lips started to quiver and shake. So with his free hand, he tugs her arms towards him and away from the door.

Damn those stupid pens.

*********

"Sana pumayag na lang ako nung nagyaya kang lumabas, noh?" Maine says as she slumps back down the hotel lobby couch.

Richard keeps silent, looks at her intently, trying to figure out the right words to say—and as much as he loved reading books and writing things down, all Richard thought was how he wished there were more words in the English dictionary.

But as he looked at her, with all the sunshine drained out of her beautiful eyes, for the first time, words did not give him comfort. For the first time, words had failed Richard, when all he wanted to do was say something, do something to make his Menggay smile again.

Richard could hear the light pitter-patter the raindrops were making against the large lobby windows.

It's raining.

It's raining. I hate the rain.

He hated the rain, how it sticks to his skin—he hated it when his pristine clothes get damp with rainwater and leaves him feeling sticky. He hated how the ground gets muddy, and the clouds go grey and then dark in minutes.

I really hate the rain.

So no one is more surprised than him when he stands up abruptly and holds out his hand for Nicomaine to take. She looks up at him, waiting for him to say anything, but he doesn't.

Instead, he shakes his hand lightly in front of her, urging her to take the bait. Instead, he smiled at her, his dimple deepening, the intense sincerity in his eyes it almost made her smile.

He feels himself grin widely as she takes his hand, and not a moment later, they sprint. They sprint as fast as they can, as fast it was possible, passed the lobby attendants calling out to them to slow down, and through the door.

And as Richard stepped out in the open, hand in hand with Nicomaine, large droplets of rain dampening his clothes, all he could think about was how he liked seeing her smile so much more than he hated the rain.

A/N: Thank you for all the reads, votes and comments for this story, it is always appreciated.

Sorry for the slow updates though. Work is really kicking my ass. But I promise Chapter 6.2 will be up soon. :)