It’s not even 11PM on a Friday and Dawn is already in bed, clutching the pillow as she laid on her side. Her husband has arrived in Davao for his weekly visits there, and with the kids finally asleep, there isn’t really anything left for her to do.
It was a fun day, she muses, but all the activities she did with the kids has left her a bit woozy, her legs aching from all the running they did at the garden that afternoon. Tumatanda na nga ako, she thinks, then smiles as she looks at her phone’s wallpaper: a selfie taken by the kids themselves.
She puts the phone on the nightstand, where she always leaves it at bedtime, but she hasn’t even closed her eyes when it starts ringing.
Her eyebrows furrow as she stares at the screen, where Richard’s name is flashing. For a moment she thinks of rejecting the call because it’s already late and why is he calling without texting her first if he could, as she had taught him when they started working together again, so they wouldn’t have issues with their respective spouses.
She just lets the phone ring, then sits up to put it back on the table. She is about to lay her head back on the pillow when it rings again.
She grunts as she reaches for it, and sees that Richard is using his other number this time. It must be important, she figures, for him to disturb her this late. It better be. She sighs as her finger glides on ‘Answer’. “What’s wrong?” No response, just the sound of cars passing by. “Richard?”
"Bad day?" he says back cautiously.
"I was sleeping."
"Sorry. I’ll just —-"
She sighs and sits up, drawing the pillow to her lap. “Naku, ginising mo na ako eh. Ano ‘yon?”
"Uhh…" He laughs. "Sorry, sorry."
"Naku, Gomez… This better be important."
"Hindi naman matter of national emergency. Bukas na lang?"
"No, now na. Ano ba ‘yon?"
He sighs, clears his throat. Yes, Richard is smart, but often not enough to outsmart people who catch him off-guard.
"Hellooooo," she says. "Richard?"
"Yeah, uhh… Ito, sige. Natatandaan mo ‘yung —- ‘Yung kanta ni Sharon?"
"Maraming kanta si Sharon, Gomz."
"Sir —-" she hears another voice saying. "Game na po."
"Oh, Dawn, I’m not going to talk, ha? But don’t hang up. You have to hear this."
"Ano ba —-"
"Don’t hang up. I’m just here on the other line." What the heck is happening? she wants to ask, but he cuts her off. "Uy, Dawn! Ha?"
"Oo, sige na!"
She hears the door swing open, a few plucks from a guitar, then a soft-spoken man saying, “Paano na nga ulit ‘to?”
An audience laughs, then the man and the guitar silence them.
“Kahit Maputi Na Ang Buhok Ko”, Dawn thinks.
She sighs as she leans on the headboard, the phone pressed against her ear as he asked of her. She knows this song, of course. Who wouldn’t? It’s a popular song! But she stays quiet, as does Richard, both of them just listening to the man.
They both know this song, know it by heart. Even when it was one of the most famous hits of his ex-girlfriend, Richard had told Dawn that the song only meant something when she came into his life, when they finally decided to look at things in future tense, and liked what they saw.
They swore on forever —- planned a wedding in a random conversation over wine, talked about having kids while making breakfast the following day, and sang songs that promised a lifetime of togetherness. But as they would find out the hard way, not everyone gets a happy ever after, even when they fought for it badly.
They both know this song.
It was their song.
The song reaches its interlude of “Na na na…”, then Richard starts to sing along, his voice soft against her ear:
Ang nakalipas ay ibabalik natin
Hmmmm
Ipapaalala ko ‘sayo…
He stops, letting her hear the man sing again.
Ang aking pangako
Na ang pag-ibig ko'y lagi sa'yo
She sighs.
"Are you okay?" he asks.
"Who’s singing?"
"Noel Cabangon."
Kahit maputi na ang buhok ko…
Noel plucks his way to wordlessly end the song, which stopswith a single strum met by applause. He thanks the audience, then Richard says “Wait…” Dawn hears the door swingsl and the sounds of the road are on the background once more.
"Sorry I woke you —-"
"That was beautiful."
"Yeah. Naalala lang kita when I saw it sa set list."
She hears him smile. They take that moment of silence as their own. Two decades, other loves, children, and separate lives in between, and yet here they are, connected through a phone, by a song. This is it, they both think. It may not be the forever they planned on having, but this time there will be no breakups. They are back together, as a love team, as friends.
Maybe they just needed to be happy apart so they can be happy together again.
"O, sige, go back to sleep na. Good night, Zuluets!"
She giggles. “You haven’t called me that in ages.”
"Should I? And I’ll have the cast do the same."
“‘Wag na. It sounds mabaho!”
He laughs. “Seriously, go to sleep. You sound tired.”
"Nakipagharutan kasi ako sa mga bata kanina. Especially the bunso. You know toddlers."
"Well, did you have fun?"
"I did."
"That’s more important. White Flower for your hilo."
"Yes, sir."
"See you on Monday."
"Are you seriously going to start calling me Zuluets again?"
"I’ll try not to."
"Sige, magdadala ako ng duct tape, ha?”
They both laugh.
"Ah, Gomz?"
"Yeah?"
"Thank you."
"For what?"
She smiles. “For waking me up for that. O, siya, baka magkaiyakan tayo dito.”
"Tulog na."
"Yes, Sir."
"Bye, boss. See you next week."
"Yeah. See you."
She hangs up and puts the phone back on the nightstand, smiling through the tears that blur her eyes. #
