The Art of Detachment (Book 1)

12:56 NN, Saturday, Church, Int.

Talagang chinika mo pa 'yung pari bukod sa pagpapaalam mag-shoot, ha.

Sabi nya, bagay daw tayo e.

Naniwala ka naman?

Totoo naman kasi, eh. Priests don't lie. Okay, sit there, and -

Alden, ikaw 'yung tatanungin.

What?

It's your turn. Ako ang nag-record sa beach, remember?

Ah. Oo. Sige. Sorry, ako pala. Sige. I'd sit here. Tapos pakicheck 'yung frame and the amount of light. Hindi ba overexposed? Headroom. I'd do hand movements and see kung lalampas ng frame. Adjust ko 'tong upuan. I'm a bigger figure than you so -

Alden, stop panicking.

Sorry.

Bakit ka aligaga?

Nakalimutan ko na ako 'yung tatanungin.

Okay. Start na?

Sige.

Why did you choose this location?

Because I thought you'd be the one answering questions.

No, not that. Why is this place significant to you?

Because I hoped that we would end here.

Kailan?

For years.

Why didn't we?

I don't know.

How would you describe our story? A sad one that should have been published?

A story that chose not to end when it should have.

But we ended three years ago.

Tayo, tumigil. Ang story, hindi.

So our story is still writing itself.

Yeah, that's why we're here.

Kailan tayo titigil, Alden? 'Pag pagod na? 'Pag may sagot na?

'Pag ayaw na.

Paano malalaman kung ayaw na?

'Di ko rin alam. Maybe a voice inside us would tell us.

Anyway, nasa simbahan tayo.. and we've tackled marriage several times though sadly, hindi nga tayo du'n nag-end.

Marriage is not considered an end.

Okay, kailan mo naisipan na gusto mo akong pakasalan?

Second year college, hallway, College of Engineering. Ako dapat mag-iintay sa'yo nu'n pag-uwi kaso nauna kang palabasin kaya dumayo ka ng Engineering para sunduin ako. It's your first time fetching me from my classroom kaya sobra-sobra ang excitement mo. You're always the giddy little girl in town, Maine. You walked excitedly towards me, maybe almost running because you got the part in that theater play that you wanted.

But in my eyes, you were walking slowly, like a bride with a veil, and I wondered and wondered if I will be able to imagine another woman in a white gown just as the way I imagined you.

Ikaw?

Ako?

Kailan mo naisip na ako ang gusto mong pakasalan?

Rated SPG.

Seriously?

Yeah. After sex.