Letters from Spring Street

Chapter 17.2

She found herself smiling silly and with eyes brimming with tears, she gasped weakly, "Richard?"

He slowly turns around and faces her, his smile so wide, his eyes disappearing into tiny slits, that unmistakable dimple on his left cheek more prominent than she remembers.

"Nicomaine." He says, as he slowly walks towards her.

"Wha..what are you doing here?" She asks, her voice slightly cracking--because she knew. At the back of her mind, she knew exactly why he was here.

Her mind was abuzz, Richard being here could only mean one thing. But it was too perfect, too perfect it was bordering surreal--so she waits, she waits until he says it out loud.

"I missed you, Maine." He says as his body came into contact with hers, his large arms wrapped around her shoulders, his head buried in the crook of her neck. "It has only been a little over a day, and I miss you already. Bakit ganon? How come you affect me like this?"

She wraps her arms around his torso, his scent invading her senses, "Ako rin naman, Richard. I missed you too."

"Come with me, I have something to show you."

He takes her hand and leads her to the far corner of the green house, where he was previously standing. She sees a sea of carnations and strings of light dangling from the glass ceilings.

He leaves her standing in the middle, and she stares in awe at what he prepared. Did he... is this all for me? For Menggay?

He turns back to her and hands over a box to her--it was a little worn, the colored cover faded.

"What's this?"

"Please open it, Nicomaine."

She gently lifts the lid from the box and he takes it from her. Her brows furrows as she saw envelopes of different shades of white, most of them fading into a faint shade of yellow.

"These.. are these my letters?"

"No, Menggay, they're not." He finally says, and it felt so incredibly amazing to say that name out loud. "They're mine."

She knew he was Tisoy the moment he saw her turn around, she knew it. But all the same, it still felt different hearing Richard say "Menggay" for the first time. She felt as if her heart was going to explode any minute now.

He stared at her as she continued to remain wordless, her eyes were shinning with so much love and gentleness--despite her silence, he felt all his anxiousness wash away by the second.

"Tisoy tried to write back too." He started, smiling at her, "He missed his Menggay so much, he tried to write to her, but all the letters he wrote came back to him. Then he realized that they probably moved already."

He wrote to me. I always hoped he did.

"Not once did Tisoy ever think she'd be mad at him--he was sure there was a reason why he never got her own letters. They made a promise, and he believed they would both keep it. In all honesty, Tisoy was more worried how Menggay would be when her parents finally separate. He prayed every day that she'd be okay."

Hearing him say those things, all her fears and insecurities disappeared--all these years, she was afraid that she would be the only one holding on to the promise they made as children. Now, she felt as if all those years of writing her letters were finally validated, it wasn't futile nor useless. Not at all.

"All the letters came back, but Tisoy never forgot about his Menggay. The time came when he stopped writing her letters..." Richard reached out to grab her free hand, "But not once did he stop writing about her."

Maine remained quiet, but listened earnestly. She squeezed his hand in support, urging him to go on, not realizing the tears pooling around her eyes.

"When Tisoy got a little older, he started thinking about his dreams and what his Menggay told him about his own right to pursue them. So he finally decides to write, like he always wanted, like he always dreamed. He wrote many kinds, short ones, drabbles, poems, sonnets, novels--but there was always one thing that tied those stories together."

Her grip on his hand got a little tighter as she finally breathed out, "What?"

"You."

"Me?"

"Yes, Menggay, Nicomaine, Maine, you. It was always you." He replied, reaching over and tucking her hair behind her ear. "You inspired all the pieces I wrote. Do you remember the draft I asked you to read? The character you gushed about, 'Dei'? She was entirely inspired by you, how I remembered you at seven years old, how I imagined you'd be at twenty-five."

"Richard... I... I don't know what to say."

"You really don't have to say anything, Menggay. But can I... will you allow me to hold you again?"

She sets down the box on the table beside them, and tiptoes, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Tisoy, I thought you'd never ask."

Richard was happy--but he knew he felt more than that. This wasn't just happiness. No matter how articulate he was, no matter how many words he knows in the english language, he was unable to perfectly string the words that could possibly describe how he felt. Because at this very moment, he was holding his entire world in his arms.

And he won't waste anymore time without letting her know.

To be continued...

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A/N: Woaaaah! Thank you for the overwhelming response to the last chapter! Nakakakilig din ang support niyo. Thank you ❤️