He Suddenly Came Back

Chapter 17

CHAPTER 17: Not helping

(Zoe's POV)

I roamed the mall after buying a book at the NBS. Mamaya na ako uuwi sa bahay, mabobored lang ako kase ako lang mag-isang nakatira dun. Hindi ko naman pwedeng papuntahin si Cindy sa bahay kase may trabaho siya. Nagtatrabaho na talaga siya, finally. Sapilitan nga lang, pinaparusahan daw siya ng magulang niya, yun yung sabi niya kahapon.

Actually, hindi naman talaga yun yung rason kung bakit ayaw kong umuwi. The real plot twist is that I don't want to go home because of my neighbor. I would avoid him at all cost. Mabagal akong naglakad habang tinitingnan ang mahabang fountain ng mall nang may biglang ako nakabanggaan. Lagi nalang akong may nakakabanggaan this past few days

"I'm sorry." I apologized, ako naman kase ang di nakatingin sa dinadaanan ko.

"Ella?" napatingin agad ako sa nagsalita. Oh damn it! Siya na naman. Sa kanya ako laging nababangga.

We bumped again. And I think every time we bump, I shatter. It's so scary. Goodness! Fate, you really are not helping. Thank you so much.

"Oh, h-hi." Sabi ko.

Kakasabi ko lang na ayaw ko siyang makita kaya di ako umuwi pero nandito naman siya sa mall. Ano ba naman? Sana pala umuwi nalang ako.

"Anong ginagawa mo dito? Mag-isa ka lang?" tanong niya. Luminga pa siya sa likuran ko.

"Oo. May binili lang ako. Sige ah, mauna na ako." Paalalam ko sa kanya.

Aalis na sana ako pero hinawakan niya ako. My breath suddenly stopped because of the skin contact. This is the first time I felt the warmth of his skin again since the last time... after ages.

"Pwede mo ba akong samahan mag coffee?" tanong niya. Di ako makasagot. Are we going to catch up? Magkakamustahan ba kami?

I was about to reject his offer but I don't know where my head had flew that I just found myself walking with him towards the coffee shop. This is crazy.

Umupo ako sa bakanteng upuan at siya na yung nag order. Pagkaraan ng ilang minuto, pumunta na siya sa table namin at inilapag yung mga inorder niya at umupo na siya sa harapan ko.

Chocolate frappe and chocolate cake yung binigay niya sa akin. Hindi parin pala niya nakalimutan ang favorite ko. Chocolate cake din yung sa kanya at coffee, same as the old times.

"How are you?" he asked upon sitting. It's like nothing had happened. He's too casual to me.

Seriously? Tinatanong niya talaga yan? Pagkatapos ng ginawa niya? Pagkatapos niyang mang iwan nang walang pasabi? Pagkatapos niya akong saktan? "I'm good." I lied. I should lie. I don't want to show him how broken I am. That I'm still broken up to now.

"Good to hear that. It's been a long time, huh?" he said and leaned his back at his seat.

I stared at him. How can he be so calm? I mean, after what he did, how can he act so fine around me? Yung parang wala lang nangyari, parang hindi niya ako iniwan at sinaktan. Samantalang ako ay parang sasabog na sa klase-klaseng emosyong namumuo sa loob ko.

Everything flooded in my mind again –the questions I want to ask, the reasons I want to hear, it wants to get out of me now. I'll go crazy if I don't let this out now so I decided to say it, this is now or never.

"How do you do that?" I asked him. His forehead creased, parang nagtataka siya sa tanong ko. Oh come on! "You, being so calm and very ease like nothing happened before." I'm on a brink of crying again. Damn it! Wag ngayon, please. I don't want to appear weak. "I was okay, everything has been okay, and then you came back and ruined everything. And now, I don't understand any at all anymore."

Hindi siya nagsalita. He's just staring at me, scrutinizing me. His eyebrows met.

"Magsalita ka Tristan, kahit man lang sabihin mo kung bakit mo nagawa yun. Halos mabaliw ako sa kakaisip kung saan ako nagkulang sayo, alam mo ba? Kung bakit nakuha mong mang-iwan. Did you fell out of love or what?" And there, I slowly heard my sobs and found myself crying. Shit. Fucking shit.

This is ridiculous. I tried so much to conceal my tears I've hiding but then here here they are, in just one click, they all went out.

There was silence, all I could hear are my sobs... or not. Everything was just deafening. Even my heartbeats thumping loudly inside my chest.

He tried to reach for my tears but I slapped it away.

"You don't wipe the tears you've made." I said and then left.