"Hey, babe, it's me again," Mika breathed into the receiver.
Silence.
She was slowly getting used to it.
Mika stretched her legs up into the small coffee table in front of her as she settled more comfortably on the couch. The phone still tightly pressed against her ear.
"I know I've been blowing up your phone these past few weeks, baka naiinis ka na," she admitted a bit embarrassed, "But can you blame me?"
More silence.
Such deafening silence.
Silence so loud, it was physically hurting the tall woman on the couch.
But she was strong. She could take the pain.
"Tumatawag lang naman ako para kumustahin ka sana," she spoke into the phone after a brief pause, "But now that I think about it, it's kind of a dumb question actually."
She huffed out a low chuckle, her eyes falling to her lap where her left hand was picking on the seams of her old sweatpants.
"Kailan ka ba uuwi, babe?" her grey eyes closed slowly when she felt her own voice start to waver lightly, "Nagluto ako ng paborito mong adobo, pero I had put your plate away in the fridge again, iinitin ko na lang pagdating mo."
Silence.
Mika swallowed.
"I'll probably be asleep when you're home–" Mika choked on the last word. She closed her eyes tightly and let out a shaky sigh.
"I'll be asleep when you come back," she tried again, "Pero gisingin mo ako, okay? I want to see you."
More deafening silence.
"I miss you, babe," Mika whispered as she bit her lip.
A single tear rolled down her rosy cheek against her will.
"I love you."
No response.
"Please say something... babe.." Mika pleaded through her streaming tears, "Alyssa, please..."
The lump in her throat was making it difficult to raise her voice above a whisper, but she gathered her strength and spoke a little louder.
"Alyssa."
No. Response.
"Alyssa," Mika said even louder ignoring the salty taste of her tears on her mouth.
Nothing but silence.
"Alyssa!" she yelled desperately.
"ALYSSA!" she screamed out into the silent phone and the empty house.
The name echoed soundly from wall to wall, going all around the dark house.
Deep, shaky breaths...
You have reached the length limit of a voicemail. The voicemail is full.
Mika finally pulled the phone away from her ear, taking one final look at the contact picture she had of her wife.
"Come home," Mika said firmly, but still no answer, "Babe, please come home."
"Maghihintay ako," she said one last time before pressing the red button, letting the line fall dead.
She sat there alone, on the couch. Not crying. Not sad.
Motionless. Emotionless.
Even the creaking of the front door couldn't take her out of her trance; the soft footsteps approaching didn't take her attention.
Even the comforting hand placed on her shoulder elicited no reaction.
"This isn't healthy, bf," Jessey's melancholic voice broke the horrific silence.
"She's coming home," Mika calmly replied, "I sent her a voicemail – again; she'll hear it and she'll come home, bf."
"Mika..."
"She's coming home. She will come home."
"Mika, it has been 3 weeks," Jessey tried explaining for the thousandth time since the tragic news had been received, but it was like she was talking to a wall.
For Mika there was no bad news. It was simply a mistake. A big mistake.
Volleyball star Alyssa Valdez dead on the spot after getting involved in a three-vehicle accident.
That was the headline Mika would never wanted to believe.
Her Alyssa, her wife, wasn't dead. There was no car accident.
"Mika, hindi na uuwi si Ly."
"She is," Mika countered swiftly, her eyes focused in the space in front of her, "I know she is."
"No, she isn't," Jessey informed, "Mika, please."
"Bakit?" Mika asked with furrowed brows, still not looking at her best friend, "Nasaan ba ang asawa ko?"
"She's... in heaven," Jessey softly said.
"But..."
"Mika."
"She always comes back to me!" Mika protested, "Kahit anong mangyari lagi siyang umuuwi sa'kin!"
"Not this time, bf," the tall woman sat down next to her friend, pulling the distraught girl into her arms.
"Hindi na uuwi si Alyssa?" Mika whispered into her friend's shirt, "Hindi na uuwi ang asawa ko?"
Jessey had to hold back her own tears as she shook her head, "Hindi na."
"Never?" Mika's throat had started constricting again, the wetness filling her eyes quickly, "Never again? Hindi ko na siya makikita ulit?"
"I'm so sorry, Mika."
Mika had no more questions left. For once she wanted to go back to receiving no answers, back to the deafening silence. It was more comfortable than the words she heard from everyone around her.
The silence from the other end of the phone was less painful.
She wanted to scream and sob and trash and throw things or herself; but she couldn't.
Now all she could do was stare aimlessly as tears stained her face with the pain of her loss.
"Until we meet again, babe."
- - -
A/N: 😭
Hi. Thanks for reading, fam! Bye. 😅
#TeamBabe💚💙
