housemates (completed)

housemates 23 -- history

"Are you Nic?"

"Yes."

"And you're also Maine?"

"Yes. My full name is Nicomaine."

"I see. How long have you known Rj?"

"We've worked together for the past year."

"Hmm..."

"...he's been my boyfriend for the past 10 months..."

"...and you live together?"

"Yes. We didn't know we were housemates in the beginning..."

"Oh?"

"I moved out of my dormitory because I wanted to be more independent. The share house agent made it clear to me, though, that my housemate could either be a boy or a girl. I was surprised to see the unit spic and span when I first arrived so I thought that I had a female housemate..."

"You didn't rent at the same time?"

"Not exactly; He moved in on a Friday, and I moved in the Monday after. The apartment was pretty empty, just the basic furniture in the living room and dining room. The agent pointed to his room and the bathroom and then she took me to my room. The fridge was empty except for two containers of yogurt and a bottle of water. I didn't know that I was sharing a unit with a guy at that time. I just thought that maybe the other renter didn't have time to do the shopping so I stocked up..."

"I see. So how did you communicate with each other? Aren't share houses supposed to be places where the residents gather in the more common areas?"

"Yes. In our complex, there are several houses with other residents sharing rooms in different units and we have a common courtyard where we gather on some evenings. The gatherings are usually set up by the Ms. Ana, our landlady, or by the other residents as well."

"So it's like you live in a compound of houses..."

"You can say that. It's just that J and I are one of the 'luckier' ones because we live in a separate unit just for two people. The four other buildings surrounding the courtyard have three or more residents in them."

"...and your 'landlady'?"

"Ms. Ana lives in Makati. She visits every now and then. There have been times when she cooks and the residents have a party."

"I see. How did you get to know Rj?"

"We started communicating by leaving notes for each other. It started when I stocked the fridge and made a salad. Soon, he requested that I cook sinigang because he was having some bad days at work..."

"Bad days?"

"We both didn't know that we lived in the same house, right? At work, he was known as 'Dr. Sungit' because he rarely smiled. He's a very good doctor but needed a little help with his social skills."

"Hmm. It was never easy to get a smile out of him. He's very serious."

"I noticed that too. I guess our supervisors noticed that also because they teamed us up to work together and it was frustrating and stressful to work with him in the beginning."

"Oh, so what did you do?"

"I just did my work. I remained professional especially in front of the patients. He says he saw how the kids were always smiling and excited when we'd make our rounds together. I remember him asking me to teach him more nursery rhymes because his repertoire only consisted of 3 songs. Some of the kids would groan when he would volunteer to sing or have circle time with them because of his limited repertoire..." M chuckled as she recounted this anecdote.

"...You are my sunshine..."

"...he didn't sing that to the kids...he only sang that to me..."

"It was his song for his sister. Richelle was only 8 years old when she passed away due to pneumonia. Richard was 10 at that time. Richi was a sickly child and Rj would sing to her. He said he wanted to be a doctor to heal the children. He made that promise to Richi before she passed away. I guess he fulfilled that promise but still carried the pain of losing her for a very long time. He was already quiet as a child. He became more withdrawn after Richi passed away."

"Oh"

"But you say he's changed?"

"Yes, he has. He's no longer known as Dr. Sungit and a lot of parents say that their kids seem happier even when they're sick."

"That's good."

"He smiles a lot more, too. The nurses on the pediatric floor were surprised when he started greeting them..." M giggled.

"Oh really?"

"Yeah. We dreaded him before. He used to be bossy and always had a scowl on his face."

"His Lola spoiled him when he was young. He was the favorite of the General even if he had older cousins."

"Oh?"

"He had a yaya until he was 12. His Lola thought that it would help him feel the love and support he needed after Richi's death. He was a good boy, a smart student. He did well in school. He wasn't rebellious or anything like that. He studied in the States but chose to come back to the Philippines."

"Hmm..."

"How about you? Your parents?"

"I'm an orphan. My parents passed away when I was a baby. My grandparents raised me."

"Oh."

"Papa wanted me to be a doctor too but I said I wanted to be a nurse"

"A wise choice. Nurses are the heart of healthcare."

"Does J know you're here?"

"Mom?"