I fell in love

Chapter 20

Days flew by quicker than I expected. One moment we were just figuring things out, and the next thing I knew, days turned into weeks, and weeks slowly folded into months.

At first, I struggled to keep up. Everything felt new. Not just the relationship itself, but the way it made me feel.
Maybe I was scared because it was all unfamiliar. Or maybe it was because I didn't want anything between us to fall apart.

"Stop staring..." with her sleepy voice, she stated.

"I'm not." Pag sisinungaling ko.

"I can feel your stare at me, Mariz. Stop lying."

Okay. Ikaw na magaling.

I was about to laugh and say something pero naputol iyon nang inilapit niya ang katawan niya sakin at yakapin ako nang mahigpit.

"You already took a shower?" She asked with her groggy voice.

"Yup. Tumabi lang ako ulit."

"Ihahatid kita mamaya sa resto bago ako tumuloy sa work. We'll be shooting for the new clothes—"

"Wait!" Iritadong sigaw ko sa tuloy-tuloy na pag tunog ng doorbell. "Get up, babe." Hinalikan ko siya sa pisngi bago bumangon at lumabas ng kwarto.

Iritado at nakataas ang isang kilay nang buksan ko ang pinto. Ready to fire back, I opened the door.

"What the f—" naputol ang sasabihin ko nang isang magandang babae ang bumungad sa pinto.

With her pale skin, red lips, black fitted dress, silver stilettos, and her blonde hair. "I'm sorry." Nabigla niyang saad at tiningnan muli ang pintuan. Nanliit ang mga mata niya nang makita ito.

"Mariz, sino 'yan?" Althea held my waist as she opened the door wider.

Bahagya siyang nagulat at ganon rin yung babaeng nasa pinto.

The moment I opened the door, I could already feel something strange settling in the air, like the silence before a storm.

"What are you doing here?" Althea asked with her emotionless face.

"I— I, uh," the girl looked at me, tapos tumingin ulit kay Althea. "Gusto sana kitang makausap..." she looked down.

She wasn't entirely quiet, not like someone who didn't know what to say. She spoke, but only to Althea, and even then, her voice was soft, careful, almost hesitant.

"We are done, Nathalie. You know what you did." Nanliliit ang mga mata ni Althea nang sinabi niya iyon.

Walang sali-salita akong humakbang paatras.

It was as if every word they let out was weighed down by things left unsaid from their past. She barely even glanced at me. I could have been invisible, and I think she wanted it that way. This wasn't about me.

"No. Dito ka lang." mahina niyang saad habang mahigpit na nakahawak sa tagiliran ko.

"You two need to talk. Sa kwarto lang ako." Mahina ngunit may diin na sagot ko.

"It's fine, really," the girl spoke, finally giving me a quick glance. 

What caught me wasn't her voice, though. It was her eyes. The way she looked at Althea said more than anything she could've spoken aloud.

 It wasn't just a look. It was full of aching, like she was staring at someone she had once loved deeply, someone she might still love, but couldn't have.

There was regret in every corner of her expression, like she had replayed whatever happened between them over and over in her mind, trying to find where it all went wrong.