Behind Curtains

Kabanata 33

Kabanata 33

Intimacies

A few months before leaving for Germany, Keith Belmonte asked for my hand in marriage.

It was funny, but for the first year of our reunion as friends, we were extremely convinced we were twin flames. Because we felt more mature and talked more during our college years, our conversations came to a point wherein we often agreed that we were each other's soulmates. We were classmates since kindergarten, pero dahil panay siyang umaabsent at nagbabakasyon kasama ang pamilya, elementary na talaga noong nagsimula na kami maging close.

We weren't always on the same class section. But the fact that we've always known each other since forever, made our reconnection and relationship a lot easier after highschool. And as we grew older with our personal preference and interests, madalas kaming nabubuwag sa iba. Since our hobbies and tastes were niche and kind of geeky, hindi lahat nakakasabay. Kaya ang partikular na pagtrato sa isa't isa, kahit gaano pa man namin inilihim, ay madaling nabubuking ng mga pilit na nakikiramdam.

Kinailangan namin itago ang aming relasyon, not because we were doing something sketchy... or frisky. But because we have so many friends and even belonged in a group, that doing things and going on trips with just the two of us felt biased and unfair. We didn't want our friends to get jealous of us when they also have the same free time. The same free time... magkaiba nga lang ng gustong pagtawanan. 

Still, we weren't in any romantic relationship of the sort. We mostly just talked about being soulmates when we realized our humor was too distinct and not everyone could jump in. Hindi kami... but we both know we'd pass if we played along.

Layla Lagdaméo:

Kyler...

Kyler Belmonte:

Yes, ate?

Layla Lagdaméo:

Can you check Keith's loc for me please?

On his instagram?

Or... twitter.

Kyler Belmonte:

Haha. Don't have to, Ate.

We're having dinner at Blackbird.

Everyone's here.

I expertly crossed the busy street at ilang hakbang ang ginawa bago ko tuluyang inakyat iyong hagdan patungong third floor noong building. Sir Killian's condominium wasn't too far from where Keith's exhibit was. In fact, the space was just on the next avenue, kaya nilakad ko nalang.

A bit sweaty from the walk and from climbing a lot of stairs, nakaramdam nanaman ako ng inis. I had to sit somewhere where the aircon's wind was the coolest bago ako nagsimula sa pamamasid. In tan linen shorts and white silk blouse, even in a quiet exhibit with barely no one around, I still felt underdressed and ignorant in my cheap flats.

I sighed and fixed my designer sling bag as I stood up and made my way towards the catalogues. It wasn't hard to identify where Keith's works were, but I'd still like to read his artist bio... na ako ang unang gumawa. I wanted to touch the captions beneath the photographs, too. Dahil kalahati noon ay kasali ako sa nag-isip. I sighed when I read them one by one.