Beautiful, Beloved [feat. RaMen]

Five

"Dawn, what was that? You were mum throughout the meeting which was odd of you then you walked out without even shaking that man's hand. What's wrong with you?"

If it was anyone else, sisibakin agad sila ni Rachel sa trabaho dahil sa paraan ng pananalita nito sa kanya. But Gabriel or Gabby and her go way back. Matagal na silang magkaibigan nito. She met Gabby sa Harvard Law School when she studied for her Masters and Doctoral sa US. Rachel felt like without Gabby she couldn't have made it through law school, he was the one making sure na nag-aaral at nagrereview siya instead na pumaparty.

"Sorry, Gab. My head was somewhere else. I'm a bit bothered with thoughts that does not concern work. Medyo unprofessional but I couldn't help it eh."

"Gusto mong pag-usapan?"

"No, I'd rather not, but thank you. I think lalabas na muna ako, can you please tell Nadine na pwede na rin siyang umuwi? Di na ko babalik dito sa opisina later."

"Okay. Sige," Gabby said as he looked at Rachel worriedly habang papasok sa opisina ang huli.

~~~

Rachel called Lea for the nth time but yet again her call went straight to voicemail. She grabbed her jacket and purse at nagmamadaling umalis ng opisina.

Hindi na nag-abala si Rachel na kumatok pa sa pinto ng apartment ni Lea. She just let herself in.

"LEA! Nandito ka ba?" tawag ni Rachel pero parang wala namang tao. Walang nasagot.

Nagtingin muna si Rachel sa loob ng apartment pero wala talagang Lea na nalabas. Napabuntong hininga na lamang siya. She went to the kitchen and started cooking dinner for the both of them. She finds her peace in the kitchen, cooking seemed to be her stress reliever - and sa aminin niya man o hindi - Lea was too. Rachel was too absorbed with what she's doing kaya naman hindi niya napansin ang pagpasok ni Lea sa loob ng bahay. Lea even actually slammed the door.

"ANONG GINAGAW-," natigilan si Lea sa reaksyon niya at huminga ng malalim para huminahon, "W-what are you doing here?"

Nagulat si Rachel sa pagkakasigaw ni Lea, "Ayy, potang kabayo! Ano ba? Can't you see or smell? May problema ba primary senses mo? Nagluluto ako ng hapunan o."

"Ahh. So you think pwede ka maglabas masok sa apartment ko ng ganun-ganon lang? Aalis ka ng walang paalam tapos babalik ka na parang wala lang 'yon," Lea sarcastically said.

Nagpanting naman ang tenga ni Rachel sa narinig, "Alam mo kasi kung observant ka lang sana then you might've figured that I left you a note on your night stand instead of nagging at me right now. Para kang asawa na hindi nadiligan! At sa susunod, wag na wag mo kong kakausapin sa ganyang paraan! I've been considering your pain kaya pinalalampas ko lahat ng ginagawa mo. Pero alam mo? I'm so done ignoring it."

Flashback

Lea's hands were shaking as she put on her earring, 7:59pm na. Any minute, darating na ang sundo niya. As if on cue, there was a soft knock on her apartment door. Huminga ng malalim si Lea bago niya buksan ang pinto.

"Wow. Right on time."

"I'm not tardy. I hate being late," Rachel said in a voice Lea couldn't decipher.

Rachel studied Lea, she had shoulder length hair which was curled at the bottom. Lea's little red dress hugged her body perfectly and it brought out her eyes. She looked rather ravishing.

"Are you ready to go, Miss San Miguel?"

"Yeah. Can I just quickly grab my purse, first?"

Lea grabbed her purse from the couch and the two ladies left the apartment at lumakad papunta sa elevator. Rachel found herself annoyed by the trivial music that seemed to sound the same kahit saang elevator pa siya nakasakay.

"Saan tayo?" Lea asked with a shaky voice. It was so obvious na ninenerbyos siya dahil sa dinner na 'yon.

"My place," Rachel simply responded.