"Jiabear!" Jho exclaimed nung makalapit siya sa table namin.
"Jujubear!" tawag naman ni Ji habang tumayo at sinalubong niya ito ng yakap.
They hugged each other tight, halatang sobrang tuwa. Sabagay, ilang taon narin kaya nung huli silang nagkita.
When they finally let go of each other, Jho turned to me and gave me a shy smile. "Hi Bei..."
I nodded and reciprocated her smile. "Hi Jho. Join us..."
She agreed, and before we can say anything else, inunahan na siya ni Jia.
Matagal din ang naging kwentuhan naming tatlo, kamustahan sa present, remisnisce ng sa past, purposely avoiding yung nangyari between us, mostly volleyball parin ang usapan, and mostly, sila lang talaga ni Jia, sumasagot lang ako pag tinatanog.
"Oops!" biglang sambit ni Jia nung napatingin siya sa phone niya. "I'm going to meet Miguel pa in 30 minutes!"
"Yan kase, kakadal-dal!" sermon ko, "You're gonna be late!"
She stood up at nagpa-alam sa aming dalawa. "It was nice to see you again Jho!" nag hug ulit sila. "Catch up again soon okay?"
"Sure Ji, send me a message lang." Jho answered.
"Una na ako Bea." I nodded. Bumeso lang siya sa akin and then left.
So, Jho and I were left in silence in the table. Tiningnan ko siya and smiled "Baka may iba ka pang lakad?"
She shook her head No, "Baka ikaw?" tanong niya.
"Nothing din."
Then there was silence. Pareho kami umiiwas ng tingin sa isa't isa. I know we said na we'd be friends, pero di parin mawawala ang awkward silence.
"So" siya na ang bumasag ng katahimikan. "Saan ka nagsstay now? Hotel parin ba...?"
"Uh no, Kuya has a unit in this building, so dito muna ako." She nodded.
"Ikaw pala? Your office is around here ba?"
"No, may hinatid lang ako na presentation diyan sa harap ng building, naiwan ng kasama ko sa work."
"Hmmm" lang ang naisagot ko, and then silence again.
"By the way, how's Tito and Tita...? Si Kuya Loel?" It isn't really surprising na magtanong siya about them, after all, she once treated them as family.
"All good. Business actually ni Mom yung inaasikaso ko ngayon, si Dad mostly stays at the farm, while si Kuya sa office..."
