VIO
I don't know that love changes. People change. Circumstances change.
“Vio?”
It suddenly felt that the whole universe stopped exclusively for us.
From the screen, Kay smiled at me, her gentle features perfectly captured by the webcam. My heart skipped a beat as everything gradually sank into my senses. I just sat there, stayed still, my eyes focused on the screen for what seemed like a long time.
“Hey.” She says once again, her voice—her presence suddenly becoming unfamiliar.
“Vio.”
“Are you alright?”
NO. I WAS WORRIED SICK FOR A MONTH, HINDI MAKAKAIN, HINDI MAKATULOG DAHIL HINDI KITA MAKAUSAP. YOU NEVER CALLED; YOU NEVER SAID ANYTHING TAPOS NGAYON MAGBBUZZ KA SA YM NA PARANG WALA LANG ANG LAHAT? WE WERE SUPPOSED TO CELEBRATE OUR 2ND ANNIVERSARY LAST WEEK PERO NO SHOW KA. AND YOU’RE ASKING ME KUNG OKAY LANG AKO?!!
“Yeah.” I didn’t know what else to say. Ehrr,no. I actually wanted to ask her, ‘ikaw ba?’ but I decided not to anymore, after all.. she looked mighty fine; no hint of regrets or anything.
“How’s school?”
“Good. Everything’s fine. I aced most of our tests.”
“That’s so nice! Galing naman ni Engineer!” I nodded as she continued on how she spent her a day. Ewan ko lang but I felt so uneasy lalo na't nabanggit nya ulit yung Nikko na partner nya sa ChemLab nila. “He’s so good to me.” She tells me, her eyes lighting up.
And then finally, after mustering up the courage, I asked her. “Ikaw? How are you?”
“I… don’t know.” She looked as though she wanted to add something else, but her gaze dallied around her room and she stalled as if distracted. I watched as her right hand strayed to her left, her hands fumbling as she looked almost like a child lost in a department store. When I gazed at her finger, I knew there was something wrong with it. Parang may kulang. And then baaaam! Realization hit me as though someone had punched me hard. It came like a death blow, and I don’t know even know if I can stand up, the pain almost consuming me. The ring I gave to her 2 yrs ago, before she left was nowhere to be found.
“Nasan yung ring?” I asked her pero hindi sya sumagot.
“Kayla, where’s the ring?”
“Kayla?!”
“I lost it.” she finally said after a moment, seeming to come back for the most part. I tried to convince myself na kaya siguro nya ako hindi cinocontact ksi she felt guilty. Siguro ganun. Pero alam mo yung feeling na alam mong hindi lang ganun yung reason? Na meron pang bagay na gusto nyang sabihin pero hindi nya magawang masabi? Ugh. Fck this.
