Never shall we sink, too.

XI

Ponggay and I immediately stood up to see what is happening. Bea and Jho are shouting at each other.

'At least they are talking.'

"We went, we had a great time. I mean we kissed for fuck sake, and we got back you can't even look me in the eye?"

"You were with Pia at that time. I felt guilty."

"Don't you think I didn't?! I loved her, but I love you more. I know it's confusing, I was confused too. And to be honest I was hoping na ikaw yung tutulong saakin para ma clear yung thoughts ko. Pero no, you avoided me. You only talk to me during practice and treat me like a pebble at the side of the road!"

"Bei.." She sounded sincere and trying to calm from bursting too.

"Pero okay na yun. Feel ko na kelangan ko na lang den mag focus sa Acads, UAAP, and kay Pia. I gave you guys championship, I did well on my Acads, and my relationship with Pia... well you know what happened to that. And when I told you that I love you sa airport, you didn't say anything. You know why? I know why. Cause you were with Nico na at that time!"

Bea clearly is mad. There are rare times that I witnessed her angry and shouting back in the US. This is clearly one of those.

"Maybe because, I didn't love you like you love me."

'Oh shit.'

I walked towards Bea who is already stood up and walking backwards, away from Jho. 

"Bei.." I tried to talk to her but she didn't responded to me. Ponggay tapping Bea's shoulder trying to make Bea look at us, but she kept speaking.

"You know what. You're right. You didn't said that you love me. "Like", you did. But not love. Congratulations again on the wedding."

"Beh.."

"It's okay, Jho." She turned to us who is awkwardly standing there. "Thank you guys for the surprise and thanks for the delicious dinner Ponggs. I'll get going."

When I was about to get up to walk Bea out, Tots held my hand and shook her head no. Maybe to avoid much more drama. She was clearly getting drunk, but still made sense.

Ate Ly tapped Jho shoulder and talked to her. They sat there, Jho started crying and Ate Ly hugged her.

Ella, who has been the joker of the night, was silent at Jho's back.

Ate Den got a glass of water and gave it to Jho.

But what confused me most is none of them asked or cared about Bea or her feelings. She was clearly hurt because of Jho's 'ghosting'.

The night went on and I was getting worried for Bea. Ponggay said that she assured her that she's fine. But knowing Bea, she's not.

Tots became soooo drunk to the point that she can't drive. "Ako nang bahala dito mga ate." I said as I tucked her in the car.

"Nice to meet you Ced and looking forward to play and coach with you."

"Sure Ate Den."

I waved good bye to them and drive Tots to her apartment. She insisted me to stay the night, but I need to get home as we have a conference call tomorrow, with Bea. I tucked her in for the night and went home.

When I got home, I called her to check and then proceeded to sleep.

--

Bea have been working and declining people wanted to visit her. We still talk, especially during conference calls and work, but shut down when the topic goes outside work or to Jho.

Days after, Ponggay invited me to lunch.

"Cause we will soon to be teammate." Ponggay said on the other line when I asked her what is the lunch for. My head tilted to one side and my shoulder up so that the phone in between won't fall cause I was typing on my laptop.

"Uhm.. I don't know Ponggs, we had an all night-er conference call with Bea's brother."

"Pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeee.." she said in a very long breath which made my ears.. angry.

"Okay okay sige. Saan ba tsaka sinong kasama?"

"Basta, text you the address of the resto okay?"

"Okay, bye."

I got up and went to my fridge. There was no food.

'Buti na lang pumayag ako.' I sighed and proceeded to shower.

*

'Table 14.'

I whispered to myself once I entered the Resto.

"Ced!" They were laughing at someone's joke before Ponggay shouted and raised her hand to get my attention. In the table was her, Ate Den, Jia, Jema and Maddie. I sat beside her.

"Sorry guys I'm late."

"It's okay, we ordered na den, if you don't mind."

"No, it's okay, mukhang masarap naman yung foods nila."

"Nga pala, si Jema." Maddie tapped Jema shoulder and the latter smiled at me and held out a hand. We exchanged 'Hi's' and proceeded to eat.

"So how was US life?" Ate Den asked.

"Uhm. It was actually very comforting for me kasi when I flew there, I bumped into Bea agad. Sa plane pa lang. And we were on the same roof so..."

"Same roof?" Maddie asked.

"Yea, she asked me to stay with her. Nung nag try ako na mag hanap ng apartment kasi nakakahiya, nagtampo sya and didn't talked to me for like the whole day. So childish of her."

"How is Bea as a boss?" Jia asked.

"Well uhm... sobrang career driven nyang tao, na dumating yung time na nagkakasakit na sya."

"Well that's what you get from a champion." Jia said in a proud manner.

"Yea. She did mentioned that."

"Have you played with her?" Ate Den asked and put fries in her mouth.

"Actually no. In that span, we haven't played. Even tho she has a volleyball court in her house. So, I am kinda excited to see her play again."

"How about you, ano nang desisyon mo?"

"I need to consult with Bea, just like she said, I am still employed to her."

We stayed there and had some talks. They are fun to be with. After an hour, Maddie payed the bill, I insisted to pay but they said no, and went to parking lot. They didn't know that I has no car and I was busy booking grab when Ponggay caught me.

"Wala kang car?"

"Wala pa, I was planning to ask Bea to come with me when I went to get a car of my own."

"You can carpool with me, I'll drive you home, ako den naman kasi nag-aya sayo."

"Are you sure that's okay?"

"Oo naman. Tara na."

We drove to my condo, we had some small talks regarding the company and her and Kobe. I invited her for some beers before going home and she agreed. We were sitting at the sala and we were on the second beer when she opened a topic that I wasn't expecting her to open.