Lia's POV
I'm in my med lab class, 45 minutes of hell is about to end in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 *ringgggg* exactly 2:47pm, dali dali akong nag empake ng gamit ko. It's Friday and it's maybe a normal day for everybody but not for me. "Can y'all hurry up? Damn" I hate school with a passion sa totoo lang and I can't wait to graduate para makaalis na ng high school. For some reason, I've always hated people. I don't have any specific reason, they're just annoying. That's why I don't have any friends or a lover kasi I'm a boring person. I've been like this since I moved here in the US.
I'm on my way to my work. Yes, I have a part time job sa isang bubble tea shop. Mahirap maging working students lalo na kung senior highschool ka na. I have to balance work, school stuff and college application. Oh diba ang dami kong ganap. Kinakaya ko kasi kailangan at ginusto ko din naman mag trabaho eh edi mag tiis ako. Minsan nga sa train nalang ako natutulog para pag uwi ng bahay tatapusin ko yung mga homeworks ko. I usually do my homeworks pag lunch time ko which is not enough time for me to finish everything. It's all about time management eh and I'm still in the process of learning.
After ko mag suot ng apron, nag clock in na ako. "How you doin'?" Tanong ni Lance, katrabaho ko. He's filipino and can speak tagalog when he wants to. So far wala pa naman akong naging problema sakanya. I can be nice if I want to so wala naman kaming alitan pa. "I'm good, how about you?" Tanong ko naman pabalik. "I'm okay. There's not a lot of people today tho" sabi naman niya. Oo nga, walang masyadong costumer ngayon. Alam kong alam niya kung anong meron ngayon. "Yeah I don't know why. I mean isn't it a good thing for us cz we get to chill" sagot ko naman. "Did boss text you? She said that his nephew will be working with us" Sabi ni Lance. "Really? When is he starting ba?" Na curious ako bigla kasi usually kasi kami lang ni lance mag kasama sa work. "Maya maya ata baka andito na yon" Nagulat naman ako sa response niya. Bigla ko siyang tinignan ng masama. "Why?" Tanong niya saakin habang nakakunot yung noo niya. "Nothing, nag tagalog ka kasi. Nagulat lang ako" napangiti nalang ako sabay nag paalam na pupunta ng cr. Haysss, grabe no ang bilis ng panahon. I stared at the mirror hanggang sa namalayan ko na umiiyak na pala ako. Pwede naman siguro umiyak kasi tao padin naman ako diba kahit na akala ng mga tao na manhid ako.
"Hi, you must be Lia!" Biglang siyang nakipag shake hands saakin. "Hi! I'm marxo. Pamangkin ni boss" siya pala yung pamangkin ni boss. Muka namang mabait at magaling makisama. "I'm Lia and this is Lance" sabay turo ko kay Lance. "Hi, Lance pare. Ikaw pala yung pamangkin ni boss." Sabay tango naman ni Marxo. "My tita said I can start today na daw" sabi naman niya. May pag ka conyo siya pero bagay naman. Siguro dito na siya lumaki sa states. "Lia will be teaching you" sabay kindat saakin ni Lance at inirapan ko nalang siya.
"So how long have you been working here?" Tanong niya. "Almost 2 years" tipid kong sagot. "How old are you?" Tanong niya ulit saakin. "18" sagot ko. "You're not gonna ask me back?" Aba! Required ba na tanungin ko siya pabalik? Tssss. "Okay. So basically, it's simple lang. you look at the screen here and you'll see the orders. May mga labels naman kaya it's more easier. Andito yung pearls etc. always clean everything pag ka tapos mo. Lance will help you sa mga susunod na days. It's just that walang masyadong costumer today so it's an easy day for you" ang monotone ng pag kakasabi ko sakanya. Wala lang talaga ako sa mood ngayon. "I want to get to know you. You seem interesting" ang angas pa ng pagkakasabi niya. "Get to know Lance Instead. Lance! Talk to him" sabay hablot ko kay Lance. I'm not the type of person na magaling makipag kwentuhan. I only do small talks and I never open up to someone I just met.
It's 8pm na pala. 8:30pm ang closing namin. "Hey Lance, do you mind if I go now?" Sabi ko. He just nodded and smiled at me bitterly. I know na malungkot din siya today. "Are you're okay? Text me when you get home. See you tomorrow" sabi niya saakin. He deeply cares about me and I appreciate it. "Thank you so much" I hugged him so tight. Pinipigilan kong umiyak sa harap nila. Bumitaw na ako sa pagkakayakap at kinuha yung bag ko.
I put my airpods on and nag browse ako ng music sa phone ko. I started listening to the song 'Sol at Luna by geiko' I couldn't help myself but to reminisce. Di ko namalayan na nasa train station na pala ako. Someone grabbed my arms and I was shook when I saw Marxo. "What are you doing here?" Tanong ko sakanya habang pinupunasan yung mga mata ko. "I'm on my way somewhere" ngumiti lang siya saakin. Hingal na hingal siya at dahil iyon sa tumakbo siya. Sinusundan niya ba ako? Bumaba ako ng subway and I swiped my card. Maybe, he's going somewhere. I checked my phone and I texted mama.
To mama:
I'm gonna be home late.
"Hey again!" He showed me his big smile. One of my insecurities is my smile. I didn't bother to talk to him. There's a train coming na. I felt my phone buzzed.
From Mama:
Are you okay? Be safe anak.
I didn't reply. Pumasok ako sa train and nakita ko din si Marxo na pumasok din. Ilang stops pa so I decided to take a nap muna. Usually, madali akong makatulog pero this time nakapikit lang mata ko. May mga bagay talaga na mahirap kalimutan. Bigla naman akong nagulat ng may maramdaman akong nasa harap ko. I didn't bother to open my eyes pero nasilaw ako sa flash. Binuksan ko agad yung mata ko at nagulat ako sa nakita ko. Si Marxo. Di ko napigilan sarili ko at napasabi ako ng "are you taking pictures of me? You know what, just because you're the nephew of my boss doesn't mean that I have to entertain you. Leave me tf alone" I lashed out. Today is not the day to mess with me. "Dang, chill. I'm sorry my fault. I just wanted to be friends with my coworkers. I'm sorry for bothering you" idk pero nayayabangan ako sakanya sa totoo lang. basta, hindi ko nalang siya papansinin at iidlip muna ako.
The train door opened and I stepped out. Nakita ko din si Marxo na lumabas. Naglakad nalang ako ng mabilis "This is 34th St. TimesSquare. The door is closing. The next stop is ....." sabi nung train operator. It's almost 9pm na pala. Pa exit na ako ng biglang nanlambot ang mga tuhod ko na hindi ko maipaliwanag. Biglang napatigil ako sa kinatatayuan ko. Dito, dito yon. Dito niya ako hinintay habang may dala dalang bulaklak at pandora na bag. It was our monthsarry. Naaalala ko parin lahat ng pangyayare. Napaupo nalang ako at inuyuko ang aking ulo sa mga braso ko. Para akong batang iniwan ng nanay sa kinatatayuan ko. Alam kong madami ang nakatingin saakin kahit hindi ko man nakikita. "Lia, get up. Are you okay?" Boses palang kilala ko na kung sino. Nag hintay muna ako ng ilang minuto bago itinaas ang aking ulo. "Sinusundan mo ba ako?" Tumayo na ako at pinilit ko ang sarili ko na lumakad. "Hey, wait for me!" Rinig kong sigaw niya pero hindi ko pinansin. Patuloy ang pag lakad ko ng mabilis.
The iconic red stairs in NYC. He took me here for our first monthsarry while drinking frappe from Starbucks. When I first went to manhattan, i was like "why is ppl so amazed by this red staircase?" Until a special person decided to bring me here. We took a lot of pictures and we had a long chikahan while sitting here. Typical first date lang. We didn't use our phones the whole time. I remember asking him 'why me? Why did you choose to date me?" he simply answered me with a kiss on my forehead and said "because you're you. I don't really have an specific answer to your question pero I can assure you na my intentions are pure" I punched his arm and said "I'm speechless"
I'm standing infront of the staircase while crying. Naglakad ako para umupo sa red staircase. Binuksan ko yung phone ko at tinignan ko yung mga pictures namin. It's been a year since he left me. He left me with good memories and his love. Right now, I just want to cry and scream while begging the highest human being to bring him back.
