Beautiful, Beloved [feat. RaMen]

Twenty-Four

Flashback

Nakaupo si Lea sa harap ng computer niya, she was trying to figure out her bills and what she needed to pay that month. Although Rachel already told her not to worry about it, she still does at naii-stress siya ng bonggang bongga dahil do'n. It was as if asking a bird to stop flying, money has been a problem naman na din talaga kay Lea, of course, that's ever since her parents passed away. So just going through the notion of her bills getting sorted, it kinda made her feel uneasy. According to Rachel, from then on forward, siya na ang bahala sa mga gantong problema ni Lea. Pero syempre, hindi naman maisawan ni Lea na maisip ang what if – paano nga naman kung wala si Rachel? Saan na lang siya pupulutin? She thought to herself na hindi naman talaga siya worthy for whatever and maybe later on, Rachel would come up with the same conclusion as her. Everything was new to Lea and she was still sort of overwhelmed by it. Quite frankly, she does not know exactly what to feel.

Noong una pakiramdam niya ay para siyang 'prosti' dahil sa pagbili ni Rachel ng lahat ng gamit niya. Pero nag-explain naman si Rachel sa kanya that because she was already her sub ay siya na ang mag-aasikaso sa bills and she wants Lea to be comfortable. Ayaw kasi ni Rachel na mag-alala pa si Lea and she wanted to take care of her.

Rachel made it clear naman to her na iyon lang ang kaya nitong i-offer na relasyon sa kanya. Lea was exactly smitten by Rachel, if she was completely honest with herself. She wasn't entirely thrilled with the conditions that came along with being in Rachel's life, but she figured na sooner or later ay mawawala rin ang infatuation niyang iyon towards Rachel. And after that, maybe it wouldn't be so hard to end things between her and Rachel.

"Where have you been, Missy?"

Nagulat naman si Lea sa biglang pagsulpot ng lola niya, "What do you mean, 'mita?"

"Is there someone in your life that you aren't telling me about?"

Pinilit naman ni Lea na hindi magtagpo ang mga mata nila ng lola niya as she replied, hindi pa kasi siya handang pag-usap ngayon ang tungkol sa kanila ni Rachel, "No, 'mita... naging medyo busy lang po ako." Come to think of it, kailangan nga ba naman talaga siya magiging ready pag-usapan ito with the elder lady. The way she meant it was, paano niya nga ba sasabihin ito sa lola niya? 'Mamita, I'm kind of in a relationship but it's purely a sexual one that sometimes involves her tying me to things. Y'know?' So, pano naman 'yon? Lea just rolled her eyes at her inner monologue.

"H'wag mo akong irapan, Lea, I'm just asking. Curious lang," her mamita said as well as giving her a slight batok when she passed by her.

Alicia knew there was someone in her life, but she figured that Lea would come to her naman kung handa na itong pag-usapan ang misteryosong tao na kinikita nito. Napaka-close kasi nilang mag-lola kaya alam niyang hindi naman kayang magsinungaling ni Lea sa kanya at hindi rin ito magaling magtago ng sikreto dahil hindi niya ito pinalaki ng gano'n. Halos madaling araw na kasi itong umuuwi kadalasan. Alam naman niyang walang library na bukas ng gano'ng oras para sa sinasabing "paperwork" ni Lea. Wala naman ding magagawa si Alicia kung hindi pa handang magsabi sa kanya si Lea basta masaya ito.

Present

It was the last day of the trip, and Lea was dreading it. It has been phenomenal being at Vice's place with Rachel, it felt like as if they were actually a couple. Lea would like to think that they were pero alam niyang mas mabuting hindi na umasa bago pa sabihin ni Rachel na sila na nga. Walang gabing lumipas na hindi sila magkatabing matulog ni Rachel. Rachel seemed to be letting herself feel things, whatever was stopping her from before seemed to have dissolved. Lea thought that it was all too good to be true. Hindi pa rin mawala sa isip niya baka pag-uwi nila ni Rachel ay babalik na ang lahat sa dati.