Beautiful, Beloved [feat. RaMen]

The Last Chapter

Present

The girls arrived home late Sunday night, pareho silang napagod sa biyahe nilang iyon. They had to run into multiple traffic jams due to a car accident, kaya naman nagtagal ang byahe nila. Pareho nilang binitbit ang mga bagahe ni Lea, trying to only make it one trip paakyat sa unit nito, God knows they were both ready for bed.

"Are you sleeping here tonight?" tanong ni Lea who wants nothing but to sleep in Rachel's arms right that very moment. Lea went up behind Rachel's back and gave the latter a back hug.

"I don't think this is such a good idea," Rachel's old fears seeping in as she pulled away from Lea's grasp. It was easy to push away her fears when she was out of her element pero ngayong nakabalik na sila sa siyudad ay natatakot na siyang muli na baka hindi niya maisantabi ang mga iyon.

Hurt flashed across Lea's face, "My god, Rachel! I can't do this dahil ang sakit. Pabalik-balik na lang tayo eh. You touch me, you kiss me, hold me and kung makaasta ka akala mo may tayo. Pero ang totoo? Wala, Rach, you don't even see me as someone who's more than a friend. And it hurts. It hurts so much dahil--"

"Dahil ano?" asik na tanong ni Rachel. And Lea knew full well that with that Rachel was jut hiding what she really feels.

"Dahil mahal kita."

Rachel was too stunned to even utter a single word. She just stood there, frozen.

"Siguro dapat umalis ka na lang."

"Lei..."

"I SAID GO!"

2 months later...

"Dawn, kakainin mo ba 'yang sandwich mo o pagmamasdan mo lang 'yan na akala mo nagkasala 'yan sa'yo at naapi ka?" Gabby asked her.

Sinagot naman iyon ni Rachel ng isang malalim na buntong hininga bago ito kumagat ng maliit na bahagi ng sandwich para tumahimik na ang kaibigan, "hindi naman kasi ako gutom."

"Bullshit, ni hindi ka nga umuwi kagabi. Lolo mo hindi gutom. 'Wag mo na akong tignan ng ganyan na parang gulat na gulat ka. Nakita ko sa opisina mo 'yung damit mo kahapon."

"Late na kasi at saka yung couch naman sa opisina is comfortable enough for me," Rachel mumbled.

"Seriously, ano ba talagang nangyayari sa'yo? Don't get me wrong ha? Everyone in the office loves a boss who's as dedicated to their job as you but don't you think you're already getting a little too overboard? You already work late into the night, so bakit ka nagste-stay pa hanggang alas-tres o alas-kwatro ng madaling araw? Again, with the look of shock, you're not as slick as you think you are!"

"I don't really see why it's any of your damn business. Why does it concern you so much?" Rachel snapped.

"Dahil magkaibigan tayo, Rachel! Stop pushing everyone away."

Napairap na lamang si Rachel sa tinuran ng kaibigan, "I wouldn't really call you everyone."

"Well, nakausap ko si Vice at ang sabi niya hindi ka rin naman daw nagsasabi sa kanya kung anong nangyayari sa'yo. So, yeah. You're pushing the people who matter the most to you away."

"I-I'm sorry," Rachel's eyes glistened.

"Hey," Gabby's enveloped Rachel's hands with his, "please, pag-usapan natin."

"Gabriel, ayaw ko na lang kasing pag-usapan pa. Let's just summarize, pwede? I fucked up bigtime over something very important and good in my life."

"Then go out there and do something. Ipaglaban mo siya, if you really care about her pwede bang 'wag kang magmukmuok lang d'yan? If hindi niya sinasagot ang mga tawag mo then puntahan mo siya sa trabaho niya o kaya sa bahay niya hanggang sa pagtuunan ka niya ng atensyon. Padayon, Rach!"