blame.

104

friday, 4:25 pm

"oh, shit," jira was fast to wipe her tears away the moment she saw vien's car parking at the front of the café where she stayed after leaving the university.

"gago ka talaga saint," she accused, knowing damn well that her friend probably told vien where she was dahil hindi siya ang sumundo kung hindi ang nobya nito.

her eyes were puffy, since she was just in the middle of crying whem vien came. but could you blame her?! everything, from the very start, started flashing back in her mind after what happened at the sc office.

jackson joking around telling her that vien and wenna had this somewhat "almost-love" connection if only jira didn't came. she had no idea whether it was real or not but it still made her heart ache.

grabbing her books and her bag, she tried to stand up and escape although she knows she already had zero chance to do so. agad na pumasok si vien sa loob at nakita siya.

his footsteps were large, urging his way to her. nagsusumamo ang mukha, agad niyang niyakap ng mahigpit si jira at hinigpitan pa lalo ng maramdamang tinutulak siya nito palayo.

"love.." he whispered and reached for her forehead, pressing his lips against it just for jira to calm down.

she had nothing to do but to let him do it. kahit pa sinusubukan paring lumayo, alam niyang wala na itong magagawa lalo pa't hawak na siya ni vien.

"gusto ko ng umuwi," she only mumbled in a low, shaky voice as she felt her eyes tearing up again.

"let's go, i'll take you home,"  he says in a soft voice, holding her things on one hand just so he could grab her hand using the other. tahimik lamang na sumunod si jira sakanya habang tinatahak ang daan patungong sasakyan.

vien guided her to seat at the passenger seat. she was too tired to even swat his hands away kahit pa hindi ito komportable dahil nga hindi parin sila ayos. she silently sat, stared at the front while vien slowly crouched and sat at the small space beside her, facing her.

nakababa parin ang mga paa sa labas habang nakaharap sakanya, sinubukan niyang haplusin ang mukha ni jira upang mapunasan ang mga tuyong luha na nasa kanyang pisngi.

"i love you," he suddenly whispered, his tone full of emotions jira didn't knew she'd need. tuluyan ng bumuhos ang kanyang mga luha kahit pa anong pigil niya.

vien wiped them away again, his thumb gently carressing her cheeks. "i'm sorry.. walang kahit anong totoo sa mga sinabi nila jackson. those were lies, every part of it. i'll them to apologize to you tomorrow.."

"hindi," jira shakes her head, her voice stuttering because of her crying. "okay lang. ako yung-"

"that one time she messaged you using my phone.. i had no idea she was the one holding it. iniwan ko kila jackson dahil may kinokopya silang schedule namin sa notes ko. last thing i remembered was when wenna gave it back after our meeting."

"during your birthday, hindi din totoong sinundo ko siya. and i didn't know that was the excuse they said. basta ang alam ko lang sila yung bahalang magsabi ng kung anong dahilan na hindi ako makakasipot sa party mo. i was busy preparing my surprise for you that time.."

"vien-"

"those random times whenever she'd call me for a meeting or to ask a question, hindi ko din alam kung bakit. and i don't even give a fuck whatever her reasons are. i treat her as a friend, co-worker. schoolmate. ganoon lang.." he was straight staring at her while telling her everything. "but when i saw how she treated you at the office back then, i knew i shouldn't have trusted that girl. so i told her to back off.."

his left hand then went it's way to hold the both of her arms that was on her lap. "you don't have to be insecure, please.. there's nothing, no single reason to feel that way.."

"i'm sorry," jira mumbles under her breath, her right hand slowly placing at the top of vien's hand. inangat nito ang tigin sakanya at ngumiti na ng kaunti.

"vien, i-"

"why are you calling me vien?" taas kilay nitong putol sakanya.

jira smiled a little as she went closer to him. but since vien was impatient, inunahan niya na ito at hinalikan sa labi ng isang beses.

the second time he leaned in, he titled his head sideways as their lips moved in opposite sync.

jira finally moved back after seconds of it. natatawa nyang tinulak palayo si vien para makaalis na sila't makauwi kung hindi lamang dumating ang tumatakbong si jazen at hinarang sila.

"hoy, mayor! jira! punyeta ihatid niyo ko kila lhia! inaaway niya ko ngayon dahil kila jackson tapos kayo bati na?! hindi pwede yon!"