Nagkwentuhan lang kami tapos nag-aya na rin silang umuwi. Ngayon lang nagsink-in sa 'kin na wala nga pala si Agnes sa birthday ko. Pagbalik ko sa condo, narealize ko how quiet the place was.
Sa totoo lang, Agnes and I rarely spend time dito sa condo but on days that we do, manunuod lang kami ng TV or minsan tutugtog. And now that she's not here, medyo nanibago ako. Ganon 'ata talaga. There are certain things na we don't usually notice in the everyday life, pero when it's not there, you know that something is missing. Parang moving a piece of furniture by a small amount and yet you feel weird.
Binuksan ko yung TV para meron namang konting ingay and humiga ako dun sa sofa. Strange enough, I can smell Agnes's perfume sa sofa. Grabe sobrang lakas siguro ng pabango niya kasi kumakapit hanggang dito eh. I was flicking through different channels pero walang interesting.
Nagring yung phone ko at nakita ko na tumatawag si Agnes. Mukhang kakarating niya lang din ng hotel kasi tahimik sa background niya.
"Hey."sabi ko sa kanya.
'Wifey. Sorry. Hirap humanap ng signal dito. If I need to make a call, I need to walk a few kilometers pa.'
"What? Why?"
'Medyo dead spot dun. So I'll just try to squeeze in a call in the middle of the day everyday, to inform you dun sa progress nung shoot para may idea ka rin.'
"Okay. No worries. Anything na maalala mo, make a note, then just take in as much as you can."
'Okay. Then once I'm in the hotel, I'll just call you to let you know of the other details.'
"Sige sure."
'Are you already home? '
"Yes."
'Kumusta yung meet-up mo with your friends? Wait, friends mo nga ba yung mineet mo o baka si Charlie nanaman yan ah.'
"Friends po. Friends lang. Kumalma ka dyan." She chuckled.
'Joke lang. So how was it?'
"Fun. I missed them eh. They were eager to meet you kasi mukhang akala nila jowa kita."
'Bakit, hindi ba? '
"Nauntog ka ba? Di ka nakakaalala? Di kasama yung jowa sa label nating dalawa." Natawa lalo si Agnes.
'Isama ko ba? '
"Gagu."
'Chars lang. Anyway, matulog ka na. Late na rin eh. I don't want to keep you up all night. Goodnight wifey.'
"Goodnight."
Nilipat ko lang ulit yung TV until may nahanap akong interesting na palabas. And siguro nga nakatulog ako, kasi nagising ako na pawis na pawis dahil nanaginip nanaman ako na may humahabol sa 'kin. I looked around and narealize ko na nasa condo pa rin ako and that there's no one there. I made my way sa kitchen at uminom din ako ng tubig. I checked the time and nakita ko na it's past 2 am. Bumalik na ako sa sofa. For some reason, I just wanted to sleep here. Somehow I feel as if Agnes is with me when I sleep here.
Hindi ko alam kung anong naisipan ko, but I reached for my phone and dialed Agnes's number. I am not expecting her to answer and after one ring, medyo nagdalawang-isip na ako kung itutuloy ko pa ba. Alam kong pagod si Agnes from driving and she probably would get mad if I call her.
Pero after two rings, nagulat ako when she picked up the call.
