One and Only VII

At the gate she’s holding onto his hand tightly with both of hers not wanting to let go. He looks over at her and she looks up at him.

He smiles, lifts her hands up to his face and kisses them “I already miss you...”

She takes her hand and places it on his face as she nods her head “Text mo ako pag nakarating ka na ha.”

He nods his head and starts to walk away. Just as he is about to go through the gates he turns around.

With a smile he says “Alam kong mamimiss mo ako nang sobra sobra pero wag kang magkulong sa kwarto. Enjoy the rest of your vacation.”

He winks at her and she smiles. She watches as he goes through security and she stands there till she can no longer see him.

Upon leaving the airport she stops to have breakfast at a small coffee shop and tries to pull herself together. After breakfast she opts to start shopping for pasalubong hoping that she can distract herself. She buys a couple of items but no amount of shopping can take her mind off of him.

She retires back to her hotel room latee in the afternoon after having lunch by herself at the cafe they had lunch at the day prior. She sits there looking out the window wondering where he is now and what he’s doing. She has her phone in her hand waiting for him to send her a message.

She falls asleep on the arm chair by the window and wakes up to her phone ringing.

“Hello...” she says as she rubs her eyes.

“Oh anong oras na ba dyan? Diba 9 PM palang ba’t parang bagong gising ka?”

She smiles upon hearing his voice on the other line. “Eh hindi naman kasi tayo natulog kagabi diba, kaya antok na antok ako.”

“Sorry nagising kita. Dapat pala nag text na nga lang ako, I just really wanted to hear your voice.”

It amazes her how easily he can turn her mood around, how he can make her day just by making his presence felt. She doesn’t say anything she just wants to listen to him all night long.

“Sarah, still there? Nakatulog ka ba?”

“No I’m still here, gusto ko lang marinig yung boses mo, just keep talking...” she says as she moves from the chair to the bed. She lies down with the phone to her ear.

“About what?”

“Kahit ano. Ituloy mo yung kwento mo from last night...”

He’s smiling as he tries to remember what they were talking about “Sige. Asan na nga ba ako...? Nasabi ko na ba yung tungkol sa, ah wait na kwento ko na yun eh. Ah alam ko na...”

She smiles upon hearing him tell her stories. She feels like a kid being read to before bed. She falls asleep soundly to the sound of his voice.

He can hear her breathing softly “Sarah? Gising ka pa ba?”

No answer. He smiles and just listens to her breathing imagining in his mind what she looks like right now. Before hanging up on her he says “Goodnight, sweet dreams bebe ko.”

She wakes up on a happier note than yesterday. She looks out the window as she sits up and stretches and sees the beautiful sunny sky. She looks back down and sees her phone blinking. She picks it up and smiles as she reads the message he sent her.

“Good morning I wish I was there to say it to you personally. Sana nakatulog ka nang maayos kasi when I hung up parang ang himbing na nang tulog mo. Enjoy your day and I can’t wait to see you when you get back.”

She got up and stood by the window, feeling the warmth of the sun on her skin. She only had two days left in this beautiful city and as much as she missed him she was determined to enjoy these last two days. She tried to think of it as two more days till she could see him again rather than two days without him by her side.

She spends the day shopping enjoying her freedom. As she is browsing through a small clothing store a pair of slippers in the corner catches her eyes. She walks over to them and smiles remembering his gift to her when they were shooting their second movie together. She grabs two pairs and proceeds to the checkout.

Those two days she had to herself flew by and the next thing she knew she had to start packing for her flight back to Manila. As she is packing her phone starts to beep and she sees a new message from him.

“Sorry hindi ako nagparamdam kahapon medyo hectic lang kasi sched ko but I was thinking of you all day. Text mo ako when you get back tomorrow I can’t wait to see you.”

Kilig. That is what she feels everytime he texted or called her.

She lies down getting ready for bed but just before she closes her eyes she texts him back.

“Matutulog na ako and bukas pag gising ko I’ll be heading back home... to you J”

She gets herself comfortable and closes her eyes.

He smiles upon recieving her text message. He’s dead tired but upon recieving her text he feels energized and doubly excited to see her again.

It’s morning and she’s getting ready to leave for the airport but just before she leaves she takes a moment and just looks around the room. She’s getting sentimental thinking about all the happy memories they shared in that room. As she is about to shut the door on her way out she glances one last time at the room and says “Thank you” as if the room was responsible for all the wonderful memories.

Her plane lands in Manila and she excitedly heads out to see her family. She gets all excited upon seeing her entire family waiting for her at the airport. She loved having the opportunity to be independent but she would never wish to be without her family. She’s glad to see her family but she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t secretly wishing he was there to surprise her.

She’s sitting down in the backseat of the van on her way home when she sends him a text message.

“Hi. Tinutupad ko lang yung pangako ko, I’m home J”

She smiles as she looks out the window anticipating his text back. But it never comes, he never messages her back.

It’s already late in the evening and everyone in her household is already asleep. She can’t sleep. She’s sitting by the bay window on the second floor looking out at the street. A car parks just in front of her house at the same time that her phone beeps.

“Are you still awake?”

It’s from him. She gets all excited but at the same time she’s upset with him because he didn’t text her all day. She waits a little bit before texting him back.

“Gising pa.”

Suddenly her phone rings. She quickly answers and before she can say hello he speaks first.

“Asan ka?”

“Sa bahay, ikaw?”

“Look out your window”

“Teka, ikaw ba yan? Yung nasa itim na sasakyan sa labas nang bahay ko?”

He laughs and steps out of his car. She gets all giddy and hangs up on him. She jumps up from where she is sitting but then pauses and looks around her house. She remembers everyone is sleeping so she rushes downstairs as quietly and quickly as she can.

She quietly opens the door and opens the gate. He’s waiting on the other side of the gate. They both smile at each other as he takes her hand and pulls her into his arms. The two stand there hugging for a little bit before she pulls away and takes his hand. She leads him to her front steps and closes the gate. They sit down on the front steps side by side, hand in hand.

“Magtatampo na sana ako sa ‘yo” she says with her head down.

“Sorry, tetext na sana kita kaya lang I wanted to surprise you. Kung alam mo lang it was killing me having to wait”

“Okay lang this is worth it” she says looking into his eyes.

He smiles at her and nods his head. She rests her head on his shoulder.

“So... paano to? Paano tayo?”

“Tayo? Tayo na ba?” he asks with a smile, quickly looking down at her.

She smiles at him and shakes her head “Hindi pa. Hindi dahil ayoko o dahil hindi kita mahal but I promised myself that the next time I entered a relationship I would do it right. I mean look at us nagtatago tayo. I’m making the same mistakes I made in the past. I don’t want to hide, I don’t want to feel guilty about us...”

He nods his head “I know. I get it. Yun din naman ang gusto ko eh at handa akong gawin lahat nang kailangan ko to make this right... starting with your parents.”

She looks up at him her eyes so full of hope.

“Kaya nga ako nandito ngayon eh I wanted to make sure you were okay with me taking this step forward, na handa ka na to face your parents... ayokong magkatampuhan kayo so I wanted to be sure your ready to take the next step with me.”

Pretending to make tampo she looks down “Akala ko naman namiss mo lang talaga ako kaya ka nandito...”

She pauses a while before she looks back up at him and laughs softly.

“Namiss naman talaga kita eh...”

She blushes and rest her head back down on his shoulder and he kisses the top of her head.

“Thank you,” she says then pauses for a second “for making me brave. Natatakot ako sa nararamdaman ko, natatakot ako sa kayang gawin nang pag-ibig sa kin pero pag kasama kita I feel strong enough to brave any storm. Nandyan pa rin yung takot pero ngayon I’m ready to face those fears because I know you’re worth it, we’re worth it.”

He closes his eyes, his heart filled with joy, lifts their joined hands to his lips and kisses her hand.

As he lowers their hands he shakes his head in disbelief of the way she makes him feel and says “I’m so in love with you, so crazily and madly in love with you.”

She looks up at him, the moon casting such a beautiful light on his face, and kisses his cheek.

He looks over at her, he knows how much even just a kiss on the cheek means to her. He knows that she’s pouring out her heart in that one small, sweet kiss. She didn’t need to say I love you, he could feel it.

They both sit there a while longer just taking in this moment. He looks down at his clock. 1 AM.

“Balik trabaho ka na ba bukas?” he asks her

She shakes her head “Sa Tuesday pa.”

He nods his head “Good. I’ll see you tomorrow morning then.”

“Bakit? May lakad ba tayo?”

“Wala but I’ll be here tomorrow para kausapin yung parents mo...”

She smiles so glad that they’re going to start on the right track. She’s so glad that she’s in love with a man that she can truly be proud of and she prays that her parents will see that and that they’ll give them their blessing.

“Sige na matulog ka na, magkita na lang tayo bukas” he says to her.

They’re both about to stand up and she was going to walk him to the gate but then she remembers something.

“Wait. Sandali lang may kailangan akong ibigay sa ‘yo”

She rushes inside and grabs the slippers she bought for him. She hides them behind her back and smiles at him

“Ready?” she asks him, bouncing a little in her spot.

He nods his head. She smiles and pulls them from behind her and holds it before him “Bring back memories?”

He’s smiling from ear to ear as he takes them from her “They’re perfect.”

“Teka wait there’s more” she says as she shows him another pair, identical to the ones she gave him.

He can’t believe how even just the smallest of things could mean so much with her. When he’s with her he doesn’t feel the need to have to impress her with expensive gifts or fairytale like surprises. With her every little thing just felt magical.

“Isang araw hindi lang tsinelas natin ang magiging magkamukha, one day we’ll both have matching wedding bands...”

He winks at her and takes her hand as they walk to the gate together. He turns around to face her just before he leaves.

“Goodnight”

“Goodnight”

She opens the gate for him and watches him as he walks to his car.

“Idan!” she calls after him

He looks back at her from his car.

“I love you.”

He smiles, his heart racing. “I love you too.”

She watches as he drives away her head leaning against the gate and her arms wrapped tightly around her slippers. When his car is no longer in site she closes the gate and walks back inside the house.

She wasn’t sure about what was going to happen tomorrow or what would happen the day after that but she didn’t care anymore. He’s what mattered to her and she was ready to face even her greatest fears if that meant she could finally be with him. Today she put herself first, today her heart finally won over her mind.

TBC