Martini Kisses (epistolary)

n a r r a t i v e 🔞

part 1

"Dito na 'ko," comes his voice through the phone, and Milly holds her breath. It's been a while since she's heard him so close to her ear like this.

She gets up to her feet and walks to the windows, pulling it sideways to look for his car. There's a sedan that just pulled up in front of their gate. That must be him.

"Hi. Kylie's already sleeping upstairs," she greets. "Wait, I'll open the gate."

Nervously, she makes her way down, the tension that's been gnawing at her since he said he's coming building up and flaring into anticipation with every passing second.

"Don't drop the call. Kamusta si Kylie?"

"Anxious. I told her you're coming. Gisingin ko ba?"

"'Wag na. Hayaan mo na matulog. I'll take her home tomorrow."

"Okay. I'm almost there. Dito ka na rin magpahinga."

Kai doesn't answer, and for a moment, she wonders if he hung up on her but she can still hear his breathing from the other end.

Her heart rate picks up when she steps out of the door of the house and onto the front yard. She can see him through the gaps between the wrought iron gate, his tall stature still and confident, his arms crossed as he leans against the side door.

He brought a different car this time. A black sedan that she's never seen him drive, but one that she's seen parked at his other condo before.

A breeze blows, sending her hair dancing sideways. She bundles them with one hand across her right shoulder. Gods. It's freaking cold tonight.

Kai perks up when he sees her approaching, and her nerves come alive when his eyes land on her. She's very aware of her pulse roaring like thunder under her skin, and she can't tell if she's shivering from the cold or the anticipation of talking to him again.

It's been so damn long.

More than two weeks felt so damn long.

On normal occasion, she would've walked faster to get to him, greeting him with her trademark smile, a teasing remark waiting at the tip of her tongue. But this isn't any normal day.

Since that night, she can't treat him the same way anymore.

Instead, Milly makes a slow approach, her eyes never leaving his. He never looked away from her either.

The gate makes a creaking sound when she unbolts it and slowly pulls it open. Kai follows her movement with his eyes, quiet as the wind. As always. He pushes himself off the side door and stands straight when she bridges the distance between them and walks up to him, standing just close enough to hear him but far enough to respect his personal space.

Up this close, her breath stutters inside her chest. Her eyes drink him in, roaming around his face and body to see how he's been faring.

He looks the same as the last time she saw him. Still sinfully handsome and aloof, those lips always ever set on a hard line. He's probably even more ripped now because she's heard from Kuya Evan, how he often spends his time. But it's hard to see the results of his grueling hours at the gym when he's wearing a loose black jacket on top of his white shirt.

Kai's fists curl at his sides for a second, and then he sets them loose. No one's making a sound, except for her heart that never stopped pounding in her ears since she saw him.

The tension between them is so thick, thicker than the midnight Baguio fog, that she can probably cut it in half with a knife if she'd try.

Another breeze blows. Milly shivers and tugs her cardigan close. She's already wearing a night dress thicker than the one she's used to in Manila, but it's still not enough to keep the chills out of her skin.