Once Upon a Memory

once

Third Person's POV

Greggy arrived early, settling into a quiet corner of the café. He wasn't sure why he was nervous, but his fingers wouldn't stop tapping against the table. He had faced boardrooms filled with powerful executives, negotiated deals worth billions, but nothing had ever felt as daunting as this.

Then, the door opened.

Alfy walked in, his hands shoved into his pockets. His eyes scanned the café until they landed on Greggy. He hesitated for just a second before walking over.

Greggy stood up. "Hey."

Alfy nodded slightly. "Hey."

The silence that followed was heavy. Greggy gestured to the chair across from him, and Alfy sat down without a word.

For a moment, neither of them spoke. Greggy didn't know where to start. Should he apologize first? Should he ask how Alfy was? Did he even have the right?

Alfy beat him to it.

"Bakit ka umalis?"

Greggy exhaled, gripping the edge of the table. "I needed to think."

"About what?"

Greggy leaned forward slightly, his voice quieter now. "About everything." He hesitated before continuing, "I don't know how to be your dad."

Alfy blinked, as if he hadn't expected the honesty.

Greggy let out a dry chuckle. "Twenty years akong galit sa mama mo. Twenty years kong tinanong kung bakit siya umalis—kung bakit niya ako iniwan." He shook his head. "Then I saw you. I heard you call me 'Dad'—" He swallowed thickly. "—and I realized... I was the one who lost the most."

Alfy's fingers curled around his glass.

"I thought about you every day," Greggy admitted. "Even when I didn't know you existed."

Alfy exhaled, shaking his head. "Then why didn't you look for mom? Why didn't you look for me?"

Greggy's breath hitched. That was the question he had been dreading. "Because I thought... maybe you were better off without me."

Alfy's jaw clenched. "That wasn't your decision to make."

Greggy nodded, taking the hit. "I know." Silence stretched between them. This time, though, it wasn't suffocating.

Greggy sat up straighter. "I don't know how we're supposed to do this. But I want to try... if you'll let me."

Alfy studied him for a long moment before nodding. "Okay." Greggy exhaled slowly, something in his chest loosening. "Okay."

Alfy hesitated, then asked, "So... what now?"

Greggy let out a short laugh, shaking his head. "I have no idea."

Alfy smirked slightly. "Me neither."

And just like that, something shifted.

It wasn't perfect. It wasn't easy.

But it was a start.

· · ─ ·𖥸· ─ · ·

Greggy returns to work, but something about him has changed. He's quieter, more distant—but beneath the cold professionalism, there's a fire in him that wasn't there before. He buries himself in projects, keeping his mind occupied, but the unavoidable truth is that the Marcos Global x Araneta Properties collaboration is still ongoing. That means he and Irene have to work together, whether they like it or not.