Upside Down

Two

"Serious? Yan yung design ng gown? Inaantok ka ba nung inapprove mo ito?" her best friend stared at the sketch on the piece of paper. "Meng naman. Alam ko fashionista ka pero over the top naman yan," she pushed the paper away in disgust. 

Maine eyed what appeared to be a cloud of feathers drawn around the shoulders of the figure. She suppressed a smile "I can see that the feathers may be a bit much."

"A bit much?" her sister scoffed, "Ang panget kaya!" 

The three dissolved into laughter. "Sorry, I actually don't remember approving this." Maine clutched her side, painful from laughing so hard. "Pagod na pagod na ata ako nyan. Napa yes na lang ako."

"Palitan mo ha!" her friend said forcefully.

"Opo!" Maine giggled.

"You're so out of it lately," her sister said accusingly. "Dapat mag relax ka. Kelan nga ba uuwi-"

"Bukas! Andito na sya bukas." Maine cut her off. 

"May problema ba kayo?" Coleen raised an eyebrow at her. 

"Wala ah," she frowned at her sister. 

"Just checking, parati na lang kasi out of the country at di ka kasama." Coleen  narrowed her eyes at Maine. "Nagiging long distance relationship na yung peg  ninyo." 

Maine waved her hand, dismissing her sister's observation. "Choice ko naman na hindi sumama. And ngayon lang mga trips na iyan. He said this is the last one." 

"For now. Last iyan, for now." Jan interjected. Maine rolled her eyes. 

"Ay naku, nakasimangot nanaman yung mukha," Coleen stood up and motioned for Jan to follow her. "We're going to leave you for a bit. We'll  just go look at shoes."

Jan turned to Maine. "Are you sure you're ok by yourself?"

Maine nodded. "Go. I'll just finish my coffee."

She watched her sister and best friend walk away as she curled a hand around her coffee cup. She didn't mind being left alone. The cafe was pretty quiet and she wanted to space out and enjoy her drink. Her other hand reached for her phone and she saw she had a message. The designer was requesting to reschedule their meeting tomorrow to one in the afternoon. 

As she was tapping out a reply, her phone started ringing. She stared at the name displayed on her phone. She felt her breath catch in her throat. Should she answer it? Maybe it was better to ignore it. After all, she hadn't spoken to him in years. His name only showed up because she kept forgetting to update her contact list. Her finger hovered above the green button but she couldn't bring herself to touch it. She heard he was back in the country a couple of weeks ago but there was no reason for him to be contacting her. Questions as to why he was calling were running through her head. She kept wavering on her decision to take the call or not until her phone fell silent. She stared at the words missed call until the screen faded to black. She blinked and exhaled slowly. Maybe he had accidentally dialed her number. She tapped her phone on and waited. No callback. No text message. She felt slightly relieved. Perhaps it was an accidental call after all. 

 She started sipping her coffee, she needed a distraction. She couldn't believe she felt this affected by the call. It wasn't like she spoke to him, it was just her phone ringing. With his name, on her-. The phone's ringtone stopped her mid thought. She glanced at her phone and saw his name again. Her first thought was the same, don't answer it. Then curiosity got the better of her, she pressed accept, gripped her phone and placed it to her ear.

"Hello?"

"Maine?" That voice brought back so many memories. Conflicting  emotions washed over her and she couldn't bring herself to open her mouth.

"Hello? Maine?"

She closed her eyes and forced herself to answer. "Yes?"

"Hi. Do you know who this is?"

She wanted to scream. Of course she knew who it was. They hadn't talked in a while but their past had ingrained itself in her that there was no forgetting who the voice belonged to. Instead, she took a deep breath and repeated, "Yes."

"How are you? It's been a while." Maine heard him say as her brain went a mile a minute trying to process the fact that she was actually talking to him.  Here she was internally freaking out about his call, yet hoping  she sounded nonchalant about the whole thing

"Yes. I'm...I'm ok," she finally managed.

Seconds stretched by with neither of them talking. Maine fought the urge to hang up. She didn't want this. She had no idea she would react like this after all this time.

"So.." She tried to keep her voice even. "Why did you call?"

"Well, I'm kind of back in the country and I'm at a loss as to where to eat. I read about that new place 14 degrees North and I heard you were a part of it. I wanted to ask about holding a party there."

"I'm no longer connected there." She felt relieved she could could answer his question easily. "I only helped with their dessert menu during their soft opening. But Jan's head chef there. You can give her a call. I can give you her number."

"Oh. So you're not with them anymore. That's ok. I think I still have Jan's number." She thought she heard disappointment in his voice. She pushed the idea aside. She wasn't going to let it affect her. The tightness in her chest easing as she felt their conversation was coming to an end.

"Ok, if that's all you wanted to know, I'm go-"

"Is it true?" he interrupted her.

"Ah...What?" she asked confused

"Is it true?" his voice was softer this time.

Confusion still tinged her words. "Is what true?"

"Is it true?" he repeated. "Is it true you're getting married?"

A moments hesitation then her voice came through the receiver.

"Yes." she said. "Yes RJ, I'm getting married."