"On the 6th Day, She Gained A Friend"
Her eyes were still raw from crying, her throat a bit parched. She thought back to her FaceTime convo with Alden last night.
"Uy, RJ. Baka akala mo nakalimutan ko na si Mika dahil sa hanash mo today ha."
"Maine naman. Yan ba ang akala mo? Na kaya ko ginawa yun para makabawi?," Alden answered, hurt evident in his voice.
"Hindi naman sa ganun pero yung timing lang kasi."
"In fairness naman sa'kin, Maine, kinausap ko na mga owners ng mga bahay way before I left for Canada so nandyan na ang mga yan bago ka pa nagalit sa'kin."
"Hindi naman ako galit, RJ. Tampo, selos, whatever you'd like to call it. Mga 78 percent, ganun. Pero hindi ako galit."
"So ngayon, from 78 percent, ilang percent na lang?
"78 percent pa rin. Hindi pa naman natin napag-uusapan si Mika eh."
She saw Alden wince through her phone screen.
"Okay, sige. Ganito. Ask me anything you want to know about Mika, pero if you want an honest answer, mag promise ka muna na hindi ka magagalit; na you would keep an open mind."
Without thinking, Maine raised her right hand and said, "Promise."
"Good. At least we're clear on that. So ano na yung question?"
"Kasi, RJ, hindi naman talaga ako na-bother sa fact na may kausap ka sa phone. Mas na-bother ako when I saw your smile while you were on the phone."
"Bakit? Anong klaseng smile ba yun?"
"We both know what I'm talking about, wag kang ano dyan."
"So your question is...?"
"Mahal mo pa?"
Alden thought long and hard before answering, knowing that he is walking on a thin line here.
"Kasi d ba, Maine, sabi nila you never really get over your first love?"
"So what are you trying to say? That you're not over Mika yet?"
From miles away, she saw him shrug his shoulders nonchalantly, and then he uttered the words that broke her heart, "I guess."
She let the words sink in for a while. She made a promise not to get mad but her resolve is crumbling down by the second.
And then he added, "But not really. Kasi Maine, the reason naman why first love is so powerful kasi it's the first time we get to experience such intense feelings. So yung tao, nakakalimutan mo but the feelings, you don't. I think it's more of being in love with the feeling than being in love with the person. Gets mo ba?"
Maine, the hopeless romantic, gets this. Hell, she still gets butterflies in her stomach whenever she remembers how crazy she was with her first boyfriend. To this day, she still thinks her first love was her biggest heartbreak.
But she could not bear the thought of having to share Alden with his first love, even if they were but feelings.
He knew about her insecurities; her self-doubt; her faltering belief in him and in what they have. He took a deep breath and softly whispered, "Maine, IKAW LANG. Mika is the past. Totoo, she reminded me of the time where everything was normal and quiet and I temporarily lost myself in it. Pero you should know na magkanda-ligaw ligaw man ako, sa'yo pa rin ang uwi ko. I will always, always find my way back to you, Maine. Kasi you are my end game."
