ris·qué

Cake

Maine's alarm clock started going off at 6am. Struggling to find the snooze button, she grabbed the device and threw it on the floor, smashing it to pieces.

She woke up at 7:45 am, almost jumping off the bed, realizing that she needed to be at work at 8am.

"Shit." She cursed, sprinting towards the bathroom, taking her clothes off and jumping in the shower. Quickly after, she then brushed her teeth and put on some make-up, to make herself look even a little decent and dressed up in a white v-neck tee, jeans and white sneakers. Her hair was a crazy, wet mess so she wore her favorite cap gifted to her by her long time boyfriend.

Boyfriend.

"What the, nasaan nga pala si Rj?"

She almost forgot that he slept over last night but was long gone in the morning, which she didn't even notice, because of how frantic she was. She grabbed her phone, hidden under the pillows and on screen it showed a reminder, it was her 25th birthday today.

"Great." She rolled her eyes. "Birthday na birthday ko ngayon tapos ganito agad yung gising ko. And where the hell is Rj?" She rang his phone but there was no answer. He was probably at work as well. But he didn't even greet her yet. No text, no call, not even a card or a note on the refrigerator, which he usually does when they're celebrating a special occasion.

"Huh. Strange." She shrugged her shoulders, grabbed her car keys and purse and darted to the door.

Entering the office building 10 minutes later, she greeted the security guard of the building. He gave her a bewildered look.

"Maam, ano po ginagawa niyo dito?"

"Huh? Kuya, papasok po ako."

"Wala pong pasok ngayon, Maam. Linggo po ngayon."

Clearly confused, she checked her calendar, and it was indeed a Sunday.

"Oo nga pala Kuya. Pasensya na."

"Okay lang po Maam. Ingat po."

Scratching her head, she made her way to her car again, cursing at herself for being so stupidly unaware. She was the type of person who was always organized and kept everything on track, but today seemed like a strange day. Anyway, she ignored the feeling and again checked her phone for any birthday greetings from family and friends. She kept her birth date private and didn't put it on social media so she wouldn't get those birthday greetings from facebook and twitter friends that she barely knew.

Oddly enough though, there were no greetings from people who knew her birth date. Even stranger is that every year, she would get tons of cards, messages and birthday gifts even before the eve of her birthday, but now was different.

She called up her mom to check if she remembered.

"Hi Nay."

"O, anak, kumusta?" Ever since she moved in with Alden, she barely had the time to talk to her family, let alone see them, given that she was in the city whilst they were in the province.

"Okay lang, Nay. Wala po ba kayong nakakalimutan?" She said, pertaining to her birthday.

"Ahh, pinapasabi nga pala ng tatay mo na dumating yung pasalubong sayo ng Tita mo dito sa bahay. Ipapa-LBC ko na lang dyan sayo." She frowned. This was her mom. She was supposed to remember her birthday.

"Yun lang ba naaalala niyo ngayon, Nay?"

"Oo. Ah o sige, tinatawag na ko ng Tatay mo, may lakad kasi kami. Bye anak! Love you!"

"Love you to-" Before she could even finish, her mother hung up on her.

A little bit down, she dialed her boyfriend's number but still no answer. So, she just texted him to know where he is but minutes passed, still there was no reply. So much for a happy birthday.