My Only Exception

Chapter 9

She remained silent.

"Oh... I-I'm sorry. I thought he told you," Seff said sincerely.

She forced a smile. "Ayos lang."

••

It was their Christmas Party. She had been working as the Marketing Head of a magazine since she graduated. They were on a restaurant that time with the rest of her colleagues for their celebration. They had a good time and didn't realize that it was past 2 AM when they ended their party. She immediately called Ethan for him to pick her up. He wasn't able to answer her call but sent her a reply.

From: Ethan Yu

Didn't hear the phone ring. On the way now.

She decided to just wait for him. All of the other officemates already went home. Shortly, she saw his car coming. She prepared a smile for him but it quickly got erased when she saw who came out.

"Seff? What are you doing here?"

"He asked me to pick you up," he read the surprise registered on her face. He knew how awkward it was to be doing what his brother should be doing.

••

"Are you sure you're dragging me into this?"

He looked at her with uncertainty. She laughed.

"Oo naman," she said and continued packing her things inside her bag. She closed it when she was done. "I know you're sporty enough to go with us."

"It's not about me being sporty Raffy. It's just that I shouldn't be the one to come with you," he answered.

"Seff, sino sa tingin mo ang dapat ko isama? Si Ethan?" she asked him. "We both know how it would end. He will call you and have you pack your things so you can come with me. So I just made things easy for him."

"You'll end up arguing," he said.

"We always argue. There's no difference. I wouldn't be surprised if we end up shouting at each other again," she smiled. "Ready to climb the mountains?"

"I guess so."

••

That didn't stop there.

He would not be available, he would ask Seff to go with Raffy. She knew he would not be around, she would ask Seff instead of asking Ethan. Seff talked to the two of them to try fixing their issues between them but nothing happened. It was hard for him to be the middle person especially that one of them is his brother and he happened to be the one at fault. Kahit na hindi naman sya ang dapat na bumawi, sya na ang gumagawa wag lang mawala si Raffy kay Ethan.

He himself was getting confused. He was starting to love the idea of being with Raffy, of doing what Raffy's boyfriend should do but he would always remind himself that he's thinking of his brother's girlfriend and it wasn't right.

They were dining on a restaurant when Ethan came in all of a sudden. He too was surprised to see them together without him knowing. He took a seat beside his girlfriend.

"I didn't know you were going out," he said.

"You're busy," she answered. He ordered food for himself and joined the two. Raffy would rarely talk to him. When they were done, he told her he'll send her home but Raffy declined.

"No need. Si Seff na lang. Baka busy ka pa sa bar," she said. "We can manage."

"It would do well kahit wala ako sandali. Ihahatid lang naman kita," he said.