Gravity

3

Coleen laughed carelessly until she was breathlessly tapping the table. Gladly there were just a few people inside the cafe, so there wasn't anyone to look at them disgustingly.

Maine's face blushed out of shyness by Coleen's laughter that was filling the room. But that was not enough for her to stop crying.

When Coleen managed to stop and contain her laughter, she noticed that Maine still has her poker face on and her tears were still bursting out continuously from her eyes. She felt guilt and sadness in her for laughing about it. She was not to blame though, Richard has been dead for a year and then suddenly "poof" out of nowhere? Who would have thought of that right?

Coleen reached out to Maine's face and she slowly removed her Sunglasses. Coleen took out her handkerchief from her pocket and wiped her little sister's tears. She moved beside her and hugged her. She stared at Maine who was now just sniffing, no tears were being shed, but her eyes still red and swollen.

Coleen tapped the back of Maine's head with a bit of force, enough for Maine to snap out of her silence.

"Aray! Ate naman nakakainis. Batukan mo ba naman ako?! Tsss jusko ka." Maine exclaimed as she rubbed the back of her head.

Coleen chuckled. "Minsan kasi, sa buhay ng tao... konting tapik lang sa ulo ang kailangan para matauhan... ayan. Please explain your point girl. Paano naging Zombie ang boyfriend mong Sundalo?"

Maine reached for the fork and sliced a portion of the cake and put it in her mouth. She chewed it and swallowed, as if to give her time to fathom the words that she will be needing for the long explanation.

"Ganto kasi ate Cols... diba kagabi, uhm... celebration event ung pinuntahan ko dun sa Sonza Corporation? Uhm nandun ako sa may lobby nung venue, malaki kasi siya eh tas napapalibutan ng garden... tapos papasok na sana ako kaso may nakabangga sakin, very light lang naman. Balikat ko lang ung natabig. Tapos nagsorry siya, pagtingin ko...si...ano...si... RJ....." she explained, trying to bite back her tears. Gladly she succeeded. There's probably just a few drops of tears left to shed.

"Tapos?" Coleen asked as she ate the Mocha cake.

"Uhm... nung nagsorry siya, gulat na gulat ako, pero kilala niyo naman ako, magaling magtago ng emotions diba? Well nacontain ko sa panglabas pero deep inside sasabog na ko, naguguluhan na utak ko. Tapos, biglang sabi niya, siya daw si Richard Faulkerson Jr. Then nakipag shake hands siya. I could clearly see through his body language that he clearly doesn't know me, that he doesn't have a hint of who I am... or probably who I was kasi, in the party and sweet nila nung ex niya na si Rosaline... But I looked in his eyes, there's confusion and longing. But sadly I still saw the emptiness of his gathered information about me. At, baka due to his last mission yun, because I saw a scar on his temple and his eyebrow... mukang... uhm tinahi ate..." she said and took two more bites of the Mocha cake, letting her sister comprehend with all the information she just spilled out.

"So... Isang malaking Paano?" Coleen said.

"Ewan ko rin ate... gulong gulo na ko sa buhay ko ngayon. Di ko na alam gagawin ko..." tears flowed from her eyes again. This time her body seemed to have given up, she slumped her body onto her Sister's and hugged her.

"Sshh. Meng. Yung damit ko mababasa... joke lang. tutulungan kita.
Wag ka magalala. Nandito lang ako at ang cafe ko para sayo."

Maine hugged her tighter. She was clueless on what she should do, how she should react, on how would she recover from this. Knowing that Richard's family have been very distant from her and him, she could not dare communicate with them. She feels like she's been left alone in the desert, in the middle of nowhere, with no distinct idea on what to do.