Begin Again - A KaRa (Mika Reyes & Ara Galang) Fanfiction

Eight

"Goodluck on your second day!" Jerome uttered as the elevator closed.

May konting kaba pa rin, pero, hindi na kapareho nung kahapon.

"Hi Ate Mika!" Hannah greeted as she walked past me with a bunch of papers and folders on her hand.

"Hello! Oh, do you need help?"

"No thanks!" She quickly walked and placed the papers and folders on her desk. She looked at me and gave me a thumbs up and in return, I gave her a wide smile.

Pumasok na ako ng office ni Ara, making sure I remember everything that I did wrong kahapon and making it a point to not do them again.

Nang makapasok na 'ko, I saw Ara walking around in a circle again, nag-iisip na naman. Don't say hi, don't knock, just walk quietly towards your desk and you'll be all right, Mika.

I made my way to my desk as fast as I could, but in the quietest way. Thankfully I made it alive. Charot. Umupo na ako sa chair ko and mukhang wala pa namang ipapagawa si halimaw kaya nag-Twitter muna ako sa phone ko.

Three years after UAAP, everyone who supported me seem to have faded. Of course my family and friends are still there, but considering that I quit professional volleyball a month ago, my fans don't have a connection with me anymore. They now have a new generation of Lady Spikers to support, new Swag Princesses and Taft Towers to idolize, new players to cheer on. It's okay, really, I mean, nakaka-sad siya at some point but I can bear with it.

My social media accounts still explode with notifications, just not the same as before. I receive at most 20+ notifications a day, which can barely be compared sa 100+ notifications na na-r'receive ko dati everyday. Hindi ako nag-r'reklamo na mas konti na yung notifs ko ngayon, it's better actually, kasi at least less hassle, and I can notice more fans since I really want to acknowledge their support. Pero today, my Twitter notifications were a roaring 150+.

I scrolled through my notifications and the tweet that kept appearing in my notifs because of the number of people who retweets and likes it was a complete surprise.

'So, someone sent this to me and aAAAHHH!! my KaRa heart is alive 💖 Could it be?? After 3 years??? @mikareyesss @.AraNaDineactivateYungAcc HAHAHA'

Then there was a picture of me and Ara. RECENTLY. KAHAPON LANG. It was taken from outside the building, ang laki kasi nung window dito, and... and... from the angle it looked like she was so near me, it's almost as if we were kissing. I think this was the time na nagalit siya sakin because 'ginulo' ko siya nung nag-iisip siya. OKAY, WTF???

The account that tweeted it had 600+ followers, it was a Justine Tiu fan account. I doubt she had anything to do with this picture, after all, sinabi niya na someone sent it to her. Should I dm the user and ask her kung sino nagsend nung picture? Ugh. I don't know, I think that would be too unpredictable. Paano na 'to?

Wait, okay. I think I should tell Ara. I checked on her and saw her still walking around in a circle... hmm, I think it would be better 'pag hinintay ko muna siyang matapos.

I looked at the picture once again and it looked like it was taken from the building across us. 'Yung building na 'yun had numerous food chains and stalls, dun nga yung Starbucks e. Not a lot of people know that Ara is now a businesswoman and is actually the production manager of Lumiere Sportswear (except the business industry, of course) but I'm pretty sure all the employees there are well aware that Ara Galang is working across them, ang laki-laki kaya ng window niya rito. But I doubt the employees across our building had anything to do with the picture as well, after all, don't they have more important things to do than take pictures of two former volleyball players that could've been a couple who reunited three years later? No. I don't think so.

Nang matapos nang mag-isip at maglakad ng paikot-ikot si Ara, I took the time to approach her. I stood up and walked towards her.

"Uhm, Ara... I think you should see this." I lent her my phone and showed her the tweet.

She was so shocked it was almost as if she jumped out of her chair. "What's this? Ano... Bakit may... Sino?"

I shook my head. "I don't know either. Should we message the person who tweeted this? I-ask natin kung kanino nanggaling--"

She didn't even let me finish and stood up to close the blinds on her really large window. "This stays closed." She pointed to the blinds. "Understood?"

"Okay, okay, pero don't you think--"

She, again, didn't let me finish and went straight to her computer. She's clicking and typing really fast, para na siyang nanginginig na sobrang natataranta. I get it, I'm really worried too, pero parang ang OA naman yata nito.

"Anong ginagawa mo?" I asked.

"I'm telling the person who tweeted it to delete it immediately. And to not post any more pictures like this." She answered, still typing really fast.

"Wait wait wait, you have a Twitter account? Di ba't dineactivate mo lahat ng social media accounts mo?"

She looked at me as she stopped typing. "Do you really think that a businesswoman can survive the business industry without social media?"

"No, but--"

"My account is private. No one knows about it except the businessmen and businesswomen that I work with, and of course, my closest family and friends." She looked away from her computer and massaged her head. "I guess telling this person to take it down wouldn't make much of a difference. Hindi niya nga ma-assure na ako si Ara Galang e."

I sighed. "Ako na." She looked at me with confusion. "Ako na mag-m'message." I grabbed the phone from her desk. "May paawa effect pa ba dyan e."

"Paawa effect?"

"Wala, wala. Basta ako na. 'Wag ka nang mastress dyan, focus on your work na lang." I turned to go back to my desk.

"Okay. Thank you."

"AYOWN!! YOU'RE WELCOME!" I teased and I saw her roll her eyes.

I messaged the person who tweeted it and asked her to take it down. Syempre in the nicest way possible, ayaw ko ng issue rito.

I looked over Ara and asked, "Ayaw mo ba i-ask sa kanya kung kanino nanggaling? We could report the person who took a picture of us, respect naman kasi sana sa--"

"No, no." She cut me off again. "Just tell the handler of that account to take it down."

I sighed. "Okay, sabi mo e."

I sent the message to the handler of that account telling her to take that tweet down. I don't think she'll reply anytime soon, so I turned my phone off and leaned back on my seat.