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

Thirteen

It was a hot Saturday morning. Hotter than usual, actually. Cienne and I watched the Lady Spikers go against the Lady Tigresses as I shoved a piece of tapa that she'd prepared for the both of us along with a bit of fried rice into my mouth. Nagkakamay ako ngayon, I mean, how else am I supposed to enjoy Cienne's tapsilog (na walang itlog because nauubusan na kami kaya kailangan na naming mag-grocery)?

Halos mabingi ako sa sigaw ni Boom after maka-score si Gyra. Paano ba naman kasi, ang lakas ng volume ng TV. It's no use telling Cienne to lower the volume, kaya, tinitiis ko na lang.

Nung nag-commercial na, however, I was surprised to see Cienne lowering the volume, after all.

"Naaaaks!" I exclaimed. "For the first time in foorreeeveerrr," I sang.

"Ulol." Binatukan naman niya ako. Cienne took a deep breath before speaking. "So, kailan daw ibibigay ni Ara sweldo mo for this month?"

"By the end of the month, syempre. Ano na ba ngayon?" I said as I looked at the calendar beside the door. "Oh, sixteen. She'll give it to me sa 29, last Friday of the month 'yun."

"Which is next next week," Cienne said. "Okay, keribels naman. Kaya pa 'yan ng personal money natin, basta tipid lang, okay?"

I nodded in reply.

"RETURN TO SENDER!!!" Nagulat kaming dalawa sa sigaw ni Boom nang lakasan na ni Cienne 'yung TV ulit. "WHAT A BLOCK BY OGUNSANYA!"

Napahawak ako sa right ear ko.

"PAK! GO ADUKE!" Sigaw naman ni Cienne. Napahawak na ako sa both ears ko.

"Tsk, dagdag ka pa e," I said to her, holding on to my ears.

"Hehe..." Cienne held out a peace sign at lumapit sa akin. "SORRY MIKAAANGG!!!!!" Todo sigaw niya.

I sighed and walked away. "Ewan ko sayo!"

"LABYU MIKANGGG!!" Sigaw niya ulit.

Pumasok na ako sa kwarto ko at sinara yung pinto as I heard Cienne laughing. Hay nako talaga 'tong bruhang 'to.

Napahiga ako sa kama ko. I'd decided to check Twitter. AND... 100+ NOTIFICATIONS?! ANO NA NAMAN 'TO?

I checked my notifications and the tweet with the most retweets and likes was coming from a MarcKianna fan account. The tweet wasn't at all related to Marck nor Kianna, though.

'ANOTHER ONE???? jusq kara amin-amin din 'pag may time 😍 (credits sa nagsend)'

Attached was another picture of Ara and I. And it was taken, again, recently lang. Kagabi lang... nung nasa Starbucks kami. It was taken from outside since nasa may side kami ng window nakaupo. From the picture, it looked as if we were so happy, nakatawa kami pareho. Oh my God, this is bad.

"Cienne!" I yelled.

Cienne came bursting in. "PANALO LA SALLE!! WOOOOO!" She said and danced victoriously.

I shushed her. "Look at this!" I said, disregarding what she just said.

Napakunot ang noo niya pero she still looked at the tweet. She was just as shocked as I am, but she had a wide grin plastered on her face. "Oo nga naman! Amin na kasi!" She said, agreeing with the person who tweeted it.

"Hay nako!" I sighed in frustration. "Kung sino man nag-t'take ng photos na 'to, ang creepy niya ha! Wala na ba siyang ibang pinag-aabalahan sa buhay?"

"Baka naman shipper niyo," Cienne said matter-of-factly.

"I don't think so. Our shippers won't go this far."

"Edi, kausapin mo si Ara," Cienne exclaimed. "'Di ko talaga siya gets kung bakit ayaw niya malaman kung sino 'yan. Baka mamaya stalker 'yan."

I sighed at napaupo sa kama."It doesn't matter to her daw e."

"So, okay lang na nag-a'assume 'yung mga tao na..." Cienne paused, then, let out a huge gasp. "OKAY LANG SA KANYA NA NAG-A'ASSUME 'YUNG MGA TAO NA KAYO NA?! SHET MIKANG KINIKILIG AKO!" Sigaw niya nang may kasama pang palo sa braso ko.

"Tsk, hindi ganun 'yun. Ang professional niya kayang tao," I explained habang hinihimas 'yung braso kong pinalo-palo niya, libero pa 'yan sa lagay na 'yan ah. "She's just too busy to deal with the mysterious person na nag-t'take ng mysterious photos namin." I ignored Cienne's unconvinced face and continued speaking. "What bothers me is, paano nalalaman nung mysterious person lahat ng 'to? I'm pretty sure our fans don't know that Ara is a production manager and that ako 'yung assistant niya."

"Malaki ang kutob ko na 'yung mysterious person is close with the both of you, or at least, personally knows the both of you." Binukas na ni Cienne 'yung door and looked like she was about to leave. "Uunahan na kita ah, hindi ako 'yan, alam mo namang boto rin ako kay bes. Pero whoever makes you happy, I will support you," She said with a wink.

"Gags."

"Labyu Mikang," She said. "Punta lang akong laundry shop ha, puno na hamper natin e."

I nodded in reply. I breathed deeply once Cienne was gone and grabbed my phone. I was about to text Ara when I realized, I don't know what her number is. She mentioned that she had private social media accounts, so I could DM her maybe, or message her in Messenger, but there's just one problem: I have no idea what her username is either.

So paano ko siya ma-c'contact? How was I supposed to tell her about the mysterious photo 2.0?

Sa Monday na lang siguro. I got out and put my Me Before You DVD in the DVD player. I always do this, especially when I'm stressed or 'pag wala si Cienne ('di naman kasi ako sanay na hindi maingay, no matter how much I despise the noise).

Umupo ako sa counter and caught sight of the box of Ferrero chocolates. Malapit nang maubos, actually, ang takaw naman kasi ni Cienne. Okay, maybe kaming dalawa yung matakaw. Nevertheless, I grabbed the box, unwrapped one of the pieces, and took a bite. Nakita ko naman 'yung note ni Jerome na naka-dikit sa likod nung cover. I stared on Jerome's scribbled writing for a while when I'd realized...

Kinuha ko 'yung phone ko and immediately called Jerome. It took a few rings before he got to answer, and when I asked if alam niya 'yung number ni Ara, medyo nagulat siya, and asked me why I needed it, of course, pero sabi ko sa kanya may something lang ako na gusto sabihin kay Ara, and in the end, he gave me her number. I wrote down what he said on the back of the post-it na kasama sa binigay na chocolates ni Jerome, wala na kasi akong makitang ibang papel dito e.

I glanced at the TV and it was already at the part where Will and Louisa were going out for a walk for the first time. As much as I hated to do it ('cause this was one of my favorite parts), hininaan ko 'yung TV and called the number that Jerome gave me.

Again, it took a few rings, but someone finally answered, and judging from the voice, it was definitely Ara.

"Hello? Victonara Galang speaking," She said on the other line.

"Ara," I said. "This is Mika."

"Mika? H-How did you get my number?"

"That doesn't matter. Look, may nag-take na naman ng photo natin. Kagabi nung--"

"Yes, I know." Even when speaking at the phone, hilig niya pa ring i-cut off 'yung sinasabi ko. "Meet me at The Truck Park sa Marikina. It's a bit far, alam ko, but at least it's far away from whoever's taking all that photos. Meet me there at 5:00."

"Wait, pero, 'di ko alam kung paano pumunta dun."

"Mag-Waze ka. Or kung tinatamad ka mag-drive, mag-Uber ka na lang. Alam naman 'yun nung mga Uber drivers."

I sighed, making sure na narinig niya. "Ang hilig mo talaga ako pahirapan 'no?"

I could almost picture her smirk on the other line. "See you."

At binaba niya na 'yung phone. E ano na nga bang magagawa ko? Mag-U'Uber na lang siguro ako.

//

wow it's been two weeks since i last updated HASHSAHSHASHASH i'm so sorry, nagkaroon lang ako ng issues w my laptop pero maayos na ngayon (slight) so updates will be back to normal, soon. sorry for the inconvenience :-( love y'all fellow pakwan