"Sir mababasa po kayo!" A PSG had hurriedly opened an umbrella above his head. "Sumilong pa muna tayo."
He goes with the PSG but as he turns he sees a shadow of a sweet memory yet again.
"Thank you sa paghatid, sir," she smiled at him.
"Anytime," he says.
"Hindi niyo naman po kailangan ihatid ako palagi."
"I want to," he spoke eagerly. "I hope you don't mind?"
She purses her lips, as if she was about to frown and his heart sank. Maybe he had been too direct.
He frowns, his eyes looking at the concrete ground.
Then she suddenly laughs.
"Biro lang! Baka akalain nilang inaaway ko kayo sir," she says. "I don't really mind."
He sighs deeply.
Bong said the convoy had already arrived and yet he was still waiting for it. He turned around to look for Bong but he was nowhere to be found.
Thinking about it. Bong had suddenly disappeared.
Then he heard a voice.
"Sir."
His heart stopped. His mind turned blank as he hears someone call out to him. He slowly turns, wanting to know if his ears had betrayed him or if he was imagining things.
"Sir?"
He felt his heart constrict painfully. Maybe he was just thinking too much about her, but no, because a few meters away there she was.
She saw him and smiled. A sweet smile he missed so terribly.
He gaped at her unable to believe that she was here. That she was right in front of him.
"Ma'am?" se said in a hoarse voice, almost unable to speak.
She tilted her head to one side as she looks at him. "Bakit, sir, may problema ba?"
His feet starts moving on its own accord until he found himself standing right in front of her.
He touched her face. She was real. She was here.
She reaches out to him with a worried look on her face. Her thumb brush his cheek.
"Bakit ka umiiyak, Digong?"
Without realizing it, tears had already drenched his face.
"Akala ko wala ka na, Leni."
She shook her head and cupped the side of his gace with one hand.
"I'm right here. I'll always be with you."
He wrapped his arms around her. She was warm. She was alive and there was nothing more that he could wish for.
His heart ached as he held on to her tightly, not wanting to loose her again, not wanting to let go of her again. He was clinging to her as if he was clinging for dear life.
-------------------
He wakes up crying. He holds his chest with one hand as he steadies his uneven breathing. He felt empty. He felt dead.inside.
He turned his head to one side realizing that the television was still turned on.
July 1, 2022
That was the date placed on the screen as the reporter continued to speak through the television.
It was over. He was no longer president of the republic, neither was she the vice president.
He wiped his tears dry and stared blankly at the wall. He remembered their last conversation, as it played over and over again in his head.
"Aalis na ako, at..." she had told him. "...hindi na ako babalik sa pilipinas."
"Pero bakit?"
"Ayoko ko na ng gulo. I've had enough of it to last me a life time. Gusto ko lang naman manahimik. Spend the rest of my life with my children."
He was dumbfounded by her revelation. Unable to speak, he only looked at her with sorrow in his eyes, but she wouldn't even look at him.
"Paano na ako," his voice was barely a whisper. "Paano...na tayo?"
"Sorry," she said as tears fell down her face. "I had to choose between you and my children...and I..."
She couldn't continue, but he understood right then and there that he had already lost the battle. He didn't want her to be more troubled than she was. He didn't want to make it more difficult for her choose. So he did the only rational thing he could think of - he let her go.
"This is goodbye then?"
She nodded even though tears were still falling down her face. Even when she didn't want to.
"G-Goodbye, sir."
Then it all comes back to him so suddenly that he felt as if he had been doused in ice cold water. The reality of it all was still too difficult for him to phantom. It felt too unreal, like a nightmare turned into reality.
Who would've thought it was their last goodbye?
The televisioned continued to blare.
"Earlier this afternoon, it was confirmed that it was indeed former vice president Leni Robredo's plane that cra-"
He turns the television off and closed his eyes. The tears threatening to fall once more.
He should have held her in his arms and begged her not to go. He should have asked her to stay. He should have fought for her even when he was uncertain he'd win. He should've but now he'd never be able to.
He closes his eyes wishing this too was all just a dream.
A/N: one day I got bored. Reminding people this is just fiction. :)
Reminiscing
Start from the beginning
