A/N: With this new chapter, I already marked this story with a "Mature" rating. Nothing too explicit, but things can get pretty racy from time to time.
It's almost midnight in Pia's kitchen and here she is scrambling for whatever she could find in her fridge. Grocery day isn't until tomorrow, so it's pretty bare, but she has a few options. "Onion, garlic, cheese, all-purpose cream, tuna...okay, baked tuna carbonara it is."
She then laid out the ingredients on her kitchen counter and started chopping the onions into cubes. Then, the garlic.
Cooking isn't Pia's forte, by any stretch (she's more of a baker than a cook), but there's something oddly comforting about whipping something up in the dead of night. More so if it's shared with someone she loves.
Pia then craned her neck to get a glimpse of Loren on the dining table. "You okay over there?"
Loren responded with a thumbs-up. "At least she's talking to me, I guess?"
She mixed the ingredients together until the cream and pasta combined, then added more herbs than the last time she made this. Pia pondered for a bit, then, unlike if she's making this for herself, added some salt. "Hindi naman siguro ako mamamatay kung maglalagay ako ng asin, diba?"
For the final part of the saucy puzzle, Pia grated some cheese on top of the pasta and spread it around the dish before placing it in the oven. After doing that, she walked to the dining table and sat herself down right across Loren, now staring over some sort of distant object. "Hey."
Loren shuffled on her seat, but refused to look at Pia in the eye. "Maybe I should talk less. Baka nagsasawa ka na pakinggan ako, eh."
After a few minutes, Loren continued talking while fidgeting her hands. "Di bale, sanay naman ako na hindi pinapakinggan. Sa plenary nga, nilalayasan ako pag nag-s-speech ako, paano pa kaya pag sariling problema ko na ang pinag-uusapan?"
Pia's heart sank upon seeing Loren like this, even more so knowing she's the one who caused it to happen. She tried to find the right words to say, but words kept failing her tonight.
Instead, she rubbed the back of Loren's hand with her thumb. "Reg, I'm sorry for not saying anything a couple of days ago. Alam kong marami kang iniisip lalo na sa dissertation mo, so I didn't want to be an extra burden."
Loren finally looked Pia in the eye. "I understand that what happened must be really difficult for you, P. Sana lang sinabi mo that you wanted some space - maiintindihan ko naman iyon, eh."
The many attempts Pia made in order not to cry have started to fail her. "I just felt so powerless, you know. Here I am talking about all these things, but when it happened to me, I just froze."
She expected Loren to move her hand away, but instead, she flipped her palm up and gave Pia's hand a gentle squeeze. "P, hindi mo kasalanan ito. I may not always be here physically, but I'll do whatever I can to lighten the load if you want me to."
Pia started to sniff upon listening to Loren's words. To her surprise, Loren took a handkerchief from her pocket and wiped the tears off Pia's eyes. It's such a small gesture on Loren's part, but to Pia, it meant the world.
Not long after, the timer went off. She then got up and took the dish off the oven and served it on the dining area along with some plates and utensils. A delectable aroma has filled the kitchen while Pia sectioned off two slices of the casserole. "Sorry, hindi naman ako chef. Fun, fun lang cooking lang naman ito."
"Basta walang lason yan, ha?" Loren quipped.
Pia tapped her chin as if thinking something up. "Hmm, we'll see about that."
They then sat down to eat the casserole with much gusto. "Mmm, ang sarap, P. Ano recipe dito, dear?"
Pia shrugged her shoulders while chewing another bite of pasta. "Wala, sinalpak ko lang ung anuman ung nasa ref."
Loren looked back up and let out a laugh. "Nilagyan mo ito ng asin, no?"
"How did you know?"
Loren wolfed down the remaining pasta on her plate. "...for the first time, hindi matabang ang luto mo."
Pia opened her mouth to say something when she noticed some pasta in the corner of her mouth and grabbed a napkin. "Teka lang, dear, there's something on your face..."
"Ano yun?"
With the napkin in her hand, Pia wiped off the bits of tuna and cheese at the corner of Loren's mouth. "There we go."
Instead of mouthing a thank you, Loren pouted in feigned disappointment. "Ay, akala ko may kiss."
"Huh? Pinunasan ko lang ung dumi sa mukha mo, kiss agad?", Pia scoffed.
Loren then activated those puppy dog eyes - her one-way ticket to getting Pia to do whatever she wants her to do at the moment.
"You're really making it very hard for me to hate you," Pia said, shaking her head.
Loren smirked right at her. "I know."
After locking eyes for a brief second, Pia then reached over and gave Loren a tender but lingering kiss on the lips - one much longer than the ones they've shared prior to this.
Once they let go of each other, Pia found herself becoming bolder than she usually was. "Saan mo gusto? The girls are with their dad this week and Lucas is asleep."
A cheeky smile came out from Loren. "Wherever there's the least risk of anyone walking in."
It's Pia's turn to laugh. "The bedroom it is, my love."
Pia then led Loren upstairs to her bedroom and locked the door behind them.
Once the coast was clear, Pia gazed into Loren's eyes and licked her lips. "Tonight, you're all mine."
Loren returned the gaze, shook her head, and lowered her voice. "Don't even think I'll give in easily, my dear. The greater the effort, the sweeter the reward, right?"
Pia felt her knees giving in when Loren's voice dropped to that kind of tone. Her hands skimmed the curve of Loren's hips and marveled at how soft she is to the touch. "Stop making this difficult for once, Regina."
"The more you protest, the harder it gets," Loren said in a sing-song tone.
Pia gulped.
They're barely getting started, and yet Pia's entire being's already on fire. All she wanted was to rip Loren's clothes off and devour her, but no, that's not going to be easy.
Instead, Pia planted several kisses all over Loren's neck and collarbone, even lingering longer than usual in certain places. Soft, low moans escaped Loren's lips as Pia drew on her skin with her lips.
She didn't want to make marks on that smooth, flawless skin, but such a perfect canvas deserved a masterpiece. "I'm no artist, but I'd say this belongs in the National Museum."
Loren pealed into fits of laughter. "Sige magpalagay tayo ng bagong wing doon. The people there can move mountains, so this should be a piece of cake."
The two of them shared another laugh before kissing each other again, much more hungrily this time. The next thing they knew, their clothes come off and so did their inhibitions.
The rest of the night became a blur for both of them, except for the melodies of pent-up desire built over several months of yearning and distance building into a crescendo before winding down.
After what seemed like forever, they came down to their senses basking in the afterglow of the post-bedroom workout. Pia wanted to get up and maybe put some clothes on for bed, but she couldn't even move her legs. "Reg, love, can you get our clothes? Para akong nag-ultramarathon."
Loren shrugged. "Pareho lang tayo ng problema, dear."
Resigning to their fate of sleeping naked for the night, Pia laid back and wrapped both of them with a blanket. "Looks like ganito na lang tayo matutulog today."
"Well, summer naman, eh." Loren said, wrapping herself around Pia.
Pia brushed the sweat-slicked hair off of Loren's face. "Bruha ka, pero tama naman. Sige, matulog na tayo."
The two of them fell asleep not long after with the biggest smiles on their faces.