JANUARY 26, 2023・THURSDAY・7:12
Maya reads a text from Noel.
NOEL: IT'S MONTHSARY TIME, BABY!
MAYA: 💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖
MAYA: HAPPY MONTHSARY TIME, BABY.
NOEL: I'M GETTING READY. YOU? DON'T BE LATE, OKAY?
MAYA: HAHAHA. TELL THAT TO YOURSELF. I HAVE NEVER BEEN LATE. LIKE, EVER.
NOEL: HAHAHAHA. IT WAS ONE TIME! I LOVE YOU
"Diri lang kol," she says pointing to the side of the side of road.
"YOU CAN DROP ME OFF HERE, KOL."
The view outside is obscured by the raindrops flowing through the window.
Maya pays the driver and takes out an umbrella from her bag. She braces herself and opens the umbrella, carefully stepping off the vehicle. She feels a sense of relief realizing she's on cemented ground. She doesn't have to worry about the mud messing up her shoes. With a loud rev, the tricycle¹ runs off into the distance.
From across the road, she sees Noel, sitting at a waiting shed and either waiting for a tricycle or JR. He's scrolling through his phone when he suddenly looks up.
Maya quickly tilts her umbrella to hide her face. She's far enough to not draw too much attention to herself but one can't be too sure. Some rain has gotten to her hair, so she adjusts the umbrella.
She takes out her phone and starts to type out a message to Noel.
Before sending her message, she looks up and sees Noel. Someone is next to him. A girl. At first, it isn't quite clear to Maya who the girl is. But the more she looks on, the more it dawns on her that it's Jasmin talking and laughing with Noel.
Her smile fades. The warmth in her chest from seeing Noel has now disappeared and is replaced with a sinking feeling. She looks away and quickly erases the message she was about to send to him.
A tricycle passes by her and she hails it. With one last look at Noel and Jasmin, she gets on the vehicle and closes her umbrella.
---
1: TRICYCLE - Is the regular means of commute. It's usually a motorcycle in a casing where people can sit on.
Look at it here: https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSn4tFwwfv24hjJS7RaIUOhOb08E9M-wRYgzw&usqp=CAU