HURRICANE

Phone Call

ALDEN

Natotorpe ako.

This is not me. I stare at her number for good 5 minutes before I could buck up the courage to press call. It's ringing.

After about 5 rings, yes I counted -

"Hello?"

I open my mouth, and nothing seems to come out.

"Hello, Alden?"

"Hoy, Richard!"

There was something cute about her saying hoy.

"Uhh, hello, Meng!"

Her voice. It's making my knees tremble- or maybe it's just the effect of the caffeine from the coffee I drank a while ago.

"Oh, hi Tisoy. Napatawag ka?"

"Uh, oo, wala lang. Nangungumusta lang ako. Umalis ka kaagad after the shoot kanina eh. We didn't have the chance to talk.." I said, while biting my lip.

"Sorry ha. Napagod kasi talaga ako-"

"Oh, sorry Meng, naistorbo kita. Maybe I could call another time?"

She's tired. I knew it. Showbiz life is catching up on her health.

"No, no. Hindi, you're not interrupting me. Okay lang Tisoy. So, what's up?"

I'm still struggling to find the right words to say. Her voice. It's soothing. Dati fansign and dubsmash lang. Ngayon, we can talk endlessly. I hope.

"I just wanted to ask how you are. I heard rest day mo raw tomorrow eh."

"Um, oo. Medyo pagod lang, pero happy naman. Di pa rin ako makaget over sa nangyari last Saturday. It all seemed like a big blurr."

"Me too, Meng. Parang kailan lang, you smiled at me sa split screen. And the rest was history.."

To be honest, I still haven't moved on. I'm still in awe of it all.

"Oo nga eh.."

Everything goes silent for a good minute.

"Meng, you still there?"

"Um, yes.. Di ko lang alam sasabihin ko. Hahaha.."

Her laugh. I can finally hear her laugh. It's making my heart race.

"Ako rin. Hahaha. Kwentuhan mo nalang ako, kahit ano. Anything and everything under the sun-"

"Sige..haha."

And we started to talk. Before I knew it, I was on the phone with her for 2 hours. We talked about everything, and it feels like I could get used to this.