HURRICANE

Promise

MAINE's POV

"Ano ba yan, di man lang nagtext or tumawag."

I told myself as I looked at my phone to see no text messages or missed calls from Rj. This is not the usual Rj. He always greets me good morning every single day and this is the first time he didn't, and I'm getting worried.

I came back to my condo with Dean and Coleen last night. I wanted to sleep early but I was waiting for Tisoy to call. Pero, wala. Gets ko naman na super busy siya. Di nga marunong magpahinga. Kagagaling lang ng UAE tapos sabak agad sa SPS the next day, tapos may show pa sa LSPU. I mean, Tisoy, you're not a superhero, you need to rest. Pero wala eh, ayaw makinig sa akin. Hindi ka forever 24, huy.

It's 5 in the morning and I need to get ready. I need to leave by 8 am.

I took a shower, gathered all my things and prepared myself. Shems, wala pa ring text. I said my goodbyes to Coleen and Dean, kasi 6:30am pasok nila, and just stared at my phone. Huy, Rj, uso magtext.

And then I heard a knock on the door.

"Ano ba yan Dean, may nakalimutan ka nanaman ba?"

I was shocked to see who's at the other side of the door. It was Rj.

"Good morning, beautiful. Miss me?"

He said, whilst carrying a bouquet of flowers and a basket of food.

"Oh my goodness, you're here! Ginulat mo ko ah. You almost gave me a heart attack."

I gave him a big bear hug and a peck on the cheek. I missed this boy.

"Aww, sorry na. I wanted to surprise you. Miss na miss na kasi kita,"

"Weh. Di ka nga nagtext o tumawag man lang kagabi. Magdamag kaya ako naghihintay."

I said, as we walked to the kitchen and crossing my arms.

"Sus. Nagtatampo pa ang baby. Ganun talaga, nagpamiss lang ako lalo."

"Ang sabihin mo, busy ka kagabi sa show mo. Sabi ko naman kasi sayo, magpahinga ka. Dere-deretso ka magtrabaho. Baka di na kayanin ng katawan mo."

He then hugged me from behind and kissed my shoulder.

"Babe, I'm doing this for us, for our future. You understand naman di ba?"

"I do, but syempre concerned lang ako sa health mo. Ayokong pinapabayaan mo sarili mo."

I turned around, facing him and put my arms around his neck.

"And, You know how much I appreciate you for preparing for our future, but at the same time, I worry because I fear it will come to a point where our careers would interfere with our relationship. Alam mo, yan ang iniisip ko kagabi. Na, pano na future natin kung lagi tayong busy sa careers natin? Will we still be able to make it work?"

My eyebrows furrowed. He then kissed my forehead pulled me into a hug.

"Natatakot din ako, Meng. But this is our life now. Alam kong mahirap but, we need to bear with it. May responsibilities tayo and we're both chasing our dreams pero, para sa akin it won't come between us for as long as we remember how much we love each other. That's the only thing that matters."

"My next question is, what if it's not enough?"

"Don't say that Meng please. Stop predicting things. Wala tayong alam sa pwedeng mangyari."

"I just..don't want to lose you, Rj."

"You won't, I promise. Andito lang ako palagi, no matter the distance, no matter the circumstance."

"Promise?"

"Promise."