Champorado

26

bakit ang haba ng chapters ko. im so sorry.

if ure here and reading this thank you so much! tweet me: arrowheadswp

*

ON Monday, Jiya does as Gelo says—pretend like she heard nothing and act as she normally does around him.

Gelo does the same. "We can talk to marketing about this, but I doubt it's going to be much of an issue. What about design?"

Jiya nods. "I'm coordinating with them now."

"Great! I can move to our next pitch," Claire says, grinning widely. "Good job, Jiya."

Jiya smiles at her. Umupo si Gelo sa couch with his laptop, focused on the screen.

Walang pinagkaiba sa actions niya throughout the day, and Jiya is relieved.

Migo picks her up at five with a smile. "Hi."

Jiya leans over to kiss his cheek. "Hi, baby."

He doesn't ask about work, and Jiya doesn't say anything, either.

Nakarating na siya sa Burgundy Saturday morning kasi hindi siya pinaalis ng mga magulang niya after Gelo left. They kept pestering her about him, asking questions, happy about his confession...habang nasusuka lang si Jiya.

Jiya told Migo what happened. Everything...quickly moving past the part about the confession, and he only listened, nodded, and said, "Ah. Okay."

She blinked. "Okay?"

"Yeah." He grinned and kissed her quickly. "It's fine. You're here now, I have you to myself until tomorrow."

Nag-cuddle lang sila and nanood ng movies and kumain. Migo didn't try to do anything other than hug her, and pagkahatid sa kanya Sunday night, he stayed in the car and kissed her cheek.

Jiya asked him to come upstairs.

"You said your mom's home," he said, and then he drove off.

Ngayon, kumain lang din sila ng dinner. Migo talks and smiles like there's nothing wrong, but Jiya knows him by now. Halata rin sa tension between them.

"Migo," she says, swallowing thickly. "Are you...are you mad?"

"No," sabi niya, smiling and shaking his head. "No, I'm not."

Hindi nagawa ni Jiya na i-push kahit obvious na may something wrong dahil sa mga mata ni Migo. They're pleading her to let it go, for them to end this night without an argument.

Her chest feels heavy. Pagkahatid sa kanya sa bahay, she leans over and kisses him. Migo kisses her back, pero ang sakit kasi Jiya doesn't feel anything. Parang he's doing it to get it over with.

Before bed, she texts him.

I love you. so much.

Migo reads that.

Pogi: I know. :) i love you too.

Umiyak si Jiya sa reply niya, pillow stained with dry tears, kasi for the first time—para siyang nagsisinungaling.

No, he's not. It's the truth, pero it's a truth that doesn't feel welcome.

Pagkagising niya, there are Louis Vuitton paper bags on the floor. Ah. Oo nga pala. Birthday niya today.

While she's brushing her teeth, she finds an envelope on her desk from her dad and Aliya. Two nights sa isang yacht this weekend.

Wala siyang gana, pero sayang din. She'll tell her friends mamaya kapag...kapag ayos na sila ni Migo.