N A M I
"Macaroni soup, burger, at fries." Nilapag ni Denver iyong pagkain sa harapan ko at saka madaling umupo sa tabi ko.
"Salamat," bulong ko. Tumango lang siya sa akin bago dumiretso sa pagkain ng in-order niyang Chickenjoy at Jolly Spaghetti. "Salamat," ulit ko.
Sa Jollibee namin napiling kumain dahil ito iyong pinakamalapit na fast-food na nadaanan namin. Pasado-alas-dose na rin kasi kaya karamihan ng mga kainan ay sarado na.
"That was a good first gig," bulong ni Denver sa gitna ng pagkain namin. "Right?"
"Yeah," I agreed. "Yeah, it actually was."
Aside from being professionals, every one of them was insanely talented. I have always known that Kara was a great musician, but she improved a lot during her stay here, and the rest of her bandmates are just as good as her. Denver, unbiasedly even more so.
"Sorry for being fussy and critical earlier." Denver looked me in the eyes and smiled softly. "Gusto ko lang talaga na maayos ang lahat."
So, he is a perfectionist. No surprise.
"No, I understand naman," sagot ko. "Glad that I didn't disappoint."
"Yeah, you didn't." Denver couldn't stop himself from smiling. "You exceeded my expectations, to be honest."
"Is that a compliment?" I teased.
"Yeah. It is."
Napangiti na lang ako. Kung kanina ay duda siya sa akin bilang kapalit na bokalista nila, ngayon naman ay hindi na niya maitago ang paghanga sa akin bilang mang-aawit.
We ate together in silence, both focused on the food and not saying a word. But unexpectedly, it wasn't awkward at all. Time passed by slowly. I could hear every breath he took and every sip he did, like some kind of lo-fi background music.
"Tara na," nakangiti pa ring aya niya bago tumayo at inilahad ang kamay sa akin matapos naming kumain.
Ilang segundo kong tinitigan iyong kamay niya nang hindi alam ang gagawin. Hahawakan ko ba iyon? Hindi ba nakakahiya? Kaya ko namang tumayo nang mag-isa, eh.
Siguro ay napansin niya ang hesitasyon ko kaya't ibinaba niya na iyon at naghintay na lang sa akin na tumayo.
"Tara," bulong ko, bago kami sabay na lumabas ng Jollibee at naglakad pabalik sa sasakyan niya.
"Umuupa ka lang sa tinutuluyan mo?" tanong niya habang nagmamaneho papunta sa direksyon ng motel.
"Oo."
"Monthly?"
"Weekly."
"Magkano?"
"3,750 a week."
"15,000 a month for a match-box studio unit?"
Ang bilis niyang na-compute iyon kaya bahagya akong napahanga. "Oo, parang gano'n na nga."
"Isn't that too expensive?"
