Dalumat

II. Strangeness of the Familiar

It was a quarter to midnight when they arrived at the hotel. It wasn't a particularly lavish hotel; it was just the perfect blend of cost and comfort, just the way they liked it.

Leni's room was a floor above hers, but Risa didn't mind coming along. It had been a while since she had dinner with Leni. They ate together with the rest of the team when they could, but sometimes, especially with schedules as tight as theirs, it wasn't always possible, not when they had independent engagements.

With a tap of her keycard, Leni opened the door to her hotel room, entering first with Risa following right behind her. The lights went on, and the air conditioner hummed satisfyingly, as Leni placed the keycard in its holder.

The room was small and simple. It looked just like Risa's. You couldn't tell that the Vice President of the Republic was staying there. Risa could see an unopened suitcase by the dresser near the bed. She doubted that Leni was able to open it in this room at any point during the day. Such was the busy life they had.

But when Leni pulled two chairs from the table, taking off her pink face mask and showing Risa her full-dimpled smile, Risa marveled at how her friend didn't look tired at all.

"Midnight snack?"

-

"Ris..."

It was a voice in the distance that seemed to get closer and closer as it echoed in her head.

"...sa..."

She tried to open her eyes, but her eyelids felt like lead.

Are my four hours over already?

"Risa..."

She was too comfortable where she was. She didn't want to open her eyes yet. The voice felt familiar, but her brain wasn't awake enough to put a face to it. She was probably dreaming, she thought lazily.

Then she felt something touch the skin of her nose.

It felt like someone's finger, slowly drawing a line from the space between her brows to the tip of her nose — the touch so gentle that it was lulling her even more to sleep.

Then she felt something wrap around her shoulders, and it felt like someone lit a match under her bed, just enough to keep her warm.

Risa fell back to dreamland.

-

Risa woke up with a start, jerking up from the bed, the suddenness of the movement making her head ache.

Ugh. Anong oras na ba? Did I miss my alarm?

Since the curtains were drawn, the room was still dim, but the light was on at the entryway. She looked down to find a blanket wrapped around her.

She brought her fingers up to massage her temples. She couldn't remember anything after her dinner with Leni last night, or how she even got back into her room.

She fumbled through her nightstand, blindly looking for her phone where she usually put it, but she couldn't find it.

That's weird.

She must have forgotten to take it out of her bag. Did she even set an alarm?

Two knocks on the door brought her out of her thoughts, but only added more confusion. She wasn't expecting anyone this early.

Grudgingly, she got out of bed, deciding to forgo wearing her slippers, turning on the main light on the way to the door. There was something off about the whole thing, but all thoughts of that vanished when she passed by a full-length mirror and caught a glimpse of herself still wearing her clothes from the previous night.

Hindi man lang ako nagbihis? Ano ba 'yan...

She made herself as presentable as she could before opening the door, interrupting a knock. She hoped that whoever it was didn't mind that she was barefoot.

"Good morning, VP—Ay, Senator Risa?"

VP?

That was a weird mistake, but Risa just shrugged it off with a polite smile and a sweet-voiced, "Good morning."

It was one of the hotel employees. "Um, good morning po. Sorry po sa istorbo. Andyan po ba si VP Leni?"

Risa was so confused about why they were looking for Leni in her room that all she could say was, "Wala..."

"Ah. Um..." The woman hesitated. "Pwede pakibigay po kay ma'am?" She held out a pink paper bag. "Baka kasi 'di ko na siya maabutan mamaya..."

Risa received what she surmised was a supporter's gift to her friend. "Oh, sure. No problem. Do you want me to say anything to her?"

"Ay, okay na po. May letter naman sa loob. Thank you po talaga, ma'am. Pasensya na po sa abala."

The woman quickly bowed and walked away. Risa guessed she was still in the middle of her shift and only sneaked in to give her (originally, Leni) the gift. She smiled slightly at the thought as she closed the door.

As if opening the door to the outside cleansed her vision a bit, she turned to find the atmosphere of the room stranger than before. Then she realized, she couldn't find her luggage anywhere. She approached the closet: empty. The only things that were hers in the room were the handbag on the chair by the table, the socks neatly draped over the chair, and the sneakers on the floor near the bed. Those were the only things she brought with her to Leni's room the night before.

Don't tell me...

Risa immediately went to the trash can and opened it. The Chowking containers and paper bags staring right back at her confirmed it.

This is Leni's room.

That explained things. She could feel her headache coming back.

Headache and a little bit of embarrassment.

Ahh, nakakahiya. 'Di ko na maalala. Tinulugan ko lang ba siya?

Risa walked to the table for her handbag. As she rummaged through her things for her phone, her eyes caught a glimpse of her hair tie on the nightstand. Leni must have pulled it out of her hair when she fell asleep.

She felt even more embarrassment wash over her at the thought. Yep, that was her cheeks getting warm now.

She didn't even have any memory of getting to bed at all. Leni didn't put her there, did she? Risa groaned.

She finally found her phone. It was already 6:17 in the morning.

The latest message was from Leni. The timestamp said 5:33 a.m. Risa opened it.

Good morning, Risa. 😊 Sorry I couldn't wake you up earlier. Mukhang mahimbing pa kasi talaga tulog mo. I had to leave early for my trip.

Thank you for last night. Ang cute mo pala matulog hehe. See you mamaya!💗💗

P.S. Don't worry about the checkout. You can just leave my room. I already told reception.

Risa didn't know why exactly, but the message made her nervous. She tapped the text box for a reply, but in her nervousness, she couldn't come up with anything to say. She felt the back of her neck getting hot.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the 7 in 6:17 turn to 8. If she wanted to achieve anything this morning, she had to get back to her room, pronto. She quickly gathered her things, wore her socks, put on her shoes, and made up the bed... her side of the bed. The other side was already immaculately made up. If this was the side she slept on, then...

Risa shook her head and lightly slapped her cheeks.

She turned everything off and walked towards the door, taking one final look at the room before leaving it.

The moment she stepped into the hallway, she suddenly felt self-conscious, feeling as if everyone was looking at her, even though there was no one there but her.