Watching Sunrises

Moving Day

DISCLAIMER: Again, fiction lang ito at huwag pala-desisyon. ang magkalat nito sa FB/Tiktok ay pipingutin ko. To make sense of this book, read Talk First, Think Later first: https://www.wattpad.com/story/310749036-talk-first-think-later

It's been a couple of months since Loren landed in London after resigning from the Senate, and it felt like she aged at least 5 years since.

Living a privileged life for her entire life, she always had it easy - just throw in some money and move mountains after. In a new country where nobody knows her name, apartment-hunting proved to be more of a challenge now has to compete with thousands of other renters looking for a place to stay.

Thankfully, the temporary accommodation's comfortable enough, at least...

Just as she was about to give up and widen her search to a place in the outskirts, a listing for a flat that ticks all the checkboxes opened up while looking up openings. One thing led to another, and here she was packing the little belongings she brought with her and moving into a flat overlooking the River Thames.

The following day, two moving crew members have laid down the final box containing Loren's belongings in the place she'll consider home for the next couple of years.

It wasn't the fanciest nor the biggest of places, but it had one bedroom, bare cement that exuded industrial charm, and a large balcony overlooking the river. "If I'm going to be cooped up in a concrete jungle, I'll take what I can get."

Loren scanned the area and imagined the possibilities in her new canvas. Now with a place all to herself, she can move furniture in the middle of the night whenever she wants to. "I'll put a nice couch here, a flower vase there...wait, that's a nice spot for my desk!"

Alas, with the deadline for applications in the Art History MA program she's been wanting to pursue as soon as her term ended fast approaching, that will have to wait.

She then brought out her laptop and made some last-minute changes to her personal statement. She expected to be overwhelmed with the possibility of doing everything on her own without any staff at her beck and call, but to her surprise, she enjoyed every single task on hand. After the fall from grace she sustained, any small accomplishment proved to be a huge feat.

Upon checking her documents and making sure everything was in order, she uploaded all of them to the portal and clicked on Submit. From this point, the waiting game begins.

Loren closed her browser window and was greeted with a photo of her, Risa, Leni, and Pia from happier times back when they last gathered as the four of them. A twinge of regret filled her upon remembering the way she left all of them hanging in various degrees.

Then she remembered something...

As soon as she did, Loren took out her phone and sent a message to Risa using her new phone number. "hi Risa, finally moved into the new flat. this is my new UK number, btw. DO NOT give this to anyone else yet. talk to you soon when timezones permit."

Send.

Not long after, Risa replied. "happy. 🙃 sorry, ate, been pretty busy the past few days, but let's catch up tomorrow. so much has happened after you left"

Part of Loren wanted to ask certain questions while Risa was still up and answering. "How are you and Leni? What happened after I left? How's Pia doing now? Does she still think of me as much as I think of her?"

So many questions flooded Loren's mind that she wanted answers to, but perhaps it's not the best time to find out. "One at a time, Loren."

With that, she sent a final reply. "Ok let's Facetime around 3pm UK time. talk to you tomorrow!"

Send.

Upon sending that message, Loren grabbed the one thing she made sure to bring with her wherever she went from her bag - a heavy light pink wooden box with the initials "LR ♥ PJ" engraved on top and a lock right in front.

She brushed the dust off the top and traced the engraving with her finger. "It's going to be a while before I open this again, dear Pilar, but I know deep in my heart we will cross paths again sooner than later."

Loren brushed off a tear that threatened to fall before storing the box in the safe in her new bedroom.

But first, time to savor that newfound freedom before Decision Day rolls around.