"Risa, who's Leni to you?"
This question is probably the only question she always hears that she won't get tired of. From colleagues, family, acquaintances, friends, close friends – name it, parang lahat sila natanong na ito sakanya. And sometimes Risa would just flash her genuine eye smile, sometimes she nods and ends it there; sometimes she tries to simplify it, sometimes she does her best to explain.
If Risa would explain it right now and at this moment, it would go something like this:
Leni is someone precious and important person that she'll protect no matter what.
She's someone Risa loves deeply— perhaps someone she loves more than anyone else. She loves Leni for all her abilities, and she loves Leni for all her flaws.
It's in Leni that Risa discovers the term "unconditional love", because no matter what Leni does, or doesn't do, or who she is, or who she isn't— none of it matters and yet all of it matters.
Risa would love Leni for no reason and for all the reasons in the world. If Leni was nothing, she'd love her, but at the same time, every single part of Leni was significant, and Risa loves every last bit of her.
Risa loves Leni for shallow reasons, for her face, her hair (including her three pieces bangs before), the way she looks in a dress when she attends different speech engagements, the way she looks in white polo while her hands are in her pocket, and the way she looks when she is just wearing a simple pair of pajamas. Risa doesn't care if the reasons are shallow, they are reasons, and that's enough for Risa.
"Sa, tingnan mo nga bagay ba sa akin 'to?" Leni asked her while fixing her plain black polo, first two buttons unbuttoned; unknowingly highlighting her collarbone.
Risa looked up from her phone, eyes gleamed and replied, "Oo naman, lahat naman bagay sa'yo eh,"
"Pati ikaw," Leni whispered.
"Ano?"
"Ang sabi ko, pati ikaw bagay sa akin."
She also loves Leni for maybe deeper reasons, like that time Leni was able to gather thousands and even millions of people to stand up and hope for a better future for the country, or maybe when Leni went out of the house at 4 in the morning just to buy her favorite peach mango pie when she was sick and unconsciously requested for it.
"Where are you going, Lens?" her brows snapped together.
"Ibibili ka ng peach mango pie, sabi mo gusto mo?"
"Uy no wag na, magpapa deliver nalang ako mamaya."
"No, I will buy it na lang directly. Malapit lang naman, mas matatagalan pa if ipapadeliver."
She loves Leni in a way that it was difficult to define. Risa lets Leni do her own thing even if means not talking to her because she's in a bad mood, lets Leni take up all the cupboard space for her precious chocnut and cheetos puffs, lets Leni bring home an abandoned puppy from the street because she said, "Kawawa naman, alaagaan na natin." without saying a word.
Risa gets furious when Leni is sad, cries when Leni is happy, and falls deeper in love when Leni spends her time with her despite their tight schedules.
"Why are you here? 'Diba busy ka?"
"Medyo pero konti lang naman gagawin at hindi naman urgent, saka para may kasama ka kumain. Baka kasi hindi ka nanaman maglunch, sinumbong ka ng staffs mo sakin."
To Risa, Leni is something bigger than the world and something smaller than a single drop of water. Someone who makes her appreciate terrible metaphors; someone who makes her run out of words.
Some people might say that Leni is too good to be true when they hear Risa's explanation, but she is the truest and the most beautiful (literally in every sense) human being Risa can ever perceive. Leni is hers and yes, Risa is Leni's. In the end, Risa is a person who inexorably needs Leni to be alive.
Who's Leni to Risa? All of this, and more.
