THE DEAL

TD- 46

She entered his unit with her heart pumping so fast in worry. All lights are off. Tables around the corners are flipped.

She noticed that there were pieces of broken glass scattered on the floor. Her eyes searched for Aga. She didn't see him.

She passed by his living room and saw that there were crumpled cans of beer placed on top of the couch.

She shook her head in disbelief.

Richard called her this morning telling her to see Aga because he has been declining his call. He hasn't showed himself for a week now. He refused to accept visitors, even his mom. So, his friends, thinking of her as their last resort, tried calling her to convince her to check Aga for they know she is the only one who can enter his unit.

She is the only one.

She saw the door of his room half-opened. She slowly opened the door.

Aga looked at the door and saw her. As he saw her standing a few meters away, he gave her a weak smile.

His hair was messy, his shirt was soaked in tears. He was sitting on the floor, leaning his head at the side of his bed.

"What are you doing, Aga?!" she shouted and walked towards his direction.

"Lei..." he weakly called her out.

"Answer my question." she commanded. "Will you stop drinking? Your smell sucks."

"I'm... Lei, it's..." he tries to find the right words. He sighed and a tear escaped from his eyes. "F*ck."

Lea kneeled in front of him and held his cheeks, "What happened?" she calmly asked him.

Aga looked at her in the eyes. "She left me."

Her jaw dropped upon hearing his problem. She took the beer on his hand and placed it on her side. She reached for his hand and held it. She doesn't know how to comfort her ex husband.

"Lea, s-she f*cking left me!"

"Ags, shh. Hush now." she says and wiped his tears.

"It hurts, Lei. It hurts so much." he retorted.

She caressed his cheeks and kissed his forehead, "Let's talk about this later. Mag-ayos ka muna and I'll fix your unit, okay?"

"You don't have to do that." he answered.

She shook her head, "It's fine. Alam mong ayaw ko ng makalat, 'di ba?"

He nodded, "Thank you."

She smiled and helped him stand, "We're friends. Don't thank me."

He looked at her and hugged her.

"Okay, maligo ka na. You're stinky!" she joked and he laughs a bit.

"Pwede bang samahan mo na rin akong maligo?"

She laughed and left his room to fix the mess around his unit.

She sighed. She roamed her eyes around his unit and noticed the changes.

It has been 5 years since they both decided to have an annulment. It has been five years since they both lived apart.

5 years...

Everything has changed and many things have happened.

She startled when a pair of arms encircled on her waist and started sniffing her neck.

"Malandi ka. Stop it." she tells him and taps his arms on her waist.

He stopped and turned her around to face him, "I'm glad you came. Kung hindi ka dumating, baka nagpakamatay na ako."