Chapter 2
third person
Once they arrived at the parking lot, Gwen told Kuya Driver to drop them off at her condo. Both her and Sheena sat at the back of the car and fixed themselves to make the ride home the most comfortable it could be. Gwen expects that they'll arrive in no time as it IS around 11 PM and usually, the route to her condo is clear by this time.
Less than 10 mins into the ride, Gwen saw Sheena's head bobbing as she was slowly falling asleep. She guided Sheena's head to her shoulder and reclined their seat, hoping it would help Sheena get more comfortable.
Noong malapit na sila, ginising na ni Gwen si Sheena para maayos na nila lahat ng gamit na daladala nila. Binaba na sila ni Kuya at nagpasalamat naman sila sa kanya.
"Ingat sa pagdrive Kuya! Pahinga ka na rin po pagtapos," sabi ni Sheena bago ito makaalis.
Nakarating na sila sa condo ni Gwen at agad naman niyang kinuha mga gamit nila para ilagay sa kwarto.
Habang nasa kwarto, "Mag-aayos ka na ba para matulog, bebe?" sigaw ni Gwen.
"Kung pwede, ok lang naman sa akin," sagot ni Sheena.
Paglabas ni Gwen, inabot niya kay Sheena ang isang pajama set at dalawang towel.
"Bago lang 'yang pajama set. ‘Di ko pa ‘yan nagagamit. Though baka medyo mahaba for you," Gwen said with a small smile.
"Oh, and there’s new underwear in the first drawer sa left closet," she added.
Sheena went to the bathroom to freshen up and hopefully remove some of the muscle tension she got from working all day.
Gwen started fixing up the bedroom. She knew they were both tired and set up the projector for them to fall asleep to. She also fixed their bags to the side — that way, they’ll be accessible for Sheena when she needs something. Once everything was fixed, she went to the kitchen to make them some hot chocolate.
After Sheena was able to dry her hair and fix herself up, Gwen made her sit on the bed and gave her the hot chocolate that she made. She then played the movie they’ve been meaning to watch and placed the remote control on the bedside table near Sheena.
“Thank you for this bebe,” Sheena took a sip and placed the hot chocolate on the bedside table to hug Gwen.
Gwen returned the hug, “Anything to make us fall asleep faster,” tumawa naman siya.
“At this point, mga 5 hours max nalang tulog natin at ‘yun ay kung makatulog tayo ngayon din,” pagtuloy ni Gwen.
“Paano 'yung complete run mo?” Sheena looked concerned.
“Bukas nalang ng umaga. Mag-aayos lang ako ah?” she said.
Once she finished fixing herself up for bed, she saw Sheena peacefully asleep already and her mug nowhere to be found. She took her own mug on the dining table, drank the “hot” chocolate, and placed it in the sink — where she found Sheena’s mug.
She then went to the other side of the bed, made sure Sheena was properly covered by the blanket, and waited for her eyes to fall heavy.
“Goodnight bebe, I hope you’re sleeping well”
~~~
Gwen’s alarm woke them up, it’s 5 AM and they’ll be picked up in an hour as they always expect the early traffic. Though, they weren’t really in a rush ‘cause they do get ready relatively quickly.
Neither of them expected that Sheena was going to sleep over for the night. So, Gwen let her borrow her clothes.
Sheena came out of the bedroom, “Well? How do I look in your clothes?”
Sheena really didn’t expect it to come out like that pero ayun na, sinabi na niya — ‘di na niya maibabalik 'yun. Pero dahil nago-overthink na siya, hindi niya napansin ang slight break in character ni Gwen.
How I wished that meant something more.
Gwen thought.
Napangiti rin siya doon sa sinabi ni Sheena at bumulong, but you look great, just like you always do.
And because Sheena is already a cute little munchkin to Gwen, her oversized hoodie and loose pants made her even more adorable to her eyes.
Despite all those thoughts swarming in her mind, ang lumabas naman ay, “Hindi ba masyadong malaki? Or mainit?”
“A little oversized pero ok lang at medyo mainit pero may tanktop naman ako underneath. Buti hindi ko ginamit pamalit ko kahapon,” she smiled.
Once they were done with everything they had to do in the morning, they sat on the couch to wait for a message from their Kuya driver.
It wasn’t awkward nor was it sickening to sit in silence for the both of them. Para sa kanila, ok na rin na tahimik muna ngayon bago sila pumunta sa company.
“Bebe?” Gwen broke the silence. Sheena looked at her and tilted her head, prompting her to continue.
“If let’s say someone likes you and you like them back, but you know you can’t be with them right now, would you tell them you like them too?” Gwen asked all of a sudden.
It took a while for Sheena to answer but, “Mahal ko na ba siya?” she asked back, seemingly trying to process the question that was just thrown at her.
Gwen, on the other hand, was just as shocked that Sheena responded to her with another question — one seemingly more difficult to answer.
“Hmmmm what if sabihin natin na hindi mo pa naiisip na mahal mo siya?”
“Edi hindi ko sasabihin na gusto ko siya,” Sheena answered a lot more blunt and firm than she, herself, anticipated.
She looked dead serious which was something Gwen didn’t really expect either. She thought she'd try to avoid the question as a whole but here they were, discussing the matter.
“Kung ‘di ko pala siya mahal edi admiration lang siya at the very best. And kahit sabihin natin na admiration is already a strong emotion, iba pa rin talaga kapag mahal mo eh. Kaya ile-let go ko na muna siya,” Sheena added as she stared at the television in front of us.
Gwen looked down, hurt from the words that Sheena said. Although she knew that Sheena didn’t really intend to hurt her nor did Sheena know Gwen would get hurt with her response, the older one just can't help but realize that these are her truthful thoughts on the matter.
“Yes, admiration can lead to love but, the least I want to do is lead someone on just because my admiration for them can potentially turn into love. And the key word there is ‘potentially’,” Sheena continued.
“I see, gets naman,” lang ang nasabi ni Gwen pabalik.
She then, again, composed herself when her brain gave her another question for Sheena.
“Let’s say, theoretically, ikaw yung tao na may gusto sa akin and I like you back. What then?”