Sunday afternoon.“Are you really sure you’re okay going back to work?” tanong ulit ni Kairus. We were having a video call. Umismid naman ako at tinapunan siya ng tingin habang nagtitiklop ng aking mga damit. “Okay na nga ako Kai.” pagdidiin ko pa.“I don’t believe you. I can always talk to our boss to give you a few weeks more,” he offered again. Again, I rolled my eyes. “Thank you Kai, but I need to get back to work. I have bills to pay, nakakahiya na kay Elijah.” sabi ko pa.I heard him scoff kaya naman sinamaan ko siya ulit ng tingin. “For all I know, your best friend doesn’t mind having you there in his home.” “He sure doesn’t mind it at all but my pride says no.” I said as I walked back to the table and settled myself in front of my laptop.I smiled when I saw how Kairus’ face changed when I sat back and focused on him. He was outside, probably hanging out. Spending his day off in a cafe by the look of his background.“If you say so,” he muttered, “Anyway, I’ll send you l
I was busy with this proofreading but my mind can’t seem to focus because of that mini project Elijah is talking about. Hindi ko alam kung tama ba na pumayag ako sa project na iyon. Elijah is quite persuasive about it. And I trust his words so much that I accepted it after ng ilang pagpupumilit niya. I groaned and massaged my temples.Nakarinig naman ako ng mumunting tawa sa pinto ko kaya umangat ang ulo ko para tingan iyon. At nadatnan ng mata ko si Kairus na nakatayo doon habang natatawa sa akin. He has two cups of coffee in his hands and isang maliit na brown paper bag. “Kakabalik mo pa lang stress ka na kaagad?” naiiling niyang sabi saka tuluyang pumasok sa opisina ko. “I told you to just stay at home for a while, kulit mo kasi eh.” sabi pa niya at naupo sa harap ko. Agad namang umikot ang mata ko sa pinagsasabi niya. “It’s not what you think it is,” masungit kong sabi.“Eh ano pala?” tanong niya kaagad at saka iniabot sa akin ang isang kape. “This has nothing to do with wor
“Come in,” And we both walked ahead inside his spacious studio. Again, it felt illegal to be in here. The feeling was strange and undescribable. Aaminin ko, ilang beses pa lamang akong nakapunta dito pero sa ilang beses na iyon ay hindi ko pa rin maiwasan na hindi mamangha tuwing tatapak ang paa ko sa lugar na ito. This place was too special for Elijah. This is where his magic happens. His personal space. A place where he can be true to himself. And to think that he let me in this space sends a different feeling to me.I don’t know why, but it felt illegal. I felt different. It’s as if I’m looking and entering the different side of him. It feels like I’m into another world. A world where the only thing you can only breathe in was his burning passion for arts. I felt like every piece of art inside this place is equal to tiny bits of himself. Because Elijah himself is a walking art.Every corner of this place screams his personality. The neutral color of this place shouts his name. Wh
I climbed up to the bed at ramdam na ramdam ko sa aking likod ang mabibigat na tingin ni Elijah. Ngayon pa lang ay nagdadalawang isip na ako kung tama pa bang sumang-ayon ako sa project na ito. Hindi ako manhid. I can feel it. But just like him I’m trying to cool it down. It’s fucking obvious, his every gaze feels like he’s stripping me with his eyes. At imbes na pagalitan ko ang aking sarili ay para bang mas gusto ko pa ang pakiramdam na hatid nito sa akin. Hindi ko maiwasang hindi humanga sa aking sarili knowing I could bring effects like this to Eli. I feel so proud of myself. Humarap akong muli sa kanya and I found him standing behind the camera. And my breath almost hitched in my throat as soon as I met the heaviness of his gaze as he fixed the camera to get the perfect angle. “Wait,” sabi niya. I watched him walk towards the small table in the corner. He took out his phone and started to scribble down something. “Fuck, deadbatt. Can I borrow your phone?” he asked, turnin
Three days..Three days after that steamy makeout back in Elijah's studio, everything went back to normal. Hindi ko malilimutan kung paano ako inulan ng tukso ni Kairus nang makita niya ang purple marks sa aking leeg nang pumasok ako kinabukasan sa trabaho.Elijah and I made a decent talk after that makeout session. We cleared out the thick air between us the moment we sat back in his car that night. Nilinaw namin ang sitwasyon. Ofcourse nandoon na yung pag-aalala niya na baka nabastos niya ako dahil hindi siya nakapagpigil ng sarili. But I made it clear to him that, I let that happen because I want it to happen. We both wanted it that time. No hard feelings. And that's what I really liked about Elijah. How we can talk about certain matters like a real adult. How we solved every issues together, how we can sit and talk about the problem and deal with it like the adults that we were. —-----Today is December 23. My fucking birthday. It was already 6 pm when I arrived at Elijah's
With big and curious eyes, I watched Elijah stand up from his seat and walk into the corner. He pulled out his phone from his pocket and scribbled something on it with his brows slightly furrowed. Seconds after, a soft melodic sound started playing in the entire place. Constant by Jesse Barrera and Jeremy Passion played in the background. Agad kumalabog ang dibdib ko sa hindi maipaliwanag na dahilan habang pinapanood si Elijah na lumuhod sa harapan ko para hingiin ang aking kamay. “Can I have this dance?” he asked while smiling softly. I watched how the fairy lights shone and reflected through his doe eyes as he stared at me so fondly.I gave my hand as I stood up from my seat. We walked to the center part of the set-up. He placed his other hand at my back tightly pulling my body towards him. My right hand was placed on his shoulder. His other hand was perfectly tangled with my other hand. And we both danced in silence. Tanging ang malamyos lamang na musika ang naririnig sa pali
My lips keep on twitching as I keep shifting on my seat every now and then. Elijah and I were both silent ever since we started eating lunch.Deep sighs were also heard between me and him. Alam kong pareho kaming may malalim na iniisip ngunit tila hindi kami pareho ng iniisip. Obviously, I am in deep discomfort while Elijah seems to be happy and relaxed. Nanatiling nakababa ang ulo ko at tahimik na nagfofocus sa tanghalian na niluto niya. I can’t seem to have the courage to look back at him despite the stares thrown at me by none other than Elijah himself. Hanggang ngayon ramdam ko pa din ang pag-iinit ng mukha ko at naiinis na din ako dahil tila ayaw humupa sa pamumula ang aking pisngi. I’m gulping hard down the food para lamang matapos na ako kaagad sa pagkain at makaalis na sa harapan ni Elijah. But then mukhang hindi pa siya tapos sa pang-aasar sa akin. I heard the clinking sound of his spoon against his plate followed by his loud huff. “Hey, stop ignoring me.” he demanded. A
On the way to the mall, Eli hadn’t stopped and kept on teasing me about this-so-called “our thing”. At ako naman ay hindi pa rin humuhupa ang kahihiyan sa nangyari. He told me there’s nothing to worry about after I told him that I’m quite worried. However, even after he told me it was him who should worry, I kept on thinking that it might affect our friendship sooner. I kept on telling myself that it was an accident and we never meant it to end up that way. But Elijah told me that it was bound to happen anyway whether we’re drunk or not. Remembering what happened way back on the Boudoir photoshoot, there’s no doubt that we’d actually cross lines last night regardless of our friendship. Elijah wasn’t really trying hard to hide his body’s obvious lust calling and my attraction towards him did a great push as well to make everything happen. I know I shouldn’t be surprised about it but still, it worries me. I’d like to think that the lack of sexual action of the both of us from