Someday Soon, With You

Chapter 8

Time flies so fast for Mira. Three years ago, she met Archi. They were friends for ten months, now they’ve been together for two years and two months. She was basically living with him in his apartment; at first it was very hard for her to persuade him. From time to time he was asking her to marry him, she always says yes but they didn’t have any plan for it yet. They have spent so much time together, and most of those moments are her first time, like watching the whale sharks, jumping in the falls, watching sea turtles and more. They even spent a long weekend alone camping on a mountain. She loved it, especially watching sunrise and sunset with him while drinking their coffee.

She was climbing the stairs holding a cup of coffee when she stumbled into a person climbing down.

“Oh, it’s you Mira. Good morning” the tall guy greeted.

She wrinkled her forehead a little. This guy looks familiar but she doesn’t know where she met him.

“I work at the Engineering department, the next building” he said. When she looked at her left and back to him then smiled, he chuckled. “I’m TJ’s brother, Anthony, nice meeting you” he said smiling.

“Oh, yes. You are the brother. Ha-ha! Yeah, I heard about you from TJ” she told him.

“Really? Oh, knowing him, I don’t think he said anything good about me” he said laughing.

She also laughed, he knows his brother well. TJ is a very sarcastic, sassy and salty and whatever it is that can define him. But he doesn’t sound rude; when you’re close he would give you snide comments from time to time. He’s surprisingly very polite when he’s meeting new people. “Uh, no, he just told me you also work here” she replied.

“Oh, that’s good, I guess. Anyway, see you around Mira” he said as he climbed down the stairs.

“You too, Anthony” she said and climb upstairs to the office.

After office hours, she walked to the main highway to go to the complex and practice volleyball with the team when a red Toyota car stopped near her. “Hey Mira, I will go to the complex with TJ, are you also going there?” it was Anthony.

“Uh, yes. Do you also practice there?” she asked.

“Yep, but my team practice in the other gymnasium, not where you practice. I’ll just pick TJ up and then we can go together, do you want?” he asked.

“Yes, sure. Thanks” she replied.

They picked TJ up in the company he’s working. He’s an architect. As soon as he saw Anthony’s car, he approached it and opened the door beside the driver’s seat. “I told you, you don’t have to─” he suddenly stopped and his eyes widened when he saw her instead. He closed the door and opened the backseat and sat there. She felt a little awkward; it’s her first time being with any of them alone. “I’m sorry I sat here, do you want to switch seats?” she offered.

“No, it’s okay Mom” he replied. She glared at him and he just smirked.

When they arrived at the complex, Anthony didn’t drop them in the main building because he will park his car in the inner part of the complex. She thanked him for the ride and he drove off.

The practice was as usual, he plays the setter for Harold’s team. It’s three-on-three, on their team, its Harold, her and Yuan, on the other team, its Mathew, TJ and Andrei. Yuan is a very good libero and Harold is very good at offensive techniques, but they still lost the game. “I’m sorry, I’m not really a good setter” she apologized.

“Don’t mind it, for someone who just played volleyball recently, you’re improving” it was Harold.

“Yeah, as long as you enjoy the game” it was Mathew this time.

They played another game, while still teasing each other. After the game, they wrapped up and got ready to go. They went to a fast food chain and had dinner, she doesn’t want to go at first because she’s not with Archi but Yuan offered to walk her home so she agreed. But in the middle of dinner, something came up with Yuan; his grandfather was rushed to the hospital so he has to go.

“Mira, I really, really am sorry” it was Yuan apologizing for the third time.

“Don’t worry about it. You should go to the hospital now.” she answered.

“You should go Yuan. Don’t worry I’ll walk her home” it was TJ.

“You will? Oh, thanks TJ! You saved me” he said relieved. After he said goodbye, he stormed out of the restaurant. They ate almost in silence the whole time after Yuan went to the hospital. After they walked out of the restaurant, they waved goodbye.

“TJ, it’s okay. Your house is on the opposite direction, I can go home alone” she told him.

“It’s okay” he just replied. “Besides, Yuan might feel guiltier if he knew you went home alone after he told you he’ll walk you home” he continued. She stared at him and when he noticed, “What?” he asked in a very stern way.

She laughed at him, “Nothing” she said. “It’s just, I’m surprised you can also act considerate towards your friends no matter how salty you are” she continued laughing.

“What do you mean salty?” he asked.

“Well, you know, when have no sweet bone anywhere in your body and all you do is just emit sarcasm and sassiness. That’s salty” she explained.

“And you think I’m salty?” he asked.

“I know you’re salty” she emphasized while laughing.

She heard him chuckled, “oh, really?” he said with a challenging tone.

He suddenly stood behind her and pushed her while running. She was laughing and shouting to stop him; he was just also laughing but still running.

“Stop! TJ stop!” she said panting. They were laughing as they continue to walk. “I hate you” she said.

“Ha-ha! Serves you right” he said. “By the way, how are you together with my brother?” he suddenly asked.

“We bumped into each other this morning, then he saw me walking outside the office and offered me a ride.” She explained. “He seems nice. He looks jolly. Your total opposite. Ha-ha” she said.

“Yeah” he simply replied. “Oh, your house is here.”

“Yeah, thanks for walking me home, TJ” she said. He just nodded. “Goodnight”

“Good night, Mira” he replied.

That week, Archi was out of town attending a seminar. She rides a commute to office and went to practice every other afternoon. That weekend, she spent it with Dolores where she will wait for Archi to pick her up when he arrived Sunday evening. She sleeps with Dolores, she thinks it’s because she still can’t bring herself to let anyone use Aro’s room.

“Tita, who were you talking to on the phone last night?” she asked because she heard her talking to someone in the middle of the night.

“Oh, you heard? Ha-ha! It’s nothing. What else did you heard dear?” she asked.

“Well, I don’t exactly understand. I just heard your voice. Who is it, Tita? Your boyfriend?” she giggled.

Dolores also giggled, “Don’t mind it sweetheart, it’s just a long lost relative” she answered.

“Really? Have I met her before?” she asked her smiling.

“No, sweetie. I will introduce you though, when he visits”

A he, she thought. “Okay” she replied to the old lady. “What’s his nam—”

“You know I’m curious about something. Tell me sweetie, how did you manage to get Archi to agree to live together? I thought him to be a bit of an old school” Dolores asked her while sitting in the sofa folding her laundry. Mira was sitting in the sofa near the window.

“I know” she smiled. She remembers all the time he rejected her, most of the time it made her laugh. “We’ve been together for three years now, do you think we’re gonna end up together?” she asked.

“Why not? You two look perfect together” Dolores replied continuing her folding.

“Well, he might break up with me when Aro comes home. They also look perfect together”

Dolores paused for a bit and stared at Mira. She smiled at her so gently, “Sweetie, you don’t have to worry about that. When Aro comes home, he’ll have to live with whatever happened for the last six years. It’s his fault for being gone all this time” Dolores shrugged and laughed.

Mira laughed at the Dolores’ statement. “Tita, can I ask you about something?” Dolores nodded and made an ‘hmm’ sound. “What was Aro’s father like? Why are you not together?” She didn’t know where she got the courage to ask her, but she just felt like it’s okay.

“Well, Aro’s father was a pilot” Dolores started with a bit of a smile. “And back then, I was a dish if I say so myself. I was a total looker”

“You still are, tita” Mira responded.

“Well, there was this certain pilot who never looked twice on me, never charmed. So then, I got determined to get his attention. I told myself, ‘ah, when he confess his love, I will drop him like a hot potato!’ Ha-ha!” she paused and smiled. Mira was watching her intently while listening to her story. “But it never happened. Then one night, I got a little naughty, and reckless” she silently laughed. “The next morning, I woke up in bed with him, opened the door to a lady who just burst into tears and ran away. Dramatically, just like that” she pauses from time to time, looking far. “She doesn’t look anything special, she looks simple. She doesn’t hold a candle against me” Dolores stared at Mira and continued, “Actually, she looks like you. Simple, plain. But after that night, nothing changed between us. He’s still not interested. And a few weeks later, I saw them together, the way he looked at her. It’s not the same with me. He loved her. And then I realized, she might look simple and plain, but she also look sweet and innocent. That might be his type. Totally not me. Ha-ha. It didn’t hurt me that much to be honest. Everything happened due to my reckless behavior and pride” She was not looking at Mira while telling her story, she seemed to be looking far, remembering her memories. “I resigned immediately as soon as I learned about my pregnancy. Years later, I heard that they were not able to get pregnant which made me more reluctant to bring Aro to meet him. I might not love him, but Aro’s my life. I don’t want anything that might risk me losing him.” And then, she stopped. “Don’t judge me, hija” she asked Mira.

“Never” she quickly replied. “I thought, there will be like ‘I’ll have what’s rightfully mine!’ in your story, tita” she laughed.

Dolores also laughed at how Mira projected her statement. “Life’s not like that. As you grow older, you’ll realize how privileged we are to have a quiet simple life”

“How did you raise him, tita? You’re alone and you resigned from your work” Mira asked.

“Well, I’m not exactly alone. I grew up with my grandparents and when they learned that I will be having a baby, of course they were not too happy about it. But they just can’t abandon me. They’re farmers but they got really big farms. They even had an apartment constructed in the city so I will have a decent source of income. Of course, I also have to be smart about handling the finances and everything”

“That’s so amazing” was all she said.

“It’s rather bland in my opinion. That’s not how I imagined my life would be. But that’s life I guess, it gives you something you never knew you wanted” she shrugged. “But there’s something I want to ask you, why don’t you have any friends?”

“I have friends, tita” she clarified.

“Those were Archi’s friends. If you happen to have a fight with Archi, would you have anyone you can talk to about it?” And then, there was long silence between them, which made Dolores laugh. “You have to make your circle of friends”

“What about you?” she asked.

“I can’t really take sides when you have a fight” Dolores explained.

“How do I do that?” she asked again. She never really thought about having any other circle aside from which Archi’s included but Dolores has a point.

Dolores laughed again, so gently “Oh my sweet, sweet child” she said between her laughs. After a few moments, “okay, so tell me who do you currently have?”

“Archi’s team mates” she quickly answered.

“Names?” Dolores continued asking.

“TJ, Andrei, Yuan, Harold and Mathew” she answered again.

“Who do you think will be closer to you than to Archi?” Dolores asked again.

“Hmm” Mira think hard about it and answered, “Harold and Mathew are his friends since way back, so, not them. I think TJ, Andrei and Yuan”

“Which of them has a girlfriend?”

“Oh” Mira replied. “I don’t know” she quietly answered.

“Well, you will have to know about it if you will be good friends” Dolores instructed.

“Yes, Ma’am. I will take note of that” Mira said so politely.

“Okay, so here’s what you’re going to do. You will have to ask this TJ, Andrei and Yuan if they have any girlfriend. Any short-term girlfriend will be excluded, you don’t know how serious they will get, yet” Dolores is instructing her step-by-step while Mira is nodding while listening. “Ask them to introduce you to their girlfriend. It will be uncomfortable in the beginning, but who knows, they might turn out to be your kind of person. Plus it’s nice to get out of your comfort zone once in a while” Dolores explained.

It makes sense, everything Dolores just instructed her totally makes sense. “Okay, tita. Tomorrow after practice, I will do that. If I knew you have so much life wisdom, I would’ve asked you a long time ago” she said beaming with determination. Okay, tomorrow, she thought.