I was sitting on the edge of the bed when he woke up. We were in a hotel in Lanang. It was seven thirty in the morning. Five and a half hours before going home to Davao Oriental.
“Hi honey, good morning.” After his warm greeting, he kissed my neck. “Wow! You’re already dressed up and…you packed some stuff. Going on a business trip?”
I didn’t answer. There was a moment of silence.
“Let’s end this,” I finally said.
He laughed. I didn’t expect this kind of reaction from him.
“You’re kidding right? Go back to sleep Saab. Maybe you lack some sleep.”
“I am not kidding. I want to end this. Let’s end this relationship Markki,” I replied.
He climbed out of the bed and a moment later, he was kneeling in front of me.
“You are freaking me out Saab, tell me what’s wrong. He put his hands on my face. “Do you want anything?”
“I already told you what I want Markki.”
“Stop fooling around, Saab. That’s not funny.”
“I told you, I am not! I want to end this relationship…now!”
He stood up and his mood changed.
“What the hell! You want to end this? I already left my wife and daughter for you, and now you are asking me to end this? That’s stupid, Saab!”
Tears were already falling down on my cheeks.
“I am sorry, I’m very sorry. I also suffered a lot. You know that. I endured those gossipmongers’ insults against me and my parents’ hatred towards me just for the sake of this relationship. But…”
“But why Saab?, he asked. “We already sacrificed a lot just to make this relationship work. You will be just going to waste all this?”
I turned my face away from his stare. Yes, he was correct. We sacrificed a lot for our relationship. We’ve already hurt a lot of people. But there was one thing that helped me realized the big mistake I was doing.
“I saw your daughter at the park near my office a week ago. She was crying. She was sitting on a bench, alone. I sat beside her and asked what was wrong and…”
“Stop, Saab! Stop telling me these things, I’ve decided already, I already chose you!”
Even if he was already begging, I still continued.
“She said that she wanted her daddy, that she wanted to see her mommy and daddy to be happy again… together.”
It was hard for me to say those words. My crying turned into sobbing. I looked at him, tears were also falling down on his face.
There was a moment of silence again. He wiped his tears and said, ”Let’s talk about this sometime, maybe you’re just stressed out.”
“No Markki, I’ve decided already. I want to make things right. I can no longer go for worse. I am very sorry.”
After saying the very last word, I stood up and took my things.
“Goodbye, Markki, the moments I spent with you were the best moments in my life. But…we should end this, for you and for me.”
I was walking out from the apartment when he grabbed my arm.
“Stop, please,” he said.
But I shook his hand away from my arm. “We should end this now, let’s make things right.
“I love you, and…and goodbye, Markki.”
I didn’t hear any reply and I was not expecting it. I closed the door and I left.
—
Juneva Encabo is a 4th year AB English student at Ateneo de Davao University.