Chapter Text
Rush Crush
Chapter One
Post
7:45 p.m.
After powering through meeting after meeting all day, Regina Vanguardia finally emerged from her office at the 18th floor of Vanguardia Towers. The fatigue has fully taken over her body and she wanted nothing more than to pass out in the comforts of her own warm bed. She touched her neck and forehead as though checking for early signs of fever. She reached for her nape and stretched a little.
It has been a long day.
Regina quietly trudged the long corridor towards the lifts. Her posh handbag on one hand while her phone on the other.
She checked her messages. The first one that caught her attention was from the head mechanic of the car shop informing her that it will take three more days before she can get her car back. Shit! She groaned.
She stopped and leaned a little to look out the window. Heavy down pour of rain. Delubyo levels, she muttered under her breath.
Her phone pinged. It’s Ali on the other line.
“Reg, nasa NLEX pa ako. Wala ng galawan dito.” He sounded apologetic.
“No Ali, sige. Don’t worry about it. I can manage naman. You head home na.” Came her instant reply. She was drained and utterly wiped out.
“Are you sure?”
Her best friend offered to give her a lift home since her car was still in the casa. But since he only found out about her car trouble an hour ago, he didn’t have enough lead time to head back to the city. Not to mention that the weather decided to have a fit that night, it was truly a lost cause.
After reassuring Ali for five more times that she was perfectly capable of hauling her tired ass home, she continued towards the lifts and called it a night.
At the lobby, she tried a ride-hailing app but there were no available drivers nearby. “Surge kasi ma’am Regina.” One of the receptionist told her. Their building security also tried to physically hail her a cab but… “May sakay lahat ma’am.”
She’s exhausted and at this point she just really want to get home.
“Ma’am na-try nyo na po bang mag UV?” one of the guards suggested. “May shuttle dun ma’am.” He pointed at the parking lot across the building. “Nadaan yan sa tapat ng condo nyo po.”
“Are you sure?” She was genuinely excited. There’s still hope.
“Yes po ma’am pero okay lang po ba sa inyo mag-commute?”
After asking the parking attendant about the route of the shuttle, she was led to a white UV Express van parked near the entrance. Both the front passenger seats as well as the back seats were fully occupied. The only vacant seats left were at the middle row.
When the young barker opened the door, Regina noticed that three people were already seated on the first row. Two students – probably friends, sat side by side by the door and middle respectively. A girl wearing a red polo shirt was by the window. Her face was down, probably reading something on her phone.
The window side of the second row was occupied by an elderly woman, who was already halfway through slumber land judging by the way her head leaned comfortably against the headrest.
When she was about to sit beside the elderly woman, Regina saw the girl in red – the one wearing the same red shade as her suit, look up from her phone and flash her a small smile.
She smiled tentatively at her. How friendly naman, she mused.
They stared at each other for a good minute before the barker interrupted them.
“Sige pasok lang po sa gitna, ma’am.”
“Thanks kuya” she cheerily said and nodded back at him.
When she turned her head again, the girl in red was back at her phone already.
Moment over. Sayang!
Just seconds after Regina got in, another passenger – a buff guy carrying his oversized gym bag, took the seat on her right. After a few minutes, the driver jumped in his seat and they were off.
It was a smooth commute for about twenty minutes until they got stuck in a horrible traffic. Ten minutes passed and they barely made it towards the traffic light.
“Positive Six-Seven ang Tango sa Sierra Mike over?” The driver yelled at his phone.
“Stranded sa baha, over!” the man on the other line replied loudly.
Regina looked outside. The rain has stopped but the street was gutter-deep in flood. Only one of the usual four-lanes of the road was passable and all vehicles had to trudge in a single file to avoid the flood.
She looked at her watch – 8:30 p.m. A bit late and still a little over half way home. This will take a while.
The adorable lola’s light snore made her look to her side while kuya gym bro’s chuckle startled her. He was happily chatting in an app with black and yellow and blue interface. Grindr? Oh get it, gurl! Happy Pride!
The two students in front were both sharing a tablet watching a fan cam performance of a local girl group. BINI! She almost squealed. She remembered inviting the group for their Christmas Ball at the office a few months ago. They were a massive hit.
Should I have stayed in at the office instead? She was beginning to regret her decision to leave in a rush. Might have a better night if she’d just waited it out.
But maybe…
She casually turned her head towards the window. The woman in red in her peripheral view
She can only see her side profile – her sharp jawline, her beautiful nose, her rosy cheek yet even in that angle, Regina knew – she’s sobrang maganda talaga.
Okay so maybe this wasn’t such a bad idea after all.
This view made this whole ordeal kinda… worth it?
Ang cute pa ng smile nya.
Regina didn’t mean to stare. Or gawk. Or fixate.
Pero kasi.. ang pretty nya talaga.
But it’s rude to stare. So she settled for stealing glances na lang. Less stalker-y, she mused.
When the pretty-girl-in-red moved a little, she saw that her shirt had a name printed on the back. Custodio.
Okay so pretty-girl-in-red’s name, probably surname – Custodio. Okay, thanks universe!
Regina consciously held back her smile when pretty-girl-in-red – Miss Custodio, furrowed her eyebrows. She seemed bothered by something she’s reading on her phone.
How adorable can this girl get?
Regina didn’t mean to pry but it’s traffic and there’s really very limited view to look at or do for that matter. Not to mention that she was pretty much a head taller than everyone – except maybe for kuya gym bro? so when her eyes landed on Miss Custodio’s phone – not intentionally, something perked her interest. There was something on her phone that caught her attention.
She peered at the small font in the device. Color scheme of the website seemed familiar. That imposing red bar on top in contrast to the white background. Logo seemed familiar too.
And then it hit her.
She couldn’t stop the smile that formed on her face.
Oh I know this one. She reading from a popular archive site for fanworks.
Regina knew that because she’s a frequent reader from this particular site herself.
And then something dawned on her.
Wait a second.
She was seriously reading. Her face, stoic. Her eyes, a little intense.
Regina eyed her suspiciously.
Miss Custodio, are you reading smut? Probably smut, Regina guessed. It made her blush a little.
Why is my face warm though?
Just then, Miss Custodio quickly covered her mouth with her free hand. Her shoulders struggled to keep her laugh in. She dared to look around on whether anyone else saw her contain her shoulder shake.
Regina hurriedly pulled out on her own phone, feigning boredom… nonchalance.
Regina was sure this time. Ah fluff. She’s definitely reading fluff.
And this made Regina even more curious.
What would make this girl feel kilig over?
And she knew she really shouldn’t. It’s like breaking the rules on common courtesy, etiquette, basic manners and decency. She’s already aware that it’s rude to be looking at someone else’s phone. Let alone check out what they’re reading.
But curiosity got the best of her. Jesus take the wheel.
So when pretty-girl-in-red – Miss Custodio scrolled back up to click something on the header. Regina’s eyes zoomed in on the title of story that she was currently reading.
Oh. Okaaaaay.
The title’s familiar as well as the author’s name.
Was she reading from the same fandom as hers?
This can’t be happening right?
What in the San Junipero is going on here?
Regina smirked.
Soooo she’s into that pala. Good to know.
And as a card-bearing, rainbow-breathing (adorable) idiot that she is, the next question that came to mind was… so is she???
But then something else made sense in her head.
I know why she’s giggling kanina.
Because that chapter made her kilig as well.
Interesting.
And even before Regina could do anything about that brand new information, pretty-girl-in-red pocketed her phone and cleared her throat.
“Ay kuya, sa tabi na lang po.” She called out politely.
“May bababa?” The driver muttered from the front.
“Yes po kuya!” she confirmed in a sing-song.
Oh. Okay. She’s bababa na pala. It made Regina a little sad.
The van slowed to the side and stopped.
“Excuse me. Thank you.” She said to the students beside her. Her voice was warm and soft and oh so goddamn sweet. It made her feel things.
If hindi pa hulog kanina, it seems like eto na.
As the pretty-girl-in-red alighted, Regina could have sworn that Miss Custodio looked back and smiled at her before closing the door entirely.
Did I imagine that?
After an uneventful rest of commute home - kasi SHE made baba na, and a whole lot of overthinking along the way, Regina arrived safely at the penthouse and the first call she got was from Ali.
“You survived your first-ever-commute, how do you feel?”
“Ang hassle ng traffic especially with the baha, that much I could tell you.” Her voice was tired but still somehow a bit cheery.
“Sige tomorrow, promise sundo na kita.”
“It’s fine Ali. I think I can manage na the commute.”
“Si Regina pa ba tong kausap ko?”
Later that evening, as Regina laid her tired mortal shell in bed, there was only one question that’s been running in her head all night long.
“Will I see her kaya tomorrow?”