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“I knew I’d find you here”.
Jhoanna doesn’t need to look back to see the person who has suddenly invaded the space she claimed for herself (a balcony just a door away from the Star Magic Christmas event’s place). She’d recognize that voice anywhere.
“Mhmm”, she hums, acknowledging the presence of the older woman who’s now standing near her, their shoulders only a hairbreadth away from each other.
“You okay, Jho?”
She feels Aiah’s gaze on her, but she continues to stare at the view - letting herself get lost in the Metro’s city lights.
“Mhmm”, she nods.
Aiah decides not to prod anymore, knowing that the younger girl will share whatever’s on her mind once she’s ready.
They stood in comfortable silence - only the car honks from the busy streets below and the muffled sounds of music from the party fills the space between them.
“You know”, Jhoanna starts after a few minutes of silence, “kanina nung nag-speech ako when we accepted that award for being the ‘Breakthrough Artist of the Year, I was nervous. But not for the reasons that you might think. I wasn’t nervous because I’m giving a speech in front of our bosses or other elite actors na matagal nang nasa industriya. I was nervous because suddenly it made me overthink about our future.”
Aiah shifts her gaze back again to the other girl, even from just seeing the side of her face, she can see the crease in her brows and the plain worry in her face. She doesn’t interrupt and instead close the remaining gap between their shoulders and reaches out for the other woman’s hand, which is currenly gripping the balcony’s railing. A sudden warmth started to envelope her whole being when Jhoanna instinctively interlocks their fingers. Aiah squeezes her hand in return, telling her silently to continue.
“I started worrying kasi same time last year, we are already content and so happy to be receiving the ‘Best Creative Dress award, pero ngayon, we only not won one award pero three awards. And while I’m beyond grateful for everything that’s happening, it just made me think how in just a year our whole lives have suddenly changed. Sobrang bilis ng mga nangyari sa ‘tin sa taong ‘to and naisip ko na baka sobrang bilis ding mawala.”
Jhoanna then decides to meet Aiah’s gaze.
Blooms are right in saying that Jhoanna’s eyes are really the windows to her soul. Because by simply looking at those expressive orbs, she already knows what she’s thinking, and it breaks Aiah’s heart a little bit to see those eyes currently swirling with anxiety.
Aiah rarely wishes for something she knows that’s never ever going to happen. But right then and there, she wishes she has the superpower to take all of Jho’s worries away in just a snap of her finger.
Aiah does the next best thing she could think of and let her other hand that wasn’t holding Jhoanna’s, gently caress her cheek. She sees the other girl leaning to her touch and uses her other hand to hold it in place.
“I know telling you to stop worrying about it is not going to work”, Jhoanna softly chuckles at what she just said, “pero sasabihin ko pa rin. Stop worrying, my love. Sabi nga ni Colet ‘di ba? Patapusin muna natin ang taong ‘to and we can then worry. Samahan pa kita sa pag-worry eh”.
“Sira ka talaga”, Jhoanna shakes her head. And Aiah can see the troubled look ebbing away from Jhoanna’s face and getting replaced by a small smile.
“Pero seriously, even then, I wouldn’t even worry. And this is already coming from me na mas malala pa sa’yo mag-overthink. You know why? Because I have faith in us. I have faith na we will overcome literally everything. At tsaka, ‘di ba nga, we’ve been saying in our interviews that this year is just the culmination and fruit of all of our labors? We’ve been climbing this mountain of our dreams for years and while some might say we’ve already reached the peak, I personally don’t think we haven’t yet. I feel like nasa 3rd station pa lang tayo, and we still have a lot of stations to go before we reach the top.”
“Okay, gets ko ‘yung mga sinabi mo about climbing mountains, but you lost me sa stations.”
Aiah playfully rolled her eyes and started pinching Jhoanna’s cheek, “Hay naku, I should definitely bring you to one of my mountain climbing adventures.”
“Not ever going to happen, my love”, Jhoanna says and held Aiah’s hand firmly to put their hands on their sides, effectively stopping Aiah in pinching her cheeks.
Aiah pouts, “but why?”
“Hala, lugi!”
Aiah continues to pout and tries to pair that with her puppy dog eyes.
“Oo na, eto na nga. Sasamahan ka na. Kailan at saan ba ‘yan?” It’s Jhoanna’s turn to roll her eyes.
Aiah laughs out loud, “you’re so cute, Jho!!”
“Ano ba kasing laban ko sa pout at puppy dog eyes na ‘yan? Alam mo namang ang rupok-rupok ko pagdating sa’yo eh.”
“Oh bakit parang kasalanan ko?”, Aiah says putting one of her hands on her chest, her expression turns to mock-hurt.
“Si OA. Halika nga dito”, Jhoanna says and pulls Aiah in her arms. Their bodies instantly fitting like puzzle pieces. Jhoanna presses her face in the crook of Aiah’s neck while Aiah gently holds her head in place, her other hand softly tracing soothing patterns on Jhoanna’s back.
If there is one thing in the world that could instantly calm and chase all of Jhoanna’s troubles away, it’s right here - holding and being held by Aiah. They stayed in that position for quite a while, basking in each other’s presence and warmth until -
“Thank you, Aiah”, Jhoanna softly mumbles into Aiah’s neck, her words softly muffled.
“What for, Jho?”
“For helping me clear my head and for just being here with me.”
“Hey, what are girlfriends for, right?”
Jhoanna was so surprised by the ‘label’ that she suddenly pulls away to look at Aiah, although she still has her arms around the older’s waist.
“Huhh? Anong girlfriend?!”
“Aren’t we?” Aiah asks confusingly.
“Kailan? Saan? Paano?!”, Jhoanna asks, her pitch rising after every question.
“Uhmm, well, we go on dates and we know that we love each other naman na ‘di ba? We even call each other ‘love’. Isn’t that tantamount to being in a relationship?”
“Uhm, n-no? Neither one of us popped the question yet?”, Jhoanna says. Her mind feels like it’s going to explode due to the incredulity of the moment.
“Oh, then. Will you be my girlfriend Jhoanna?”, Aiah asks casually, albeit there’s a wide smile escaping her lips.
Jhoanna’s mouth drops open.
“A-aiah!”
“Yes, my love?”
Jhoanna’s chest is really just seconds away from bursting out of her rib cage. “What the hell!?”
“Language, Jho”, Aiah reprimands, “Wait, don’t you want to be with me?“ Her face suddenly turning into panic and horror.
“No! I mean, of course, I do!”
Aiah breathes a sigh of relief, “oh, then what’s stopping you from saying yes?”
“Eh kasi! Shouldn’t I make ligaw pa?”
“So conyo naman, my love”, Aiah chuckles. “What’s the point of that pa when we both know naman it will end up just me saying yes to you?”
“But I wanted to make this right, Aiah because it’s what you deserve”, Jhoanna pouts and casts her gaze down to stare at their feet.
Aiah reaches out to gently lift the younger woman’s chin so she can meet her eyes, “Believe me when I say that nothing would me make me happier than being called yours and you as mine. Besides, if you’re really adamant in making ligaw, you can still do that even if we’re already together, right?”
Jhoanna shakes her head again and steps forward to rest her forehead against Aiah. “You’re unbelievable, you know that?”
“I’m still waiting for an answer, Robles.”
“Yes.”
“Oh bakit parang napipilatan ka la-“
Whatever Aiah’s going to say is cut off as she suddenly felt a pair of lips meeting her own. It was short (too short for Aiah) but it’s enough to make her whole body go crazy - because suddenly she can feel the onslaught of butterflies in her stomach, her heart beating so fast that it feels like it was about to escape from her chest, and her mind racing with thoughts of ‘ohmygod, jhoanna’s kissing me’ playing in a loop.
“Is that a good enough answer for you?”
Aiah opens her eyes (which she doesn’t remember closing) and sees Jhoanna, her Jhoanna, smiling widely at her.
“Ikaw ah, nagnanakaw ka ng halik.”
Jhoanna’s face suddenly morphs into worry, “Sorry, did I make you uncomfortable? Sorry, I should’ve asked for conse-“
It was Aiah’s turn to steal a kiss from her.
“You dont’t have to ask for consent from now on, Jho”, Aiah reaches again to softly smoothen her furrowed brows.
“Really?”
“Yes and alam mo namang I will tell you agad if you do something that makes me uncomfortable. We’ve been doing that kahit friends pa lang tayo, and that won’t ever stop.”
“Okay, that’s good to know”, Jhoanna softly smiles at her and once again softly tugs Aiah into a hug.
“God, ang magka-girlfriend sa gabing ‘to ay hindi kasama sa bingo card ko.”
“I wanted to say na same pero matagal ko nang in-assume na mag-jowa na tayo”.
Jhoanna giggles at that, “I still can’t believe you thought that. Pero ‘di na ko mag-rereklamo, ikaw na ‘yan oh.”
Aiah just laughs in response and tightens her hold on the other woman. “Mahal kita, Jhoanna”.
Jhoanna hums and says, “Mahal din kita, Aiah.”
They hold onto each other’s arms for a few moments until -
“Piskit, sabi ko na nag-lalandian lang ‘tong dalawang ‘to eh. Oy, lovebirds, tigilan na ‘yan tawag tayo ni Direk!”