Chapter Text
Senator Win was pacing in his office. He was replaying what he said in a recent interview about the edits of him and Senator Risa. He was overthinking things.
What have you done, Sherwin? Dapat you did not comment na lang. Pero ano ba mali sa sinabi ko? I am honored naman talaga to be paired with such a hardworking and brilliant colleague. Ang kaso baka pagmulan pa ng mga issue, magkaroon pa ng bala ang mga troll accounts. What would Risa think? Baka isipin nya ginagamit ko siya for publicity ngunit hindi naman…
A knock snapped him from his overthinking.
“Sen Win, we’re heading home na po.” Jen, one of his staff said.
“Alright. Mag rest kayong lahat ha. See you all tomorrow.”
“Yes, Sen. Kayo rin po.”
Senator Win checked his phone, it was almost 8:00 pm. He should head home too. Maybe a good night sleep is all he needs to stop overthinking. He was about to call his driver when a notification pop up. It was his mom’s text.
Hijo, saw you on TV earlier. Are you and Senator Risa secretly dating?
He almost dropped his phone from mere shock. It’s the first time his mom got interested in his love life. He typed, edited, deleted, and retyped his reply.
Ma, we aren’t dating. Netizens are just amused by our interactions.
Pinakita ng mga pamangkin mo sa akin yung mga video. You two have chemistry.
Ma, I’ll tell you when something comes up. But right now, nothing is going on with me and Risa.
Okay, hijo. Just letting you know na we’re supporting you in whatever your heart desires. Have Senator Risa come by the house sa birthday ng Papa mo ha. I want to meet her.
Ma, it’s too early for that. Pauwi na ako, I’ll text you when I get home. I love you, ma.
The exchanges with his mom fueled the Senator’s overthinking. If his mom and pamangkins can interpret his interview that way, then the netizens would certainly have thought of it that way too. He is worried that Risa would get mad at him for this. He’s contemplating if he’ll call her or send a text right now. But alas, he decided to wait for tomorrow to explain face to face.
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Senator Risa’s notifs were blowing off. She has yet to go through all of them. She opened their sibling group chat. A video was sent, an interview of sorts, but she did not open it yet. But her siblings just sent heart emojis and gifs. She was curious as to what kind of video warranted those reactions. She did not have an interview that day though, so whose is it?
She opened the video and she couldn’t believe her eyes. It was Sherwin admitting that he feels some sort of kilig when coming across the edits of WinRi on social media. She was just informed of the pairing recently so she did not know how to react. But hearing Win said all those things made her heart smile.
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The night felt longer. Senator Win was having a difficult time falling asleep. He was thinking of all the possible scenarios that can come into play when he sees Senator Risa tomorrow. What should he say? Should he apologize about the whole thing right off the bat? Or should he try to joke about it? But alas, he decided to leave it to fate. He was still scrolling on social media platforms to check what people are saying about WinRi. All of the posts were positive and seemed accepting of the pairing. His smile was ear to ear. He never felt this happy. After seemingly reaching the end of the posts, he accidentally likes one.
Morning came and he woke up to several messages from staff, family, and friends. They all saw a published news about pairings in the senate and WinRi was soaring. The articles are also teasing that the Senator is lurking on social media because he likes posts pertaining to their pairing. This made him extra nervous. He began taking mental notes of the apologies he has to say to Senator Risa when they meet later today.
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Senator Risa was early as always. Her staff were out grabbing breakfast. She was surprised to hear a knock. She looks to the door’s direction and she sees Senator Win by the door with coffee in hand.
“Sen Win, you’re early. What brings you here?” She greeted him.
“I took the liberty to bring you your morning coffee. And…I..uh…I want to consult you about something.” his tone shifting from confident to jittery.
“Okay, you can sit over here. I have suman, it goes well with coffee. Teka, why do you seem so nervous…is something wrong?
“Wala naman. Teka tikman ko muna yung suman bago ang lahat.”
After a good minute or two, Sen Risa decided to break the silence.
“What was it you want to consult?”
“Ah, eh…it’s about us…” Sen Win blurted. His gaze was fixed on the floor, as he fears that looking straight into her eyes would instantly make him lose composure.
“Us?” Sen Risa was too stunned to add to that one word. Although she has an inkling of what he’s talking about she was allowing him to share.
“I mean about what has been circulating in the news about our pairing.”
“Oh, WinRi?”
“So you have seen it all too?”
“Yes. And I must say I am amused of what the netizens come up with. They are quite imaginative.”
“Right…So you’ve seen my interview too?”
“My sister sent it to our group chat.” Sen Win’s face was as red as a chili pepper.
“I am so sorry, it was a spur of the moment thing. I can draft a clarification statement if you want.”
“Ano ka ba, it’s fine. There’s no harm done.”
“Sure?” A sign of relief was visible on his face.
“Yes, I am sure. No need to worry about it, Win. It’s refreshing nga to see more positive posts than trolls in our social media nga.”
“Kaya nga, it’s a welcome change.”
“Kakausapin nga sana rin kita, pero naunahan mo ako. I was also going to ask you about your thoughts on that.”
“Okay lang rin sa akin. Inalala lang din kita kasi baka isipin mo for brownie points lang yun, but it’s not. My social media team was not behind it.”
“You’re over thinking things. But for what it’s worth, it being for brownie points didn’t even cross my mind, Win. Rest assured that my social media team was not behind it as well.”
“Organic talaga, huh”
“Apparently, yes.”
Silence. Kroo kroo.
“Thanks for the coffee ha.” Sen Risa again breaking the silence.
“Thanks for the suman.” And as if on cue he stood up and prepared to leave.
“Sige, balik na ako sa office.”
“Sige, I’ll see you later.”
“Risa, one more thing… before I go…I just want to set the record straight. I meant every word I said on that interview.” It took a lot of courage for him to say that. He was looking at her intently, scared and hopeful at the same time for even the tiniest hint of what she feels.
“It’s sweet. I feel the same.” His face reddened. He turned his back and hurriedly went back to his office. He missed the sight of Risa's face turning a little red because of what he declared.
What was that all about? She never saw Win act like that ever. But alas, she has to set her curiosity about that aside since they have far more pressing matters to attend to.
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The committee hearing started.
Senators Win and Risa solidified a new majority bloc, reorganizing the Senate committee while addressing the absence of eighteen witnesses in a flood control inquiry. Hontiveros challenged a rival faction's session as illegitimate and threatened subpoenas for the missing witnesses, aiming to maintain the panel's focus on investigating the multi-billion peso scandal.
Sen Win’s eyes follow Sen Risa’s movement. He only looked away when he felt like she was going to look his way. He maintained a respectful distance, 2 senators away lagi.
Sen Risa noticing the distance thought that he was avoiding her. She followed suit and tried her best not to look his way the entire time. Maybe he was anxious of all the snippets of them together, that’s why he’s keeping his distance for now. Besides, she has read some of the think pieces of some netizens, there were a tiny group not okay with her association with Win.
What happened? They were okay earlier. But never mind that, they had to focus on work which was far more important than anything right now.
The hearing ended and Risa left first. Win noticed and she tried to say something but Risa wasn’t looking at his direction.
Why did it felt like there was suddenly a wall.
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The new majority, headed by Sen Win initiated a dinner. He just wants to ask Sen Risa out, but he figures that it was better if he asked the group na lang. The atmosphere was kind of relaxed now compared to when they were in the senate. Strictly no work talk, even just for a couple of hours.
Win and Risa who were usually seated together were noticeably far from each other. Their fellow senators noticed it too. Sen Tito was the first to speak about it.
Win, Risa, parang kanina pa kayo hindi nagkikibuan a. May hindi ba kayo pagkakaunawaan?
Tito Sen, wala naman. Win was the first to clarify
Baka naman kasi yung mga edit nung mga bata ay nagkakatotoo na. Sen Raffy teased
Uy wala yon, kayo talaga. Sen Rısa was the one to react
From action at drama, ngayon naman love na ang istorya. Sen Ewin joked
Sadyang mapaglaro lang talaga ang isip ng mga netizens. Sen Risa reasoned out
But this is the first time ha na medyo hindi hateful ang mga tao. Sen JV pointed out
Pati mga anak at apo ko nga nakasubaybay sa hearing at session. Sen Tito Sen
Pero teka, Sen Win, Sen Risa… wala ba talaga? Parehas naman yata kayong single di ba? Sen Raffy teased again.
Sen Win and Sen Risa were too stunned to speak so they laughed it off.
The dinner and the banter ended. For some reason, only the two senators were left. No one dared to say a thing, at least not for a good 5 minutes.
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"Win, you're awfully quiet kanina. Okay ka lang ba?"
"I could say the same thing sa iyo. You did not even look at me once during the hearing." Is the pairing getting out of hand? Just say the word and I’ll…” he was trying to find the right words to say.
“Win, you’re a nice guy. I know I said that it doesn’t bother me and it was true at that time (yesterday)…but now it does. Some people are saying that all I had to do was get paired up with someone to be palatable to the people. It stings, you know? I now that I can look tough most of the time but the negative words gets to me too.” Risa spilled her thoughts. Win never thought that she was carrying this much. She was always calm, collected, and unbothered.
“I am sorry for fueling their pairing. Have I known it would affect you like this, I would have not said anything.” Win was apologetic. He wants to rush to her side and offer a hug, but he refrained. What right does he have to act like that? He gulped another drink and proceeds to refill another and another and another that he lost count.
“It’s not your fault. Hindi mo naman kontrolado ang pag-iisip ng mga tao. It's just one of those days, I guess.”
"Actually, I don't care what they say. I only care about what you say." Liquid courage? Probably. Risa was too stunned to speak.
Win's eyes widened. Believe it or not, his eyes can do that HAHA. Oh, shoot. What did he just said? Is he really confessing to his long time crush right now?
"Win, you're a bit tipsy. I'll call my driver, we'll get you home." This is the most nonchalant thing she could say at the moment.
The driver arrived and they both got in the car.