Chapter Text
“Ma’am.”
Risa didn’t look up immediately.
That alone should have worried her staff.
Her staff had worked with her long enough to know that whenever she started a sentence with Ma’am and that particular tone, trouble usually followed.
“What happened?” Risa asked, still scanning the draft report in front of her.
Her staff was silent for a second.
“You’re trending.”
Risa closed her eyes.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Like someone trying very hard not to commit a crime.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“You're joking.”
“Unfortunately, no.”
Now she looked up.
Her staff turned her phone around.
The first thing she saw was the hashtag.
#WINRI
The second thing she saw was the number of posts.
The third thing she saw was a video edit.
With background music.
Again.
“Oh my God.”
“Good morning, Ma’am.”
“It’s 8:30 in the morning.”
“Exactly.”
“People should be working.”
“They are.”
“They’re making fan edits.”
“That’s still technically work.”
Risa pointed at her.
“You. You’re part of the problem.”
Her staff grinned.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You liked one of them.”
“That was research.”
“Research?”
“Public sentiment.”
Risa groaned.
***
Three floors below, Sherwin “Win” Gatchalian was having almost the exact same conversation.
“Sir.”
He didn’t even bother looking up.
“#WinRi?”
His staff blinked.
“…yes.”
“I knew it.”
The young staff looked impressed.
“How?”
“Pattern recognition.”
The staff handed him a tablet.
“Number two nationwide now.”
“Wow.”
There was absolutely no excitement in his voice.
“Congratulations.”
“Thank you.”
“You have a fandom.”
“I wish I didn’t.”
The staff laughed.
Win accepted the tablet and immediately regretted it.
Someone had made another compilation.
This time it was titled:
Ten Minutes of Senator Win Looking at Senator Risa Like She’s the Only Person in the Room
He stared at it.
The staff stared at him.
Win slowly locked the screen.
“Sir—”
“No.”
“You don’t want to know if—”
“Nope.”
The staff wisely retreated.
The moment the door closed, Win sighed.
Then unlocked the tablet again.
Just for a second.
Purely for professional reasons.
Definitely not because curiosity got the better of him.
Thirty seconds later he was watching clips from hearings spanning almost three years.
“…Okay, that’s a little concerning.”
Because unfortunately—
some of them weren’t entirely wrong.
***
The internet thought #WinRi started three months ago.
The internet was wrong.
For Win, it started in 2016.
Though at the time, he hadn’t known it yet.
Back then they were both new senators.
Both adjusting.
Both trying to figure out how to navigate an institution filled with people who had been there far longer than they had.
He still remembered orientation week.
The endless briefings.
The introductions.
The committee assignments.
The chaos.
And somewhere in the middle of all that was Risa.
Not because she was loud.
Not because she wanted attention.
Actually, one of the first things he noticed about her was how comfortable she seemed letting other people take the spotlight.
She listened more than she spoke.
Observed more than she reacted.
But whenever she did speak, people listened.
Even then.
Even as a first-term senator.
There was something about her.
Prepared.
Thoughtful.
Passionate.
And genuinely kind.
Not performatively kind.
Not the kind of nice people turned on when cameras were around.
Real kindness.
The kind shown to staff.
To interns.
To security personnel.
To everyone.
He admired that.
A lot.
At first he thought it was professional respect.
Then the years passed.
One election cycle.
Then another.
Committee hearings.
Legislative debates.
Public events.
Policy discussions.
Friendship.
And somewhere along the way—
things got complicated.
Very quietly.
Very inconveniently.
And very permanently.
The smart thing would have been to do absolutely nothing about it.
So that’s exactly what he did.
For almost ten years.
***
“Sir?”
Win looked up.
His executive assistant appeared at the doorway.
“Hearing starts in twenty minutes.”
“Got it.”
“And Senator Hontiveros is already on her way.”
That information should not have mattered.
Unfortunately, it did.
***
The Senate building was already busy by the time Risa stepped into the hallway.
Staff moved in every direction.
Reporters waited near designated areas.
Security personnel monitored entrances.
A normal day.
Or as normal as anything could be inside the Senate.
“Good morning, Senator.”
The voice came from her left.
Risa turned.
And there he was.
Win.
Looking annoyingly well-rested.
“Good morning.”
He noticed her expression immediately.
“What happened?”
She pointed at him.
“This is your fault.”
He looked genuinely confused.
“My fault?”
“Yes.”
“What did I do now?”
“You gave me water.”
There was a pause.
Then Win laughed.
“That’s the accusation?”
“Look where it got us.”
“Risa, that’s basic human decency.”
“The internet disagrees.”
“I can’t control the internet.”
“Are you sure?”
“Last time I checked.”
She shook her head.
“Three months.”
“Yup.”
“It won’t die.”
“No it won’t.”
“People think we’re secretly dating.”
“People think a lot of things.”
“You’re not helping.”
“What am I supposed to do?”
“I don’t know.”
“Exactly.”
She hated that he had a point.
Mostly because he knew it.
His smile widened.
“Oh, you’re enjoying this.”
“A little.”
“Win.”
“Very little.”
“Liar.”
“Point taken.”
She laughed despite herself.
And immediately regretted it.
Because from somewhere behind them—
someone shouted.
“AYAN!”
Both senators froze.
“Oh no,” Risa whispered.
“Oh yes,” Win said.
They turned simultaneously.
Three familiar figures were approaching.
Bam Aquino.
Kiko Pangilinan.
Migz Zubiri.
All smiling.
Which was never a good sign.
***
“Good morning, WinRi.”
Risa closed her eyes.
“No.”
Bam looked confused.
“No what?”
“No.”
“I haven’t even said anything yet.”
“You were about to.”
“I was.”
“Exactly.”
Migz looked delighted.
“Grabe, kilalang-kilala ka na.”
“Unfortunately.”
Kiko Pangilinan joined them.
“So……”
“Risa.”
“I’m busy.”
“We just wanted to ask—”
“No.”
“Win.”
“Don’t involve me.”
“Would you like matching campaign posters?”
Win almost choked.
Bam looked pleased with himself.
Migz high-fived him.
“Good one.”
“It wasn’t.”
“It was.”
Risa pinched the bridge of her nose.
“I work with children.”
“We’re on the same age bracket.”
“Emotionally questionable.”
“Good point.”
The four men laughed.
Risa considered leaving.
Unfortunately, the hearing they were all attending was in the same direction.
***
Twenty minutes later, the committee hearing began.
The room was packed.
Media representatives occupied the designated section.
Staff filled the remaining seats.
Resource persons waited for their turn.
Everything looked professional.
Everything felt professional.
At least from the outside.
Unfortunately, somewhere in the room there was probably a journalist mentally updating their personal #WinRi evidence folder.
Not that either senator knew.
Or maybe they did.
A little.
***
The hearing stretched for hours.
Questions.
Presentations.
Clarifications.
Amendments.
The usual.
By lunchtime everyone was visibly tired.
Including Risa.
She leaned back slightly in her chair and rubbed her temple.
The migraine she’d been ignoring all morning was beginning to make itself known.
Across the table, Win noticed immediately.
Because of course he did.
Unfortunately, noticing things about Risa had become second nature years ago.
Five minutes later a cup of coffee appeared beside her.
Risa blinked.
Then looked up.
Win was already looking at a document.
As if he hadn’t done anything.
As if he hadn’t quietly asked a staff member to bring it over.
As if he wasn’t pretending not to notice her staring.
A small smile appeared on her face.
“Thank you.”
Without looking up, he nodded.
“You’re welcome.”
Simple.
Normal.
Completely harmless.
***
Three rows behind them, a journalist grabbed her friend’s arm.
“Oh my God.”
“What?”
“Did you see that?”
“What happened?”
“The coffee.”
“…The coffee?”
“The coffee.”
Five minutes later, a blurry photo appeared online.
Twenty minutes later it had five thousand shares.
By dinner time—
another hashtag was trending.
#CoffeeForRi
***
“You’re kidding.”
Risa stared at her phone in disbelief.
Her staff was laughing so hard she could barely breathe.
“It’s not funny.”
“It is a little funny.”
“It is not.”
“It absolutely is.”
Risa dropped onto the couch in her office.
“This country has problems. And yet…”
“They’re invested in your love life.”
“There is no love life.”
Her staff gave her a look.
Risa immediately pointed a finger.
“Don’t.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You were thinking it.”
“Maybe.”
Risa tried to glare at her.
“Sorry.”
She wasn’t sorry.
Not even a little.
***
Later that evening, after most of the building had emptied, Win was still in his office.
Reviewing paperwork.
Or at least pretending to.
His concentration had disappeared hours ago.
His phone buzzed.
A new message appeared.
Risa.
He smiled before he could stop himself.
Risa: Have you seen today’s disaster?
Win: Which one?
Risa: There were multiple disasters?
Win: We were trending twice.
Risa: I hate this place.
Win: That’s dramatic.
Risa: Someone made a coffee hashtag.
There was a pause.
Then another message appeared.
A screenshot.
Win laughed.
Actually laughed.
Alone.
In his office.
At nearly nine o’clock at night.
Risa: Stop laughing.
Win: You can’t prove that.
Risa: I know you’re laughing.
Win: Maybe.
Risa: Win.
Win: Sorry.
Risa: You’re not sorry.
Win: Not really.
For several seconds, neither sent another message.
Then—
Risa: Good night.
A simple message.
Nothing special.
Nothing unusual.
The kind of message friends sent each other all the time.
But somehow—
Win found himself smiling at the screen.
Again.
Win: Good night, Risa.
He stared at the conversation after sending it.
Then finally put the phone down.
Outside his office window, Manila gleamed in the distance.
Inside the quiet room, Win leaned back in his chair.
Ten years.
Almost ten years of keeping certain feelings carefully locked away.
Ten years of convincing himself that friendship was enough.
Ten years of pretending he was perfectly fine.
And then the universe decided to create a hashtag.
He shook his head and laughed softly.
The entire country thought they were witnessing the beginning of something.
If only they knew.
For Win—
the story had started a long time ago.
He just wasn’t sure if Risa would ever know.