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It had been a little over two years since they had left the Senate.
Two years since the cameras, committee hearings, endless briefings, late-night votes, and carefully worded statements had been part of his everyday life. Two years since Win and Risa had been in the same room together, in each other’s meetings, argued over policy, exchanged sarcastic messages during painfully long sessions, and learned far more about each other than either of them had ever intended.
When their term ended, Risa stayed in public service with the Akbayan partylist while Win went back managing their family business as a private citizen.
Almost immediately after leaving office, he stepped away from politics and quietly returned to the private sector, taking over the family business and eventually expanding it into something much larger. He gave almost no interviews. He rarely appeared at public events unless his company was directly involved. His social media became practically useless, it became quiet.
As for Risa, she never really left the public eye.
If anything, her life became even busier after the Senate. She continued working with Akbayan, moving between congressional offices, community meetings, consultations, policy discussions, and events that required her to speak about issues she had spent years working on. She was still involved in the same causes, still attending the same kinds of meetings, still answering questions from journalists, and still somehow managing to survive on terrible coffee and whatever food happened to be available between appointments.
She had grown accustomed to people asking about her former colleagues.
Sometimes it was about politics.
Sometimes it was about where they had gone after their terms ended.
And the most brought up was about their former Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian and of course, Winri.
She would thank the people who supported them but other than that she never knew what to say.
“I hope he’s doing well,” she would end with whenever someone asked, even though she had no idea. It wasn’t as though they had ended badly. That was what made the distance stranger.
There had been no dramatic falling-out, no argument that forced them apart, no final conversation where either of them had said something unforgivable. Their terms had simply ended, their lives had moved in different directions as normal colleagues would.
The last time Risa had seen him in person was at the Senate building. She could still remember it with embarrassing clarity.
——
They had both been exhausted. Their final weeks in office had been filled with transition meetings and paperwork, everyone simultaneously trying to finish old work and figure out what their lives would look like after the term. Win had been standing outside one of the committee rooms with a stack of folders tucked underneath his arm, complaining about how many documents he was apparently expected to sign before he was allowed to leave.
Risa had laughed at him, “Nakalaya na rin sa responsibilidad dito, SP.”
“Ikaw din naman, Sen Risa,” he laughed with her. “What’s your plan after the senate?”
“Well I love doing what I do, helping people, I mean. Parte pa rin naman ako ng Akbayan.” She answered with a smile. “Ikaw naman SP, naalala ko nabanggit mo before na you’ll go back sa private sectors.”
He nodded, shifting the folders underneath his arm as he leaned back against the wall outside the committee room. “Yeah. I think it’s time. Matagal na rin naman akong hindi nakakapag-focus doon. My family has been handling most of it while I’ve been here, so I figured I’d finally go back and help them properly.”
“Help them?” Risa repeated, raising an eyebrow. “Or take over?”
He laughed, “ang sama naman ng tingin mo sa akin.”
“I’m just saying. Knowing you, five minutes after you walk into the office, ikaw na ang boss.”
“Hindi naman.”
“Talaga?”
“Okay, maybe.” Risa laughed again, shaking her head.
It was the same kind of conversation they had always had, easy and familiar despite the fact that they were both standing there with boxes of documents and the strange awareness that this was probably one of their last few conversations inside the Senate.
Around them, staff members were moving in and out of offices, carrying folders, equipment, and personal belongings. Some were saying their goodbyes, some were already making plans for what they would do next, and others were simply trying to finish their last day without getting emotional.
Win looked down at the folders in his hands before looking back at her. Neither of them seemed particularly interested in being the first to leave.
Risa glanced at the stack of folders in his arms and smiled. “So after this, wala ka nang excuse na busy ka.”
Win looked at her. “Excuse?”
She nodded, “Yeah. Lagi kang may excuse kapag nagyayaya kami ng dinner.”
“Hindi excuse ‘yon. Busy talaga ako.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Oo nga, Risa.”
“Sure, Che.”
He shook his head, laughing under his breath. “Ikaw nga Ris, hindi mo nga ako inaaya. Lagi kang busy.”
Risa opened her mouth to argue, then stopped.
Because that was half true.
They had spent years in the same building, seatmates during plenary sessions, sometimes seeing each other multiple times a day, sometimes communicating entirely through messages despite being only a few rooms apart. They had eaten rushed lunches together with other senators and staff, shared coffee when meetings ran too long, exchanged complaints about schedules, teased each other during hearings, and occasionally stayed behind after everyone else had left because neither of them wanted to be the first to admit they were tired.
There had always been something easy about Win. Something that made her seek him out without thinking.
If she saw him in the hallway, she would stop;
If he sent a message asking where she was, she would answer;
And if either of them were having a particularly bad day, one of them would somehow know before they said anything.
They had become closer in the last few years of their term, and somewhere along the way, they had become each other’s safe space.
“Aysus, sige next time ako taya.” Risa suggested.
Sherwin chuckled, “sabi mo yan ah, walang bawian.”
Just on cue, someone from his team had called Sherwin meters apart.
“Ay tinatawag na ako. I have to go. Ingat ka Ris, see you around. Don’t be a stranger ha.”
Risa smiled and shook her head. “Ikaw rin, SP.”
He gave her one last smile before turning toward the person calling him from down the hallway.
——
For other people, that looks like a normal conversation between two senators who worked closely together and became friends along the way. But for Sherwin, it had never really been that simple. He stood there for another second after walking away from her, folders still tucked underneath his arm, pretending to listen to the staff member who had called for him while his mind remained somewhere behind him, with Risa still standing in the hallway.
He had known for a while that there was something different about the way he felt about her, although he had never allowed himself to say it out loud, not even to himself. It had started so quietly that he couldn’t remember exactly when it happened.
Maybe it was during one of those late nights when everyone else had gone home and the two of them were still sitting in the same room, working through documents and complaining about how much work remained. Maybe it was all of it happening slowly, over years, until one day he realized that seeing her had become one of the things he looked forward to most about coming to work.
Or he thought that he just got carried away by watching the edits made by the netizens ever since Winri blew up on the internet.
He had never intended for it to happen. If anything, Sherwin had been careful about it. Risa was someone he respected too much to ever make her uncomfortable, and their positions made everything complicated enough without adding something personal into the mix.
They were both public figures, both constantly surrounded by people who watched what they said, who they met, where they went, and who they were seen with. There was always a camera somewhere, always a reporter looking for something interesting. Their jobs already came with enough scrutiny without adding a relationship into the equation. He knew how quickly people could turn something innocent into a political narrative.
And Risa, more than anyone, had built her life around public service. She cared deeply about the work she was doing, and Win knew how seriously she took it. He could never forgive himself if something between them became a distraction for her or, worse, became something people could use against her. So he kept it to himself.
Sherwin didn’t want to put her in a position where she had to choose between something personal and the work she had spent years dedicating herself to. So every time he came close to saying something, he stepped back.
He convinced himself that the reason he noticed her more was because they worked well together.
The reason he remembered small details about her was because they had become close colleagues, the reason he sometimes caught himself smiling at his phone whenever he was mentioned onto something or when her name appeared was because of what the positive comments had been saying about them. All of those things were technically true. They just weren’t the whole truth.
He told himself maybe after their terms ended, when they were no longer working together.
He had even thought about reaching out once things settled down, maybe sending her a simple message asking how she was doing or reminding her about the dinner she had jokingly promised him before they left the Senate.
It would have been easy. He had her number. He knew where to find her. They had spent years talking almost every day, so there was no reason for suddenly stopping to feel natural. But the transition from the Senate back into their family business had been more hectic than he expected.
Somewhere between all of the meetings, documents to read, and decisions he had to make, days became weeks, and weeks became months. Every time he thought about messaging her, he would tell himself that he would do it when things were less busy.
There were moments when he would open their old conversation, scroll through messages from their Senate days, and stare at the last few exchanges but never sent anything. At some point, he stopped trying to find the time.
Risa continued with her work, and Sherwin returned completely to the private sector. He became busier than he had expected, taking a much more active role in the family business and slowly expanding it. His name became less visible in political circles, his social media grew quieter, and interviews became rare. He didn’t mind the privacy. In fact, he preferred it. It gave him the freedom to live without constantly wondering how something would look from the outside.
Still, every now and then, he would look up her name to see how she was doing.
——
Two years passed and by then, Sherwin had convinced himself that maybe it was better that way.
Until an event connected to his company finally put them in the same room again. He hadn’t known she would be there.
His company was one of the private-sector partners involved in the event, which was why he had agreed to attend in the first place. Normally, he would have sent one of his executives in his place, but there were enough people from the government involved that his presence had been requested personally. So he showed up, spoke with a few organizers, shook hands with people he hadn’t seen in years, and tried to stay focused on the reason he was there.
Risa arrived at the event alone. Once she had stepped inside, people greeted her and on the other side of the room, Sherwin had been watching. For a moment, everything around him seemed to fade into the background.
The first thought that crossed his mind was embarrassingly simple.
Maybe I should’ve reached out. Sherwin laughed at himself.
“Ang tagal na,” he murmured under his breath.
He hadn’t even realized he said it aloud until one of the company executives beside him glanced over.
“Sherwin?”
“Sorry. Can we continue later? I have to talk to someone. I’ll be back.” Sherwin excused himself politely and left without waiting for an answer from them.
——
Risa had arrived at the event expecting nothing more than another evening of handshakes, speeches, and conversations about work. She had barely stepped inside when familiar faces began greeting her, pulling her into discussions she had already mentally prepared herself for.
She got out of a conversation from someone she had just been introduced to and made her way to the open bar, finally allowing herself a moment to breathe. She glanced at the selection of alcoholic drinks in front of her, already debating whether she should get something stronger than coffee for tonight, when she heard a familiar voice behind her.
“Get a drink, minsan lang naman.”
Risa froze.
She had been thinking about the owner of that voice lately. For the past two years, she had heard it only through old memories, old videos, and the occasional clip that resurfaced online. It was a voice she had heard almost every day when they were still in the Senate.
She slowly turned around and Sherwin was standing behind her with his hands casually tucked into his pockets, looking at her with that familiar smile that made his eyes disappear completely.
“Che?”
Sherwin grinned, “Hi Ris, kumusta?”
And just like that, two years seemed to disappear.
She stared at him for another moment, taking in how familiar he looked and, at the same time, how unfamiliar it felt to see him standing in front of her again.
He looked different.
Maybe it was the suit. Maybe it was the fact that he no longer carried the tiredness that used to follow him around the Senate corridors. Maybe it was simply because she had spent so long remembering him instead of actually seeing him.
Whatever it was, Risa suddenly felt as though someone had reached into her chest and pressed a finger against a bruise she hadn’t realized was still there.
“Wow,” she finally managed, shaking her head with a disbelieving laugh. “Buhay ka pa pala.”
Sherwin laughed. “Grabe naman. Ganito ba talaga ang welcome mo sa akin? Tagal natin hindi nagkita.”
Risa furrowed her brow, shaking her head. “Anong welcome? Sabi mo nga, tagal nating hindi nagkita.”
“Two years and that’s the first thing you’re going to say?” He joked.
“Would you prefer a speech? I can prepare one. We have microphones here, di ba? I can call everyone over. Ladies and gentlemen, after two long years, the former senate president has finally been found—”
“Okay, okay.” He lifted both hands in surrender, laughing. “I get it.”
They were both smiling at each other. Risa forgot that they were in the middle of a crowded event. She had always been terrible at pretending she wasn’t happy to see him.
"So," Sherwin said, glancing at the drinks in front of her. "Ano'ng iinumin mo?"
Risa blinked, pulling herself out of her thoughts. "Bakit? May agenda ka ba?"
"Wala naman. Tinatanong lang kita."
"You're asking me what I'm drinking?"
Sherwin nodded, "Yes. I’m trying to make conversation here."
“Talaga?” She tilted her head slightly, one eyebrow arching in question.
He laughed. "Ano ba dapat? May questionnaire muna? Kumusta ka na, Risa? How's life? What have you been up to? Are you still drinking the same thing?"
"Actually, those are all good questions. You should've started with those."
"Okay." He straightened, suddenly looking far too serious for a man who had just been caught disappearing from someone's life. "Kumusta ka na, Risa? How's life? What have you been up to? Are you still drinking the same thing?"
She laughed, and there it was again, that stupidly familiar ease that she had convinced herself she no longer missed. "Ang kulit mo."
"You're avoiding the questions." He chuckled at her reaction.
"I'm doing great, thank you very much. Busy, as usual. Work, meetings, consultations, events like this. Same old, same old. Ikaw? Buhay pa rin pala ang family business niyo."
"Very much alive. Thriving, actually."
"Wow. Congratulations."
"Thank you."
"See? Kaya pala hindi ka na nagpaparamdam. Busy ka palang yumaman."
Sherwin threw his head back and laughed. "Hindi naman sa ganun!"
"Ah, hindi ba? So may time ka naman pala. Pinili mo lang talaga hindi mag paramdam."
The words came out lightly, wrapped in a teasing smile, but she felt them settle between them all the same.
Sherwin's laughter softened. He looked at her for a second longer than necessary, and Risa suddenly became very interested in the glass beside her.
"You're right," he said.
She looked up. "Ha?"
"I said you're right. I should've reached out."
Risa hadn't expected him to agree so easily. She had prepared herself for a joke, an excuse about work, maybe a dramatic speech about the horrors of running a business. Instead, he was looking at her with an expression she couldn't quite read.
"Oh," she said intelligently.
Sherwin smiled a little. "Oh?"
Risa cleared her throat, suddenly finding it difficult to maintain eye contact with a man she had spent years arguing with over the most trivial things. "Wala. I'm just surprised you admitted you were wrong. Should I call someone? Document this historical event?"
Sherwin laughed, shaking his head. "There she is."
"Sino?"
"The Risa I remember."
She rolled her eyes, but the smile tugging at the corners of her mouth betrayed her. "As if I changed that much."
"Wala akong sinasabing ganyan."
"Edi anong ibig mong saibihin?"
He shrugged, his eyes staying on her for a moment longer than necessary. "Nothing. It's just nice seeing you again."
It was such a simple thing to say, so ordinary that she could have easily brushed it off with a joke. Yet something about the way he said it made her forget every sarcastic response she had prepared. There was no teasing in his voice this time, no clever remark to hide behind. He simply looked happy to be standing there with her, and Risa had to remind herself that she was a grown woman who had survived years of politics, public scrutiny, and countless difficult conversations. Surely, she could survive one man telling her he was happy to see her.
Apparently, she could not.
"Well," she said, reaching for a glass to give herself something to do, "it's nice seeing you, too, Sherwin."
“Wow, Sherwin?” He said in a teasing tone.
“Pangalan mo yon, di ba? Ano ba gusto mo? Would you prefer Mr. Gatchalian?” Risa asked.
Sherwin groaned, “Please anything but that. Araw-araw ko na naririnig yan.”
“Sir Sherwin?”
"Mas malala."
"Former Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian? SP?" She was holding back a giggle as she continued.
He laughed. "You're enjoying this."
"Very much." Risa finally let out a laugh.
"Okay, fine. Call me whatever you want."
Risa glanced at him over the rim of her glass. "Careful. Baka pagsisihan mo 'yan."
For a second, Sherwin looked as though he had a response ready. Instead, he merely smiled, and the way he looked at her made Risa wonder if there was a second meaning to his words that neither of them was quite brave enough to acknowledge.
This was dangerous.
Not because Sherwin had done anything particularly extraordinary. He had only shown up at an event, asked her how she was, and made her laugh within the first five minutes of seeing each other again. It was the very ordinariness of it that unsettled her.
She had spent two years telling herself that they were simply friends who had grown apart because their lives had become busy, that she could look back on their time in the Senate with nothing more than fondness, and that she had long since made peace with the fact that whatever they might have been to each other had remained unspoken.
Now he was standing beside her, smiling at her as if no time had passed at all, and she was beginning to suspect that she had not made peace with anything.
"So," Sherwin continued, leaning one elbow against the bar, "tell me something interesting." Like if you have someone in your life now.
“Something interesting?” Risa repeated, turning toward him with an amused look. “About wh–“
“Sir Sherwin?”
Both of them turned toward the voice.
A staff member had approached them, a phone in one hand and an apologetic expression on his face. He glanced at Risa before looking back at Sherwin.
“Sorry to interrupt, sir. Mr. Santos is looking for you. They’re asking if you could join them for a moment. There’s something they need to clarify.”
Sherwin closed his eyes briefly and Risa thought he might actually pretend not to have heard.
“Right now?” he asked.
“Yes, sir. They said it shouldn’t take long.”
Sherwin looked at the staff member, then at Risa, then back at the staff member as though hoping someone would suddenly announce that the entire thing had been a misunderstanding.
“Of course they did,” he muttered.
Risa bit her lip to keep from laughing.
He turned toward her, looking genuinely apologetic. “Sorry, Risa. I have to attend to this.”
“It’s okay,” she assured him, smiling. “Go ahead.”
“I’ll be right back.”
“Sure.”
“I mean it. It won’t take long.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Should I be concerned that you’re making promises already?”
He gave her a look. “I’m serious.”
“I know, Che. Go. Baka mamaya, hanapin ka na naman nila.”
He laughed under his breath, then hesitated as though there were something else he wanted to say before leaving. His gaze briefly dropped to the glass in her hand before returning to her face.
“Don’t leave yet, please?”
Risa blinked, she wasn’t planning on staying long since she has an early flight to catch the next morning.
His request was simple, but there was something in the way he said it that made her smile soften.
“I’ll see,” she teased.
“Ris.”
“Okay, okay. I’ll still be here.”
He seemed satisfied with that answer. “Good. I’ll come find you.”
Then he followed the staff member toward the meeting room, glancing back once before disappearing into the crowd.
Risa watched him go.
Sherwin had every intention of returning to Risa in five minutes. Ten, at the most. He had already spent two years putting off a conversation he should have had a long time ago, and he wasn't about to let a work-related interruption turn into another excuse to keep his distance from her.
He checked his watch after the first ten minutes.
But unfortunately it took longer than he wanted. He had been called by another group of people after another.
"Excuse me for a moment," he told the guest in front of him after the conversation finally reached a natural pause. "I need to check on something."
The man nodded, and Sherwin took the opportunity to step away before anyone else could approach him. He walked through the crowd, looking toward the bar first, then toward the tables near the windows. He couldn't see Risa anywhere.
His pace quickened.
Maybe she had moved to another part of the venue or perhaps someone had pulled her into another conversation, or perhaps she had decided to get some food. There were still plenty of people around, and he told himself there was no reason to panic.
She had been there as a guest, not as someone obligated to wait for him. She had her own commitments, her own schedule, and probably a dozen other things she could be doing with her evening. He had no right to assume she would stay simply because he had asked her to.
He was passing one of the side corridors when he nearly collided with a member of his staff.
"Sir!" the young man exclaimed, stepping aside. "Sorry po."
Sherwin barely stopped. "Have you seen Risa?"
The staff member blinked. "Ma'am Risa Hontiveros po?"
"Yes. Risa Hontiveros. She was at the bar earlier," he gestured vaguely toward the ballroom. "She was wearing—" He stopped, realizing that describing what she was wearing would be completely unnecessary because the man had clearly already recognized her. "Anyway, nakita mo ba siya?"
"Oh! Yes, sir."
Sherwin straightened, "You have?"
The staff member nodded, "Nakita ko po papunta sa entrance a few minutes ago, sir. I think she was about to leave."
Sherwin could only stare at him, "Lumabas na?"
"Yes, sir. May kausap po kanina, tapos she checked her phone and started walking away."
Sherwin glanced toward the entrance.
“Kanina pa?”
“Mga 5-10 minutes na rin po ata, sir.”
"Okay. Thank you."
Sherwin turned and hurried toward the entrance, weaving through the remaining guests and offering hurried apologies whenever he had to pass between conversations. He could hear his assistant calling his name from somewhere behind him, probably with another question, but for once, he didn't stop to answer.
He had spent two years letting work take precedence over a conversation he had wanted to have. He had spent two years telling himself that there would be a better time, a more convenient day, a less complicated moment to reach out.
And if he let Risa walk out of that building without speaking to her properly, he knew exactly what would happen.
He would go home, tell himself he had missed his chance, and find another perfectly reasonable excuse to postpone contacting her. He would type a message tomorrow and delete it. He would think about calling her next week and convince himself she was probably busy. He would tell himself that it was better not to complicate their friendship, that she had her own life, that perhaps she hadn't even wanted him to approach her in the first place.
He knew another month would pass then another year.
And one day, he would look back on this evening and realize that he had been given the opportunity to see her again, to speak to her, to tell her that he had missed her, and he had let himself walk away without asking for anything more.
He couldn't do that again, not when the thought of it already made his chest ache.
Sherwin reached the entrance just as the doors opened, and there she was.
Risa stood a few steps outside the building, her phone in one hand and her other hand occupied with the strap of her bag. She was speaking to someone on the phone, her expression thoughtful as she listened. The warm lights from inside spilled across the pavement behind her, illuminating the side of her face as she nodded at whatever the person on the other end was saying.
Sherwin slowed down.
For someone who had spent so long rehearsing what he would say if he ever saw her again that now, with her standing only a few feet away, his mind had gone blank. ‘I've missed you’ felt too small for two years of silence, ‘I'm sorry’ didn't explain the delay, and ‘I should've called’ was something they both already knew.
He wanted to tell her how often he had thought about her, how he regretted not asking her to dinner sooner, and how the first thing he noticed when he saw her wasn't how she looked, but how easily he smiled. After two years away, one familiar face had made everything feel right again.
Risa ended her call and slipped her phone into her bag.
Sherwin took a breath, "Risa!"
She turned at the sound of her name, visibly surprised to see him hurrying toward her.
"Win?"
He stopped in front of her, trying to catch his breath while simultaneously attempting to look like a respectable businessman who had not just practically run through his own company's event.
Risa stared at him, then her brows drew together in concern. "Uy, what happened? Okay ka lang?"
"Yeah," he nodded, still catching his breath. "I'm fine."
"Then bakit ka tumatakbo?"
He opened his mouth, then closed it again.
Because ‘I thought you were leaving’ sounded ridiculous when she was standing right in front of him. Because ‘I didn't want to miss you’ felt far too honest to say before he had even figured out what he was doing. And because the truth, when he finally managed to put it into words, was so embarrassingly simple that he couldn't believe it had taken him two years to arrive at it.
"Paalis ka na?"
Risa glanced at the doors behind him, then back at him. "I have to, maaga pa ang alis ko bukas."
His heart sank.
"Oh."
She tilted her head. "Bakit?"
He let out a short laugh, running a hand over his face, "Kasi sabi ko sayo I'd be right back, and then I got caught up in a conversation, and then another person needed something, and then—" He stopped himself, shaking his head. "Sorry. I know I took too long."
"Ano ka ba, Win. I understand."
"I know you do. That's not the point."
She fell quiet.
Sherwin looked at her, trying to find the right words. He could have made another joke. He could have apologized, told her to get home safely, and let the evening end as an unexpectedly pleasant reunion between two former colleagues.
But he had already imagined that ending too many times over the past two years.
"I didn't want you to leave without talking to you again," he admitted.
Risa's expression softened. "You could've just messaged me, you know. Same phone number pa rin naman gamit ko."
He laughed, a little helplessly. "I know."
"Or pwedeng tumawag."
"I know."
"Or sent one of those annoying emails you used to send whenever you wanted something from me."
"Those were important emails."
"One of them was literally just a picture of your lunch kasi sabi mo ayaw mag send sa text."
"It was a very good lunch. Clubhouse sandwich nga ata yon eh."
She laughed, and he smiled at the sound, grateful that she was still willing to tease him even after he had made her wait.
Then he took another breath.
"Risa, can I tell you something?"
She studied him for a moment, "Of course."
Sherwin looked down briefly, gathering his thoughts. He had no prepared speech, no carefully constructed explanation, and no guarantee that what he was about to say would change anything between them.
"I've been meaning to reach out to you for a long time," he began. "Not just tonight. I mean, even before tonight. After our term ended, Paulit-ulit ko sinabi na I'd message you once things settled down. Akala ko may oras pa ako pagka-balik ko sa family business, but there was always something else to do, something else that needed my attention. And every time I thought about contacting you, I kept putting it off."
Risa listened without interrupting.
"At first, I told myself it was because you were busy. You had your work, your responsibilities, and I didn't want to bother you. Then I started wondering whether it would be weird if I suddenly showed up in your messages after months of not talking. The longer I waited, the harder it became to explain why I hadn't reached out in the first place."
He gave a small, self-deprecating laugh.
He gave a small, self-deprecating laugh. "Parang tanga pakinggan, I know. Pwede naman ako mag hello lang."
"Kaya nga," she said gently.
"I could have said hello to you," he nodded. "And I should have."
For a moment, the sounds of the event drifted through the open doors behind them. Sherwin glanced toward the entrance, then back at her, suddenly aware that he was standing outside a crowded venue in a suit, having a conversation he had never thought he would be brave enough to start.
"But seeing you tonight made me realize something," he continued. "Pag hindi ko ginawa ‘to ngayon, baka hindi ko na masabi. I'd tell myself I'd message you tomorrow, then next week, then whenever I wasn't so busy. Dadaan nanaman ng ilang taon, and I'd still be sitting there wondering if I should've reached out."
His smile faded slightly.
"I don't want to do that anymore, Ris."
She looked at him, her expression unreadable for a moment, "Do what?"
"Keep waiting," his answer came out more quietly than he intended.
"I've spent so much time convincing myself that there would be a better moment to talk to you. That I should wait until I had more time, until things weren't so hectic, until I could figure out what I wanted to say. But I think I've used up all my excuses."
Risa's lips parted slightly, but she didn't speak.
Sherwin looked at her, and for once, he didn't try to soften what he meant with a joke.
"I missed you," he said. "I missed talking to you. I missed being able to tell you things without having to think twice about whether I should. And I know we can't just go back to how things were in the Senate, kasi syempre iba yon pero I'd like to know what things could be like now."
He paused, his heart pounding.
“Gusto kitang makita ulit, Risa. Yung hindi dahil pareho tayong invited sa isang event, or dahil may reunion na naman ang mga dati nating kasama. Gusto kitang makita kasi gusto kitang makasama.” His smile softened.
“Gusto kong malaman kung kumusta ka na talaga, kung ano na yung mga pinagkakaabalahan mo, kung ano yung mga bagay na nagpapasaya sayo ngayon. Gusto kong marinig yung mga kwento mo, kahit yung mga ordinaryong bagay lang. I want to be part of your life, if you'll let me."
He swallowed, his cheeks were already red, feeling more nervous than he had when he first walked toward her at the bar. "And, if you're willing, I'd really like to take you out to dinner."
Risa stared at him.
Sherwin grew painfully aware of the silence, suddenly wondering if he had said too much when he could have simply asked her to dinner. He was already preparing himself for a polite rejection when Risa let out a small laugh.
A soft, almost disbelieving laugh that made him look at her more closely.
"Win," she said, shaking her head.
He winced, "That's not a good sign, is it?"
"Hindi. Hindi." She chuckled, looking down for a moment before meeting his eyes. "I honestly thought you were never going to ask."
Sherwin blinked.
"Ano?"
Risa pressed her lips together, but her smile was already giving her away. "Narinig mo ko."
He stared at her for another second, trying to process what she had just said.
"Wait. You mean—"
"Sherwin, don't make me repeat it. Baka lalo kang mamula dyan oh."
A smile slowly crept onto Sherwin’s face as he watched her, and for the first time that evening, he felt like he could finally breathe.
“Wait lang. So, pwede naman pala kitang yayain lumabas dati pa?”
Risa gave him an incredulous look. “Win, ang sinabi ko lang naman, you could’ve tried.”
“Which means may chance ako dati pa?”
“Grabe, ang kulit. Gusto mo ba isa-isahin ko lahat ng mali mo?”
He laughed, shaking his head. “Okay, gets ko na. I've been an idiot.”
“Wow. May self-awareness ka rin pala.”
“Excuse me, I have excellent self-awareness.”
“Talaga? Two years kang walang paramdam.”
“Well, may limitations din pala.”
Risa burst out laughing, and Sherwin couldn't help grinning at the sound. God, he'd missed this. The easy teasing, the way she never let him get away with anything, the way talking to her never felt like work even when they'd spent the entire day arguing over policy. He'd spent two years convincing himself that leaving things alone was the sensible thing to do, only to discover that she might have been just as willing to give him a chance if he'd simply asked.
“So,” he asked, his smile softening, “is that a yes?”
Risa tilted her head, pretending to think. “Hmm. Hindi ko alam. Let me check my schedule.”
“Risa, please.”
“What? Busy akong tao. May meetings ako, consultations, community events—”
“I know.”
“And you're asking me out after disappearing for two years.”
“I know,” he repeated, looking at her with an almost sheepish smile. “I'm very aware na ang kapal ng mukha ko.”
“At least alam mo.”
“But I'm willing to make up for it.”
She looked at him for a second, and he could practically see her trying not to smile. “Talaga? Paano?”
“Long overdue dinner. Just you and me. Just two normal people, not pretending na nagkataon lang na pareho tayo ng pupuntahan.”
Risa's expression softened at that, and Sherwin felt his heart give a rather embarrassing little jump.
“Okay,” she finally said.
He blinked. “Okay?”
“Oo, Che ang kulit. I'll have dinner with you.”
Sherwin's smile widened so quickly that she couldn't help laughing. "Sure na?"
She folded her arms. "Do you want me to change my mind?"
"No. Absolutely not."
"Then stop asking."
"Okay. Sorry."
She shook her head, smiling, and he felt an unfamiliar kind of relief settle over him. It wasn't that everything between them had suddenly been resolved. They still had two years to catch up on, conversations they had never finished, and questions neither of them had quite figured out how to ask.
This time they had a real beginning.
"When are you free? Pwede ba agad-agad?" he asked.
Risa laughed, "pag balik ko galing Naga sa Monday."
"Monday?"
"Yes. Free ako all day. Unless you have another emergency business meeting scheduled for that day."
He laughed. "I'll clear my entire calendar. Ako na magsusundo sayo sa airport.”
"Nako wag na. May sasakyan naman ako.”
“I know,” his voice softened. “Gusto ko lang. If that's okay with you.”
Risa held his gaze for a moment before giving him a small, warm smile. “Okay, Che. You can pick me up.”
He wanted to ask her where she would like to go, whether she preferred somewhere quiet or somewhere with good food, whether she still had that little restaurant she used to talk about visiting after their term ended. He wanted to make plans, to have something to look forward to, to give himself a reason to message her tomorrow that wasn't another excuse disguised as a question.
But for now, he was content to stand beside her under the lights of the entrance, watching her smile at him as if two years hadn't been enough to erase what they had once shared.
"Sige na, Ris. Baka masyado ka pang ma-puyat. Ingat ka.”
“Salamat. Ikaw din mag ingat ka pauwi mamaya. Magkikita pa tayo.”
She didn’t wait for him to respond and turned around to walk toward the waiting car near the curb, but before she could take more than a few steps, he called after her.
"Risa?"
She looked back.
He hesitated for only a second before smiling at her.
"I'm really glad I saw you tonight."
Her expression softened into something he would remember long after the evening was over. She walked back to him and kissed him on the cheeks.
“Ako rin.”
Then she walked toward her car, leaving him standing beneath the lights with a ridiculous grin on his face and a dinner to plan.
For the first time in two years, Sherwin didn't have to wonder whether he should reach out to her because he finally had a reason to.