The Elevator Trip

It was five minutes till the start of the shift and here am I, just went off the fx infront of the Madrigal Bldg, a few meters from PBCom Tower. I hasten my strides because I can't afford to be tardy on a Monday morning shift due to the big queue I'm about to plunge in. Being late is just not my thing, else the whole shift will be a mess.

Here comes the herald of the blue tower of Makati, my beloved PBCom. As I enter the doors of the building, I quickly grabbed by ID from the bag to stop the guards from hindering me, asking "ID nyo ser?". I have to run big time now, its two minutes away from login. I posed for an elevator to signal going up when someone called my attention.

"Boone, kamusta ka na?"

I turned around and saw her.

It was Leslie, my ex's cousin.

She looked surprised seeing me again, after almost three months from the break-up. She was the last person I'm expecting to see, and that moment turned out to be a surprise for me as well.

"Hi Leslie!"

I kissed her cheek, like a normal guy to his girlfriend. She kissed be back and that felt sweet. An elevator opened up and we stormed in.

On the elevator she asked me, "Kamusta na ka?"

It felt lousy to answer her, "Eto, a few weeks magreresign na, tapus na contract ko eh"

"Ilang months ka na ba sa etel?"

"More than six months na."

Long pause...

With some hesitation and determination she asked me, "Okay ka na ba?"

It felt like I really know that will be the next question she'll ask me, so I asked her back, "Alam mo na kung ano nangyari?"

With those eyes of loneliness she said, "Oo, grabe nagulat ako sobra nung binalita ni pinsan."

After a sigh I replied, "Wala na tayo magagawa dyan, desisyon na nya yan eh."

Yes, she has the news, but the real story I don't know, and at this time, I don't seem to care. Everything just flashed back like all things happened yesterday. Everything went so informal; the relationship just ended saying that the other one has FALLEN OUT OF LOVE, ASKING FORGIVENESS FOR ALL THE SHORTCOMINGS, AND THUS WILL RESPECT ALL I FEEL AFTER THAT MESSAGE.

But then, it was just a message; a message on the cellphone that never recieved any reply. I don't even have the strength to put things into just words on a text message. Its much more than that. All the dreams, hopes, efforts and longing just evaporated into a wisp of hatred, disappointment and pain. All I felt was too much for a text message to handle.

But nevertheless, how the relationship ended is by just a text message.

Isn't it just unfair??

The elevator is on its 10th floor, stopping on a halt. This particular floor has a curse; when the door opens, a stench so bad and so strong fills the elevator and the rest of the passengers. And the stench smells like it came from the poso negro. We covered our noses but our clothes didn't spare the odor. Gross.

After that horrible floor, removing the cover on our noses, Leslie asked me again.

"O, bakit hindi mo hinabol?"

That question of hers popped a thousand things in my head.

I just don't know if I'll get insulted with that question or what. Am I the one who was supposed to have done something to save the relatioship?? Am I the one with the shortcomings?? Should I still go for someone who just had a change of heart?? What is effort and what is letting go??

Weird is, after all the things I'm thinking, this is the thing that I told her, "Its not worth it, Les, baka magmukha lang akong tanga."

The door opened for the 15th floor. After the short kiss on her cheek to say goodbye, I walked out of the elevator. Damn, its a minute to go...