Chapter 13: Thirteen

When Maeluthe left the area, Isiaah gasped as he faced the woman who was left behind.

‘‘Oh. . . Why do you look so flustered, Sir?’’

The woman’s teasing compounded his frustration.

What did he just do? Why did he say that? That’s not what he wants to come out of his mouth.

Isiaah clenched his fist then briefly closed his eyes. He loved to calm his own mind, especially his heart.

He feels really guilty.

No matter how much he wanted to follow Maeluthe inside the restaurant, he couldn’t just leave Cyra because the conversation wasn’t over yet.

He wants her out for good. It will not be good if the woman stays in the Philippines. And most of all, he worries for his friend, Baste.

Baste thought, Isiaah had no idea how he felt for his girlfriend back then. He is aware of that. But he chose to give up his friendship with the man and continued pretending that he knew nothing about a woman he loved, only to fool him out later.

Isiaah sacrificed his best friend, the person who stayed by his side even after a very long time — and he regrets that a lot and until now.

‘‘Cyra, why are you back?’’ He repeated the question. Earlier, the woman did not answer that directly. He wants to keep in mind that he may be the reason, so he awaits confirmation.

‘‘Are you acting numb now, Isiaah?’’ Cyra gently caressed the man’s shoulders.

More than anything, even the world turned upside down, Cyra is not just an ex. She fooled him. He was not known at all, and Isaiah himself saw her with her husband and child.

After all his searching, that is the scenario he will land on.

‘‘Of course, I want to have you back.’’ It seemed like just natural words that came out of the woman’s mouth.

‘‘Until now, the woman still hasn’t changed,’’ Isiaah repeated those words in his mind.

Even though the years have passed, this is still her habit.

‘‘After all the things you did. . . you just filed a divorce and got back here to have me after dumping me that hard?’’ There were how many nights did I drown myself in various kinds of alcohol to forget then, yet you’ll be back, telling me that you want to have me as if I wasn’t left or hurt at all?

He loves to say those things to the woman. In fact, he wanted to criticize so many more things but chose to keep his mouth shut.

‘‘Oh, come on, you’re such an emo!’’ The woman laughed out loud as if she was still joking with the tone of her voice.

‘‘Where’s your car? I’ll cook something for you–’’

‘‘Bullshit!’’ There is no restraint in Isiaah’s words. Instead of moving away, Cyra’s grip on his arm tightened. ‘‘Get off me. I’m done with you. I’ll never let you come back into my life again–’’

‘‘Why?!’’ It turns out that the woman is a brat. That’s one of her worst attitudes. She should always get what she wants.

‘‘It’s only now that I’ve been so happy, Cyra. I’ve never been this happy even with you before. So you just stop–’’

‘‘Fuck! Why? This is because of that girl? You weren’t like that before. You’ll always welcome me whenever I come back to you. We’re used to it!’’ The woman growled at him.

‘‘I don’t want to get used to it!’’ That shout echoed throughout the parking lot. ‘‘And yes, Maeluthe. . . I want to love her endlessly now.’’

The woman, Cyra, on the other hand, was stunned by what he said suddenly. She was unable to believe it.

‘‘When you told me before that you were happy with your family, I let you go. Now, let me tell you, Cy, I want to be happy with Mae, so let me. I want to be happy now. . .’’

Cyra finally let go of the arm of the man in front of her. For her, those words were a big slap in her face.

She regrets cheating on Isiaah, so she divorces her husband and returns to the Philippines with her child. She wants to go back to Isiaah’s life. She wants the two to start all over again.

And the man’s answer. . . she hadn’t even prepared for that.

The man fixed his clothes before turning to her again, ‘‘Get a hold of yourself, Cyra. You can’t be that naive girl from the university. You have a child now.’’

When Isaiah began to walk away, the weakness of her knee continued.

Cyra won’t allow it; that’s the truth. She can’t let all her efforts go into the drain. She knows Isaiah better than anyone else, so there are so many ways to go.