Halcyon

Hindi lahat ng love stories nagiging “tayo,” pero may mga tao talagang dumarating para maging pahinga natin sa gitna ng bagyo”

Story Time…

It came across my mind last night. This happened like 6 years ago na.

I used to take jeepney going to work, and almost every morning, palage ko nakakasabay itong si kuya.

Since I am still on the healing and moving on process, I did not entertain the idea. I find him presentable – good looks, maputi, chinito, malinis at mukang mabango (which is true). Kapansin pansin naman talaga siya so as a stranger- kineep ko nalang yon for myself.

So ayon nga, consistently ko talaga sya nakakasabay, like sa dame ng jeep na bumabyahe like halos araw araw talaga. Siguro for like 3 months ganon. So wala lang sya for me, maybe kasi we just lived and worked in the same area lang kaya ganon.

Then, one time- nagulat ako kasi bigla siya bumaba sa pinagbababaan ko which is not normal kasi palage ako mas nauuna bumaba. So dinedma ko lang kasi maybe may dadaanan sya or something. Tas may tawag ng tawag sa may likuran ko – “Miss, miss” – di ko pinapansin kasi madame kame magkakasabay na naglalakad so maybe not me- pero gulat ako kasi sinabayan niya ako and said ” Hi Miss, sorry I don’t wan to freak you out and I am not a bad person” so tiningnan ko sya kasi baka may itatanong lang. So I said, “yes po?”. Sabe niya, sorry to bother you and kinakabahan ako but can I ask you something – so I said sure. He said, if okay lang can I get your number?

So syempre tayo, di muna binigay kasi I don’t know him at all. He walked beside me and said, wala akong masamang intensyon, I just wanted to ge to know you. Matagal na kasi kita napapansin pag nagkakasabay tayo sa jeep- nahihiya lang ako to approach you. So eventually, I gave him my number before we parted our ways.

Fastforward, palage pa din kame nagkakasabay and nagkakatext. Sinasabayan niya ako minsan maglakad papunta office (at that time, I felt a bit awkward but I can sense na wala talaga siyang masamang intensyon). And then, inaaya niya ako lumabas to a place several times- since I do not personally know him, I did not agree and I told him that I am not yet ready to go out or be in any romantic relationship since kakabreak ko nga lang from my 7 years relationship.(I was traumatized.) He said, I don’t really have any bad intention, I just wanted to know you. So I told him that I am uncomfortable going out and I am not familiar with the place na sinuggest niya- like my overthinker side took over. Eventually, naconvince niya din ako- nagdecide na lang we go for a coffee meet up – I suggested yong malapit na hub sa bahay ,which is I am familiar and alam ko madame tao.

To make the story short, nagmeet up nga kame. On the first few minutes -he pulled out his wallet full of his Valid IDs.

Like I was stunned. HAHAHA.

Like the SSS, driver’s licence, TIN, Barangay ID…

I still remember he said- “Bash, I am not a bad person, these are my IDs, you can find me and report me if something happen”. I just look at those cards on the table but I wasn’t able to remember his FULL NAME and did not bother to check them one by one. I just saw the address that he lives nearby. I just go by his first name. I did not bother to ask, thinking na maybe it will just an encounter or yong feeling na, malalaman ko din yon after several times (like how I get to know my friends‘– na una by face, by name then their entirety- basta yon).

So we went to have that coffee chat. Maybe we talked for like 3 hours. He gets to share his life experiences with me and that helps me to open up a bit with him. I can resonate with his experiences maybe that’s the connection link we had.

We continue with the exchanging of messages, often coffee meet up on the same place. And palage pa din kame nagkakasabay sa jeep- nirereserve niya ako ng seat and paying for my fare. We take turns in paying for each other. I reciprocated the gestures but I did not gave it any romatic meaning.

He is very thoughtful, like yong mga gifts nya is very practical. And like out of nowhere, he will gave me gifts, food and all other stuff. He became my comfort. I was able to open about myself, my life, my plans. And nafeel ko yong genuine na friendship na nabuo between us. What we had wasn’t romantic. No expectations, just a calm comfort.

And then life happens, I moved abroad and lost contact with him (he knows about it, he even encouraged me and blessed me ; we also talked about the possibility of us meeting again in other side of the world). I changed mobile number and we really lost contact, since we only communicated through SMS. I wasn’t able to find him on social media since up until now- I still don’t know his full name (the only thing I had, is the one photo we took during our last meet up) and naalala ko pa before na hindi kame pareho mahilig sa social media so he did not bother to make one. Mind that maybe he is like 4-6 years older than me, I can’t recall.

And now I realized, he is such a beautiful and happy encounter.

Like, grabe yong provision ni Lord- he knows na at that time- I am barely living and he sent me someone who comforted me and became my fortress. He sent someone na I can learn a lot. Like wala talaga yong romantic feeling, it is more like a platonic one.

From time to time, nagwowonder ako- if how is he, did he attain his dreams and goals, if he is married already ,if he is healthy. I just wanted to say THANK YOU to him.

“Thank you for showing up when I was barely surviving.”

He was such a calm during the chaos. And I wish that life’s been kinder to him. A perfect person whom I encounter at the wrong time. (not really the wrong time; maybe just the wrong circumstances?)

Some people are not meant to stay in our lives; but they stay in our prayers. 🤍