For some unusual reason, Kiefer has found himself going through memory lane for the past few weeks or so.
It would have been a nice idea had he brought someone special to go through it all with.
His someone special.
It's a funny thing, passing by places that held so many happy memories. Back then, the feeling of longing and desolation would never have come. And not once during those years would you think that you'd ever feel it. Yet here you are.
He sighed as he passed by Burger King. He decided to visit UP Town Center today. It was definitely far from Cainta, but something at the back of his mind told him it will eventually feel better if he went through his memories because at some point, he'll get used to it. And the numbness he felt might become normal, at least, normal enough to disregard and hopefully forget.
He decided to grab lunch there regardless. The athlete looked up at the menu and chuckled bitterly as his mind seemed to automatically know what to do.
Whopper Jr. no pickles, no onions, he thought to himself. It had always been Alyssa's order whenever they decided to eat there.
After absent-mindedly ordering his meal, he went to an empty seat near the side the backdoor of the place. It was odd how his eyes turned to the empty couch placed parallel to the counters.
Then it hit him.
That was their spot.
As he took a bite from his burger, his mind seemed to have rewired itself into replaying his memories again.
Kiefer recalled how he once ran from this mall to Ateneo in about ten minutes because Alyssa asked for her OG Whopper Jr. no pickles, no onions. He remembered well how he had to, yes, literally, run all the way to the Ateneo just to get in to Alyssa in time.
Masakit pa rin, Kiefer thought.
•••
Alyssa had never been this doubtful of herself.
Of course, volleyball had her going through bunches of midlife crises, but they never compared to the feeling of knowing that Kiefer was back. Perhaps, it was because, at the back of her mind... she still hoped their relationship was something she can save.
"Tulala ka na naman, besh," Dennise quipped, making the latter's husband, LA turn to her direction as well.
Alyssa sat across Dennise and her husband LA in a restaurant within UP. The three decided to have a late lunch after Dennise's errand in NKTI and decided to have lunch at Gubat. It was the perfect spot—neither too far from where Dennise and LA were coming from nor was it far from the UP Town Center for Alyssa to be able to pick GK up from Van who fetched her son from school today. They were just waiting for their food to arrive, and Dennise was in a casual conversation with her husband about her work when she noticed her besh in a trance.
"Just thinking about... stuff," Alyssa replied, coming back to her senses. She tried to dismiss the idea of Kiefer's return to the back of her thoughts.
"You know, Alyssa," it was LA's turn to speak up. Despite the issues that fans have built up between him and Alyssa similar to a lot of the athletes during her prime, the two were eventually able to outgrow the awkwardness and gain each other's trust. Even if it happened a few years too late, Alyssa knew LA had also become a friend she can count on for when she needed help. That was why she didn't have second thoughts running to him and Dennise to help her with GK's medical needs a few years back. "After all this time, Den and I it agad if something's off sa'yo."
