Kate wandered through campus like a ghost, her steps slow, her eyes empty. In her hand, she loosely held a receipt—the affiliation fee she had just paid. It was due before the Sunday event, and now it was Thursday.
Tasks checked. Responsibilities done.
But inside her, everything felt unfinished.
'Tsk, what now?'
Last night's tears still echoed in her bones. She had cried herself into sleep, still in her uniform. When she woke up, there was no warmth, no peace. Just swollen eyes and the heaviness of heartbreak sitting in her chest like a stone.
She stopped near a quiet corner of the university and spotted an empty gazebo shaded by trees. Without thinking, she walked over and sat on the cold concrete bench.
The silence settled around her like a blanket.
"Uuwi na ba ako..." she whispered to no one. Her eyes scanned the path ahead, but her mind drifted back to her apartment. Parang ayaw niya pa muna umuwi. It still smelled like him. Felt like him.
"Gusto ko siyang makita."
The words slipped past her lips before she could stop them. She blinked, startled by her own confession.
What the hell was she thinking?
Wasn't it her who said they needed space?
Wasn't it her who asked for time to think?
And here she was… longing for the very thing she told herself she shouldn't need.
Her eyes drifted toward the construction site in the distance. He'd probably be around.
Working.
Existing.
Breathing in the same space as her—but not with her anymore.
She missed him. God, she missed him.
Kung pwede lang bawiin ang sinabi niya kagabi ay ginawa niya.
She really hates it kapag she's overwhelmed with emotions. May mga nasasabi siya na she'll regret once nahimasmasan na siya.
"Excuse me?"
Kate turned her head, slowly.
She froze.
Standing behind her was a woman—elegant, calm, dressed simply in casual office clothes. Hair down, smile soft.
And yet…
She didn't need an introduction.
"Kate, right?" the woman asked.
She could only stare, eyes wide and red-rimmed.
It was her.
"Claire..."
Frooze's past.
His pain.
His greatest love.
Seeing her this close made something inside Kate shrink. Her throat tightened. Claire had a gentle beauty—the kind that didn't beg for attention. Confident. Effortless. The kind of presence that made others feel seen.
No wonder Frooze fell for her.
"I'm guessing na kilala mo na ako? But anyways, I'm Claire," Claire said warmly, stepping forward. "I've heard so much about you. I've been meaning to talk to you, but this university's massive. Almost impossible to bump into each other. Buti na lang... I recognized you."
She smiled and sat across from Kate like it was the most natural thing in the world.
Kate coughed lightly, trying to compose herself. "Yes po? What do you need from me po, ma'am?"
Claire chuckled softly. "Don't call me ma'am. I'm only a temporary part of the faculty—just filling in for someone on leave."
Kate nodded stiffly, unsure of where this was going.
Ano ba ang iniexpect nito? Na tawagin niya ito agad s apangalan nito as if they are friends or knew each other already?
"I know this might feel awkward," Claire began. "But I wanted to talk. To you specially… Not to start trouble. Not to make things harder for you. I just thought… maybe I owed you something. At least the truth about me and Ceath…"
Parang tinusok ang puso niya nang tinawag ni Claire sI Frooze sa totoo nitong pangalan.
Rommel Ceath Velarde, that's his name…
Kate had been calling him Frooze or Froozie but never in either of his real names.
Kate said nothing. She just stared.
Parang gusto niya tumakbo.
Parang natakot siya bigla sa mga posile na marinig niya mula dito.
Claire looked down at her hands. "Ceath and I, I'm not sure kung na kwento na niya… we were together for a long time. And yes, we loved each other deeply. But I had dreams that needed chasing. I left for my career. I told myself that love could wait—but life didn't wait for me. And by the time I realized what I'd done, it was too late."
She glanced up at Kate. "Now, I've found love again. A partner who truly supports me. Someone who reminds me every day that I don't have to choose between ambition and affection. That kind of love? It's rare."
Claire paused.
"My time here at this university is short. I'm only a substitute. I never planned on seeing Ceath again. But fate… you know how she is."
Kate's nails dug into the receipt in her hand. Her voice was tight, frustrated. "You left him when he needed you the most. And now… he's a wreck, he kept saying that okay na siya, na umuusad na siya kahit papaano. But in reality, even if he denies it, he's not, he's still haunted by you. By what you two had. Do you know that when he saw you again he said that…you stirred something inside him? He got confused."
Claire's face shifted, eyes softening. "I didn't know that," she admitted, her voice laced with guilt. "I honestly didn't. I thought he had moved on. We hadn't spoken in years."
Kate looked away.
Kung alam lang sana nito na updated parin si Frooze sa buhay nito. Alam ng ani Frooze na she got promoted as teacher II eh. How else would he knew that if he's not?
Claire continued, her tone quieter. "There was a time I thought of coming back. When I finally felt successful. I imagined showing up, telling him I was ready. But the truth is—I didn't deserve someone like him anymore. So I let him go. Moved on."
She looked straight into Kate's tired, tear-worn eyes. "But even now, unintentionally… I've stirred something again. I didn't mean to. I never wanted to make things harder for you and Him."
Kate stayed silent. Still.
Her mind was spiraling.
Why did this feel heavier now?
Why did hearing the truth make it even harder to breathe?
Claire reached out and gently placed her hand on Kate's. It was warm. Steady.
"I don't know what he's told you, or how he's making you feel… but I'll tell you this as someone who once had all of him." She paused, choosing her words carefully. "If a man truly loves you… he won't feel confused. He won't hesitate. Not even for a second."
The words landed like a soft blow—gentle, but painful all the same.
Kate felt her chest tighten. She wanted to say something, anything—but her throat was dry, her voice trapped somewhere beneath the swirl of thoughts crashing in her head.
She wasn't even sure what she believed anymore.
Claire gave her hand a comforting squeeze before letting go.
"I'm really sorry, Kate," she said sincerely. "I didn't come back to reclaim anything. I just… wanted to tell you that you deserve clarity. Peace. Not someone torn between a memory and a reality."
She stood, brushing invisible dust from her skirt, and smiled one last time. A sad smile—apologetic, but at peace with her past.
"Take care of yourself," Claire said softly. "Whatever happens… make sure you choose you."
And just like that, she walked away.
Leaving Kate alone with the ghosts of a story she hadn't written—but was somehow living through anyway.
Kate stared at the empty bench across from her, her body frozen, her mind overwhelmed.
The breeze rustled the trees around her, but she felt no calm. Only weight.
She bit her lower lip, her fingers trembling slightly as she looked down at the crumpled receipt still in her hand. It felt absurd, holding something so mundane when everything inside her felt like it was unraveling.
She wanted to scream. To cry. To run to Frooze and ask him to choose her, to stop being confused, to just be sure.
But she didn't.
Instead, she just sat there.
Staring. Thinking. Spiraling.
Was Claire right?
Was love supposed to be clear? Simple?
Then why did hers feel like a question that never got answered?
She covered her face with her hands, breathing slowly, trying not to fall apart in public.
But the pressure behind her eyes was building again. The ache in her chest, the heaviness in her limbs.
All she had ever wanted was to be enough.
Enough to stay. Enough to choose. Enough to love without hesitation.
But now, sitting in that gazebo with silence as her only company, she wondered if maybe she was only ever enough when no one else was around.
And that realization…
Hurt more than she expected.
She stayed there until the sky began to turn orange, letting time pass her by. Because going home didn't feel like peace anymore. Not when the scent of Frooze still lingered in the four corners of her place, his ghost sitting at the edge of her bed, seats and everything.
Not when her heart still beat for someone who hadn't decided if he would hold it or let it go.
---
Frooze sat at his work desk, but he wasn't working.
Hindi siya pumasok sa trabaho…he just stayed at his place.
His hands rested on the surface, unmoving, while the blinking cursor on his laptop screen stared back at him like it was taunting him—reminding him of everything he hadn't said, hadn't done, hadn't figured out.
There were no construction reports open. No spreadsheets. No emails. Just silence.
And the sound of his own breath, uneven and restless.
He leaned back in his chair, head tilted toward the ceiling as if the answers might fall from above.
But nothing came.
Just the echo of Claire's voice.
Just the memory of Kate's eyes—red, broken, betrayed.
He ran his hands down his face with a frustrated groan, fingers raking through his hair.
What the hell had he done?
He had told himself he was giving Kate space. He told himself it was better to figure things out alone, to shield her from the chaos in his head. He thought that was the mature thing to do.
But now he wasn't so sure.
Because what did it say about him that one look at a ghost from his past—Claire—could shake the stability he had found with someone who gave him her whole heart?
Kate.
Soft. Smart. Kind. Unassuming. Patient.
Too patient.
She had been holding on even when he was pulling away. She had felt the shift in him and said nothing, probably hoping he'd come back on his own.
And instead, he left her hanging.
Alone. In the dark. In love.
And he… was confused.
Pathetic.
He stood abruptly, the chair scraping against the floor. He began pacing—something he never did unless he was really restless.
He had been avoiding going to her place, ever since that night they agreed to take space.
But each day without her felt like walking with a limp. Like something vital was missing.
He sat on the edge of his bed, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, his hands clasped together. The silence in his apartment was suffocating.
His mind drifted back to Claire again. That conversation. That unexpected bump in the hallway of the university.
When he saw her for the first time in two years, something inside him did stir. He couldn't deny that.
It wasn't love. Not anymore.
It was something else—grief, maybe. Closure. Or the lack of it.
Seeing Claire reminded him of the version of himself he once was. The boy who thought love was just about promises and dreams. But she left. She chose ambition. She walked away when he needed her, and he had to learn how to be enough for himself after that.
Then came Kate.
Kate, who didn't walk in with fireworks—but with peace. With realness. With quiet loyalty that crept into his life until it became his home.
So why… why did he let his past stir up doubt?
Why couldn't he just look at Kate and be sure?
He groaned again, clutching his head in frustration.
Because the truth was… he was scared.
Scared that he didn't deserve someone like her. Scared that his past had broken him more than he realized. Scared that he would mess it all up—again.
And maybe he already had.
He picked up his phone, fingers hovering over Kate's name.
He hadn't messaged her since that night.
Not because he didn't want to.
But because he didn't know what to say.
"I'm sorry" felt too small.
"I'm confused" felt too cruel.
"I miss you" felt too selfish.
He put the phone down and stood, walking to the window. The sun was beginning to set, the sky bathed in orange and lavender. Somewhere out there, she was probably walking, thinking, hurting.
He hoped she had eaten.
He hoped she was resting.
He hoped… she still had space in her heart for him, even after all this.
He closed his eyes, resting his forehead against the glass.
He didn't know what the next move was.