Around ten years ago, I met in FB an old friend whom I haven’t heard from for the last 20 years. Neighbors kami dati sa Pasig. I was close to her family; from time to time pinapaki-usapan ako ng nanay niya to do repairs of small appliances, and also to help on her homework. She was then a high school student, 14 years old, samantala 24 na ako and on my early stages of being a professional.
Then two years later I transferred residence from Pasig to Marikina and that basically ended our close relationship. She went to college and graduated. The last thing I heard was that she got married, and her parents migrated to the US, naiwan siya sa Pinas with her family. Ako naman also got married, had kids and moved to my current address.
So it was quite a big surprise when we met at FB.
“Al, ikaw ba talaga ito?”, she said.
“Yup, Maricar, isn’t it?” sagot ko.
Oh, it was such a happy moment, a reunion of sorts after 20 years. So 34 years old na siya, with 3 kids. They now live in Bicol where she works as a nurse in a government hospital. Her husband, an engineer, works in Clark, Pampanga. So we exchanged pictures, and lo and behold, the chubby 14 year old who never bothered to dress or comb her hair properly has already blossomed into a luscious woman, curvy, smart, and oozing with sex appeal. Natulala ako.
“You don’t look like you’re married,” sabi ko, “Sexy mo.”
“Sus bola,” she replied, “ikaw din, you don’t look like you’re 44. Do you still play basketball?”
“Not anymore. My knees can no longer stand the strain of jumping and running. I am more into jogging or brisk walking now.”
“Same with me. I work out regularly in the gym.”
So ganun, the days and weeks went by and we reminisced about the good old days when we were still neighbors and we almost were cheek to cheek when working on her assignments.
“Grabe ka…