“Hindi na kita mahal, Apollo,” ulit ni Ahtisa.
Natigilan si Apollo. Tila may kung anong bumara sa lalamunan niya dahil sa sinabi ng dalaga. Hindi na siya nito mahal? No, it couldn't be true. She had loved him since the very beginning, from the very start. Ganoon lang ba kadaling mabura ang nararamdaman nito para sa kanya? And he didn’t like how she said it so casually, as if her love for him no longer held any weight for her.
He took a long pause, his breath hitching before he let out a disbelieving chuckle, low and sharp, as if trying to process what he’d just heard.
Mahal kita, Apollo, parang naririnig pa niya ang tinig ni Ahtisa sa tainga niya, at nag-i-echo sa loob ng utak niya. Mahal kita, Apollo, pabalik-balik iyon. Paulit-ulit. Kung paano nito sambitin ang mga katagang iyon noon
