When The Rain Pauses
761 Words
Chapter 6
By noon, the drizzle had turned into a full-on downpour. Mia sat by her bedroom window, tracing circles on the fogged glass while listening to the muted hum of traffic outside. Her phone buzzed on the bedside table.
Leo: “I’m coming over. You can’t stay locked in all day.”
She smirked, typing back: “Sino nagsabing locked in ako?”
The reply came almost instantly.
Leo: “The weather app. And my gut. Lunch. Let me take you.”
She stared at the screen a moment longer before sighing, grabbing her jacket. There was something about the way he asked not arrogant, not desperate. Just certain.
When she opened the gate, Leo was there, standing under a large black umbrella. His jacket was soaked at the shoulders, droplets glinting in his hair like silver pins.
“You’re drenched,” Mia said, stepping closer.
“You took too long,” he teased, but his smile was softer than his words. He held the umbrella higher to cover her as they walked to his car parked a few houses away. No motorcycle today.
Inside, the car smelled faintly of rain and leather. He turned down the radio as they drove, and for a while, they didn’t speak the kind of silence that didn’t feel empty.
“Wasn’t sure if you’d say yes,” Leo said finally, his eyes on the slick road.
“Why?”
“You’ve been harder to read lately,” he admitted. “Like you’re thinking twice.”
Mia swallowed hard. He wasn’t wrong. Something in the way he said it made her want to deny it and confess it all at once.
The restaurant wasn’t fancy. It was an old place tucked between hardware stores, its windows fogged up from the steaming bowls of bulalo on every table. They sat in a booth near the corner, their knees brushing under the table as they shared a single order and a side of extra rice.
Leo watched her blow on a spoonful of broth. “You do that thing,” he said suddenly.
“What thing?”
“That little frown when the soup’s too hot.”
Mia laughed, shaking her head. “You notice too much.”
“Maybe I like looking,” he said plainly.
Her breath caught. Not because of the words, but the way he said them no smirk, no teasing tone. Just truth.
She looked down, pretending to stir the soup again. “You’re different today.”
“Different good or different bad?”
She met his gaze. “Different honest.”
His lips curved into something between a smile and a question, but before he could answer, her phone vibrated on the table. A name flashed on the screen: Paolo (Work).
Leo glanced at it, then back at her. “You can answer.”
“It’s just work,” she said, flipping the phone face down.
Something unreadable flickered in his eyes gone in a second, replaced by his usual calm. But his hand moved under the table, finding hers. Warm. Certain.
“You’re allowed to have people in your life,” he said quietly. “Just let me be one of them.”
Mia opened her mouth to reply, but the chime of the door broke the moment. Someone had walked in, shaking off an umbrella.
“Leo?”
They both turned.
The woman was stunning in a low-effort, I-woke-up-like-this way hair in a loose bun, oversized sweater slipping off one shoulder. Her eyes widened, then softened into a smile that didn’t quite reach them.
“Andrea,” Leo said, his tone steady, but his fingers tightened almost imperceptibly around Mia’s.
Andrea’s gaze flicked down to their joined hands before landing on Mia. “Wow. Been a while.”
Mia managed a polite nod. “Hi.”
Andrea tilted her head, the smile sharpening. “Friend?”
Leo didn’t answer immediately. Too long, maybe.
“Yeah,” he said finally. “Friend.”
The word slid into the space between them like a blade.
Andrea’s smile widened, as if she’d won something. “Nice seeing you, Leo.” And then she was gone, leaving the scent of rain and perfume in her wake.
Mia eased her hand from his slowly, staring at the melting ice in her glass. “You didn’t have to explain,” she said, voice low.
“I wasn’t explaining,” Leo said.
"Felt like you were"
Silence stretched, thick and heavy. Outside, the rain had stopped but inside Mia, something had just begun to pour.
- Writer
