It's 2:17 AM. She's full, a little tipsy from one beer, and wide awake staring at the ceiling.
Her phone is open to his chat. "Boss."
Three years of no contact, then fate being bored again.
[Flashback: December 2021]
Him: Can we talk?
Her: Boss? It's late.
Him: I know. I just... I miss us. Can we try again?
Her: [heart beating so fast she can hear it] You want to get back together? Now?
Him: Yeah.
Her: Why now?
Him: What do you mean why now?
Her: Why are you so late? I waited a year for you. One whole year. It took you two years to want me back.
Him: I wasn't ready then. I'm ready now.
Her: And what if I'm not? What if I moved on?
She didn't say yes that night. She said she needed time. But that night changed everything. Her mind filled with what-ifs, and those what-ifs cracked the relationship she was in at that time — a good man, who loved her well, respected her, appreciated her. But she couldn't forget Boss.
So she ended it.
Her: It's not you. You're amazing. You deserve someone who is fully here.
Him [her boyfriend then]: Is it because of him?
Her: It's because I can't be unfair to you anymore. Better to be single than to stay in something that's slowly being hollowed out.
For a year she accepted suitors. Not for love. Not for marriage or children. All she wanted was someone to grow old with, quietly, under the same roof, without feelings attached. Practical. Straightforward. That's who she was proud to be.
Until fate played again.
Supermarket. Tuesday. 4 PM. The most unexpected place.
He was there. Boss.
Her: Boss?
Him:...Ikaw?
Her: What are you doing here?
Him: I live two blocks away now.
Her: Small world.[laughing][nervous]
Him: You look... different. Good different.
Her: Matured? Tired?[laughs]
That night she couldn't sleep. Her heart beat so hard she thought she might fall for him again. So she did something she never does — she shamelessly messaged his friend to get his number.
[Present: 2:23 AM, the letter]
She finally presses send on the long message. The one that says "I am no longer the young girl who waited. I am a woman who knows what she wants now. And it's you."
Seen. Immediately.
He's awake.
Him: You're still awake?
Her: I told you I can't sleep.
Him: I just read everything.
Her: And?
Him: You ended a relationship because of me?
Her: I ended it because I wasn't honest. I was thinking of someone else while being loved by someone good. That's not fair.
Him: Hanna... I thought you hated me after I asked you back in 2021 and you went quiet.
Her: I never hated you. I was grieving us. I wept for us so many times, Boss. Even when we were already in separate lives.
Him: I thought when I got into a relationship, you'd finally forget me.
Her: I tried. I was happy for you, honestly. Because I thought if you were happy, I would have a reason to really forget. But I didn't.
Him: So what now? That warning at the end — "if I have you, I won't let you go ever again" — are you serious?
Her: I am always practical and straightforward, remember? That's me being honest. I was obsessed with you before. And deep down, I think I still am. If you let me have you again, I will be selfish this time. I won't be the girl who waits. I'll be the woman who keeps you.
Him: What if I'm scared that I'll be late again?
Her: Then don't be late this time. I'm here. At 2 AM, full, a little drunk, and certain. It's you.
Him: Can I call you?
Her: Yes.
And for the first time in three nights in a row, she finally felt sleepy — not because she was tired, but because she finally said it out loud.
The end.
