SIMULA ng ideklara ni Khairus na manliligaw ulit ito kay Leira. Halos araw araw na nagpapadala ito ng isang palumpon ng bulaklak at iba't ibang klaseng pagkain sa bahay niya. Leira sighed as she stared at the teddy bear, 'yung teddy bead na nakuha nila sa Skyranch, na nasa kama niya.

"Mababaliw ako sa tatay mo!" kausap niya dito, as if naman makakapag salita at sasagot ang isang malaking teddy bear sa kanya!

Her masterpiece is now done. Kaunting revise nalang, for the first time, she was satisfied with her work! Writing is her stress reliever, pero nitong nakaraan na araw bigla itong naging sanhi ng stress niya. Well, sino bang hindi ma stress? Siya na walang alam sa pagsusulat ng intimate scene, biglang inatasan na magsulat ng may ganoon? But she's happy, because she somehow survived.

Leira smiled as she starts editing the book cover of the book, it was also one of her talent. Kung matatawag man na talent ang pag eedit ng book cover. Na nadiscover niya because of writing. Masyado nang na focus si Leira sa pag eedit at hindi niya napansin na nag tetext na pala sa kanya ang walang kasing kulit niyang manliligaw. Hindi niya alintana ang pag vibrate ng phone niya na nakapatong lang sa tabi ng laptop niya.

"Ah-huh! Complete!" sigaw ni Leira!

She saved her manuscript and immediately printed it out. Ibibigay niya sa boss niya ang hard copy at sa mga editor naman ng Vessarios ang soft copy. Alam naman kasi niyang tamad mag basa sa computer screen ang boss niyang may topak sa ulo. She grabbed her phone and open it, hindi na nabigla si Leira sa dami ng missed calls ni Khairus. Mukhang nadala na ang lalaki dahil hindi siya pala reply. She dialed his number.

[Why weren't you picking up the phone?] tumaas ang kilay ni Leira sa ibinungad ni Khairus pagkasagot na pagkasagot nito ng tawag niya.

She rolled her eyes. "Hindi lang ikaw ang may trabaho." Leira flatly said as she waits for the paper to come out in the printer.

[Ow, kumain kana? Want me to buy you foods? May cravings ka?] natawa bigla si Leira sa sunod sunod na tanong ni Khairus. Kabisado na niya ang ganitong tanungan ni Khairus, it always comes after the question na 'Kumain kana?'.

"Kumain na ako, you don't need to buy me foods and a huge bouquet! Nagiging flower shop na ang bahay ko dahil sayo!" natatawang singhal ni Leira.

Khairus chuckled on the other line. [Fine, Sunrise. By the way, can I crashed later?]

"You know, you didn't need to ask. Kahit naman sabihin ko na hindi pwede, magpupumilit ka parin na sa bahay ko ikaw matulog." Leira rolled her eyes once again.

Ilang linggo na, na sa bahay niya natutulog ang lalaki. Sa lapag nga lang ito natutulog, well, Leira tried to convince him that he can sleep with her in the bed since it's quite big for the two of 'em. Pero hindi iyon gina-grab ni Khairus, he always says that. He's still a man and she's a woman, sa ayaw at sa gusto daw nila may pwedeng mangyari kapag nagtabi sila. It's in between of bad and good. Leira admired Khairus for that.

[You got me.] Nakikinita na ni Leira na nakangisi ang lalaki ngayon.

"Whatever. Mag-ingat nalang sila sayo!" she said and dropped the call. Her heart is still not yet ready for the 3 words Khairus usually say when he will end up the call.

Leira eat her lunch first before taking a shower, ngayon niya ipapasa ang manuscript sa boss niyang hilaw. She was really frustrated when he give her this project, pero hindi pa natatapos isang buwan, tapos na niya ang buong story. It was just a 20 chapters with a total of 30k plus words or more? Hindi na nag-abala si Leira na tignan ang word counts. She wear her most comfortable clothes and tied her hair up, nag lagay lang din siya ng kaunting tint sa labi and prepared a bento box for Khairus, bago siya lumabas ng bahay.

She was humming to herself while driving. Nauna siyang pumunta sa construction site, kung saan itatayo ang bagong building ng Vessarios. Hindi naman ganoon kahirap hanapin si Khairus, lalo na at nag stand out ang lalaki sa paningin ni Leira. She walks out of her car and walks towards Khairus direction, may hawak itong blueprint at may kausap na isang lalaki.

"Architect, yung asawa niyo po." nadinig ni Leira ang sinabi ng lalaking kausap ni Khairus, when the man saw her looking at him, he smiled and waved his hand cutely. Tinabig ni Khairus ang kamay ng lalaki pababa at sinamaan ito ng tingin bago siya lapitan nito.

"Wew? What are you doing here?" he asked as he pulled Leira into an embraced and kissed the top of her head. Leira smiled at his old gestures, but sweet nonetheless.

"Asawa mo na pala ako? Ang alam ko nanliligaw ka palang ah?" she teased making Khairus cheeks down to his neck turned bright red. Natawa si Leira bago inabot sa lalaki ang bento box na ginawa niya. "Lunch mo."

"Sunrise, you will be my wife whether you like it or you love it!" Khairus said and wink at her. Nailing nalang si Leira sa lalaki, advance masyado mag-isip ang siraulo!

Leira shrugged and tiptoed to kissed him on the cheek. "Got to go, enjoy your lunch!" she yelled as she run towards her car and immediately slid her self inside.

Sinapo ni Leira ang mukha niya. God! She kissed his cheek! Tinampal niya ang mukha bago kinuha ang compact mirror na nasa bag niya at silip ang mukha, her face was red, pati ang magkabilang tainga niya ay namumula! She calm her self down and maneuver her car towards the Vessarios publishing company.

Pababa palang siya ng sasakyan nakita na niya ang kaibigan na si Klea na nag-aabang. Leira rolled her eyes and readied her body for another series of beating with Klea!

"Leiraaaaaaaa!" sigaw nito habang tumatakbo papalapit  sa kanya. Pumikit ng mariin si Leira at hinihintay ang mabigat na kamay ni Klea, but instead of a hit, she felt Klea embraced her tightly. "I missed you! Hulaan ko! Magpapasa ka ng manuscript? Tapos mo na yung pinapagawa ni Boss sayo?!" Leira blinked her eyes and waved in front of Klea's face.

"Ikaw ba talaga si Klea?" Leira asked while looking at her friend with doubt.

Natawa si Klea at pabirong hinila ang buhok niya. "Gaga! Gusto mo talaga kapag sinasaktan ka no?" natatawang tanong nito sa kanya. Leira rolled her eyes again before clinging onto Klea's arm.

"Hindi ah! Pero, oo magpapasa ako ng manus. Nandito na ba ang boss natin na walang kasing bait?" she laughs when she used the term walang kasing bait. Ves was the opposite of that to others tho.

"Nasa office niya, tambak ang binabasang manus. Pero feeling ko mauunang ma pa-published yung sayo! E favorite ka non!" reklamo ni Klea sa kanya at pabirong kinurot ang tagiliran ni Leira.

Leira chuckled. "Maganda kasi ako!" she boasted and laugh at Klea's reaction. Klea pretending to vomit with an exaggerating sounds. Binatukan ni Leira ang kaibigan bago hinila papasok sa building.

Leira greeted everyone when they reach the 4th floor. Unlike noong nag celebrate siya ng 1st anniversary niya as a writer, mabibilang lang ngayon ang mga tao na nandito sa 4th floor. Leira shrugged and tapped Klea's arm, sumenyas nalang siya na pupunta na sa office ng boss nila. Leira knocked three times before entering the office, she saw Ves lazily sitting on his swivel chair, nakapatong pa ang mga paa nito sa lamesa habang hawak hawak ang iPad nito.

Leira smiled. "Yow!"

"What brings you here?" nakataas ang kilay na tanong ni Ves sa kanya. Leira smiled widely at his boss and showed him the paper she compiled, front page ang book cover na inedit niya kani kanina lang.

Nanlaki ang mga mata ni Ves habang nakatingin sa hawak niya. Sumenyas ito na ibigay ang hawak niya na ikinatawa niya.

"As expected from Undetectedgirl! Damn!" Ves exaggeratedly exclaimed while browsing the papers. "Seat there, wait for me until I finished reading your manuscript!" utos sa kanya ni Ves. Leira shrugged and sat on the sofa and decided to play on her phone. Well, she's not really playing.

Nag-uumpisa na naman maglumikot ang utak niya, kaya nag no-notes na siya ng mga idea habang naghihintay na matapos ang boss niya sa pagbabasa. Well, Ves was a fast reader when he wanted to. Kaya confident si Leira na hindi siya magtatagal sa pagkakaupo sa sofa, nang mapiga na niya ang utak niya kakaisip. Binuksan niya ang social media at kinuhanan ng picture ang office ng boss niya at nag myday sa IG.

Then she posted the picture of her laptop a while ago, with a caption. New story soon, stay tuned!! 💙

Leira's eyes widened when she saw the name of Khairus on her phone notification toggle! That damn shit just commented on her post and a lot of her readers reacted! Nagmamadaling binuksan ni Leira ang Instagram niya, dumeretso agad siya sa bagong post niya at nakitang nasa pinaka taas ang comment ni Khairus!

Khairus_Perez: My Sunrise, works hard for it. Hope y'all support her. :)

Her cheeks reddened as she reads his comment multiple times. Some of her readers replied to it and started to ship him with Khairus, ang ibang readers naman niya mina-mine na ang lalaki, napailing nalang si Leira kapag nakakabasa siya ng ganoon. Parang binebenta sa online selling ang lalaki.

"Boss? You done? It's getting late ya know." bored na sabi ni Leira habang pinapaikot sa kamay ang cellphone na hawak niya. Nanliit ang mga mata ni Leira nang mapansin na kaunti nalang ang pages na babasahin ng boss niya! This man is really something.

"Fuck! This is a mind blowing story! As expected from you, Leira! Send me the soft copy. ASAP! I'll ask our editor to edit this one and published it afterwards!"

"Hm? I'm planning to post it on wattpad first before publishing it. Mabibigla ang mga Reader's ko, kung ipa-pub na agad." she reasoned out. Napaisip si Ves sa sinabi niya, he sighed and surrendered.

"Ikaw ang masusunod." Ves said. Lumapit sa kanya ang lalaki at niyakap siya, pasimpleng tinapik ang balikat niya. "I'm proud of you, I'm sure Khairus too! What's the score between the two of you?" Leira rolled his eyes nang umandar na ang pagiging tsismoso ng Boss slash kaibigan niya.

"I'm still enjoying the courting thingy." she smiled and wink at Ves. Umiling si Ves at ginulo ang buhok ni Leira.

"Matanda na kayo. Kaya niyo na 'yan!" pabirong sabi ni Ves at tinulak na siya palabas ng office nito.

Nagpaalam muna si Leira sa kaibigan na si Klea, medyo nagtagal pa ng kaunti dahil sa dami ng tanong na paulit ulit lang naman. Her friend was asking kung kailan ma pa-published ang story na natapos niya within the month. Of course Leira answered her honestly pero mahirap daw 'yong paniwalaan ani ni Klea. Pagkauwi niya sa bahay, she saw the car of Khairus parked in front of his house, na katapat lang naman ng bahay ni Leira.

Nakangiting bumaba sa sasakyan si Leira, Khairus raised his arms while walking towards her. Leira shake her head and met Khairus midway, agad pumalupot ang mga braso ni Khairus sa katawan ni Leira, and she did the same thing to him. She hugged him tightly and rested his head on his muscular chest.

"Ang wild pala ng mga readers mo?" natatawang tanong sa kanya ni Khairus.

"Bakit ka kasi nag comment? And how did you find my IG account?" nakataas ang kilay na tanong ni Leira.

"Binebenta ka na ni Ves sa akin." Khairus chuckled sexily. "Am I not allowed to? I mean, I just want them to know how much you work hard for it." he reasoned making her chuckled and playfully punched his stomach, pero katulad ng nauna, kawawa lang ang kamay niya!

"I'm sure there's more than that..." she trailed off as she looks at him suspiciously.

"I also want them to know that you're only mine. My sunrise. Mine and mine and mine alone." he whined as he possessively tightened his hug.

Leira smirked. "Yours?" she mocked.

Khairus looked down and placed a soft kiss on her lips, nagulat si Leira sa ginawa ni Khairus. Parang tumigil bigla ang paggalaw ng mundo ni Leira dahil sa simpleng halik na ibinibigay sa kanya ni Khairus.

"You're My Sunrise. You'll be mine, again. Kapag nangyari 'yon, I can freely shout to the world that I claimed my own sunrise!"

Beat. Claimed his own sunrise? Her? It's better than I love you for her. Leira smiled, she witnessed how Khairus worked hard on claiming her again. Humigpit ang yakap ni Leira sa binata habang pinakikinggan ang mabilis na tibok ng puso nito.