First Time & Last Time

They prove that love is, as the oft-quoted song says, lovelier the second time around, more comfortable the second time you fall. The sweethearts star in Truly. Madly. Deadly., the last of a 4-part mini-movie series airing tonight on GMA’s Telebabad Block.
Photos courtesy of Jennylyn Mercado and Dennis Trillo

Jennylyn Mercado & Dennis Trillo reveal their...

Time has proven them right that, as the oft-quoted song says, love is sweeter the second time around, more comfortable the second time you fall.

Jennylyn Mercado and Dennis Trillo seem to have fallen hard. To quote the title of their mini-series airing starting tomorrow night after Encantadia on the GMA Telebabad Block, truly, madly and deadly. Well, maybe truly and madly but definitely not deadly.

Directed by Jorron Lee Monroy, the week-long series titled Truly. Madly. Deadly is the last of the four-part mini-movie series. It’s the story of Coleen (Jennylyn), a professional woman who, after being ridiculed online for a scandal with a married man, moves out of the city and works in a remote resort where she meets a mysterious resident IT guy named Drew (Dennis).

Life seems to be going well for the recovering Coleen until Abby (Rhian Ramos, as her best friend-turned-enemy) shows up and the past begins to haunt Coleen.

Meanwhile, the sweethearts recall their “First Time” and “Last Time.”

Kissed a boy/girl.

Jennylyn: “First time was when I was a teenager. Last time was kanina. Si Dennis.”

Dennis:Ako rin ‘yung last time ko kanina lang. Si Jen. ‘Yung first time, teenager din ako but I can’t remember who the girl was.”

Fell in love.

Jennylyn: “I can’t recall the first time. Last time, si Dennis ulit.”

Dennis: “My first time parang high school pa. Last time, si Jen siempre.

Suffered a heartbreak.

Jennylyn: “I was also a teenager the first time. The last was, I think, when Dennis and I broke up for the first time.”

Dennis: “Same here. ‘Yung first ko parang college days ko pa. The last was, well, nasabi na ni Jen.”

Cried real hard.

Jennylyn: “First ko, batang-bata pa ako noon. Last was when my Nanay Lydia passed away.”

Dennis: “The first and last time was when Jen and I watched a sad movie. Grabe ang iyak ko!

Felt triumphant.

Dennis: “The first was when I won an acting award. The last was noong naging maswerte ‘yung business namin sa gitna ng pandemic.”

Jennylyn: “Same here, first and last times.”

Very sad.

Jennylyn: “Also, noong nawala si Nanay Lydia.”

Dennis:Ako, the last time was when Jen showed me a video of pets na hindi nakakarating sa kanilang owners.”

Very happy.

Jennylyn: “We are always happy every day. Just like a while ago during the mediacon, tawa kami nang tawa.”

Dennis: “Last time, just this morning when I woke up na okay ako at healthy.”

Very angry.

Jennylyn: “I have many friends who have lost their jobs and they don’t know what to do with their lives at kung paano nila bubuhayin ang pamilya nila. Ang dami talagang nawalan ng trabaho recently. Nakaka-angry ‘yung sitwasyon.”

Said “I love you” to somebody.

Jennylyn: “The last was a while ago...to Dennis. The first was sa parents ko.”

Dennis: “Every day naman we always say ‘I love you!’ to each other. ‘Yung first, sa parents ko rin.”

Traveled abroad.

Jennylyn: “‘Yung first ko sa work then ‘yung last namin ni Dennis sa Singapore noong nanood kami ng U2 concert.”

Dennis: “‘Yung first ko ay noong Grade Five ako...sa Hong Kong...my first time to travel out of the Philippines.”

Badly hurt.

Jennylyn: “I was a batang kalye when I was a kid. I borrowed our neighbor’s bike at nakikipag-racing ako sa mga kapitbahay ko. Then while we were going downward, my playmate called me. I turned around and I didn’t remember what happened. Nasa ibabaw na ako ng kotse pag-gising ko. I hit the car that was parked. Recently, wala naman akong injury or what kahit emotionally.”

Dennis: “Last time na nasaktan ako physically noong nagba-bike ako then nadulas ako sa madulas na parte ng kalsada. I went home wounded. First time naman dahil sa basketball. In our school, there were several teams playing in the same court. What happened was that one player was running with his mouth open, nakanganga, and he hit the side of my ear. It bled.”

Person I call as soon as I wake up/last person I call before I go to sleep.

Jennylyn: “First and last person, si Dennis.”

Dennis: “Same here because we are always together.”

I made a wrong decision.

Jennylyn: “I don’t regret any decision that I have made. Even if it was wrong para sa akin tama pa rin siya na pinagdaanan ko ‘yung mali.

Dennis: “The last time was when I bought a pair of shoes online and it was half my size. I didn’t foresee that it would be a problem.”

I made a wise decision.

Jennylyn:Mag-invest for long-term goals and for the future.”

Dennis: “Parehas kami ng wise decision. Like decisions that we make for our projects during this pandemic.”

I laughed real hard.

Jennylyn: “When Dennis had a skin peeling kasi may kailangan siyang ipaayos na sunspots and pigmentation. During the first two days, his face was a mix of black and red, and every time I looked at him I couldn’t stop laughing. Tapos binibigyan niya pa ako ng facial expression na parang ‘Huh? What’s the problem? OK naman, a!’ Pero sobrang sama talaga noong pagkaitim at pula ng mukha niya.”

Dennis: “The last time was kaninang mediacon. Masaya kasi ‘yung mga tanong at sagot na binibigay namin. Pero madalas talagang pinagtatawanan namin kahit na ano. Kahit problema tinatawanan lang namin.”

And I fought with Dennis/Jen (over what?).

Jennylyn: “Petty things lang pinag-aawayan namin, walang malalaking issue. It was such a petty thing na hindi dapat pag-awayan. Sometimes, we fight over little things like mga hindi lang maayos na gamit. Like, ‘How come this is here? Di ba niligpit ko na ‘to? Di ba basura ‘to?’ Little things like that. Ganoon lang kasi-simple. Wala kaming pinagdadaanan na mga away na nambabae, nanlalake, umiinom or whatever. Ang issues lang talaga namin maliliit na bagay even ‘yung friends namin sinasabi, ‘Ano ba ‘yan? Pinag-aawayan n’yo yan? Ang babaw-babaw!’”

Dennis: “Just small things lang talaga.

(E-mail reactions at rickylophilstar@gmail.com. For more updates, photos and videos, visit www.philstar.com/funfare or follow me on Instagram @therealrickylo.)

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