Two Old Friends: Phase 12

Pagkatapos kumain ay sinamahan ni Samantha si Allan sa magiging silid nito. Ito iyong tinulugan nina Darlene at Jenneth noong nakaraang gabi.

"I'm staying with Jenneth and Darlene on the next room, and Ryan and Kenneth are staying at the room down the hall," ani Samantha sa boyfriend.

"Right. I know I can't stay with them so…"

"Pagpasensiyahan mo na lang sila. They just met you, so it's just normal that they can't be as friendly to you as they are to me."

"Not friendly, I understand. But hostile?"

Samantha frowned.

"Come on, Babe. It's obvious. That Ryan does not like me. Mabuti pa si Kenneth. He's quiet, but at least he's not acting like he wants me out of here."

"Ryan kasi is… he has a lot of issues. Family, then stress sa work."

Allan nodded. "Okay, I will let it pass."

Naupo si Allan sa may kama at sumandal sa may headboard.

"This room is huge. This bed is… you know, I could use a roommate."

Biglang kumabog ang dibdib ni Smantha. She knows Allan is just joking, she knows he likes to joke about those things. Pero nung mga sandaling iyon ay hindi niya kayang sakyan ang biro nito.

"Allan, I… you know I can't do that. I can't sleep with you–"

"Hey! Babe, I know. I'm just joking. Why are you panicking all of a sudden?"

Natigilan si Samantha. Bakit nga ba siya biglang naging defensive?

"I'm sorry, I just…" Naupo na rin siya sa may kama.

Allan reached out to her and held her hand.

"Hey, it's okay. I know your virtues and I respect them. That is actually what I love about you. You're different. Especially those girls in the States. I mean, I'm not racist or something. May mga Filipino women din naman na hindi katulad mo. I guess it's not about the race, it's about the values that a person has, her upbringing, family values… I'm blabbing, right? I guess I really should sleep now."

Muli itong sumandal sa may headboard. He reached out his hand at kinuha naman ito ni Samantha. Pagkatapos ay tinabihan siya nito sa may headboard. Allan leaned on her shoulders then closed his eyes.

"I missed you, Babe," Allan said.

Samantha looked at her boyfriend. "I missed you, too…"

She almost whispered. Bigla kasing namuo ang mga luha sa kanyang mga mata. Bigla siyang na-guilty. Maybe that's the reason why she suddenly became defensive a while ago. She knows something is wrong. She knows something is not right.

Maybe things could have been different if Allan has been there with her all this time. Or maybe, she should have told everyone that she has a boyfriend, she is engaged. Yeah, that could have helped.

Pero paano naman niya sasabihin? 𝘏𝘦𝘺, 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘺𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥. Parang mukha naman siyang desperada kapag ganoon. Isa pa, she and Allan planned on telling that to her family together. And then sa family naman ni Allan sa Nueva Ecija.

She touched Allan's face as gently as she could. He's already asleep. She smiled as she remembered the first time they met.

She met him in Harvard. She was reading at one of the reading spaces at the university's yard. She's alone. Wala pa siyang kaibigan, kasisimula pa lamang ng klase. Isa pa, wala siyang ganang makipagkaibigan. Hindi pa rin kasi siya nakaka-move on mula sa mga naiwan niya noon sa Pilipinas.

Allan went to her and asked her the most preskong question anyone could ask her. It made her smile as she remembered their first conversation.

"𝘏𝘪! 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶?"

"𝘉𝘶𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘴. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦."

"𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘩, 𝘣𝘶𝘵, 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦?"

"𝘐 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐'𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘺."

Walang nagawa si Allan nang mga sandaling iyon kundi ang iwanan na lamang siya. Pero hindi ito tumigil at nagpatuloy ito sa pangungulit niya. Nang mga sumunod na araw ay hindi na ito nagpapaalam sa kanya at umuupo na lang din kasama niya. Maging sa mga klase na nagkataong magkasama sila ay hindi siya nito tinitigilan. Hinahayaan na lamang niya ito, pero hindi pa rin niya ito kinakausap. Hindi niya ito sinasaway pero hindi rin niya ito pinapansin.

"𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦, 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶?"

𝘚𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘢 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨. "𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨."

"𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘯! 𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘹? 𝘐 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘺 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘹 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦."

"𝘖𝘬𝘢𝘺, 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦! 𝘓𝘦𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬."

"𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘥!"

𝘈𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘯 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘵.

"𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘐'𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯," 𝘚𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘢 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥.

"𝘐'𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵."

"𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘴𝘰?"

𝘈𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥. "𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸. 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸."

"𝘓𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵?"

"𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢 𝘍𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘰?"

𝘚𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘢 𝘯𝘰𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘥.

"𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘢 𝘍𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘰, 𝘵𝘰𝘰," 𝘈𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥.

𝘚𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥.

"𝘔𝘺 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵-𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵-𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘚𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩-𝘐𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘨𝘶𝘺."

𝘚𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘢 𝘯𝘰𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘻𝘰 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴.

"𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥. 𝘐 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘍𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘢."

"𝘔𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢 𝘚𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰, 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘺𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘰 𝘯𝘢."

"𝘐 𝘴𝘦𝘦… 𝘴𝘰, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮?"

"𝘛𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘢𝘤. 𝘠𝘰𝘶?"

"𝘕𝘶𝘦𝘷𝘢 𝘌𝘤𝘪𝘫𝘢. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘸 𝘶𝘱 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘜𝘚 𝘰𝘳 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘺?"

"𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘺. 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶?"

"𝘞𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘯. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘨𝘰 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴."

And that's how it all started. Mula doon ay naging magkaibigan silang dalawa, although after a while ay kaagad pinaramdam at pinaalam ni Allan that he wants her to be more than just a friend. At that time ay hindi pa siya ready na ma-in love with another person. Allan knows her past. She told him for him to understand. And he did understand. Allan waited until she was ready to fall in love again.

When her mother died, she also found out that Kenneth and Kristine has been married. Oo, they've been married for almost three years that time pero noon lang niya nalaman. Umiwas kasi talaga siya. She doesn't have any social media accounts. Ayaw niyang makibalita because she thought that's the way na makakalimot siya. It worked, for a while. Pero nang malaman niya ang tungkol kina Kenneth at Kristine, she was still devastated.

Allan was there by her side during that time. That's when she realized that she has to move on. She has to let go of the past and let go of all the feelings she has. She started opening up more on Allan. Slowly but surely, she fell in love.

For six years, Allan has been there for her and since then, everything has been great for her. Yes, with Allan, everything turns out right. That's why she's confident na malalampasan niya kung anuman ang pinagdaraanan niya ngayon now that Allan is here by her side.

**************************************

Hindi mapakali si Kenneth. Kandahaba ang leeg niya habang nakatingin sa may loob ng resthouse. Kaninang umaga pa niya hindi nakikita si Samantha. Mula nang samahan nito ang boyfriend na si Allan sa magiging silid nito ay hindi pa ito lumalabas. Alas-sais y media na nga ngayon at medyo madilim na ang paligid.

"Okay ka lang, Pare?" tanong ni Ryan sa kanya.

Kenneth nodded.

"Daddy, nasaan na po si Tita Sam at Tito Allan?" tanong naman ni Darlene na nasa pool habang nakasakay ng salbabida.

Nagtinginan sina Kenneth at Ryan, hindi malaman ang isasagot sa bata.

Si Jenneth ang sumagot sa tanong ni Darlene. "Baka sinamahan lang si Tito Allan mo. Kanina kasi sabi niya magpapahinga siya dahil may jet lag nga siya."

"Tita, ano po iyong jet lag?"

"Iyong nahihirapan kang makatulog kasi hindi pareho ang oras dito tsaka doon sa pinanggalingan niyang bansa. "

"Ah, baka po kasi nahihirapan siyang makatulog kaya tinulungan siya ni Tita Sam."

Tumango si Jenneth. "Ganoon na nga."

"Pero hindi na po sila nakakain ng lunch tsaka meryenda."

"I guess they're okay," ani Jenneth kay Darlene. "Don't worry about them. Kung gutom naman ang mga iyon eh kakain din naman siguro sila."

Tumango si Darlene.

Pero ilang sandali lang ay lumabas na rin sina Samantha at Allan. Kaagad lumapit ang dalawa sa grupo.

"Hi, guys!" bati ni Allan sa lahat. Si Samantha naman ay tahimik lang sa tabi niya.

"Hello po!" bati ni Darlene sa kanila.

"Sorry, I overslept," Allan apologized.

"Okay lang," ani Jenneth. "Are you okay now?"

"Yeah," ani Allan. "Some good doctor took care of me, so…" Tinignan niya si Samantha.

Para namang nahiya si Samantha sa sinabi ni Allan. Kiming ngiti na lamang ang naisagot nito.

"Hindi po ba ikaw nagugutom, Tito?" tanong ni Darlene.

"Actually, I'm quite hungry," sagot ni Allan.

"Mamaya pa tayo maghahapunan," ang sabi naman ni Ryan. "Kakameryenda lang kasi namin."

Natahimik ang lahat sa coldness na pinapakita ni Ryan. Tanging si Darlene lang ang hindi apektado.

Si Jenneth na lamang ang umayos ng lahat. "We are planning to go out to eat tonight," anito kay Allan.

"That's nice," ani Allan. "I guess I could wait until everyone feels like eating again."

"I'll get you some sandwich," ang sabi ni Samantha kay Allan.

"Oh, thank you, Babe," ani Allan. "Why don't we go get it together?"

"No, it's okay," ani Samantha. "You stay here and rest."

"I slept and rested for almost ten hours already."

"Just… stay here…"

Allan ang Samantha looked at each other. Wari'y nag-uusap ang mga mata nilang dalawa. Sa huli ay si Allan din ang nag-give in.

"Okay." Allan smiled.

Nagtungo na sa kusina si Samantha. Noon naman biglang tumunog ang cellphone ni Kenneth.

"Excuse me, I just need to take this."

Lumayo si Kenneth sa kanila at sinagot ang telepono nito.

Si Ryan naman ay biglang nagpaalam na rin. "May kailangan din nga pala akong tawagan."

Walang nagawa ang tatlo nang umalis na ito at iwan sila sa may pool.

"I guess your friends are all busy," ani Allan kay Jenneth.

"I'm sorry," ani Jenneth.

"It's okay," ani Allan. "Samantha left me here because she wants me to hang out with her friends. But it seems that your friends do not want to hang out with me."

Medyo nakonsensiya naman si Jenneth sa sinabi ni Allan. Mukha naman kasi itong mabait kaya hindi rin tama ang ginagawang pagtrato nina Kenneth dito. Lalo na si Ryan. Naiintindihan ni Jenneth si Kenneth, kasi alam niyang nagseselos ito kay Allan. Pero si Ryan?

"Excuse me," biglang paalam ni Jenneth.

"You're leaving, too?" tanong ni Allan.

"I'll just talk to Ryan," ani Jenneth.

"Oh no! Please don't," ani Allan.

"He's treating you unfairly. I don't know what he's up to, but he needs some scolding to make him come to his senses."

Wala nang nagawa si Allan kundi hayaan na lamang si Jenneth na umalis. He was actually amazed at her feistiness when it comes to Ryan.

"Your Tita Jhing really has some power over Ryan," ani Allan kay Darlene.

"Ang sabi po ni Daddy, talagang love po ni Ninong si Tita Jhing."

"Samantha mentioned that the reason you're here is because of those two."

"Tama po iyon."

Allan smiled. "Don't worry. I'm willing to help."

"Yey!"

Natuwa si Allan sa reaction ni Darlene.

"Do you like swimming?" tanong ni Allan.

"Opo pero hindi po ako marunong lumangoy."

"Really?" Napatingin si Allan sa salbabidang sinasakyan nito.

"Opo. Sabi nga po ni Daddy sa summer ie-enrol po niya ako sa swimming lessons."

"That is nice. But, you know I'm a very good swimmer. Do you want me to teach you?"

"Ah, baka po mabasa kayo."

Allan smiled. He took off his shirt and went to the pool towards Darlene.

"I'm not afraid to get soaked. Now, let's begin?"

Masayang tumango si Darlene. Nagsimula nang turuan ni Allan ng basics ng paglangoy si Darlene.