See You Tomorrow, Yuki (EDITING)

TWENTY-FOUR

"The wedding is only two weeks away. We can meet the deadline if the design isn't too grand, so we could only come up with this."

"Gano'n ba..." di na marinig na tugon ni Yuki.

Hindi niya inaalis ang tingin sa repleksyon niya sa salamin. Hindi ganoon kagandahan ang sinukat niyang dress. Hindi kumikinang, hindi masyadong mahaba, hindi mabigat. Puting-puti, mahaba ang mga manggas at kita ang balikat. Abot hanggang sa talampakan niya. Sing-simple ng ngiti niya ang kabuuang itsura nito.

"I'd just go with this design," pagpapatuloy niya. "It's not like I'll marry the gown."

"Did you change shops? Of course, I'm happy you chose us. I'm just wondering why you're in a rush."

"Well, we agreed to marry without dating. I guess you can say it's rushed."

"You and the groom booked this appointment, but he's not here. May problema po ba?"

"Bakit ang dami mong tanong? I'm here for fitting, not for an interview," banas na sagot ni Yuki.

"I'm sorry, ma'am."

"Forget it. He said he loved the design of the suit and it fits him perfectly, so he'll go with that."

"Yes, ma'am."

- - -

[Did it go well? Sorry, hindi kita nasamahan. We have many trauma patients today dahil bumabagyo. Ah, mag-ingat ka pauwi.] Si Jamie.

Tahimik si Yuki, habang nakatanaw sa labas. Sa sulok ng restaurant siya nakaupo, hinihintay ang order niya. Malalaki ang mga patak ng ulan. Rinig ang pagbuhos nito hanggang sa loob, maging ang mga kulog.

"It went well. Aciel's on his way from the office, so don't worry."

[Okay. Let's talk later.]

Aciel has finally arrived. Habang pinapagpag ang damit niyang nabasang kaunti, nilibot naman niya sa iba't ibang direksyon ang mga mata upang hanapin si Yuki. Kaunting lakad pa at natanaw na niya.

"Yuki," he said as he sat down in front of her.

"You're here," patanong ang tono ni Yuki.

Sakto namang naihanda na ang mga putaheng in-order niya, kasama ang dalawang baso ng mainit at barakong kape. She served him his meal and coffee first and put what's left in front of her.

"Aciel," sambit ni Yuki nang makahigop ng kape. Nakabalot sa dalawa niyang kamay ang baso na tila ba nais niyang ibsan ang panlalamig ng mga ito. "There's something I want to tell you."

"Tungkol saan?" malambing na tanong ng binata, diretso ang tingin kay Yuki.

Tinanggal ni Yuki ang panyong nakatali sa kamay niya. Ginapang niya ang daliri sa kaniyang sugat saka tumingin pabalik kay Aciel.

"When the earthquake happened... I was there, too."

"You were?"

"Hmm. With Mama and Papa. It was the first musical version of Papa's book, so Tito Hakim allowed me to leave the hospital and go with them."

"That's nice," nakangiting sagot ni Aciel. "Dad's company is the first theater to have produced a musical of Lenora's story... although it wasn't a perfect version. And now you're having your first lead musical as Lenora."