If You Were Mine

Two

EMILY

"OMG! Asan yung singsing mo girl?" Marvin took my left hand as soon as pumasok ako sa maliit na office ni Lexie where we usually take our lunch. "Ay." Marvin's face fell nung wala syang nakita.

"Mas excited ka pa talaga no? Daig mo pa si Em na sinabi lang yung announcement nya sa group chat natin na parang hindi big deal." Beth lightly laughed. I sat down next to her and took out my packed lunch. It was hard to make it a big deal pag feeling mo parang hindi totoo yung proposal sayo.

"Paano pala nag propose si James?" Lexie asked while chewing her food.

Marvin, Beth and Lexie are my longtime friends dito sa office. Marvin, as I've said earlier was Steven's former assistant. Ng isang linggo lang. Pinalipat sya ni Steven kay Atty. Melissa Carlos, then recently, nalipat nanaman sya kay Atty. Tasha Guillermo, yung pinaka bagong abogado dito sa law firm na anak din ng isa sa Senior Partners who founded the firm. Although pag pasok nya, she's already a Senior Partner like my boss and Beth's boss. Beth works as an assistant to husband and wife lawyers—Stacy and Killian Roxas. At kahit dalawa pa yung boss nya, hindi sya nalulunod sa mga utos unlike me. Si Lexie naman admin staff and also a paralegal. Halos lahat kami three years ago na-hire dahil dumami yung lawyers and clients nung firm.

"Over FaceTime." I answered. Kitang-kita ko sa mga mukha nila na pinipigilan nilang mag react baka maoffend ako.

"Ay girl akala ko umuwi si James para mag propose." Marvin said.

"I think kung umuwi sya, may singsing si Em ngayon." Inirapan ni Lexie si Marvin.

"Okay lang, say it. Hindi naman ako maooffend." I said to them. We're friends so I need to hear what they think.

"Hindi man lang sya nag pabili ng singsing sa nanay o tatay nya?" Sumimangot si Marvin.

"Wag tayong traditional mag isip. Thing na din ngayon yung mga virtual events ah. If may online burol, why not online proposal?" Beth hesitantly joked the last part. Yung pag hilera ng proposal sa burol was depressingly funny. "At may mga naeengage naman ng walang singsing. Or malay mo, to follow yung singsing." She continued. Ayokong umasa.

Torn ako about the singsing thing. Actually, kahit nga dun sa FaceTime proposal. Hindi ko naimagine kahit kelan na sa ganong paraan ako yayayain mag pakasal ni James. But tama naman si Beth, I can't afford to stick with traditions bilang yung boyfriend ko, correction fiancé, is working hard sa ibang bansa. Mahal din ang ticket pabalik dito and knowing James, he would rather save that money for the future. Our future.

"Teka. Kaya ka hindi excited and walang newly-engaged glow dahil wala kang singsing no?" I wish Marvin would quit about the ring dahil bumibigat lang yung palasingsingan ko sa kamay sa kawalan ng engagement ring na nakasuot.

"Hoy tumigil ka na Vina! I'm sure sweet naman yung pag propose ni James." Siniko ni Lexie si Marvin.

I wish. Everything about it was so far from being a sweet proposal. "Wag kayong ma excite. Hindi sweet. He asked me bago sya umalis papasok sa shift nya, habang nasa labas ako ng bahay namin dahil hindi ko sya marinig, naka pambahay lang ako, at walang singsing. Walang pinagkaiba sa araw-araw naming pag uusap." Hindi ko na tinago yung disappointment ko.

Eight years. At ganun lang nangyari lahat. Okay affected pala ako. Hindi naman ako maarte, in fact I rarely want things that were not practical pero sana nag effort si James ng kahit konti sa proposal nya sakin.