Change of Fate

Chapter 1

"Babe! Grabe yung nangyari sa amin kahapon. Kumain kami sa isang Korean restaurant tapos nag-rent ng videoke room. Puro tawanan kasi minsan lang naman kami makumpleto. Alam mo bang si Sophie..."

Daniel was talking non-stop about his whereabouts yesterday. Kanina pa siya nagkukwento na ang hirap na sabayan minsan kaya tumatawa na lang ako.

We are inside his room in his parents' house because he invited me here dahil hindi rin naman kami nagkita ng ilang araw. He still doesn't have a house or a condo for him to live independently kaya nandito pa rin siya kasama ang mga magulang.

I stared at him, and listened as he went along with his stories about his trip with his friends.

He went to the north with his friends for a week and ngayon lang siya nakabalik, kaya pinapunta niya ako sa kanila. Agad akong nagbihis at pumunta dahil namiss ko rin naman siya. Weekend din naman kaya may free time ako.

"May nabili nga pala ako para sayo. Sabi ni Mandy na paniguradong magugustuhan mo iyon." He said to me and I immediately looked at what he got me because of excitement.

A small keychain. With a heart, and inside is his name in cursive writing. Ganoon ba kababa tingin sa akin ni Mandy na magugustuhan ko 'to? Hindi na dapat ako magreklamo dahil bigay lang naman sa akin ito ng boyfriend ko, pero nag-expect ako ng iba. Parang binigyan niya lang ako ng regalo dahil inutusan siya ng kaibigan niya.

Hindi ko pinakita na nadismaya ako kaya pinilit ko na lang ngumiti at humarap sa kanya pero ang kausap ko pala nakatingin na sa TV sa harap namin. I sighed.

"Kumusta naman si Trevor? Nakita ko kasi sa social media na nagpapapansin doon sa ex niya." I asked.

"Ayon, okay naman. Umiyak nung nag-inuman kami tapos tinawanan lang namin. Inutusan ko nga si Amanda na i-comfort tas pumayag naman." He laughed. I frowned at that.

"Hindi mo ba bibigyan kahit simpleng advice yung tropa mo? He got cheated on, diba?"

"Malaki na 'yon. Kaya na niya sarili niya. Baka kasalanan niya rin kung bakit siya niloko." I don't know where he laughed. With his statement or the comedy movie playing on TV.

"Si Amanda ex niya diba? Tapos siya rin ang inutusan mong mag-comfort kay Trevor?" I never get those who get into a relationship within their group of friends. Parang jinowa mo ang kauri mo, it felt like incest for me.

Daniel shrugged at that. "Ayoko na silang isipin, babe. Manood nalang tayo." He grabbed me by my arm and placed me beside him, with his arms on my shoulders. I leaned on his chest while wrapping my arms on his waist and back sideways, and we laughed while watching the movie.

We spent the day like that, and it already felt nice for me.

Monday came, and I got work. I am the head of pharmaceutical manufacturing under the company where I'm working, wherein I oversee the employees, chemists, and scientists in handling the processes of making medicines and other medicinal solutions. It was a stressful job, of course, but it was gratifying for me.

"Engineer Vega, there's someone on the line for you." My secretary called me after the meeting I was in.

I went inside my office, sat on my swivel chair, and answered the phone call from the office telephone.

"Hello, good afternoon. This is Engineer Vega. To whom am I speaking?"

"Hi, babe. Hindi ba ako naaalala ng secretary mo? Sinabi pa kasi na kailangan ko pang magpa-appointment." Daniel replied. What?

"Sorry about that, babe. Baka hindi lang nakilala boses mo. Bakit ka napatawag?"

"Gusto lang sana kita yayain kumain sa labas." My eyes widened at that and got excited.

"Tara! Mag-early out ako para maaga rin tayo makakain. Teka, mag-aayos na ako cr–"

"Babe, birthday kasi ni Cindy, and pinapapunta ako. Isasama lang kita." He laughed, maybe because tunog excited ako kanina pero hindi na ngayon.

Niyaya siya tas isasama na lang ako? Bakit parang utang na loob ko pa iyon sa kanya? Akala ko pa naman dinner date. Nawalan na ako ng gana.

"Akala ko tayo lang dalawa ang kakain. Na-excite pa naman ako." Rinig ang tampo sa boses ko.

"Huh? May problema ba doon na kasama sila Cindy? Kabibili ko pa nga lang ng regalo para kay Cindy, and naisipan na mag-commute diyan para sabay na tayo pumunta."

"Wala namang problema." Lagi na lang kasi puro kaibigan ang sinasamahan mo. "Hindi na ako pupunta, may meeting din pala kasi mamaya. I'm sorry if nagtampo ako." I made an excuse dahil nakakatampo talaga. Lagi nalang.

"Ah, sige. Text na lang kita. Baka hindi lang ako makapag-reply ha? Sige, bye." He cut the line. I sighed. Wala man lang pahabol na ingat para sa pag-uwi ko?

He's always like that. Always lacking reassurance on my part. Magtatampo ako pero mas pipiliin niyang hayaan lang ako. I settled for that, na minsan ako pa unang susuyo sa kanya.

We have been in a relationship for nearly 5 months already. He was the one who went to me and admitted he likes me. I was over the moon because I secretly liked him too. He courted me for a month until I decided to make our relationship official because he was consistent with his actions and proved himself to me.

Ilang beses na rin ako nagtampo sa pagiging mas malapit niya sa mga kaibigan niya kaysa sa akin. There were times na nakakalimutan na niyang mag-reply sa akin kahit hawak niya ang phone niya, at sinasabi pa niya sa akin na wala siya sa mood minsan magreply. Ipinagsawalang bahala ko na lang lagi iyon kasi inaamin niya rin naman sa akin.

I sighed. I spent the rest of the afternoon working until it's time to go home. I drove myself to my condo and took a bath before cooking dinner for myself.

After eating, I got my phone and sat on my bean bag that was facing the city lights outside. I checked my phone to see if Daniel texted, but there was none. Talagang hindi na nag-text.

Me:

Hi, babe. Just finished eating my dinner. How are you? Please send my greetings to Cindy.

I waited for his reply for hours until I fell asleep on my bean bag. The morning came, and there's still no text from him. Ganito na lang ba lagi?

Me:

Hi, babe. Good morning! I hope you had a good time last night. I also hope you got home safe. I'm sorry ulit dahil nagtampo ako kahapon.

And guess what happened again? I waited for nothing.

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