Goodbye, it's Okay

Chapter Twenty-Four: Bound to Remember

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

FINNEGAN DE LA TORE

Pristine, calm, and clear thoughts.

Manifesting something that I know is really hard to achieve in reality has been my past time recently. Kasi every time na pinapagana ko yung utak ko, hindi ko maiwasan na palaging matunton sa kakaisip kay Isagani.

Nasa coffee shop ako ni Kenzo ngayon at kakasabi lang niya ang tungkol sa away kaninang umaga. I was surprised to hear about what happened but I was more surprised na hindi ko nakita si Isagani sa unit nang nakauwi kami at hindi rin siya sumasagot sa mga chats ko.

"Is everything okay?"

Kenzo seemed worried pero he broke out a gentle smile when he saw that I was still staring at my phone for a miracle.

"Nag-away din ba kayo ni Isagani?"

I quickly shook my head. If alam mo lang Kenzo, we did a different version of fight last night. Uminom ako mula sa baso ng tubig na inalok sa akin ni Kenzo at sinubukan ulit tawagan ang phone ni Isagani. To be honest, I started out this day with full of anxiety but I was managing it gracefully however now that I can't seem to contact Isagani, it feels like my chest is about to burst.

And for crying out loud, this is Dexter we are talking about. Malay ko ba kung ano na namang kasinungalingan sinabi niya tungkol sa akin or sa amin.

Kenzo stroked my left cheek and pinched it lightly. "Come on, don't overthink. Malay mo nasa basketball practice siya at naiwan sa locker yung phone nya."

I thought about what he said for a moment and it gave me comfort. "Tama, baka yun nga."

"So hayun, napatigil din kitang mag-overthink," he said then pushed the slice of crepe cake to my direction. "Sabi mo di ka pa kumakain today so might as well offer this new part of our menu to you."

I grabbed the fork to fake my enthusiasm on his offer and even forced a smile. "Hayan ha, wag mong sabihin libre na naman ito. I just got lucky na nga kanina eh that I was able to pay for my own coffee kasi di kita naabutan pa dito noong pumasok ako."

Kenzo chuckled but suddenly pointed at my turtle neck. "Bakit ka pala naka full turtle neck? Nilalamig ka ba? Gusto mo ba hinaan ko yung aircon?"

"Nope," I also shook both of my hands as I shook my head in response. "I was hurrying to go down here so I just grabbed the first item I saw in my closet." I lied. Kenzo still looked puzzled and I diverted his attention to our 'band duties' by asking him about our practice schedules. His eyes seemed to brightened at my remarks and pulled out his tablet from his bag to present his calendar.

We only have less than 3 weeks para sa battle of the bands thingy and to be honest, hindi pa ganon kapulido yung piece since Tina is deliberately trying to edit her composition at ang daming gustong suggestion nila Jacob at Kenzo sa mismong kanta.

As we were discussing about the song, my phone suddenly rang and my heart almost skipped a beat. Agad agad kong kinuha ang cellphone ko mula sa mesa at tinignan kong sino yon. My heart then sank when I saw it was Marcus, not Isagani, who was trying to call me in messenger.

"Not him?"

I shook my head, stood up, answered the call, and started to walk away from our table. "Hello Marcus."

"Finnegan," his voice was almost panicking but it was not loud. "I have a news for you. I am not sure kung good news ba ito or bad."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Kasi hinanap niya ata ako sa messenger kasi may message request sya, nung sinagot ko naman bigla siyang tumawag."

"Go on," sabi ko nung napansin kong nagpause si Marcus. I was already tapping my shoes at the floor. Bakit naman siya tatawag kay Marcus pero hindi niya sinasagot mga tawag ko sa kanya?