Coffee Incident

Chapter 7

Laurie

After that horrendous dinner, pumunta agad ako sa studio. It has been so long since I did ballet. 

I tiptoed fastly as I sway my whole joints to the beat of a piece of mozart's. I felt beads of sweat formed on my forhead and shoulder blades. I kept spinning and spinning hanggang sa mawalan ako ng balanse. Malakas ang pagka hulog ko sa sahig. 

 "Ah pucha" I hissed. I was pissed of alright. 

To marry me off to an influential family was an absurd idea! Wala naman talaga akong pakealam sa buhay ko pero ang pinakaayaw ko sa lahat ay ang magpakasal. My mom and dad were in a fixed marriage too kaya akala nila na it'll work out for everyone. They never loved each other maybe that's why they think it's fine if I will marry without love thinking i'll just love in the process. I just can't help think how cruel they are to take away my future.

I honestly couldn't imagine my own future but to make big decisions that I should've been making is just the same with removing all my limbs. They made my future before I could even to. 

Napapansin lang ako ng mga magulang ko tuwing may kailangan sila. Naiiyak ako sa sitwasyon ko. Hindi naman ako nagreklamo sa lahat ng pinapagawa nila na labag sa loob ko, but forcefully chaining me to a stranger was too much, but in the end, what can I do?

Hindi ako umuwi sa condo at naka silent ang phone ko buong gabi kaya kinaumagahan, nang lumabas ako sa studio dala ang lighter at isang pirasong yosi. Sisindihan ko na sana pero dumating si Mathias, ang butler ng bahay na hindi kailanman ngumiti. 

 "Laurie, you're summoned by your mother.", he said like a machine while looking at the cigarette from my hand. 

 I sighed and collected my bags in the studio. Sumakay ako sa shotgun ng sedan na dala ni Mathias. Malayo ang bahay kaya hindi ko namalayan na nakatulog na pala ako. Naalimpungatan ako ng marinig ang pagtigil ng sasakyan. Lumabas ako at pumasok sa bahay. My parents were at the dining table, eating silently like strangers in a restaurant. Sinong may ganang kumain kung ganito ang eksena araw-araw? 

 "Mama, papa." I greeted with my usual fast innotation. 

 "May mga damit sa kwarto mo, you should try it out and pick the best for tomorrow's dinner with the Garcia's.", ani Mama. 

 "I will, excuse me.", I said and started heading towards the stairs. 

My eyes blurred with unshed tears. Hindi man lang nila ako tinanong kung kumain na ba ako. Is it that hard? I opened the door to my room and saw a lot of boxes of dresses, shoes and jewelries. Tinitingnan ko palang napapagod na ako para bukas. Naligo ako at hindi ko namalayan ang oras. Thoughts were like water falls in my head. Mas masisiraan ako ng bait kung mananatili ako doon kaya pagkatapos kong magbihis ng leggings at oversized hoody, lumabas ako. 

Patay na ang ilaw kaya batid ko na natutulog na ang lahat. I carefully tiptoed my way out but I bumped into my older cousin. 

"Rie, where are you going? I miss you bub" he said and kissed my forehead. 

"Kuya, kakain lang ako sa convinience store." sabay yakap sa kanya. 

"Samahan na kita." 

 "Wag na, I know you're tired sa trabaho. I will just help out sa cafe again whenever I can." 

 "Alright, mag ingat ka." Kuya Ollie gave me a light pat on the head and went inside the house. 

I started to walk away from our house without a clear destination in mind. Buong buhay ko, wala akong malapitan but this is one of the rare times that I wish I was just a little different from who I am now. Mahirap ako pakisamahan kaya walang nagtatagal makipagkaibigan sa akin. I wished I was just a little nicer. I looked around and then slowly closed my eyes to inhale the air.