Missing Peace | COMPLETED

Epilogue

Present...

"Camberlie Maia!"

I mentally face-palmed at napailing-iling pa sa malakas na sigaw ng pinsan kong si Daphnie as soon as she saw me walking papunta sa kaniya, papunta sa event's place, which is obviously nasa BGC dito sa Pilipinas.

"See? I got here on time. Hindi ako late," agad kong sabi as soon as makalapit na ako sa kaniya.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," she snorted kasabay pa ang pag-irap niya.

"Pumasok ka na sa loob. We'll start in a minute," she informed me.

Tumango ako before I start walking papasok at sumabay na rin siya sa akin. We both look good and decent. Alam kong gaya ko ay kinakabahan din ang pinsan ko. Siya ang nag-asikaso ng lahat para sa book signing event ko.

"Nasa loob na ang mga readers mo. They look so happy and excited, Cams." She looked at me and smiled. "I'm so, so proud of you, cous."

I smiled with a teary-eyed smile. "I won't be here kung hindi mo ako sinamahan since the very beginning, Daphnie. My success is also your success."

Napangiti siya bago nag-iwas ng tingin, obviously avoiding the cringe-y conversation. "Anyways, susunod daw sila Lily and Millison. Maybe they'll arrive thirty minutes from now."

"That's great. Makokompleto tayo," I giggled.

"Of course. Hindi namin papalampasin ang special day mo," she chuckled.

Sa likod ng parang mini stage kami pumasok ni Daphnie. Nakaayos na ang lahat and everything is well-organize by my sweetest cousin. Of course, we have staffs din that help her. My family is quite overacting kaya we have guards sa paligid, though it was said by the publisher na need din naman iyon.

Ang book publiser ko ang mismong nag-offer ng book signing, but Daphnie wants to do it her way. My book publisher helped me with the promotion and helped Daphnie with everything she needed.

"Miss Cams, everything is settled. We'll start in a minute," bungad sa akin ni Ate Shiela, ang katulong ni Daphnie na mag-asikaso ng buong book signing event who's working on my book publisher's company.

"Thank you so much for all the help, Ate Shiela. It means a lot. I appreciate it," I thanked her.

"You're always welcome, Miss Cams." She smiled before she excused herself.

"Quick overview ulit, Cams," Daphnie spoke. Alam ko naman na ang flow ng event, uulitin niya lang talaga and that's how she cope with her nervousness kaya hahayaan ko siyang ulitin.

"Of course, first of all, introduction. You know what to do. Next is book signing. Then, questions. You have to answer their questions but if you can't, just give us a sign and we'll move on to the next question-"

"There's no need for that. I'll answer all the questions. Hindi naman ako artista to pass questions." I chuckled.

Napatango-tango siya. "Okay, if you say so."

The past two years have been bittersweet for me. After everything I've been through, I am still thankful for all of it. For all the pain I've been through, I am proud to say na kinaya ko. I got myself here. My friends did help me, but I also helped myself to get up every single day, and to be here right this very moment.

I am now a civil engineer. One of our firms' civil engineers. And a published book writer. I got myself a career. Being an engineer and a writer at the same time isn't easy, but I love both of them so I'm not giving up.

I wouldn't call myself a successful writer, because I still have a long journey ahead of me. At hindi pa lahat ay alam ko. But I am proud of my progress. I have my book published, have thousands of readers, have a blog known all over the country, and now, my very own book signing event.