Cold as Ice

K A B A N A T A 21//

Never Over

Ang mainit na hangin ng Pilipinas ang agad na sumalubong sa akin matapos akong bumaba sa eroplano. I immediately covered my eyes with sunnies dahil sa sobrang sikat ng araw. Narinig ko ang mura ng ilang Amerikanong naiinitan at ang excitement naman ng iba. Since naninibago ako, I chose to just follow the other passengers para mahanap ang carousel to get my luggage. Huh, maybe I shouldn't have insisted on coming back alone. Oh well.

Once I got my luggage, dumiretso ako sa labas ng terminal at hinanap ang sasakyan ni Gabriel. Nakailang ikot ata ako para lamang mahanap ang tamang exit. Geez, ang hirap talagang maligaw dito. I tried to retrace my steps and star over pero bago pa ako makalayo ay may humawak na sa kamay ko. I turned around and saw a pretty girl with chinita eyes.

"Kriessa!" I shouted as I tackled her with a hug. Agad din naman niya akong niyakap ang pinanggigilan.

"Erin naman! I missed you so much." She answered with equal enthusiasm. "Liz and Bea couldn't come kasi may shift sila ngayon sa hospital. But Jules is here. Iniintay ka nila sa car ni Gab."

"Thank you so much sa pagsundo. I'm really sorry sa abala." I grimaced. "How is everyone? I heard na engaged na sina Jules and James?"

"Yeah, surprising no? After all they've been through." Kriessa rolled her eyes. "Samantalang sobrang bagal ni Gabriel!"

"Oh, c'mon." I laughed. "Alam mo namang since college ay ganoon na iyon. Ang tagal nga bago naging kayo."

Kriessa just laughed as she retold the story. Noong umalis ako ay naging magulo ang lahat. I never really heard what happened to Aeron because I didn't want to know. Narealize ni Gab na gusto niya si Kriessa and they got together. After a few years, James proposed to Jules. Si Bea at Liz ay tumigil na rin sa pagpaparty at nagdecide na magsettle down.

"Alam mo bang sobra kaming nagpanic when you left? We all rushed to the airport the next day pero di ka na namin naabutan." She said with a sad smile. "You could've warned us man lang. Si Jules lang ang sinabihan mo, nakakatampo."

"Yeah, I'm really sorry about that. I just thought it would be too painful to say goodbye. And besides, I didn't know na babalik pa ako dito." I shrugged.

"Well, whatever. Buti na lang at bumalik ka because you look so beautiful. And, doktora ka pa. I bet all your patients get better just by looking at you." Biro niya.

"Grabe ka naman. Ikaw din naman, you look so in love." Tinusok ko ang tagiliran niya na tinawanan niya lang.

"Oh hey, ayan na si Gab." She said as she pointed at a sleek, black Trailblaizer. Nakasandal dito si Gabriel at Jules na sabay kumaway sa amin. Jules ran to hug me.

"Oh my, ang ganda mo! You look even more like a doll. Sure ka bang doctor ka at hindi model?" She gushed.

"Erin!" Gab hugged me too. "We missed you so much. How was med school?"

"Almost killed me." I smiled. "But oh, so worth it."

Gab looked much more mature now. Mas defined ang jaw but there was still some of that boyish charm. Tinulungan niya akong ilagay sa likod ang luggage ko and I can see that he had no problems lifting my heavy suitcase. He's changed a lot.

I heard that after finding out that I left, hindi na niya muli kinausap si Aeron. I guess that means hindi na rin siya bumalik sa pakikipagpustahan. Hindi na rin niya nahiligan ang paglalaro ng mga babae. Shortly after, he visited me sa MSU to apologize in person. It took me a while, pero nagawa ko naman siyang patawarin.