Sunburst

Kabanata 32

~ ALEX~

[Situation: What's in a music box?]

"How's married life, Mr. Montreal?" Aries passed the beer before sitting next to me.

"Not bad, I guess."

Nandito kami ngayon sa lounge area ng isang bar. Katatapos lang ng aming gig kaya naisip naming mag celebrate. Sa totoo lang kanina ko pa gustong umuwi pero magaling gumawa ng rason si Aaron kaya nahila nila akong pumunta dito.

"Parang hindi ka sigurado ah."

"It's not that. It just feels different."

"Of Course it is. You're married bro, kontrata man iyon o hindi. Iba na ang buhay mo ngayon."

"I guess..."

How much of a change can a person get once they are married? Why do they go through this change?

There's a lot of questions that need answers, but I can't seem to figure out how or where to find them.

"Bro! Buntis na ba si Brielle!''

"You're too loud, Aaron."Binatukan ni Aries ang lasing na unggoy. Kung makasigaw naman kasi parang nasa bundok ang kausap.

"So ano nga Alex, may junior ka na ba?" pa-ulit na tanong niya.

"No. That's not the priority right now."

"Was that ever on your priority list?" Aries whispered. Good thing Aaron didn't hear it.

"Nandito lang pala kayo, akala ko makikipagsabayan kayo sa mga nasa nag-iinuman sa baba."

"Ace bro, Bakit ngayon ka lang? Saan ka galing?" tanong ni Aaron.

"To get this." Ace handed out the flyer he was holding. It seems to be another invitation for a gig or something.

The flyer is about a soon to open resort down south. May kalayuan pero sakto sa mga bisitang naghahanap ng beach adventure sa nalalapit na summer season.

"Ano sa tingin niyo?" Ace waited for our answers while opening a can of beer

"Lets go. Masaya 'to. Pwede kayang magdala ng plus one?" Aaron asked.

"Bakit, napasagot mo na ba yung liniligawan mo?"

"Not a chance bro. Hindi nga makalapit, mapasagot pa kaya." Si Aries ang sumagot kay Ace.

"Hindi ko naman kailangang girlfriend o liniligawan lang ang pwedeng imbitahin. Pwede namang kaibigan lang. Right Alex?" depensa ni Aaron.

"Don't even include me there."

"Isama mo kaya si Brielle. Hindi pa kayo nakakapag-honeymoon 'di ba?" Suhestiyon ni Ace.

"Good idea, Ace," Aaron slapped Ace's shoulder in excitement. "Isama mo si Brielle-bespren para masaya,'' he requested.

I'm not sure if she can take a short break from work. After the wedding we were focused on our own things, so work wasn't a problem, but a month after our wedding, our schedule immediately got filled and we're both busy with our own things.

Swerte na lang kung nagkaroon kami ng weekend without doing work at home kaya sigurado akong hindi siya makakapunta.

But didn't she say she has an upcoming retreat with new trainees for a week or so? And when was that again? Out of town? By the beach?

"I'm going to a retreat on Saturday! Finally, I can be free."

"As if you're trapped," I commented. "What's so good about it anyway? You're still there to work y'know."

"This is why you're such a prune, Alexander. Hindi mo ba alam na ang mga ganitong sitwasyon ay maaaring maging daan para mapalapit sa mga papabols na co-worker and newbies? It's time to impress people and find romance," she excitedly annonce.

"Uhuh," I nodded.

"Ugh." She rolled her eyes. "You don't get it. You're a different species."

You know what, on second thought, she must take a break.

"Oh, whatever it is you're planning. I feel like she's not going to like it." Aries sees who I'm contacting, but doesn't have any plan to stop me. Knowing him, he might have already thought of it as entertainment.

"She won't have a choice." I shrug after hitting send.

He just laughed at the comment and let me continue what I'm doing.

The night continued until all of us almost passed out. I didn't drink much, but I had to stay for a few hours until I'm good at driving.

Once I reached home, I was ready to sleep, but when I saw the master bedroom opened. I can already guess that Brielle decided to invade the room again.

Both of us decided to have separate rooms. I take the masters, and she takes one of the guest rooms, but there are times where she wants to sleep in the masters because it is cooler and has a bigger bed. A reason I never believed.

Silently, I walked closer to the room and opened the door wider to see a sleeping mess of a woman.

Her three pillows are now on the floor. Her feet were by the headboard, each lying on a pillow while her duvet covers her knees and torso. In terms of her hands, it was already off the bed, and her last pillow lies on her face.

I don't know how she can sleep like this. I wonder if she can still breathe with a pillow on her face, such a mess. I was worried she's waiting again since it's supposed to be our movie night, but I guess she went to bed early.

I picked up all the pillows she threw off the bed and tried to fix her to how she's supposed to sleep. Looking at her sleeping face reminded me of our childhood. The peaceful times when we were running around the fields happily, and the times she was scared.

All those memories passed and were long buried and gone but sometimes it felt like I was back in the old time.

[Conclusion: A music box can sometimes sound like a lullaby and sometimes a heartfelt tone that can calm a person, but a music box can only make a sound when someone opens it, just like when a person discovers something. They won't know what something feels like or how something is if they don't experience it.]

xx