ALIENS AND STARS, LIKE YOU AND ME (BOOK 2)

CHAPTER 18

Nang makaupo na kami at magsimula na kumain ay nanatili parin  akong tahimik habang ginagalaw ko ang pagkain ko. Habang nanatili lang akong tahimik ay sina Pa at Mr. De la Luna ay  nag-uusap. Dahan-dahan ko tinataas ang tingin ko sa direksyon ni AA, pagtingin ko sa kanya ay nanatili lang siyang tahimik at nakayuko sa pagkain. 

Hindi naman siya gaanong kumain at parang lang bang pinaglalaruan niya nalang ang pagkain niya sa plato. Mukhang seryoso at may malalim siyang iniisip. Habang nakatingin lang ako sa kanya ay nahinto siya sa paggalaw ng pagkain niya at bigla nalang na napatingin sakin.

Pagtingin niya sakin ay muli siyang napakunot ng noo. Hindi ko alam pero para bang galit siya sakin? Nasabi ko yun siguro kasi simula kanina nung nakita niya ako, seryoso na ang itsura niya at nakakunot noo pa.

May nagawa ba akong kasalanan sa kanya? Galit nga ba siya sakin? Bakit ganun siya makatingin sakin? 

Maya-maya pa ay nang napatingin siya sakin ay umiwas nalang ako ng tingin. Nang matapos ang pag-usap ni Pa at ni Mr. De la Luna tungkol sa trabaho nila ay napatanong si Mr. De la Luna kay Pa, "Oh, oo nga pala Max, um, can you tell me everything? I know that you got married and I wasn't there because I wasn't able to go because I'm busy, but I didn't know that you have a daughter."

"Ah, yeah, I do have a daughter, and you didn't know because I wasn't able to know where you were. Like, after Dad died, I just heard from people you know that you left the country. Why didn't you tell me you were leaving?" Napakunot ng noo si Pa sa pagtataka ng magtanong siya. Tinignan lang ng saglit ni Mr. De la Luna si Pa nang bigla siyang tanungin ni Pa, "Um, well."

"What happened? Where did you go? Why did you leave?" Tanong ni Pa sa kanya. Sabi ni Mr. De la Luna, "Nothing really happened. It's just that, of course, I'm still grieving from dad's funeral, and I just decided to leave in the country for a while to feel better. And I didn't tell you I was leaving because..." Nanatili lang na napakunot ng noo si Pa. 

"Of course! You already have a family; I mean, you got married, and I don't want to really bother you. And I am already an adult; you're an adult already and we have our own path and life. You don't really have or need to know everything what is happening with me." Matapos na magpaliwang ni Mr. De la Luna ay ang sabi ni Pa, "Okay then, well, what about you? I didn't know you got married and had a son. When did you get married?"

"Well, my wife and I just eloped; that's why and how we got married. That's also why I didn't really invite you to the wedding, and... I also just heard that you left the country to go to work. That's why I didn't bother to invite you since you are working abroad. I don't want you to just go home just to attend my wedding." Kahit na medyo na napakunot ang noo si Pa ay tumango nalang siya, "Oh, okay."

"Oh, come on, Max, let's admit it, even though we are both still in this country, we won't be able to invite, attend, or even visit each other back then because we had our misunderstanding." Sumiryoso ang tingin ni Pa sa kanya, at si Mr. De la Luna naman ay napingiti sa kanyang matapos niya na sabihin niya yun. Sabi ni Pa, "You're right; if we didn't have space for each other, maybe until now the misunderstanding between us would have gotten worse."

Nanatili lang nakatingingin si Mr. De la Luna sa kanya, "Besides, it's still difficult to reason out who is really right or wrong and arrogant to who isn't, isn't it?" Sumiryoso naman tingin ni Mr. De la Luna sa kanya at napangiti naman si Pa sa kanya. 

Wait, so... nagkaroon sila ng misunderstanding dati? Kung bati na sila ngayon, bakit parang may something parin sa kanilang dalawa? Base sa balikan na salita at tingin ay para hindi pa gaanong okay eh.

Huminga ng malalim si Mr. De la Luna at napangiti nalang kay Mr. De la Luna, "Yeah, you're right." Sana okay na nga silang dalawa. Matapos nga nun ay muli nagsalita si Mr. De la Luna, "Anyways, um, you invited me here, my wife, and my son, for a dinner not only to talk about some business but also to celebrate because you found your daughter? Wait, when you say 'found' means you lost her? How did you lose her?"