Winter Hearts in Colorado (Vegas Spin-Off)

Prologue

Prologue

At the age of nineteen, I was scared to do my first out-of-the-country travel alone. Sino ba namang hindi kakabahan kung sinabi lang ng magulang ko na titira muna ako sa tita ko habang nando'n ako. My parents couldn't come with me. Sponsored lamang ng tita ko ang visa ko at pamasahe ko papunta Amerika kaya naman ay natuloy ako. If I only had enough money, makakasama ko sila, e.

I just don't have half a million to cover all of the cost. Hindi rin naman namin pwedeng i-asa sa tita ko ang pag-sponsor ng planet ticket at visa ko. I was scared that might American visa would be denied since it was also the first time I would be getting one, but when I received the news of the approval of my visa, I was so happy.

I'm not sure how long the flight would take in real space. I already had a thirteen-hour flight from Manila to Los Angeles, and I have to do another connecting flight papuntang Colorado naman. I spent over half of the day already in the sky. Ang sabi lang sa google ay aabutin kami ng two hours so it wasn't as bad my flight from Manila to LAX. Panay rin naman ang tingin ko sa oras so I would know how long it has been since we took off. I knew my tita would be waiting for me pagkalapag ko ng aiport sa Colorado. I haven't been to the US. This was my first time to be in this country.

This was crazy for me.

Dalawang buwang din akong mag-stay sa Amerika at babalik ako sa Pinas three weeks after the new year. I wouldn't be able to celebrate Christmas and New Year with my family back home. They supported me in doing this so it wasn't hard for me, but I would love for them to come with me, especially ang nakababata kong kapatid. 

Mayamaya lamang ay may lumapit na flight attendant sa amin at nag-alok ng free snacks. Tinanggap ko naman at nakangiti ko pa siyan pinasalamatan. Sinundan ko pa siya ng tingin hangga't sa magkanda bali-bali na ang leeg ko kakahabol ng tingin sa kanya.

I've dreamed of being a flight attendant and I hope someday I would be able to work as same as she did. Gustong-gusto ko mangyari 'yon that's why I took Travel Management as my course sa college para kapag graduateko ay pwede ako maging flight attendant. Some said na hindi naman kailangan na connected ang college degree to that job at all, pumasa ka lang sa mga qualification na hinahanap nila ay pasok na pasok na sa banga. Would I be able to make it?

Kung pagpunta nga sa US ay magagawa ko ngayon, 'yon pa kayang pangarap kong maging flight attendant? I'll manifest that so that the universe would listen to me.

As the hour passed by, mas nangingibabaw na ang kaba sa dibdib ko. Hindi ko naman kasi sigurado kung anong klaseng buhay ang daratnan ko sa Colorado kahit na bakasyon lang din naman ang gagawin ko. It could be good or bad. Who knows? I was only hoping for good things.

Hindi ko rin namalayan na ilang minuto rin akong nakatulog at nang muli kong tingnan ang orasan ay minuto na lang din ang binibilang ko. Later on, narinig ko ang piloto na mag-announce sa aming landing. Sa puntong iyon ay hidni ko na alam kung anong gagawin ko. Biglang kumalam ang sikmura ko at gusto ko sanang tumakbo papunta lavatory, pero naka-on na ang seatbelt sign dahil magla-land na ang plane in any minute. Ipinikit ko na lamang ang mga mata ko hangga't sa naramdaman ko ang paglapag ng eroplano. Some would say it was dramatic for people to clap after the plane had landed, pero napapalakpak talaga ko sa sobrang tuwa.

We only waited for a couple of minutes before they let us get off the aircraft. Segundo na makalabas ako ng aircraft at makapasok ng airport ay agad akong naghanap ng wifi connection para matawagan ang tita ko. It took me a while before I could reach out to them. Hindi rin nila agad ako nirereplayan kaya tumungo muna ako sa luggage conveyor at hinintay na kunin ang mga bagahe ko matapos ko dumaan sa iba't ibang proseso sa loob ng airport.

I was already panicking inside dahil hindi pa rin nagrereply si tita. She was my father's sister and they moved to the US when she was in her twenties as she was married to an American. Nabanggit dn sa akin no'n ni papa na may chance pa na makatira kami sa US no'n, but this was impossible to make it happen kaya bakasyon lang ang pwede naming gawin.

Nang makuha ko na ang mga bagahe ko ay hinanap ko na ang daan palabas ng airport. I was pushing my cart slowly while looking around. I kept checking my phone to see if my tita would answer. Alam naman nila ang oras ng pagdating ko at nag-promise sila na susunduin nila ako sa airport papunta sa bahay nila.

I only get a call from my tita when I stepped out of the airport as she as letting me know na nagkaroon lang siyang emergency call sa hospital na pinagwo-work-an kaya hindi niya ako masusundo. He asked a friend of her son to come and pick me up and so I was waiting for him to fetch me at the airport.

Hindi ko alam kung anong hitsura niya. Nakalimutan ding banggitin sa akin ni tita ang pangalan niya, but later on, I found a guy who was wearing a light blue hoodie not far from me was holding a piece of paper with something written in it. Nang mahagip ng mata ko kung anong nakasulat do'n ay nabasa ko ang pangalan ko. . . Hi Celyne Anderson!

Dali-dali ko naman siyang nilapitan. He was about to ignore me, but when I pointed to the paper he was holding was the time he realized I was the one he was waiting for. At a closer look, he really has fair skin, but deep blue eyes, with very thick eyebrows. He was one of those leading men I watched in a hallmark movie.

"Are you Celyne Anderson?" he asked.

I nodded as I confirmed it. "Yes, that's me."

"Alright! Good! Nice to meet you. . . I'm Eyal," he introduced himself. Tinanggap ko naman ang pakikipagkamay niya sa akin. "I'm sorry if I didn't ask if it was you there. I don't have any idea what you look like. . ."

"Uh, yeah, it's okay. . ." I felt so awkward with him. "So, here's all of my stuff. Would this fit inside the car?"

He nodded. "Of course, of course. We can fit everything there. . . Anyway, welcome to Colorado, Celyne. We're happy to have you here with us."

"Thank you. . . And you can call me, Cely. Celyne was very formal."

He smirked, kind of laughing. "Oh, yeah. Alright, Cely it is. . ."

He pushed the cart to where he parked the car and as soon as we got there, he was the one who was putting all of my stuff inside. Nag-alok pa ako kung kailangan niya ng tulong ko, pero tumanggi na siya at kaya naman daw niya. Kahit ako, hindi ko naman kakayanin buhatin ng mag-isa ang mga gamit ko. As soon as he put them all inside, we both settled inside the car and he drove the car away.

I'm unsure if this was a great start for me, but here I am now. Colorado, please be good to me.