Hate and Desire (Editing)

Chapter 19 - Destiny

Jamila slowly entered her room. She stared at her cousin. She's very beautiful. Dati ay naiinggit siya sa beauty nito pero ngayon ay proud siyang magkaruon ng pinsan na kasingganda ni Jamila. Alam niyang matagal na nitong pangarap ang maging isang beauty queen. It was not easy, what she went through before winning the Ms. Philippines title, and though she went through a lot of struggles and disqualification cases because of her dual citizenship, she end up being qualified to join the contest. Pure pilipina naman kasi talaga ito, and now she's preparing for the biggest competition in the world, the Ms. Universe pageant.

"Cuzbee, actually babalik na kami ng US bukas nina mommy at Jax tapos pupunta na rin kami ng Las Vegas..." Nagpapaalam nitong panimula. Naupo ito sa kama niya.

"What? Akala ko ba magtatagal pa kayo dito?"

"I would really loved to but my trainer is freaking out na, hindi nga ako dapat lumayo sa US lalo na sa preparation ng pageant ngayon e."

She rolled her eyes.

"Pasaway ka talaga! I thought your trainer is here!"

Napahagikhik ito. A very childlike act. But when she's in the stage facing thousands of crowd, she was so different na halos di nya makilalang pinsan nga niya ito kapag napapanuod sa TV.

Biglang sumeryoso ang mukha nito. "Cuzbee, do you know Kingsley Prieto?" She asked hopefully.

Napaisip siya. Who wouldn't even know that famous name in the world? "Ofcourse! One of the richest men alive, why?"

"I heard he'll be one of the judges."

"Really?" Excited na bulalas niya. Well, the guy is really famous all over the world despite of his young age. "Oh ba't parang stress ka dyan? Sigurado ka ba namang aabot ka sa question and answer?" Tukso niya dito. Tinapunan siya nito ng unan.

"Kainis ka! Aren't you supposed to boost my confidence huh?"

Napabulalas siya ng tawa. "I have a strong faith on you cuzbee, you're gonna knock all eighty contestants down~ I knew it!"

Nagbuga ito ng hangin sa ere.

"Alam mo kasi cuzbee, matagal ko ng pinagpapantasyahan iyang si Kingsley Prieto na iyan. We met here in the Philippines many years ago, he was not very famous back then, until he married this certain woman 20 years older than him. When the woman died, lahat ng kayamanan napunta sa kanya. Imagine that? Wasn't it coincidence or he really plot his way to get everything from that woman, gosh, gold digger!" Padiring sabi nito.

"Grabeh ka maka-judge ha! Hindi pwedeng minahal naman niya talaga ang babaeng iyon?"

"Maraming hindi naniniwala sa ganyang rason cuzbee, lalo na ang mga kamag-anak ng babae, they were even thinking na sadyang pinapatay ang asawa niya. And he was one of the major suspect, hindi nga lang mapatunayan ang bintang na iyan hanggang sa ngayon."

"And so despite of those negative news about him, why do you still like him huh?"

Natameme ito sandali. Then she look at her again. "We shared something in the past."

"Ows? Like what something was that?"

"Remember when we were 11 years old tapos pareho tayong sumali sa beauty contest ng School natin?"

"Uh-huh?"

"I was being bullied di ba? Kasi ang payat payat ko noon, kapag rumampa nako sa stage, nagsisigawan pa mga classmates ko na patpatin daw ako, tapos di ba sa sobrang pagkapikon ko, hindi ko na itinuloy ang pagrampa tapos tumakbo na lang ako back stage at umiyak hanggang matapos ang show, then innanounce ikaw ang wagi!"