Maybe

Chapter 23: Doubts

     The next morning, she went downstairs and found her sunshines repetitively exchanging cellphones.

     "Papa, okay na ba 'to?... Eh 'yung lighting, is it good or too dark?" Louise asked.

     "Okay na 'yan. 'Di ko nga alam kung bakit paedit-edit pa kayo eh. Look at my feed nga oh, wala 'yung 'theme-theme' na pinagsasabi niyo, " Richard teased.

     "Mas maganda kasi, Pa, kapag may theme yung feed mo. Pero 'wag ka lang gagaya kay Ate, bulok ang feed niyan!"

     Louise's eyes narrowed and she gritted her teeth, "Ah gan'on? Eh kung bulok 'yung saakin, ano naman 'yung sayo?" She laughed.

     "Mine?" He chuckled, "Wala pang official name eh pero all I know is.. mine is better than yours!"

     Rachel smiled, "Ano nanaman 'yang pinagtatalunan niyo, kay aga-aga?"

     "Instagram!" The three answered in unison.

"Instagram?"

"Yes, Ma. It's this social media app na pwede kang magpost ng photos, " Louise answered.

"Parang maganda yata 'yan ah. Can I see, Anak?" She approached them on the couch. She saw tiles of photos that are similar to each other. Then on top, it displayed her username: louisegomez

"Eh 'yung kay Paul and Papa, patingin nga?" Louise put their usernames (richardgomez & paulvincent) one by one on the search bar and viewed their feeds.

"Bakit parang ang consistent nung kina Louise at Paul pero 'yung sayo, ang.. messy?" Rachel asked.

"Eh ano naman, mas maganda naman captions ko, " Richard.

Rachel chuckled, "Hayy, kayo talaga."

"Mama, patingin nga ng cellphone mo, please?" Louise.

"Bakit, 'nak?"

"Basta, Ma."

"Oh sige. Oh, "Rachel handed Louise her cellphone.

Minutes later, Louise gave her mom's phone back to her. "Username?"

"So that you have Instagram, also. Can you please give it a try? Please?" Louise.

She sighed, "Sige na nga. Pati ako dinadamay niyo dito eh." She typed in her preferred username: rachelgomez

    "So, how does it work? Just like Facebook?"

     "In a way, yes. But here, it's more about photos."

     "Ahh, okay. I'll look more into it later."

"May mga lakad ba kayo today or clean sched?" Richard asked.

"Clean sched. Bakit, pa?"

"I was hoping to take you guys out for lunch?"

     "Actually, Pa, may pupuntahan pala kami ni Paul. Kayo na lang ni Mama." Louise said.

     "Ahh, okay. Ano, Rach, lunch tayo?" Richard.

     "Oh sige." Rachel turned to Louise, "Pero saan naman kayo pupuntang magkapatid?"

     "Sa.. sa the Fort, Ma. Yup, sa the Fort."

     "Ahh, okay. You take care, alright?"

     "Opo. Sige, Ma, we'll get ready."

     "Okay."

     Louise and Paul made their way up the stairs and into Louise's room. "Saan ba talaga tayo pupunta, Ate?"

     "I just need to talk to you about something, okay? Kaya sumama ka na lang, please?"

"Okay."
----------------------------------------------------

They settled down in the seats the waiter gave them. "So, ano nga?"

"Well, " Louise sighed, "Wala ka bang napapansin kina Mama at Papa?"

"Except for the fact na nagkakaayos na sila, wala naman."

"Eh 'yun na nga eh. I know that Mama gave him another chance already but.. don't you think they're going too fast? I mean, two years of suffering isn't a small thing."

"Pero, Ate, ginusto 'din naman ni Mama 'yung mga nangyayari eh. Baka naman ikaw ang may ayaw?" Paul asked.

"Anong ako? Walang kaso saakin 'yun. 'Di ba nga plano natin 'yun dati, to give Papa another chance. But, the thing is, we've only been here in the Philippines for what? Almost a month? All I wanted to talk about if it's just me or talagang parang they're on a pace that's a little bit fast."

Paul paused. Actually, she has a point. He sat up and crossed his arms on the table. "Alam mo, Ate, 'yun din actually ang feeling ko. Pero anong magagawa natin, 'di ba? I don't see anything wrong with that." Paul smirked, "And besides, two years is nothing compared to twenty-four."

"Going on twenty-five, you mean?"

"Well, technically it's still twenty-four because their anniversary is still in what? Like three months?"

"True that. But you know what, let's just set everything aside muna. All the doubt, the inhibitions, lahat. Ang importante, Mama's happy. Both of them are, actually." Louise.

"I agree. Cheers?"

"Cheers." They clinked their cups of iced tea and finished eating their food.
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"Saan mo gusto kumain, Rach?"

"Uhm, ikaw? Saan ba masarap? I can't put my mind into one, eh." Rachel.

"Sure ka'ng ako bahala?"

"Yup!"

Richard smiled and thought, I know the perfect place.