Everything Has Changed

II

Patricia decides to stay home today to think of some plans about the house blessing next week. Two weeks from now she won't be living with her parents anymore. She's already 36 years old after all. She gets her notebook and pen and goes downstairs at the kitchen. Before starting, she makes coffee for herself and gets a slice -the last one- of her red velvet cake. She starts writing the names of the visitors. Mom's closest friends: mr. and mrs. Dela Cruz, ninang Lea and ninong Jun, ninang Rhea, ninang Lora, tita Janet, tita Sel, tita Mona; Dad's closest friends: ninong Marco, ninong Jack, ninang Roselle and ninong Ed, mr. and mrs. Valdez, tito Ramon, tito Mel; my college friends: Annie, Marie, Liza, Paul, and Tom. And now my best friends... She stops. She stares at the notebook for a moment and takes a sip of her coffee. Her phone buzzes.

Reminder: Airport @ 1:30pm

"Gosh, I nearly forgot!" She looks at the clock. 12:00
She jumps from her seat and runs upstairs to take a bath.

The telephone is ringing and Patricia is still in her room getting dressed up. So aling Cecil picks it up instead. "Hello?"

"Hello, aling Cecil?" It's Paula calling from the office.

"Hello ma'am? May nakalimutan po ba kayo?"

"No, wala. I just wanted to ask if Henry left home already?"

"Yes ma'am. Pag alis nyo po nagising na sya. Makikipag meet nga daw sa mga ka-business."

"Okay, good. I'm still here at the office, madami pang kailangan gawin. So please tell Tricia that I won't be able to go with her to the airport, please?"

"Sige ma'am."

"Wait, is she up na? Baka tulog pa yan ha! Mala-late yan ng pag sundo."

"Naku ma'am, pag alis naman ni sir, sya naman ang nagising. Pero ngayon lang po kumain at hindi naubos. Siguro muntik na makalimutan na may susunduin sya." -Cecil chuckles.

Paula clicks her tongue. "Bata talaga na yan oh." She smiles and shakes her head. "Sige 'ya. Paki-sabi na lang yun kay Tricia. I have to go."

"Yes ma'am, sige po." She hangs up and goes upstairs to check up on Patricia. She finds her preparing her things frantically. "Pat, your mom just called. Hindi na raw sya makaka-punta."

"Okay, I understand. Is the car ready?"

Cecil nods.

"Great. Alis na 'ko 'ya. Is their room all tidy na?"

"Oo, kahapon ko pa nalinis."

"Okay. I'm sure pagod sila pag dating. Ay, the food ha? Just in case they feel hungry when they get here."

Cecil smiles. "Don't worry. Ready na lahat. Ikaw na lang ang hindi." -she chuckles.

Patricia smiles and shakes her head. "I'm just worried. What if they wouldn't like it here? This is a new chapter for them, aling Cecil. Nung una sa Spain. They loved it there but we had to move to New Jersey because of the business thingy. They had to adjust to the language and all that. And now that they're already fluent in English, we're moving here naman. And again, they have to adjust."

Cecil smiles. "Ayaw mo ba non? Magiging multilingual na sila."

They both giggle and finally Patricia heads downstairs and outside.

•••••••

Her phone vibrates. "Tricia, where are you? Are they with you na?"

"No Mom, not yet. I'm here at the airport kanina pa. Medyo na-delay lang yung flight nila. Still waiting." She puts her phone back to her bag and gets her planner. Tomorrow is... Tuesday. "First meeting with the architect of the new house." My, my... I forgot her name. She sighs. She gets her phone again and texts her dad. "Hey dad, what was the architect's name again? I forgot eh."