Closing Time

18

Kim

"Oh guys at 5:00 sharp dapat ready na lahat to head to the studio ha!" Yeye reminded us while having our very late brunch dahil lahat kami ay late na nagising.

"Studio?" tinanong ko naman.

"Oh hala Kimmy. Nakalimutan mo?" she asked me back. "GGV diba?"

Oh. Oo nga pala. It's just a week after namin napanalo yung championship match but for me it feels like it was just yesterday. Dahil simula ng araw na iyon ay parang wala na kaming naging pahinga. We had so much guestings, radio or on tv. Pati mga presscon and other media events. But we are all grateful. Actually hindi pa talaga kami nakaka celebrate as a team. Ang naging celebration lang namin ay yung celebratory dinner namin after the match and up until now, wala pang naka set na celebration. Nakikita ko sa teammates ko na wala silang reklamo sa sunod sunod na mga meetings and guestings namin. In fact they are all enjoying na kahit ilang oras lang ang tulog namin these past days ay okay na okay parin sila.

"Ngayon na ba yun?" I laughed. "Akala ko sa isang araw pa."

Cyd nudged my shoulders. "Oh bakit may lakad ka ba today?"

I was surprised. That was a first in a long time. Right now, me and Cyd are not in our usual terms. Definitely we're not the same as before. And it's my fault.

"Wala naman." I simply answered her and took my attention back to my food. Simple as that, the mood of the group changed. Alam naman nilang lahat na medyo may something off sa amin ni Cyd lately. Hindi kami nag kikibuan and of course unusual ito sakanila kaya naman ngayong kinausap muli ako ni Cyd, they did not know what to react. From then on, isa isa na kaming natapos kumain ata isa isa narin kaming umalis ng table to get ready. Hindi ko nalang pinansin yung reaction ng teammates ko. And I appreciate that they respect naman what's going on with us.

Bumilis ang takbo ng oras at finally naka ready na kaming lahat. 4:30 palang at nasa baba na kaming lahat ready for pick up ng coaster. Kaya naman umupo nalang ako sa may couch sa tabi ni Ara at Mok habang yung iba ay nag lalagay pa ng kung ano ano sa mukha nila.

"Brader, kamusta tayo?" bati sa akin ni Ara ng makaupo ako sa tabi niya. "Happy happy ba?"

I raised my eyebrow at her not knowing what she's talking about. "Ano daw?"

"Did you make a move already?" she asked me again.

"Huy anong pinagsasabi mo?" tinawan ko siya. "At may pa english english ka pa dyan ha."

"Ate Kim naman oh." she countered. "Buti nga masaya ako para sayo eh."

"Ano nga?" I asked her again this time napalakas. "Ay sorry. Ano nga?" hininaan ko yung boses ko.

"Si Ate Cyd daw." sabi niya.

"Ano meron sakanya?"

"Hala siya. Bitter?" inasar pa niya ako. "Deadz na daw sila ni Rivero."

I fell silent. Totoo ba ang narinig ko? Wala na sila ni Ricci?

"Oh ano eh di nagulat ka diba?" Si Mok naman ang nagsabi na hindi ko alam eh nakikinig sa usapan namin. I looked around and thankfully mukhang kaming tatlo lang ang nakakarinig sa usapang ito. The others are still busy with their own stuff.

"Ano ulit yun?" I asked them once again dahil hindi talaga ako makapaniwala sa sinabi ni Ara.

"Hindi parin ba talaga kayo nag uusap?" Mok quietly asked me.

"Hindi pa eh." sinagot ko siya. "Nag kwento ba siya?"

"She just told us na may nagawa siya sayo, pero hindi niya sinabi kung ano." sagot naman ni Mok. "I guess ayaw na niyang ipaalam sa amin."