melodious (adj.) - full of melody, tuneful, musical; sweet sounding.
In which Maine Mendoza (poet, vlogger) works with fading star singer Alden Richards (musician, singer). For fate, it was a masterpiece-- a girl who writes with her blood and soul...
Recap: Alden performed a special piece for his audience and saw someone familiar in the crowd-- Maine.
***
"So kailan niyo balak sabihin sakin na nakabalik na si Maine?"
Alden forced himself to stay calm while talking with Jordan on the phone. He heard him laugh, and if he was personally with him he wanted to punch the guy, friend or no. "At kailan tayo huling nagkausap? One month ago? Sabi mo busy ka kasi magrerelease na yung bagong album mo. Two weeks ago lang namin nalaman na nakabalik na si Maine mo. Nagchecheck ka ba ng e-mail?"
"Hindi," sagot niya, tsaka hinila ang sariling laptop papalapit sa kanya.
"Nagpadala si Valeen ng wedding invitation niya. Parang reunion na rin. Kaya sinapian na naman 'tong si Je... Eto, nagmamaktol."
"Wedding invitation?" Takang ulit ni Alden, tsaka binuksan ang original e-mail niya.
From: valeen_mn@email.com To: rjfaulkerson02@email.com Subject: pre-invite
I was really excited to share this! I'd mail you the real invite, should you be able to come. 😁
Oops! Ang larawang ito ay hindi sumusunod sa aming mga alituntunin sa nilalaman. Upang magpatuloy sa pag-publish, subukan itong alisin o mag-upload ng bago.
"Nakita mo na?" Tanong ni Jordan.
Alden nodded, lips pressed into a thin line. "Kamusta na si Jerald?"
"OKAY LANG AKO PAPI!" Rinig ni Alden, sabay ng isang mahinang tawa. "KUNG GUSTO MO PUNTAHAN MO KAMI DITO!"
"Magkakasama kayo?"
Narinig ni Alden ang buntong-hininga ni Jordan. "Kami lang ni Jerald. Niyaya namin yung dalawa kaso busy pa daw. Tatawagan na nga sana kita pero nauna ka na tumawag, kaya..."
Bumuntong hininga ulit si Jordan. "Makakapunta ka ba? Di ko kaya 'to si Je, lalo pag nalasing 'to..."
Isinara ni Alden ang laptop at tsaka tumayo. "Sige, papunta na ko."
***
"Ano bang mali? Bakit ayaw niya sakin?" Jerald slurred, at ang tanging nagawa lang ni Jordan at Alden ay umiling habang pinapanood ito. "Alam ko naman iba yung pagkakagwapo ko sa pagkakagwapo ni Papi RJ, o ninyong lahat... Pero mas gwapo naman akong di hamak kay Kaloy! Tsaka sinubukan ko naman, di ba? Binigay ko naman kung anong kaya ko, di ba?"
"Je," panimula ni Jordan. "Kung hindi nakita ni Valeen yung mga good qualities mo, malamang siya ang may mali sa pag-iisip."
"Salamat, paps," singhot ni Jerald. "Alam ko namang matagal ka nang may crush sakin eh. Pero sorry, I don't swing that way."
Sumimangot si Jordan at akmang babatukan ang kaibigan. "Tignan mo 'tong gagong 'to. Siya na nga tinutulungan ang lakas pa mang-asar."
Napangisi lang si Alden sa kanilang dalawa at umiling. "Maswerte sila lalo kung hindi ka masyadong nagmamayabang."
"Ako? Nagyabang? Kailan pa?" lasing na tumayo si Jerald—at nang mukhang matutumba ito agad na nakasunod ang dalawa—pero inangat niya ang kamay niya at pinigilan sila. "Kaya ko, kaya ko. PARA SA MGA SAWI! WOOH! PARTY PARTY!"
"Bahala siya kung ayaw niya sakin! HINDI SIYA KAWALAN! MAKAKAHANAP AKO NG IBA! WATCH ME!"
Alarmang nagkatinginan si Jordan at si Alden, ngunit bago pa makakurap ang dalawa ay nakababa na si Jerald mula sa VIP section at mukhang papasukin na nito ang madlang nagsasayawan. Agad siyang sinundan ng dalawa pang kaibigan, ngunit nang makahabol si Jerald tinuro niya lang ang bar, kung saan may dalawang babaeng nakaupo at nagtatawanan. "Tignan niyo. You watch, and learn."
Jerald disappeared among the throngs of people. Alden made a move to follow him, but Jordan held him back. "Hayaan muna natin siya. Masasapak tayo niyan pag pinigilan natin 'yan."
"Siya ang masasapak ng babae o kaya ng syota nun kung hindi natin siya pigilan," Alden retorted; hindi na bago ang ganitong eksena sa kanilang magkakaibigan.
Alden pulled his jacket away from Jordan's clutch and moved to follow his friend, making his way to the bar.
"—kasi, mukha kang anghel na nahulog mula sa langit," he heard Jerald say. Inismiran lang siya ng babae.
"Anghel ka ba?"
"Bakit?"
"Kasi, nung nahulog ka sa langit, mukhang nauna mukha mo."
Alden bit his cheeks to keep himself from laughing. 'Feisty type' ang napagtripan ni Jerald ngayon. Malamang basag na naman ito for the rest of the night. Before he can inflict further damage, lumapit na si Alden at tinapik ang balikat ng gegewang-gewang na kaibigan.
"Miss, I'm sorry about him. Lasing na lasing na eh. Tsaka heartbroken."
"So he thinks hitting on other girls will help him cope with heartbreak?" the girl eyed Jerald, and then rolled them, turning back to her drink. "Men."
"Grabe ka naman miss," biglang sabi ni Jerald. "Bakit, hindi mo pa ba nara—paps, paps... paps, am I seeing what I'm seeing?"
"Malamang hallucination mo lang yan."
"Hindi, paps. Sure ako dito. Teka, di ba yun si... siya..."
Following Jerald's line of sight, Alden finally saw what caused his friend's pale face. A ghost. A rather hot, beautiful, gorgeous ghost. She hasn't changed much, he noted. Except mas maganda na siya ngayon—time has been kind to her.
Maine?
And before he was even with his mental debate of approaching her or just walking away, Jerald already made that decision for him and shook his grip off, striding over to where Maine was.
Oh, shit.
***
update because I'm procrastinating, I have a final exam on Monday and well aldub's engaged and I'm just... I'm just...
Pray for me please. I badly need a miracle. Love y'all.
