E
"Ano dude? Ang tagal naman niyang plano mo." ani Dave. It's been weeks since Julie's aunt's renewal of vows. And ngayon, we're both back to being busy bees.
"Bakit parang mas inip na inip ka? Ikaw ba ang tatanungin?" tanong ni Franky sa kanya. Alex laughed and threw a crumpled paper at Dave.
"Hahaha. Wag nga kayong magulo. My bestfriend's going to propose to his greatest love. Don't tell me di kayo excited para kay Elmo?"
"Of course we are, Dave. Babae kami. Siyempre iba samen kapag nagpropose ang isang lalaki."
"Babae si Franky?" pagtataka kunyari ni Dave.
"Hoy gago!" ani Franky sabay bato ng ballpen kay Dave. "Sapakan na lang oh!"
"Hahaha. Joke lang." halakhak naman ni Dave. They all turned to look at me saka pa ako nginitian ng nakakaloko.
"Will you guys chill out? I'm going to propose on our anniversary. Okay?" sabi ko.
"Ts. Kailan naman yun aber?" tanong ni Alex.
"2 weeks from now. Just chill the fuck out." sagot ko. Napakamot na lang silang tatlo ng ulo saka na lang nagpatuloy sa mga ginagawa nila.
After work ay nagdecide kaming uminom. It's a Friday and we all want to have a chill time after the week-long stress we felt with one of our clients. We went to the rooftop bar we went to a few months ago. Ever since we tried that bar out ay naging favorite spot na namin yun. We don't even care if it's in Makati and our studio is in QC. Besides, Julie will be a few blocks away from the bar and I can pick her up para sabay na kaming uuwi.
"Ah! This my friends, is what you call life." sabi ni Franky after she gulped her first mug of beer.
"After that Mr. Cheng incident, parang gusto ko na lang talaga magwalwal ngayong gabi." sabi ni Dave. "Dude, we should do this more often. As in araw-arawin na natin to hangga't bago ka ikasal kasi panigurado di ka na namin mahahagilap pag kinasal kayo ni Julie."
"Hindi ka naman under, Elmo diba?" tanong ni Alex. Umiling naman ako saka uminom ng beer. "Eh bakit di ka na namin mahahagilap?"
"Lex, isn't it obvious? Elmo likes it when he's with Julie. Kung pwede lang itali niya sa bewang niya si Julie, gagawin niya. He's that clingy."
"Well, I'm trying to control myself." sabi ko sabay tawa. "Pero di ko kaya. I mean, hindi ko lang nga siya makausap the whole day nappraning na ko eh."
"Di ka ganyan dati, dude." ani Dave at uminom uli ng beer. "Not with Julie during college days and not with Liz. Ngayon lang talaga."
"I wasn't very serious with life before. Pero when reality struck me na kapag binitawan ko pa si Julie wala na talaga kong patutunguhan? Yun na. Mukha man akong clingy sa kanya but I'm just making sure that she is safe and that she can really feel how much I love her."
"Dude, bakit di ka ganyan?" ani Franky kay Dave. Dinuro siya nito saka pa minura at humalakhak lang naman kami.
"Namo, Franky ha? Nananahimik ako dito." sabi ni Dave.
"Hahahaha. Love you, dude. Alam mo namang jinojoke lang kita." sabi ni Franky. "Pero I'm still waiting for that day na ikaw naman ang makakausap namin ng ganito dude."
"Maghintay ka lang." ani Dave.
"Tagal eh. Nagsasawa na kami na lagi na lang si Elmo. And for sure sawa na din tong kumag na to sa mga pangungulit namin."
"Hahaha. Di naman." sagot ko. "Basta guys, kung sino sa inyo ang mauna, susuportahan lang natin."
"Oo naman pare. Tayo pa ba?" sabi ni Dave. "Pero dude, maiba tayo. Lagi kasing ang tanong namin sayo eh kung paano mo ba pinaparamdam kay Julie lahat eh. Iba naman."
