Calle Maganda Series: Mitchelle Laguarda

Chapter 3

     NATHANIEL TOOK A SIP OF HIS COFFEE. He is at a restaurant waiting for his good friend Seff. He had just arrived in the Philippines a week ago.

For what reason? He wanted to find himself. The person who he really was before he had lost his memories years ago.
Although his parents have been telling and trying to remind him what kind of person he was, he still feels incomplete. May kailangan siyang hanapin pero hindi niya alam kung ano. Hindi siya matatahimik kapag hindi niya sinubukan na gumawa nang paraan para makaalala. Now, even without the knowledge and permission of his parents, he's back to the country where they said it all happened. That dreadful night where they almost lost him.

Pinagbawalan siya nang mga magulang na pumunta sa Pilipinas. Dahil sa ayaw nang mga ito na maalala ang aksidente niya. They said they will help him make new memories. And that the past doesn't matter anymore as long as he is alive.
But that's not how he feels. Paano siya matatahimik at hayaan na lamang na kalimutan ang mga alaala niya sa paglaki? It is easy for them to say that because they are not in his place.

They don't know how it feels like as if you're lost in a sea of people. No identity. None. Not even a name.

And so he escaped. He lied that he will be spending a couple of months away from civilization, somewhere remote. Ang sinabi niya lang ay kailangan niyang maghanap nang inspirasyon para sa susunod na mga designs niya sa mga bahay. He is an architect and an artist. Hindi sana sila papayag mabuti nalang at napilit niya. Now he just hopes that they won't find out. He has already laid plans on how to communicate with them. Mabuti nalang at pumayag ang kaibigan niya na siyang kasama niya sana sa lugar na sinabi niya sa mga magulang.

Isang mahinang tapik ang kumuha nang atensiyon niya. "You spaced out." Nag-aalalang bati nang kaibigan na naupo sa harap.

He grinned at him. "Occupied. Glad you could come."

He signalled for a waitress before turning to him. "Well, I can't just leave you. You leave me no choice but to take you under my care."

Seff is a doctor. He was his doctor back in the US until he decided six months ago to stay in the Philippines for good in his cousin's hospital. Ito lang ang nag-iisa niyang contact dito sa bansa. "Sorry, pal."

He dismissed the topic and rather talked on a different one. "Sigurado ka bang doon ka lang sa bahay mo?" tanong nito. "I have an extra room in my condo, you can use it." Offer pa nito.

Umiling siya dito at nagpasalamat. He actually has a house built. He wanted to settle in the Philippines, that is once he had convinced his parents. Ipinagawa niya ang bahay with Seff's help at nang mga patakas na pagpunta niya sa bansa. Minsan kasi he would book a flight for Philippines to stay here for less than a week to personally check on the house's progress then fly back to the US.
"Thanks, but I am comfortable at my place. It feels like.. home." bulong niya. "I'll have it blessed as soon as I'm done with the other rooms." Sa ngayon kasi ang master's bedroom pa lang ang natapos niyang inayos. In process pa lang ang iba.

"So, anong plano mo? How will you start finding yourself?" Maya-maya ay tanong nito.

He shrugged. Hindi siya sigurado sa totoo lang. Wala siyang alam sa mga relatives nila. But he once heard his mother mentioned a place their relatives once settled in before migrating. Kung pupunta siya doon hopefully, he could remember even a light memory only. "I looked at Blaez's account and checked on their address in here. Baka pag pumunta ako doon, the place would be familiar." Tukoy niya sa dating tirahan nang pinsan.