THE ONE by Khamya Rafiq (Series 4)

Chapter 2.1

KHAMYA's POV

Saturday

Six pa lang ng umaga, umalis na kami sa Riding Club sakay ng private heli ng mga Rafiq. And it's already pass seven when we arrived at the Airport. Kasama ko ang asawa kong si , ang baby naming si Grey at ang katulong naming si Ana. Ngunit hindi ko sila kasamang lalabas ng bansang Pilipinas, inihatid lamang nila ako.

Bidding my goodbyes to them is painful even if we already know that this is coming. Ganito marahil ang nararamdaman ng bawat Pilipinong OFW kapag inihahatid sila ng kanilang mga mahal sa buhay sa airport.

The hug and kisses shared at the last moment before boarding the plane was just not enough. Para tuloy akong nagkakaroon ng second thoughts sa pag-alis ko. Dahil pakiramdam ko mawawalay ako sa kanila ng matagal, o 'di kaya'y hindi ko na sila makikita pang muli. No one knows what lies ahead, and surely I don't know what might happen to me in Africa. And just as I'm about to let go the hands of my man and my girl, I can't help myself to tremble from fear at my own bad premonition.

"Sweetheart are you okay?" I barely heard as Beiron asked me with worry visible in his eyes.

"Y-yes." I stammered.

I decided to let it go. Wala naman sigurong mangyayari sa aking masama and besides, ayokong mag-iwan ng alalahanin kay Beiron. So I tried to beam my best smile and I see it's working when Beiron sighed a relief. After an hour, tinawag na ang flight ko kaya kahit bitin man sa oras, kinakailangan ko ng umalis at iwan ang pamilya ko.

"I promise we'll visit you. Always keep in touch, okay? Aalagaan mo ang sarili mo and knowing you, huwag abusado sa katawan, rest properly. And remember that we love you always." Ang bilin sa akin ni Beiron.

Kaya naman ng nagsimula akong maglakad palayo sa kanila, I can't help myself from shedding tears, dahil alam kong mamimis ko sila.

Saturday, 8:57 AM

I finally boarded at the plane, and while waiting for it to take off, I was just silently staring the window and think of a handful of things.

"Having second thoughts?"

"Yeah." I replied without looking at the man who talked behind me.

"Well, that's given when you're departing from love ones." He added.

Then my ears perked up as I realize the familiarity of the voice. I immediately looked at him and was so surprised to see who's talking.

"You!" I exclaimed.

He just look at me with the same smug he always has or so I thought, then he crossed his other leg to form a number four then he leaned his back at the head rest of the chair.

"What are you doing here?" I asked in disbelief.

"Same as you."

"What?"

"Hey, you're not the only one who's bright in this line of work." He said with confidence of himself and I smirked. "I was hired by the UN too."

I rolled my eyes and look at the window. "Of all the people to be hire, why this bray?tsk!" I murmured.

"I'm looking forward to work with you Dr.Khamya Licerio"

"Rafiq!" I added.

"Well," he straightened his back. "I'm Dr.Ryne Greyson. Molecular biologist."

I just nodded. Then he suddenly stand and shouted 'Yes' with victory sign. I looked at him and wondered what he's doing.

"Have you gone mad?"

"Of course not. I'm just happy that I finally cooly introduced myself to you."

"Huh?"

"Since I met you at that restaurant, you never gave me the chance to properly introduce myself so since then I've been rehearsing." He said with a smug.

"Whatever."

"We will be working together for a couple of weeks so may we get along. This will gonna be exciting!"

I just shaked my head in response.

(Get along? With that attitude? You wish! tsk!)