Glimpses (special chapters)

Glimpse 02: Yo te Cielo

Special Chapter 01: Soul mates

Miho looked at Paulo who's waving from afar. Papunta na ito sa sariling sasakyan. Pat parked his car earlier on the opposite side, kaya nang makitang tumalikod na ang kaibigan, sila naman ay tumawid na sa kabila.

The reception ended a little earlier than expected. Pagkatapos nilang magpaalam sa bagong kasal ay dumiretso na sila sa labas. Paulo invited them to go with him; mag-ba-bar daw muna ito.

She was about to say 'Yes' to her friend's invitation, naunahan lang siya ni Pat. It's no big deal. Hindi rin naman siya atat na lumakad pa sa gabing iyon.

"Bakit ayaw mong sumama tayo kay Paulo? Pagod ka na ba?" tanong niya dito.

"Nope. I just want to spend more time with you alone."

Nanlalambing na naman pala ito. Kumapit siya sa braso ni Pat habang mabagal silang naglalakad.

They stood in front of his car. Tumigil kasi ito maglakad kaya napatigil din siya. Tumingin siya sa paligid. Konti lang ang kotseng naka-parada. May isa na kakaalis lang.

"Look," he said as he pointed at the sky. "Hindi uulan."

Tumingala siya at nakitang napakaraming mga bituin sa langit.

"What are your thoughts about marriage?" Nagulat siya sa biglang tanong nito.

"Umm, it's something sacred?" sagot niya dito.

Tumawa ito at alam na niya kung bakit. "Straight from a Christian Living book, Ms. Huang?"

Oo nga naman. Para siyang ewan.

"I think marriage is not really important. It's not an assurance that a person will love you eternally, right? Marami namang naghihiwalay," he told her.

She gazed at him who was now staring at her intently. Tumango siya rito dahil hindi niya maikakailala na may point ang sinabi nito. Siguro nga wala sa mga plano ni Pat ang ikasal.

And why would she also think of marriage as early as now? Hindi pa nga sila nakakaabot ng taon. It's better that they would focus more on strengthening their relationship. Bago pa lang naman ang relasyon nila.

He held her hand. Napatingin siya sa singsing na bigay sa kanya ni Goyong; hanggang ngayon ay suot pa rin niya iyon.

Pat already knew about their story. Ang pagtawag ni Mr. Villacruz dito ng "Mr. Sempio" ang siya raw ipinagtaka nito ng husto dati. Nuon pa lamang ay iba na raw ang pakiramdam nito sa bagay na iyon. For him, everything sounds a little odd from the beginning... but he said he never really expected a fantasy story that would involve the real General.

Ang ipinagpasalamat naman ni Miho, hindi siya tinawanan ni Pat at tinawag na baliw. He just listened to her story and he said he believes her no matter how unbelievable her story is. When they came back to Manila, on the day of his birthday, she showed him the pictures and letters that were included in his father's memento. Gulat na gulat si Pat sa nakita. And she could remember that his reaction that afternoon was "It's very interesting. Paano 'yon nangyari?". They can just hypothesize as they might never really know the real answer to this question.

Natigil ang pag-alala niya ng mga nangyari nang bigla siyang tinanong uli ni Pat.

"I know that girls normally fantasize about marriage. Ikaw, kung hindi ka maikakasal, ayos lang ba sa'yo? Ang importante naman, magkasama tayo, hindi ba?"