“Brad, sure ka ba sa gagawin mo? Paano naman natin mapapapunta yun dun?” Derrick asked. We were in Singapore. 3 days after I came to Manila.
“Sure ako dito. I told mom already and she said na siya na ang bahala. Kaya pwede ba? Kalma ka nga!” I said.
“Onga. Daig mo pa si Moe. Parang ikaw may plano ah?” Kris asked him.
“Gago. Ayoko lang mabulilyaso plano natin. Lamonaman brad. Mahirap kausap si Julie ngayon dahil depressed.”
“Tiwala lang okay?” Gino told him.
“Tsk. Bilisan niyo na kaya? Naiinip na kami dito eh.” we heard Maqui said. We were talking via conference call and she and the girls ate at the hotel trying to monitor Julie’s whereabouts. They are texting her asking her where she is and how she’s doing. And stuff like that.
“Ano na Maq?” I asked her.
“She’s on her way to meet your mom sa may entrance. You better start on that idiots.” she ordered.
“Okay. Thanks!” we all said. I placed the dvd on the player and the operator started playing it on the white screen positioned in the middle of the Hollywood part of Universal Studios.
*****
Tita Pia told me that she wanted to see me. We decided to meet at Universal Studios since her babies wanted to go there kaya pumayag na din ako. It’s also a way of enjoying my stay here.
“Julie, sweetie. Meet me at the entrance okay?” she said.
“Okay tita. I’ll see you.” I said and hang up. I walked towards the entrance when I heard something…
“Si Julie? I’ve known her since we were babies. We grew up together and we know each other so well. What she doesn’t know about me is that I am madly in love with her…”
I started to feel the tears in my eyes. Where is that sound coming from?
“I loved every bit of her. How she loves eating rice with milo. Cereals with orange juice. Baby food. Mashed bananas. How she hates mashed potatoes but loves french fries. How she loves to put belgian waffles over her cup of coffee until it’s warm and tastes just like her favorite espresso. How she loves strawberries. How she smells her food before digging in and how she drinks a glass of water before every meal. How she loves melted ice cream with crushed cookies. And how she loves powdered milk mixed with fresh milk…”
“Oh my god.” I’m starting to feel embarrassed because a lot of people have stopped and listened to the voice saying those things.
“I love her thinking face. How her forehead creased, her eyebrows meet, her nose scrunched and her lips pouting. It just make my heart skip a beat everytime she does that…”
I continued walking as I listen to his voice.
“I love how she sings in everything she does. She sings in the kitchen. In the living room. In the bathroom. And she sounds great. How she danced in her bedroom like no one’s watching. How she ties her hair in a messy bun and wear oversized shirts when she’s at home. How cute her toes are. How red her ears get when she’s angry. How she could whip up an amazing dish even from scratch. How addicted she is to horror movies. How she sneeze when she wakes up…”
The voice become clearer and louder as I walked towards Hollywood in Universal Studios.
“I love it everytime she attacks me from behind and tickles me with her chin. And when I spin us around until we fall down from dizziness. I just love everything she does…”
Finally I reached the spot where it is coming from. There’s a huge screen in the middle and people are gathered around it. All watching the guy talking in the video. It was him. The guy who has been with me all these years. I waited for the next thing he’ll say but the video was paused.
