Runaway Dad (Under Revision)

ONS 23

G A B R I E L L A

"Ouch!" I cursed at myself when I burned my finger "Shit!" I quickly put my hands in the cold water.

Ang hirap naman!

I am alone in my condo unit, cooking. The stove was different on what I had in US kaya nanibago ako sa pagluluto. I'm on my way home when I decided to take groceries kasi wala na akong stock sa bahay.

Maverick is in California, where he is scheduled to meet with Kuya for a business meeting. I, on the other hand, am unable to accompany him due to my busy schedule. I was invited into some companies, especially showbiz agencies, to look after the wardrobes of some of their actors and actresses. I wasn't expecting any of the offers, but I was grateful that my work was exposed to them and the general public.

My condo unit door beeped, meaning that my visitors came. I can already hear their noises.

"Where are you Gab?!" Frances asked.

"Here in the kitchen!"

"Oh my god! What happened?!" Frances immediately went up to me when she saw my hand and checked my fingers "Were you burned?!"

I nodded "Oo, it was just a mild one but hella painful."

"Hay, di ka talaga mabubuhay ng wala si Maverick." Miley rolled her eyes while bringing the emergency kit.

"Kami na, tabi!" Riley pushed us away from the stove and sink.

Natatawa naman si Mark habang napapailing "Nagpa take out nalang sana tayo."

I pouted "I'm trying."

"Shh! Shh! Tama na nga, aawayin niyo nanaman si Gabby." Frances, holding my hand pouted back at me and we giggled.

Sila na ang nag patuloy mag luto ng dinner. I prepared mashed potatoes, baked macaroni and fried chicken. Mark still ordered pizza since they were planning to stay in my place.

While dining, we swapped stories and updates about our lives. Our older cousins have started families of their own, and we were the only ones who were not yet married and could still relate to each other.

The whole dinner was filled with laughter and throwbacks, nagging maingay na naman ang condo unit ko and it was better than being alone.

"Ah nga pala! I brought my laptop with me, kasi may ipapakita ako sayo." Mark said as we were gathered in my living room.

He opened his laptop and a few clicks until he showed a picture of me, of us, of Kent which I could hardly remember.

"When was this photo taken?" I asked, and got the laptop.

"You can't remember it, pero it happened nang umuwi ka sa Pilipinas ng summer break." Frances said "It was difficult for us to tell you stories because you often have headaches kapag pinipilit mong alalahanin ang mga alaala na nawala sayo, and we thought na it's okay now since you are stable enough and it was freakin ten years ago, I think."

"So, me and Kent really met each other? And I just can't remember him?" I asked, and looked at a picture of us in the zip line.

"Yeah. Sinabi ko na iyon sayo when we were in France but I hesitated to tell since it might be shocking or crucial for you and devastating at the same time." Frances said.

"You two were cute back then." Riley said "Nagpa iwan ka pa nga sa San Agustin."

I furrowed my brow "I did?!"

They all nodded "Hindi nga namin alam kung si tito ba ang dahilan ng pagpa iwan mo, o si Kent."

I am so confused.