Of All The Lies

Chapter 2: Fast Forward

Seven years later....

Jacky's POV

I decided to stand by on a Coffee shop waiting for my bestfriend. Pumuwesto ako sa may sulok na bahagi ng shop at umorder ng caramel machiatto. Hay ang tagal na naman niya. Bushet. So nagcharge na lang muna ako ng phone. Inikot ko sandali ang mga mata ko at may nakitang 'wifi password sa may tissue paper. Wow. Improve na ang society. Tindi.

By the way, this is my first client meeting. At the age of 23, I am now a civil engineer. Me and my bestfriend were partners in a Construction firm. We made it our own. And named it RobRod (which stands for ROBertson  and RODriguez) Industrial and Construction Inc.

And there's my coffee coming but Tommy isn't around yet. I was about to take a sip when I smelled the aroma of french vanilla. Shit this isn't what I ordered!! Umiinit na naman ang ulo ako. Nakakabushet! Tatawagin ko na sana yung waiter when suddenly I saw a sticky note on the back portion of the cup. 'Happy Aniversary Jack!'
My heart skipped a little. Tumigil ang oras pati yata pagpintig ng puso ko. Naka awang parin ag mga bibig ko. Then I felt something in my head!

"Argh!" Daing ko sa sakit. Yes it fucking hurts! Parang binibiyak ang ulo ko sa sakit! Grabe! As series of moments passed in my thought I goddamn feel the pain even more!

"Maam are you alright? Sorry for the inconvinience. The one who served you this coffee was a new staff. This coffee was misgiven to you maam. Sorry." Narinig kong paumanhin ng manager.

"Next time, you should hire a better staff! Stupid."  Sabi ko habang hinihimas himas yung sintido ko. Inayos ko yung mga gamit ko at tuluyang umalis.
Pagkalabas ko ng shop saktong may tumigil na kotse. God after how many years dumating din siya.

"Kanina ka pa ba? Sorry traffic e. Come hop in." Bungad nya saakin.

Nagstandby lang naman talaga ako sa coffee shop para hintayin siya, ang tunay na venue ng meeting ay sa isang magarang restaurant. I quickly hopped in and he stared at me for a moment before he continue driving. Mejo nawala na ng kaunti yung pananakit ng ulo ko.

"What?!" I irritatingly asked him

"You look like a mess dear haha. Is this about him again?" Tanong nya.
At kinuwento ko sakanya yung incident dun sa coffee shop. Sinasabi ko sakanya lahat. Siyempre bilang bestfriend, sinasabi ko sakanya ang mga bagay na hirap kong sabihin sa mga magulang ko.

"Hahahaha that was epic dude!" Yan ang reaksyon niya. And I was like 'Is he my bestfriend or what'

"Shut up dude or you're going to be a panda." Pananakot ko sa kanya.

"What about the panda thing this time?" Nagsisimula na naman syang ngumiti.

"They have two black eyes." I said in a serious tone.

"Okay chill. I'll shut my mouth. But please set aside that, we're going to meet our first client remember?" Tinigil nya ag sasakyan at minsahe yung nakakunot kong noo. This guy always made me feel relaxed.

Hindi ako masyadong nakafocus sa meeting yet I pretend to be attentive at the same time. Kakauwi ko lang sa bahay. I feel sooooo tired. Chris' memories were still haunting me. Hindi ko nakita sina mama kaya pumunta nalang ako agad sa kwarto. Nanghihina akong napaupo sa sahig at sumandal sa left portion ng kama ko.  Dun ko nilabas ang lahat. Ang lahat lahat. Sunod sunod na tumulo ang mga luha ko. Tila agos na gustong kumawala. Hindi ko namalayan na napahagulhol na pala ako. Yumuyogyog na ang mga balikat ko. Just for this day. Para mabawasan ng kaunti ang sakit na nararamdaman ko. Then I heard someone opened the door. Shit. How could I forgot to lock  it?

My blurry vision recognize her. Si mama. Bakit feeling ko pinagkaisahan ako. Why do they try to hide this from me. Mas lalo akong napaiyak. I tried to be the strongest I can be, but with only just one blow, I was wrecked and broken into pieces.