His Wedding Planner (MNEBACP's Sequel)

First Wedding Plan

Three: First Wedding Plan

“Gusto sana naming either beach wedding or church wedding—”

Naputol sa sinasabi niya si Amber nang biglang mag-ring ang cellphone niyang nakalapag sa mesa. Agad niya itong dinampot at sinipat saglit.

“Oh, excuse me for awhile. My mom’s calling me”, paalam niya saming dalawa ni Ken. “I’ll just take this call babe, okay?”, saglit niya lang na binalingan si Ken saka siya tumayo at tuluyang lumayo samin para sagutin ang tawag ng Mommy niya.

Silence immediately took place as Amber finally left me with Ken alone. Nakakabinging katahimikan ang bumalot saming dalawa ni Ken. Akala ko kaya ko pero hindi pala. Bigla akong nailang kaya wala sa sariling tumayo ako mula sa kinauupuan ko.

“Uhm, I’ll just use the rest room Mr. Anderson.”

Lalampasan ko na sana siya nang hindi ko inaasahang hawakan niya ang kamay ko. Biglang naging malalim ang bawat paghinga ko. I feel suffocated.

“Iiwan mo na naman ako?”, his cold voice gave me chills. Halos nanindig ang buong balahibo ko sa batok dahil sa lamig ng boses niya.

What’s wrong with him?

“I said I’m going to use the rest room, Mr. Anderson”, madiin kong sambit. Bigla akong nakaramdam ng inis sa kanya.

Kanina pa kasi siya, eh. I’m trying to be civil in front of them pero panaka-naka niya akong binabara. Panaka-naka din siyang sinasaway ni Amber nang dahil sa pambabara niya sakin. He’s already starting to be annoying without any apparent reason!

“Stay”, matigas niyang tutol dahilan para mapairap ako.

“You know what—”

“Babe, geez! I have to leave now!”

Mabilis kong binawi ang kamay ko mula kay Ken saka ako humarap sa gawi ni Amber na pabalik na sa table namin.

“Si Mommy kasi, eh. I forgot, sasamahan ko pa pala siya sa check up niya. God, nakalimutan ko talaga.”

Mabilis na dinampot ni Amber ang bag niya sa inuupuan niya kanina bago siya humarap saming dalawa ni Ken.

“Is it okay babe if kayo na lang muna ni Miss Olivia ang mag-usap about sa wedding? I really need to go already na kasi, eh”, bahagya pa siyang nag-pout kay Ken habang inaantay ang sagot nito.

Bad idea! My mind frantically screamed.

Tumango lang si Ken saka niya nginitian ang fiancé niya. I wonder why he didn’t offer Amber his company. Soon to be mother-in-law na rin niya naman ang Mommy ni Amber.

Wala akong nagawa nang tuluyan nang magpaalam si Amber samin at sa isang iglap kami na lang ni Ken ang magkasama sa table. Ilang sandali pa’y binalingan ulit ako ng tingin ni Ken.

“So, it’s just only you and me already..”

“I can see that. That’s why maybe I already need to go now”, sabi ko at agad na niligpit ang mga nagkalat kong gamit sa lamesa. Ni hindi ko pa nga nakakalahati ang cheesecake na inorder ko kanina. All I only knew is that I wanna get away with this.. with Ken.

“Go where? Hey—you can’t just leave me here like what you did few years—”

Mabilis ko siyang tinapunan ng tingin para putulin ang kung anumang isusumbat na naman niya sakin. “As far as I remember.. I have nothing to explain to you about why I suddenly left few years ago, Ken. Kaya pwede ba? ‘Wag kang paulit-ulit”, mariin kong saad.

Pagkatapos na pagkatapos kong mailigpit ang mga gamit ko ay agad akong lumabas ng shop. Ni hindi ko na nga inabala pa ang sarili kong lingunin pa siya. He’s too much to handle for now. Sa tingin ko kelangan ko nang umuwi para sabihin kay Keith ang masamang balita.

“WHAT?!”, halos mapatakip ako ng tenga nang bigla sumigaw si Keith.

Halos katatapos ko lang ikuwento sa kanya na kasal pala ni Ken at nung Amber Teasdale ang pa-planuhin ko. She was skeptical the whole time I’m telling her the story not leaving any single detail.

Nag-shrug na lang ako matapos kong magkuwento sa kanya saka ako nahiga sa kama ko. How I miss my bed so much. I feel so stressed! Wala pa nga akong masyadong may naiplano sa kasal nina Ken pero pakiramdam ko drained na drained na lahat ng energy ko.

“You mean, he’s finally back??”, hindi pa rin makapaniwala si Keith.

And wait— “What do you mean he’s finally back?”, nagtataka kong tanong. Did he left the country?

“Finally back from his, uhh.. What do I call this? Advance honeymoon with his fiancé?”, Keith answered hesistantly.

I creased my forehead at her, “May alam ka dito?”

Yes, I didn’t asked for any updates about Ken when I was still away. Kahit alam kong may makukuha at may makukuha talaga ako kay Keith the fact that they do their lives on the same country. Hindi naman imposible ‘yon.

“Girl, I’ve met Amber once”, simula niya. “Well, she’s kinda nice. A year after you left, Ken and Krystal’s engagement was called off. And then there’s this Amber who suddenly joined the picture a month after that.. Being Ken’s newest fiancé.”

So this was finally the clear story after I left. Eto pala ang nangyari dito sa Pinas habang nasa Barcelona ako. Ang dami nga talagang nangyari habang wala ako. Kaya pala pakiramdam ko nagbago na ang lahat sa paligid ko. Kasi marami nga naman talaga ang nagbago. Things change.

Keith told me more. Hindi lang tungkol kay Ken, pati na rin sa mga nangyari dito sa kanila habang wala ako. Though some of her stories were already on my knowledge.

Nasa Canada si Marcus ngayon, continuing his studies. Soon to be Doctor na pala ‘yong bestfriend ko na ‘yon. Grabe, ang bilis nga talaga ng panahon. Parang kelan lang..

Si Gab at Kurt naman ayon at busy na rin sa mga kani-kanilang kompanya na minana nila mula sa pamilya nila. It’s funny to think how they were just simply Zephyr’s one of the happy-go-lucky students before. And now here they are, almost taking life seriously. Nasa Australia daw si Gab at si Kurt naman nasa Italy. And Terrence, well..

“How about Te—”

“You know what? Nagugutom na ako kaka-kuwento sa’yo. Might as well sugurin ko na muna ang kusina niyo. Do you also want to eat something? I’ll bring you some when I get back”, she forced a smile but it didn’t still reached her eyes like before.

Ngumiti lang ako saka umiling.

“A’right. I’ll be back. Lalamon lang muna ako sandali.” Bahagya pa siyang tumawa bago niya tuluyang nilisan ang kwarto ko at iniwan ako mag-isa.

I sighed. I hope her all the happiness she deserves someday. Nalulungkot kasi akong nagkakaganito si Keith. It also saddens me to see her crucially broken. Worst is, ayaw niya pa ring sabihin sakin kung bakit sila naghiwalay ni Terrence.

Hay, kelan ba naging madali ang buhay? Life will always be complicated at times. We people just gotta have to see that dark side of life.

**

AWalkingPoetry: Wasted a lot of time before I was finally able to finish composing this one. I’m suffering writer’s block again, and seriously it’s driving me crazy not being able to write anything and remained stuck at this unpublished chapter.

But finally! ☺ Sinipag na naman ako ulit magsulat. Congratsxzc to me 😂