Unfinished Yesterday

Birthday Proposal

(Vince P.O.V.)

"What do you want? " Nakabusangot na tanong ni Joshua nang buksan niya ang pinto ng kwarto niya sa bahay ni Paula.

"Can I talk to you?" I walked inside his room and sit in the cushion.

Sinadya ko siyang puntahan pagkaalis ni Paula papuntang trabaho. Si Pauline ay nasa resort kasama si mom,Divine at aling Mameng. Hindi pa rin kasi sumasama si Pauline sa kanilang dalawa.

"I don't remember answering you yes,so get out." Itinuro pa nito ang pinto.

"I know that we started at the wrong foot but can we set aside our differences for the sake of your cousin?" He didn't answer.
"I am planning to give her a surprise birthday party tomorrow and I need your help." Still no answer from him.

He resumed working something on his laptop. Patience is already slowly slipping away from me.

"She didn't want party on her birthday since her debut. Guess whose fault is that?" He said after a while.

I felt bad upon hearing it. Paula used to be the life of the party.

" I am sorry for hurting her. It's all in the past and I'm willing to pay for it for the rest of my life. I love your cousin and I will do everything to make her happy." I said solemnly hoping to gain his approval which is next to impossible right now.

He stopped​ typing and looked at me with fury. " You want her to be happy? Then let them go back with me. Their lives belong to New York now. They don't belong to this town which is full of judgmental people. "

He made the conclusion surely because of the incident he witnessed two days ago while we had our family dinner after we fought. Paula was harassed by two women in the powder room. Good thing Divine arrived​ and the two were escorted outside my restaurant. When we thought everything was well , a family friend of ours stopped on our table and greeted us. We introduced Paula and Pauline to them but the couple didn't even hide their suspicious on our daughter's​ identity and Paula's intention in coming back. I lost my patience and shouted at them. I cut my ties with them after that incident. Until now, they were asking for my apology which I ignored. They didn't even have the decency to apologize to my daughter and Paula.

A life without Paula and Pauline is my greatest fear now. Selfish it may sound but I'll keep them both wether they like it or not.

"Sorry but letting them go away from me is not an option for me. They are not going to go back there with you. I am sorry."

"How will you protect them from the scrutiny of narrow-minded people? People here thought that my cousin doesn't deserve you when in fact,the truth is that ,it is you who don't deserve her. Because you were a coward. You were an asshole who took advantage of the craziness of a girl who is barely out from her teens. "

" I am asking for this one last chance . I know I cannot protect them all the time from the people's conclusion but I swear to be at their side whatever happens. They are my utmost priority from the moment that they came back in my life. "

He just looked at me with still an angry look . "I still don't trust you. You were never good enough for my cousin. Pauline doesn't deserve a father like you." Prangka niyang sabi.

So this is how it feels to be insulted? I didn't usually received insults from others because most of the people wanted to please me in words and in actions.

" I know that . But then again , what I am asking is not for the two of us, it is for the woman whom we both love. I am going to give her a birthday party because I want to remind her the woman she was before-full of life , confident and carefree. The woman that got lost because of me. I want her to realize that her birthday is worth celebrating because she made other people happy. " I paused and added my selfish reason. "I want to introduce her as the love of my life and the mother of my child, hoping it will shoo away her suitors."