A Love to Last

ALTL: 9

Soon... the day to meet Natalie arrives.

"Roxanne! Gising na!" sigaw sa akin ni Nathaniel 

ZzzzzZzZZzzzZzz I pretended to be asleep dahil......ewan ko! gusto ko lang...

"Roxannne! Gising na" hindi pa rin tumigil si Nathaniel sa pangungulit  I open my eyes slightly and I can see that he's grinning at me 

"Today's the day Roxanne! Kaya bumangon ka na" 

"Tss! Ano bang espesyal sa araw na ito?"

"Ngayon ang araw na makikita natin si Natalie"

"Ahh.. Akala ko pa naman yun lang"

"Maligo ka nalang Rox. Kailangan na maaga tayong makarating sa meeting place"

********* 

Nandito na ako sa café as early as Nathaniel's request but waiting to people who I don't like makes me nervous. Paano kung hindi ko na siya makilala?  o Paano kung hindi niya ako makilala?  or paano kung magka aberya at hindi siya makarating?  God! I hate this feeling! >...< 

"Roxanne, relax ok?"

"Huh?  I--I'm fine!"

"Alam kong you are worried"

  "Is it obvious?"

"I can tell by your eyes"

It's weird how he knows that what I'm feeling right now...

"Just  take a deep breath Rox....and thank you"

Minutes after that..... A lady entered the café. Ang ganda niya.

"Roxanne? Ikaw na ba yan?"

Yung magandang babae na kakapasok lang  sa café ay nasa harapan ko na ngayon.

Sino siya?  Wait----wag mong sabihin na siya si----

"Hindi mo na ba ako nakikilala?  Ako to! Si Natalie"

O gosh! She's beautiful as ever. I glance over to Nathan and as I expected he's shocked.

Well, sino ba naman ang hindi... mas gumanda siya ngayon.

"Natalie?!"

"Yeah. Akala ko hindi mo na ako makikilalala" 

Ibang iba na siya sa Natalie noon. Bukod sa mas gumanda siya, eh mas confident siya ngayon.

She smiles wide.

"You do look different now"

"Well, people change"

"Yeah. It's been years, after all."

"Still, you look similar. Pagpasok ko sa café at nung nakita kita  I immediately knew it was you"

"Oh" yan lang ang nasabi ko kasi hindi ko alam if that's good or a bad thing.

"Natalie, Do you want to order something?"

"I'll just get cofee" 

"So, Natalie, uh....how have you been? It's been years since we talked"

"I'm good! I help run a restaurant"

"Wow! That's kind of...you know unexpected....but it sounds nice"

"It was! I was always cooking for fun pero hindi ko alam that it will turn to business.

What about you?"

"Oh, me? I'm an editor for novels now. I work at publishing company."

"That's great! My boyfriend actually does editing, too!"

"You have a boyfriend?"

"Yeah." She's a little embarrassed and showed me the ring on her hand "Fiance, actually"

'Engaged na kayo?"

"Few days ago"

"Congratulations!" and I look at Nathaniel and he's smiling 

"Thank you" 

Hindi ko alam kung ano pang pag uusapan namin.. but as we sip the coffee she breaks the silence first

"Roxanne"

"Hm?"

"I'm glad you contacted me"

"Why?"

"Maybe because.. I always wanted the opportunity to reconcile"

Reconcile?  Anong ibig niyang sabihin?

"Nag usap na kami ng fiance ko and I have a lot of unresolved issues at ang bigat bigat sa pakiramdam. I just thought that this is the perfect opportunity to face them"

Hindi ko naiintindihan ang sinasabi niya. What kind of issues is she even talking about? 

"I have to admit that I..... I was so jealous of you when we were in College"

"Ano?!" hindi ko mapigilan ang sarili na sumigaw dahil sa pagkagulat

"Huh?" pagtataka rin Nathan

"I'm sure you noticed that. You know how fake I was and you.......you were so natural"

"What do you mean, fake? at wala naman akong ginagawa"

"I tried so hard. Tried so hard to be liked. Even  Nathan. It's been embarassing but I always felt like I needed  to apologize" 

I turn to look at Nathan beside me...and he doesn't have any reaction.

"Nasasabi ko ito ngayon because it's all in the past now.... I was  just trying to get Nathan's attention away from you"

"Away from me?" I'm embarrassed to listen to her confession and to see her reaction

"Nathan, always liked you. Alam ko yun kasi nakita ko kung paano ka niya tignan sa malayo.

Kaya sinubukan kong to prove myself to him. To like me"

"A--ahh" I turned to see his reaction and his red as tomato. This did not go as planned. 

I take a breath and try to say something......

"I don't know what to say."

"Hoooo! I'm so glad that I got that off my chest"

"Yeah"

**********

After chatting with Natalie. I take a walk back home with Nathan. 

There's an awkward of silence but can't blame.

"Roxanne?"

"Hm?"

 "What did you think about all that?"

"That?"

"You know,  her being jealous of you"

"I didn't see that coming because I have to admit I thought that she was better than me"

"Ano?"

"Well, especially when she tried to steal the attention"

"But she's grown up now"

and we walk together quietly....