Giving In

Chapter 3

               Mari was relieved that her baby didn't throw any tantrums when she noticed her mom was leaving her again. Natulog rin ito agad. Pinagod na naman siguro kakalaro ng yaya nito. She's just thankful her baby wasn't a problem child.

Mari just arrived at the place where she and her friends agreed to meet. In fairness, umasenso na sila. Dati ay dun lang sa malapit lang sa university nila sila nag-iinuman. Ngayon sa medyo classy na sila na lugar. Kung sa bagay, they were all earning now and not dependent on their allowances. Umasenso na rin ang iniinom nila ngayon.

"So Mari, right after the final exams during our third year, bigla ka na lang nawala. Kung di ka pa lang nakita ni Bea sa grocery, di ka na talaga namin makikita. Ano ba talaga nangyari?" diretsong tanong ni Lana. May bahid ng inis sa boses nito pero mayroon ring pagtatampo. They used to be so close after all.

Napabuntong hininga si Mari. "Ano ba usually dahilan kung bakit tumitigil sa pag-aaral ang isang babaeng studyante?" tanong niya. There were only a handful of common reasons. Hers happened to be the most common.

"Naghirap kayo?" sabat ni Bea. Mari conceded that maybe her reason wasn't the most common after all.

Napakunot ang noo ni Ysa. "You got pregnant?" tanong nito. Tumango si Mari.

"Why didn't you tell us then? Di kami naging ninang tuloy," tila nagtatampo na sabi ni Ysa. If only it were that easy, Mari thought. There was more than that to consider.

Tahimim lang si Lana na tila may iniisip na malalim. "Wala kang boyfriend noon Mari. And you weren't the type to just sleep with someone just for the hell of it. Sinong nakabuntis sayo?" tanong ni Lana. She needed answers. Dahil sa mga sinasabi ni Mari, walang ama ang anak nito ngayon.

"You know na. I got involved with someone. But we weren't in a relationship. No strings. But then I got pregnant. I told him pero reaction pa lang niya, alam kong ayaw niya na sa bata. And you know I never stay where I'm not wanted. Sapat na sa akin na nasabi ko. I have nothing more to worry about." Mari needed a drink after saying that. Timing rin na dumating ang inorder ng mga kaibigan niya na Bacardi. She was the first one to take a shot.

The girls were all gaping at her pero si Lana ang una nakabawi. "So where's your baby now?" tanoong nito.

"At home, sleeping," natatawang sabi ni Mari. "Don't worry guys. May yaya naman yung anak ko. Besides, in the month I've been back here in the city, ngayon ko lang iniwan ang anak ko sa gabi. I'm sure kaya na ng yaya yun. Isang gabi lang naman."

"You earn, what? A few thousand pesos above minimum? Paano mo naafford ang yaya para sa anak mo at yung condo mo?" tanong ni Bea. She was always the practical one among all of them.

They were alternately taking shots, downed with coke while talking. "My parents are paying her and the condo. It helps that she's saving up for college, we agreed on her staying for two years."

"Wala bang kinikilalang ama yung baby mo?" tanong naman ni Ysa. The most idealistic among all of them.

Umiling naman si Mari. "My daughter doesn't need one kung part time lang naman. Let's face it, most people who have a kid together but aren't married, and in my case, wala naman relasyon talaga, don't last forever. Nagkakalabuan rin sooner or later. And when one parent keeps the child, the other one becomes some kind of part time parent. Sa weekend lang nagiging magulang or kung kelan lang gugustuhin. I don't want that for my daughter. She's better off thinking her father's dead or something. Kesa naman magkaroon naman siya ng tatay na ayaw sa kanya at magpapakita lang kung kelan nakukunsensya."

Mari's friends didn't exactly agree with her. Pero ayaw na nilang kumontra. It was her child after all. It was her decision to make.

They didn't notice one man staring at them all night. Liam couldn't hear what they were talking about but he still kept on staring at them. The friends he was with didn't mind him at all. Sanay na ang mga ito sa pagiging lutang niya paminsan minsan na tila may malalim na iniisip. He wasn't always like that. In fact, Liam only started being like that around the time they graduated college. His friends all thought it was due to the pressure of being the only son or whatever.

Liam was downing the beer as if it was water. Oo mataas ang alcohol tolerance pero di naman umabot sa parang tubig na lang sa kanya ang beer. But seeing Mari with her old friends, laughing like she did way back in college, was having its effect on him. Liam wondered why she couldn't treat him the way she did before. Parang wala namang nagbago sa pakikitungo nito sa mga kaibigan nito. Pero bakit sa kanya, para bang kasuklam suklam siya? She didn't even want anything to do with him. He bets that if she could, magreresign na to sa trabaho para lang di na siya makita.

He was first to admit that his reaction when she told him she was pregnant was so damn wrong. When he thinks back on it, sobrang asshole niya. He was the biggest piece of shit he could be. He was Mari's first. He should've known better. He should have her known better. She wasn't the type to lie about it or to intentionally get pregnant to have a better life. And she never cheated on him even if what they had wasn't really a relationship. Now that he was thinking rationally, alam niyang may anak na sana siya kung di lang niya pinairal katangahan niya. Seeing her with someone else didn't make that someone else the father of her baby.

Ngayon todo na ang pagsisi niya. Why couldn't he have seen just what she meant to him when he still had her? Now there was nothing between them anymore. Wala na siyang pinanghahawakan kay Mari.

One thing Liam knew was that he still wanted her. And seeing her get drunk while he was still stone cold sober gave him the idea. Drunk Mari could never say no to him. Ngayon pa kaya?

He stood from his seat, not minding his friends calling out to him, wondering what was wrong with him. Lumapit siya sa table nina Mari. She was already half asleep.

He smiled innocently at her friends. "Liam... dela Vega right? You know Mari?" tanong nung babaeng nakabobcut ang buhok. She looked to be the most sober.

"Yeah. She works in my Dad's company. I was just concerned coz she seems pretty drunk. Paano siya makakauwi nito?" tanong ni Liam sa mga kaibigan nito.

The other two shrugged. They were drunk as well. Paano nila iisipin ang pag-uwi ni Mari kung sila rin hindi na alam paano uuwi. "I already texted the boyfriend and the brother of these two. Si Mari na lang actually pinporoblema ko. Di ko alam kanino siya ipapasundo. And I can't take her home kasi opposite direction at inuuwian ko." The same girl answered him. Things were going according to his plan.

"Ako na lang mag-uuwi sa kanya. I know her place," Liam said. And he meant what he said. He did know her place. Mari's place was with him.

The girl nodded slowly, not quite trusting him. But she didn't have a choice. "Okay. But just so you know, if anything happens to my friend, there will be hell to pay. Wag kang magkakamali Mr. dela Vega."

Liam didn't take the warning seriously. He was just happy the sober friend of Mari's wasn't going to argue. He helped Mari stand up and led her to his car. Before the night was over, Mari was going to be his again. He wanted another chance with her and he wasn't going to waste this time around. Di na niya pakakawalan ito.

Author's note:

Baka matagalan pa ang susunod na update kasi wala na akong load pang internet hahahaha. Sorry guys. Comments are appreciated btw. Hahahaha. Wala pala edit tong mga stories ko kasi masyado kong minamadali pagtype. So excuse the typos and grammatical errors.

()p