My Perfect Stranger

Epilogue

"Hoy Binti! Huwag mong kalimutan yung mga bilin ko sa'yo ah." Kuya's smiling widely on Skype. He's slouching at the sofa while holding a bowl of popcorn on one hand while his other hand is texting. I wonder if he's using his laptop or his ipad?

"Babayaran mo ako pag balik ko diyan. Wala nansg libre sa mundo." I grimaced at him. Sangkatutak kaya ang mga hinihingi nya sa akin. Ang lumalabas para sa kanya kaya ako nagtatrabaho. I stared at him while he's munching on the popcorn. Seriously, anong akala nya sa video call namin pelikula? And who's he texting? That's rude. He's talking to me. Well, virtually but still we're talking.

"Anyways, how's everybody there?"

"Same old. Si ate malapit ng manganak. Si mama at papa bumibilog parang si Bimble. Maiingay pa din ang mga kaibigan mo at mahilig sa libre. Si Daryl basted pa din." Alam na niya kung sino ang lagi kong mga kinakamusta.

I laughed. "What's new?" Bakit ba ang malas ni Gonzales sa babae? He and Camz are already in good terms. Good for them but still wala pa ding girlfriend si Gonzales. Kawawa naman bestfriend ko.

"Si Dax. He's actually dating someone." He's a bit hesitant to say that. He shouldn't be. I'm already okay and glad to hear that Dax is finally seeing someone.

"Wow! Well that's a good news." I smiled sincerely.

"Yeah. After almost four years, he's finally learned the art of letting go. I haven't meet the girl but I heard she's an accountant." He started eating popcorn and he's texting again.

"Stop eating popcorn. It's kinda annoying." I can't help myself from saying it. Hindi pa din siya nagbabago. The same old brother I left two years ago.

He smirked at me. "Drop the accent kid. Pag uwi mo dito and you still have that kind of accent, para kang alien sa lugar natin." Sabay subo ulit ng popcorn at text m. Sino ba yang ka-text niya? Ibang klase kasi yung ngiti niya. Ngiting aso as they say. Nakakaloko talaga.

I rolled my eyes at him. He's always pointing that one. Hindi ko alam bakit eh. Naiinis ba siya or baka naman ako ang iniinis niya.

"Only if you stop doing whatever fucking hell you're doing and focus on talking to me." I raised my voice a notch higher.

"Hey, slowdown! I didn't catch what you said. but you sounded like a possessive girlfriend." He grinned.

"It's not possessive kuya. It's actually courtesy, remember? We're talking and you're texting someone plus you're munching." I raised my right brow.

He positioned himself to sit upright. He placed the bowl of popcorn at the side table and kept his phone in his pocket. "Whatever. Anyway, are you dating someone now?"

"Wala ka na bang ibang tanong kung hindi yan?" He burst into laughter. Here we go again. I am really wondering what so funny about my answer?

"Kaya nga gusto ko yan ang tinatanong ko kasi bigla kang nagtatagalog ng walang accent." Tawa pa din siya ng tawa.

I leaned on my chair so that I could relax my back. "Nagtatagalog ako."

"Hardly. Kaya nga nahahawa ako sa'yo pag kausap kita eh." Okay. I won't argue. Aminado naman ako eh. Ikaw ba naman kasama mo araw-araw mga hindi nagtatagalog mapa-work man o bahay kung hindi ka ba naman masanay.

By the way, I'm in Chicago right now. I've been here for almost two years. Remember the agency na inaaplyan namin ni Sofia? They helped me to get here. Matagal din yung pag-process ng papers ko. It took me almost two years bago ako nakaalis due to credentialing and state boards. But it's all worth it. At first, I was really homesick. Maya't-maya kausap ko sina kuya or si Gonzales. Pati ang Sexyback ginugulo ko. I don't know anyone here. Not a single soul. Sa ibang state kasi na-assign si Sofia.