Big night na! Oh my gosh! Oh boy, this is gonna be awkward talaga! I mean, I haven’t seen Twinx for years now, and I never really got along with her and Doc and Pare is not really that buddy buddy with each other kaya yun. Kakaibang gabi to ngayon! Ewan ko lang kung anong mangyayari. Then biglang nag ring ung doorbell ko, it was just about mga 7 kaya I was shocked to see Pare. “Oh bakit ang aga mo?!” “Hello?! Alangan namang ma-late yung cook no?!” sabi niya sabay beso tapos diretso na sa kitchen with all his ingredients and started working on dinner. I was about to close the door when I saw a very sexy but not that beautiful girl coming over. May dalang bowl. Si Twinx ba to?! Ewan ko lang. Naalala ko tuloy, the first time I ever saw her she was also carrying a bowl of chips. Ano ba to?! Lagi na lang bang may dalang bowl ‘tong babaeng to?! “Hey! How you’ve been?! Haven’t seen you in a while.” Sabi nung girl. Ah! Si Twinx nga to, feeling close pa rin eh. “Hey!” sabi ko na medyo napipilitan ngumiti, “Oo nga eh, eto doctor na.” Sabay beso kay Twinx. “Ui, tuloy ka! come in, come in.” sabi ko and pumasok na siya sa loob. “Oh, ano naman yang dala mo?!” tanong ko sa kanya na may forced smile pa rin. “Ah eto, kasi nakakahiya naman dumating ng walang dala diba?! Kaya nagdala ako ng salad, hope you like it.” sabi niya. “Oh you shouldn’t have, but thanks na rin.” Sabi ko, then kinuha ko na yung bowl and nilagay sa ref. I offered twinx some juice and invited her to sit muna sa may living room kasi nagluluto pa si pare and wala pa si doc. “So, what have you been up to lately?!” ask ni Twinx “Uhm, I’m now a surgeon.” Sabi ko “Really?! What kind?! I mean, what’s your specialty?!” “Nuero. But I also do, general surgery.” “Oh really?! Why don’t you try plastic surgery?! You know, I’ve got this friend who’s a plastic surgeon, and she earns a ton of money…” blah blah blah… Ewan! Kwento siya ng kwento about her friend na plastic surgeon na yumaman dahil dun tapos hindi na ko masyado nakarelate sa mga kinukwento niya. I just nodded and smiled para naman hindi ako magmukhang bastos diba?! “uhm, Twinx, wait lang ha, may tumatawag yata eh.” Sabi ko sabay alis. It was a big sigh of relief. Nakahinga din ako. The one calling was doc, he was gonna be a little late daw kasi he still haw some work to do. “Pare, doc will be a little late, kasi nagkaroon siya ng emergency patient and he had to do an immediate bypass surgery. Kaya ayun.” “Ah okay.” Sabi ni Pare from the kitchen, hindi na ko pumasok sa kitchen kasi he doesn’t like being disturbed while cooking. Ewan ko ba dun. Then pinuntahan ko na ulit si Twinx sa couch, wala na kasi ako choice eh. Ewan ko ba, kahit anong gawin ko talagang ang bigat talaga ng loob ko sa babaeng to. Hindi ko talaga siya feel. Parang I don’t feel like wasting my time talking to her. Ewan ko! “So, your boyfriend is also a doctor?!” sabi niya. Hay naku, kahit anong pilit ko talaga hindi ko talaga siya feel kausapin. “Yah. Surgeon din.” Sabi ko. “Where did you two meet?!” “Med school.” Na iilang na ko sa mga tanong niya. “Eh how long…” hindi niya na natapos kasi bigla na ko sumingit. “Uy, have you seen this flick na ba?! Wanna watch it?! Ganda!” sabi ko then put the movie on para matahimik na ‘tong babaeng to. Hindi ko na kasi talaga ma-take. Kaya ayun, no choice, natahimik din siya. Sa wakas! So, we just watched the movie. After the movie, odd silence na sumunod. “Dinner’s ready!” sabi ni Pare, “Okay. Uhmm, Twinx, excuse lang ha?! I’ll just arrange the table.” Sabi ko then tumayo na ko papunta sa dining room. “Oh, let me help.” Sabi nya, sabay tayo na din sa seat niya. “No, no, it’s okay.” “No, let me help.” “Wag na, you’re my guest. You should just chill and feel at home.” “But...” Aba! At hihirit pa! “Wag na… It’s okay… Ako na lang. Thanks for the offer na rin.” Sabi ko and then smiled. So napilitan na rin siya kaya naupo na lang siya ulit and watched some t.v. Preparing the table made me relax. I don’t know. For some reason it took my mind off the pressure na pwedeng idala ng dinner na ‘toh. Ewan ko ba! Basta, parang sobrang stressed ako ngayon. Parang mas relaxed pa ko kapag tumatakbo ako sa hospital whenever somebody pages me. Hindi lang talaga ako siguro sanay.
After finishing the table, I helped Pare to put some finishing touches to his masterpiece. Then biglang nag ring yung doorbell, I was about to go get it, pero Twinx volunteered to get it kaya I just let her do it. When I came out of the kitchen nakita ko si doc, having a little chit-chat with Twinx. “Oh hey!” sabi ni doc. “Hey!” sabi ko then he kissed me on the cheeks. “I brought a little something, hope you like it, I know It’s your favorite.” He said, sabay abot ng bote ng favorite red wine ko. After putting the red wine in the cooler I introduced Twinx to doc. “uhm, by the way,hon , this is Twinx, Pare’s girlfriend” sabi ko “Twinx, si doc, boyfriend ko.” Sabi koh, introducing them to each other. “Nice to meet you.” Sabi ni Twinx, then she held out her hand to doc. “Same here.” Sabi naman ni doc, and shook her hand smiling. “Okay! Now that everybody’s here, let’s eat!” sabi ni Pare then we all went to the dining room and started dinner.Dinner was good, syempre si Pare ba naman nagluto diba?! Kahit si doc napabilib sa luto ni Pare. “No wonder, tumataba ngayon to eh.” sabi niya obviously referring to me, “With the food your cooking for her, grabe! Even I would get used to this. Now, you should cook for me!” he continued. Napatawa na lang kami tapos sobrang flattered naman si Pare. But I have to admit, I was a bit uncomfortable when doc made that comment. Ewan ko, para kasing its very awkward na hindi ko maintindihan. Masaya naman yung dinner, everybody getting along, and so far, wala pa naman masyadong tension happening between either parties, which is good. For dessert, kinain namin yung salad na dala ni Twinx. It was good pero not my taste but its okay naman, everyone seemed to like it. After dinner, we all had a little chat then watched some movies. It was a bit odd for me, spending this night with other people other than Pare, ewan ko! Basta yun yung naf-feel ko eh. After the movie, and after one empty bottle of red wine, it was time to unwind a little and talk just to keep each other sober.
While they were all happily chatting I politely excused myself kasi I have to clean up all the dishes, kesa naman hintayin ko silang lahat umalis, at least ngayon pa lang, simulan koh na para pag-alis nila I could rest na. While washing some dishes bigla pumasok si pare, “Oh, ano ginagawa mo dito?” sabi ko, still busy washing the dishes “I came here to help.” sabi nya as he picked up some of the dishes and wiped them dry. “Bakit? Ano nangyari sa labas?!” sabi ko na medyo sumilip sa labas, I just saw doc and Twinx having a good conversation. “They seem to be getting along very well.” sabi koh. “Well yeah, apparently they found a lot of things to talk about. It seems like the plastic surgeon Twinx was talking about was a good friend of doc and they had kicked it off from there.” Sabi niya “Eh bakit ka umalis?!” tanong ko “Eh hindi ako masyado maka-relate sa mga pinag-uusapan nila and para namang makakasingit ako sa dalawang yun, eh tignan mo nga paranag silang dalawa lang ang tao sa mundo.” Sabi niya na medyo may sarcasm tapos yun, natawan lang kami pareho and we both started talking and started building our own world. In the back of my mind, naiisip ko na, it would have been better kung nagkapalit-palit kami ng partners. I’d surely be happy with Pare and I think the two would be happy together. After all the dishes done, and after a very long conversation between Twinx and doc, they all finally decided to go home and rest. And besides pare-pareho pa kaming may pasok bukas. Everybody had smiles on their faces when they went home and that felt good. Pagkatapos kong ayusin lahat and made sure that everything is where it’s supposed to be, humiga na ko sa kama but still no matter how hard I try I still can’t sleep. I just found myself staring at my ceiling that was painted to look like the night sky, still thinking. I came to realize that just a minute ago I was actually thinking that I’d be more happier if I was still in the arms of Pare. Then suddenly I found myself confused. Bigla ako naging unsure sa feelings ko. I thought that I was already over him and that all I felt for him was just as a friend. Akala ko I have moved on and the one I really want to be with is doc. Pero parang everything that is on my mind is questioned by my subconscious. It’s making me more confused. Parang sinasabi niya sakin, ‘do you really want to be with doc?! Or sinasabi mo lang yan ‘cause you’re thinking na being with Pare is wrong. But that is what you really want. Pinipilit mo lang yung sarili mo to believe na si doc nga ang gusto moh dahil yun ang sa tingin mo ang tama. Tama ba ako?!’ Grabe! ! Bakit ako nagkakaganito?! Bakit ako bigla na confuse?! I’m pretty sure na si doc na talaga ang gusto ko. ‘Pero kahit hindi mo man aminin sa sarili mo, your heart still belongs to pare.’ Tama na! Tama na! Tama na! Ayoko na! Naguguluhan na talaga ako. Hindi ko na alam ang gagawin ko.Bahala na! Tulog lang to! I just need some rest, and tomorrow I’m sure it will all be gone and everything’s going to be fine. ‘Is everything going to be fine?!’ Hirit pa ng subconscious ko, lupet no?! Eventually nakatulog din naman ako kahit paano.
