In His Arms

Unang Kabanata

"You're not at fault, Ivo. Remember that." He said.

I sighed the moment I opened my eyes. I've been dreaming the same dream over and over again and I really am curious on who is that man.

At sa paggising ko sa umaga pagkatapos kong mapanaginipan ang taong iyon, hindi ko maintindihan pero napapaluha talaga ako.

Kinapa ko ang aking dibdib dahil baka 'di ko na kayanin ang sakit na dulot ng aking panaginip.

Who are you? And who is Ivo?

Paulit-ulit ko itong tanong pero sa tuwing kakalkalin ko sa isip ko kung may natatagong memorya ba kami ay sumasakit lamang ang ulo ko.

Well, its just another day again. I better get going instead of wasting my time on my irrelevant dream.

Bumangon na ako at naligo. Tiningnan ko ang orasan at nakita kong alas sais palang. 8 am pa ang pasok ko kaya paniguradong hindi naman ako male-late.

Tiningnan ko ang sarili ko sa salamin. I examine every part of my body until my  sight went to the scar at the upper left part of my forehead. Though, it is just small one but I still feel that this scar took an important role on my life.

I sighed.

I can't remember how I got scarred, I literally can't remember anything about my life before the accident happened. I just woke up in an unfamiliar place and they say that I experienced a hit-and-run incident.

I don't believe it the first time, though. But eventually, I learned to just live with it.

Because I thought, I may be living with lies, but who knows? This path's way better than before, right?

I focused on my face, once again.

Pinatungan ko ng concealer ang aking peklat para hindi masyadong agaw-pansin.

Pagkatapos kong mag-ayos, bumaba na ako. I'm off to go to work.

"Good morning, ma! Good morning, pa!" Bati ko kay mama at papa nang makita ko sila sa dining area.

Dumiretso ako sa kanila and then kissed their cheeks.

"Good morning, my sunshine! How's your sleep?" tanong ni papa.

This is what I like with papa, e. He's very sweet. And he doesn't forget to check on my whereabouts and I find it cute.

I smiled, "As usual pa. You know, I really don't know why that man keeps on appearing on my dream. It's not like he's my destiny, right?" I said. Papa chuckled.

Ewan ko ba, sa dinami-dami ng taong nae-encounter ko, bakit 'yung di ko pa kilala ang napapanaginipan ko?

Ma and Pa also know about my dream, kasi of course, I've already told it to them. Like duh? What else, right?

"Anong destiny ang pinagsasasabi mo diyan, Treena, ha? Kumain ka na nga. Male-late ka, sige ka." Panenermon ni mama.

I and papa laughed at the remarks of mama. She's being strict about the boyfriend thingy again.

I rolled my eyes.

"Ma, I'm already 24, and yet, I'm still an NBSB. Its a shame! Really!" Sabi ko nang natatawa.

"Oo nga naman, hon. And you, young lady, don't be too intimidating if you want to have a boyfriend. Lumalayo sila kapag nakakunot ang noo mo, e." Puna sa akin ni papa.

Natawa naman ako sa sinabi niya.

"Still. I just don't want Treena to end up like those ladies na nakapag-asawa nga, hindi naman pala kayang buhayin ang mga anak. I just want you to prepare, anak." Ani mama.