Mary Grace

Seventeen

Seventeen

Matagal kong tinitigan si Mariah. She's scanning the room, as if she's trying to find something. Then her gaze landed on my direction. For a second, she just skipped on my direction and dragged her gaze away to the rows and rows of books pero bumalik ulit ang mga mata niya sa akin.

I gripped the book tighter in my hands.

Then her eyes widened in recognition after a long time. Nagkatitigan kaming dalawa. Her lips pursed into a thin line as she turned on her heels, quickly heading out of the bookstore.

Kaagad kong ibinalik ang libro sa shelf at hinabol siya.

"Mariah!"

I caught her arm just a few steps from the open door of the shop. She stopped on her tracks pero kaagad niyang binawi ang kamay mula sa akin.

"Who are you?" she turned to me again.

Sadness washed over me. I know she recognized me but she is denying it.

"It's me, Mary Grace. Remember? I'm your..." I trailed off, not knowing what to say. The last time I saw her wasn't so good. We broke into our biggest fight. And now I can still see the grudge in her eyes.

"Oh, yeah. Mary Grace. The damsel in distress. The poor little girl who can't stand for herself." She said sarcastically. I can hear the hatred in her voice and it's seriously making my heart clench painfully inside of my chest. "So, what's up? Planning to steal Jeremy again?"

I frowned at her. "No."

Then I took a deep breath. I'm starting to feel anxious again. I wish Harry is here or my parents are around. I have this urge to hide behind their backs again, no matter how pussy it sounded to anyone. I hate seeing Mariah's eyes full of hatred.

"That's good to hear and you wouldn't really think of stealing someone who has built a family of his own, right?"

I glanced at the baby who's sleeping peacefully in Mariah's arms. Taking a good look at the child, I can say he's got Jeremy's nose and mouth. I glanced up at Mariah.

"Is this his child?"

"Our child," she corrected.

"Wow," I said, lacking enthusiasm. "Congrats."

She cocked an eyebrow at me. "Don't bother trying to make me feel good, Mary Grace. I know you're still jealous. I'm not really in the mood to talk to you right now."

"Mariah, dalawang taon na ang nakakalipas—"

"That's the point." She cut me off, gritting her teeth. "You disappeared for two fucking years and now you're going to show up pretending that nothing happened and you started praising me and my child? Or even Jeremy?" she shot back. "Get a grip of yourself, girl. Obviously, you're still the same MG from before. Wala kang ipinagbago."

My shoulders slumped as sadness creeped its way inside of me. Mariah is still mad at me. I know I strained our relationship but I didn't expected her grudge to last this long.

"I'm sorry." I whispered.

She ran a gaze from my head to toe. "And look at you, you look like someone who had broken out of jail. Or perhaps you really did, in the first place. Clearly, the police was mistaken when they throw Jeremy inside the jail. It must be someone looking like you."

"Mariah, ayaw ko ng gulo." Tahimik kong wika. Her words stung like hell.

She rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Just do both of us a favor and don't ever show your face to me or to Jeremy again. We're building a new life and you are not welcome anymore."

Before I could even respond, she spun around and walked away. I watched her disappear into the corner of the street as the afternoon sunlight burned down on me.

---

Harry started placing little wet kisses on the crook of my neck, snapping me out of my thoughts.

Napaigtad ako. Tumigil siya. "Are you okay?"

I blinked, trying to remind myself that I'm inside Harry's room. I pulled the white sheets to cover my naked body and scooted closer to him.

"I'm fine." I murmured into his chest.

"Well, you don't look so fine to me." he said, clearly unconvinced. "Did something happened?"

I shrugged one shoulder and close my eyes. Think as if you are the fish. I said inside of my head. I imagine myself underwater, swimming in slow pace, not caring about the world. My breathing slow down and I feel a little calmer. A small smile tugged on my lips.

"I'm okay, trust me." I lifted myself a little to give him a peck on the lips. He automatically smiled. His hand snaked around my chest and found my left breast. He gave it a light squeeze.

"You know, you can always talk to me."

"Not when you're holding my tits." I teased. "It's kind of distracting."

Tumawa siya at binitawan ito. "Okay, okay." Then he wrapped his arms around my shoulder and pulled me closer. "What's bothering you?"

Napabuntong-hininga ako. I decided to gave in. "It's Mariah."

"Oh?" I could hear the surprise in his voice even though I couldn't see his face. "What about her?"

"Yesterday I went to a session with Dr. Siang and I kind of stumbled into her in a bookshop next to the clinic."

"And? Did you guys talk?"

I nodded my head a little. "Yeah. I was planning to connect with her again but she shooed me away, telling me her life with Jeremy is better without me." he tensed a little upon the mention of my ex-boyfriend's name. "And they have a child."

"Is he bugging you again?" Harry's voice suddenly turned serious.

"No, no. He's not." I admitted. "In fact, I haven't seen Jeremy ever since I arrived home. I'm guessing he never knew I'm back and I know Mariah wouldn't bother telling him about my existence."

"You should file a case against him," he suggested. "He—"

"Harry, I'm trying to move on." I said in a silent voice, almost squeaking. Naramdaman ko ang biglang paghigpit ng yakap ni Harry sa akin. "I don't wanna see his face anymore or talk to him. Similar thing with Uncle Thomas. I just want to go on with my life."

Naramdaman ko ang paghigpit ng yakap niya sa akin.

"Okay, I'm going to support whatever decision you're going to make. I know you know what's best for you."

I smiled a little and rested my head on his chest. "Thank you. What would I ever do without you, punk?"

His chest vibrated in laughter. "Well, you could go on dying your hair some crazy colors again and fill your entire body with tattoos." He kidded.

I chuckled.