His head was in a shambles. Hindi nya alam kung ano ang una nyang dapat isipin. He had a lot to do for the day but he didn't know where and how to start. Worse, he was groggy from lack of sleep.
He took a sip of his favorite morning coffee, the double espresso.
Tingnan lang natin kung di ako magigising nito.
Minabuti na rin nyang buksan ang laptop to check his emails at napabuntong-hininga nang makita ang sandamakmak na messages sa inbox nya.
Holy shit.
Alam nyang aabutin din sya ng ilang oras para lang sagutin ang mga ito. He was busy sorting out his mails but stopped when he heard a hearty laugh from inside the coffee shop at napatingin sa may gawi ng cash register kung saan nanggaling ang malutong na tawa. A lady was standing outside the cashier's area at tila nakipag-chikahan sa may-ari ng coffee shop. He knew the owner pati na rin ang routine nito, kasama na ang pagbabantay ng cash register tuwing umaga. Umaalis ito during noontime at bumabalik naman sa gabi to close the shop.
He narrowed his eyes to get a better view. Nasa labas kasi sya tumatambay tuwing umaga para maarawan. Fortunately, the shop had a small alfresco area.
Nakatalikod ang babae but she was easily visible what with the huge orange knapsack that she carried on her back. Narinig nya ulit ang tawanan nito kasama ang shop owner.
Sandali syang natigilan as he listened to the faint sound of laughter and muffled conversation. At pagkatapos ay kumawala ng hingang malalim. He felt a ridiculous pang of jealousy at lalong nalungkot.
I wish I could laugh like that again.
He woke himself up from the temporary daze at muling ibinaling ang atensyon sa laptop at napabuntong-hininga.
I hope this shitload of work will distract me.
He closed his laptop ang gathered his things.
.....
Nakangiti si Julie habang papalabas ng coffee shop. She just had another fun albeit short conversation with Kuya Ben, the shop owner. Dahil isa syang regular sa shop nito, it had become her habit to share stories and jokes with him tuwing nagti-takeaway sya sa umaga. Para na rin kasi nyang tatay-tatayan ito. Bigla syang nakadama ng konting lungkot nang maalala ang daddy nya.
Haaay. Sana naman papayagan na akong mag-leave no para makauwi naman ako sa amin. Kainis.
Bigla tuloy syang napasimangot nang maalala ang pending deadlines niya. Pero bigla namang napangiti as she remembered her new venture na di pa nya nabanggit sa daddy nya.
Again, a warm feeling overtook her. Ang dami nyang gustong gagawin. She wants to be as productive as possible, hindi lang sa trabaho nya and she feels that what she's about to do will give her that fulfillment.
Bigla syang napatingin sa relo at napatakbo sa kotse nya.
Diyos ko, Julie. Mali-late na ata ako? Patay ka na naman nito kay Tinapay.
.....
Traffic was hell and Elmo was slowly losing his patience. Ilang beses na syang inovertake ng iilang sasakyan. It took all his earthly possible self-restraint not to get out of his car and do a stunning act of road rage.
He had to meet clients. He had to iron out the thorny details of his business and doing so meant setting aside his personal issues.
He had to learn to forget. And yet he couldn't.
Lintik na buhay to.
Because of exasperation, he punched the steering wheel. He wasn't always like this. He used to be calm...and serene and fun. He missed being alive...being happy.
He rubbed his eyes at pagkatapos ay tumingin sa paligid. Gitgitan pa rin ang traffic. He was stuck. Tumingin sya sa may bandang kaliwa nang mahagip ng kanyang mata ang driver ng kabilang kotse. Her window glass was clear kaya nakikita nya ang ginagawa nito.
She was holding a hairbrush, which she used as a microphone habang tila kumakanta ito. Pagkatapos ay ibinaba nito ang hairbrush and waved her hands up around while swaying her head back and forth na tila nagsasasayaw. Tiningnan nya kung may kasama itong ka-jamming sa loob ng sasakyan.
She was alone.
Tsk. Kapal. Adik tong babaeng 'to.
Biglang lumuwang ang traffic sa may gawi ng babae and she slowly drove off but before her car disappeared from his view, he caught a glimpse of a huge orange knapsack on the backseat.
Wait, I think I saw that bag before.
