Not Your Ordinary Cinderella Story

Chapter Thirty One

Marianne

I told him everything. I'm talking about Donatello.
He's been quiet since the day he saw my daughter. It's been three weeks now and ngayon ko lang siya nakasamang mag-isa dito sa villa. Nakanila tita Maitha ang kambal ko at doon nanggugulo. Si papa naman ay nagpaalam kagabi na pupunta ng bayan dahil may kikitain daw itong importanteng tao.

Donatello didn't looked surprised,hurt or angry after what I told him. The only emotion I can read on his beautiful face right now is puzzled and nothing else. Then he voiced it out loud.

"What about us,then?" he isn't looking at me.

"I- I don't know. It's been hard for me too. I don't know what to do. Marcus and Maxine wants us to become a whole family, Don." I sounded like I'm pleading.

He snorted as he looked at me. I think he's angry, after all.

"Right. Then let's be a family. You, me and your twins. I can take care of you three. You love me right? Marcus likes me too. I can be a good father. Stepfather, I mean. And you know it."

I looked away. Ever since I found out everything, there have been vague feelings that kept creeping into my heart. Plus the fact that I can see Jesse everywhere. Sa market, sa iba't-ibang resto. Then yung villa na inire-renovate sa kabilang dako ay sa kanya, so parang sinasadya ng tadhana na makita ko siya lagi. Hindi ko maintindihan, but my heart is beating out loud whenever I saw him from a far. Lalo na kapag kinakausap niya ako..

Hindi niya inuungkat ang tungkol sa mga anak namin. Alam namin pareho na may anak kami pero hindi namin pinag-uusapan iyon. Tanging kamustahan lang at mga walang kabuluhang bagay.

"You like him? Do you remember anything now? Are you turning me down? What about me? Come on Pris, you know how much I love you. We've been together,raising your son. Our son. You know you're all I've got." humina ang boses niya. Tinitigan ko si Donatello, malungkot ito. At sa nakikita ko ay nahahabag ako. Hindi ko alam kung ano ba ang dapat kong gawin. At bakit nga ba pabago bago ang nararamdaman ng balimbing kong puso.

Kilala ko si Don. Ampon lang ito ng matatandang magulang nito. At lumaki itong maayos at mahilig sa pagguhit at pagpipinta. Kaya sa edad nitong thiry ngayon ay may sarili na itong building kung saan nagtuturo ng art class at may sarili na ring gallery na parehong sa New York nakabase.

Nagkapalagayan kami ng loob, lalo na ng mapag-alaman na pareho kaming ulila, siya na pumanaw na ang nakagisnang magulang at ako na akala namin ay galing din sa bahay ampunan sa Paris...

Ngunit nagbago na ang lahat. May pamilya akong naiwan dito sa Pilipinas, at may mga anak ako na may buhay na ama na abot kamay lang ng mga ito.

"Don, what if, you try to look for yourself. I mean, we became so dependent with each other since we met. Maybe, you need to find someone that's not so close to your personality. Admit it, we are so alike that we thought we are perfect match and we-"

"We are the perfect match! You really are dumping me! Why? Did you fall for that guy already? Is that it?! For all we knew, he may not be your twins' father and you just fell for him!"

I slapped him.
I can't believe what he's talking about.

"Fine. Believe what you want. But leave. I tried explaining. And you didn't get my point. We are going nowhere. Leave. Go back to New York." I regreted my words as soon as I said them.

He looked hurt and in pain, he looked so broken. Why did I say that. Didn't I admit to myself that I love him? What happened?

"Is this how you face your problems again? Running away and throwing everything that is inconvenient to you? Am I the problem now? Just like how you dispose all of your stolen creations before, you are going to dump me beacause you feel something for Marcus' father?"

I was stunned. Tears, there are tears falling down his cheeks. But why? Why doesn't it hurt me like he does? I feel guilty,that's all. Why did everything became like this messy between us?

"I think, I think you're right. I was dependent to you and Marcus. I'm sorry if I thought of replacing his father's place. I shouldn't have done that."

As he stood up, he placed a pretty whitegold diamond ring on the center table in front of us.

"I always keep my promises. And yes, I now also promise to let you go. But I can't promise to stay as your friend. Not anymore. You broke my dream. And let me hate you for a while because of that."

He turned his back at me and went to his room, maybe to pack his things. He had his separate room from me since Maxine is always sleeping with me eversince we met.

I wished Donatello a good life. And I'm really sorry for him. I know I'm partly to blame because I gave way to his feelings for me and let it grow deeper when I started liking him back.

I guess this is not love after all. Kasi kung pagmamahal nga ang meron ako lara sa kanya. Kahit maalala ko pa ang nakaraan ay siya ang pipiliin ko. Pero ngayon, wala pa akong maalala ay isinisigaw na ng puso ko si Jesse.

Isa pa ay ako na si Marianne simula nung linggo. Naibalik na ang pagkatao ko. Ala-ala nalang ang kulang at sisimulan ko ng buo-hin ang pamilya ko.

'I'll miss you, Donatello.'