About You

VI.

"Good morning Kuya Leoel!" My sister greeted me giddily, she showed me Heart's book and giggle, "Thank you for this Kuya! You're the man!"

Ginulo ko ang buhok nya before sitting beside her. "No prob. Sabi ko naman sayo e, I am a man of my words." I winked at her, then she laughed. Mukhang good mood na good mood talaga sya. She even put foods on my plate. "Thanks."

"Nga pala Kuya, may I ask? Paano kayo nagkita ni Ate Heart kagabi? I mean, magkakilala ba kayo and both of you agreed to party together or what?"

Pinagisipan kong mabuti ang sagot ko sa tanong nya "Hmm, yeah magkakilala kami. We're... Schoolmates before and no, we didn't agree to meet yesterday. Nagkataon lang." na sinadya ko.

"Omg! Really? Schoolmates kayo dati? Wow! Kaya naman pala iba tinginan nyo nung booksigning event e! But why didn't you tell me that huh Kuya?" she pouted on her last statement.

Uhmm.. "To avoid you asking a lot of favors to me when it comes to Heart?"

Nea pouted even more. "Psh. Silly Kuya, but kung sabagay may point ka don. Anyway, Mom called a while ago and she said that matatagalan pa sila bago makauwi, seems like they enjoyed their so-called 'honeymoon' haha."

"Baka nga pag uwi nila, hindi na ikaw yung bunso!" pang-aasar ko kay Renea. Pinandilatan naman nya ako ng mata haha "Joke lang haha"

The next day after attending the mass, Renea went for shopping together with her friends while me, nagkita-kita kami ng barkada.

Pareho kaming tulala ni Iris when Max hardly tapped the table "Hoy bat ang tahimik nyong dalawa jan? What happened huh?"

"Oo nga? Hindi nyo pa nakukwento yung nangyare sa oplan balik-ex nyo!" segunda naman ni Llyndon. Actually I went straight home after that talk with Heart, di ko na kayang magtagal don. And I think ganun din si Iris.

Bumuntong hininga si Iris "Olats pre, muntik na akong sampalin ni Madisson. Haays, I really don't understand why she's that mad? I mean, yes nasaktan ni Leoel si Heart but she already knows the reason why. Para kay Heart din yon."

"I think she already told Heart the reason why I broke up with her." Naramdaman ko ang mga titig nila sa akin as if waiting for me to continue. "Heart told me that she knows everything. But, she's also begging me to stay away from her."

"What?! First of all, Madisson swear that she'll never tell Heart your reason kasi ayaw nyang bumalik sya sayo. Second, if Heart really does know, di ba dapat okay na kayo ngayon?" Frustrated na sabi ni Iris.

"Girls. They're really complicated." Maxwell said non-chalantly.

Llyndon drank his frappe before speaking "Teka, what if Madisson told her a different reason? Para magalit lalo sayo si Heart?"

"Kung ganun, why is Heart still thankful of me? Para saan? Isa pa she agreed when I told her that what I did is for her own good. I really don't get the point." I sound as frustrated as Iris. There's really a missing piece with this whole situation.

"Maybe something happened after you two broke up. Something we didn't know. Something that made your girls so furious." Napaisip ako sa sinabi ni Maxwell. If that so, ano naman ang bagay na yon?

Two weeks have passed, but nothing happens on our Oplan-balik-ex. Things are really not working out for us until one day...

"So, let's proceed to Mr. Jimenez' group. Your prospect for your documentation is... Ms. Hera Artemis Lacsamana." My jaw almost drop when I heard her name. The hell? Kitang-kita ko rin kung paano naglakihan ang mata ng mga kagrupo ko, which of course my squad.

"I saw you on her booksigning event in Batangas before so I guess you're a fan? Sisiw na lang sayo to. Isa pa, Heart's career is really soaring right now. Magandang gawan ng documentation kung paano sya naging successful in a short period of time and at a very young age."

"Okay po Miss. We'll work on it." sagot ko sa Professor ko.

"Good. I'm counting on you. Next Ms. Palma's group..." agad akong siniko ni Maxwell pagkaupo ko. "We'll work on it? Talaga lang ha? haha." sabi nya ng may nakakalokong ngiti.

I don't know if I'm just lucky or what, but I'm thankful and I'll take this as a blessing.

After class, we went to our favorite café and discuss our project. Actually yung documentation na gagawin namin will serve as our thesis and the key to our graduation.

"Yes naman, mukhang kampi sayo ang tadhana ah. Really? Heart as our prospect? Sinuhulan mo si Miss no!" mapang-asar na sabi ni Llyndon. Agad ko naman syang binatukan. "Siraulo."

"So, first things first. Paano tayo magsisimula? I mean, pupuntahan ba natin si Heart sa University o ano?" si Maxwell naman yan.

Kanina ko pa din yan pinag-iisipan, how are we going to start? Pumayag kaya sya or baka i-reject nya lang kami. I'm expecting the latter. Haays.

"Let's set an appointment through her manager. Then if things didn't work out, patulong tayo kay Miss. Di naman non mareresist yang charm mo Mr. Jimenez haha!" gusto ko sanang murahin si Iris sa sinabi nya but he has a point. Pwede kaming tulungan ni Miss.

"Ako na magseset ng appointment. Kayo na bahala sa iba. Iiwasan ko banggitin pangalan nyong dalawa, baka mapurnada pa." Llyndon start typing on his phone. After a few minutes he received an email from Heart's manager.

'From: Suzanna Dominguez

Hi there, Mr. Cojuangco! As of the moment Heart is busy with her studies. But don't worry we'll try to make time for you guys. Anyway, I personally like the idea of documenting Heart's journey to success. And besides you're her former schoolmates so I guess she'll also agree. I'll just confirm her schedule for the weekend.

Thank you!'

We stared at her message for a moment, before another message popped up.

'From: Suzanna Dominguez

Yay! I'm back! Glad to confirm that Heart's free on Saturday. We can meet up and talk about the details. Saturday, 2 pm at 'The Green House' café. Are you guys fine with that?'

"Yun naman! Love ka talaga ni tadhana pre!" sabay siko na naman sa akin ni Max. "Iba ka talaga pre!" sabi naman ni Iris. Llydon replied immediately.

'To: Suzanna Dominguez

Yes! We're more than good with that. Thank you so much Ms. Dominguez! We really appreciate your kindness. See you and Ms. Heart on Saturday

Have a good day!'

***

Let the ship 'sail' or 'sink' 😏
Thank you for reading my story! 💜