About You

XVI.

"Ayon si Madisson o. Babe!"

"Iris!" nagbeso muna yung mag shota bago humarap sa akin.

"Long time no see, Madisson."

Madi looked at me before raising her hand as if she's about to slap me but fortunately she stopped mid-air, then smiled. "Hi Leoel, long time no see."

I felt relieved. "Phew, I thought you're really going to slap me."

"Oo nga babe, pati ako kinabahan sayo e." sabi naman ni Iris sabay akbay kay Madi. She laughed.

"Hahaha silly. I'm over it you know. Nagjojoke lang ako kayo naman." ngumiti ako and then we settle ourselves, tatlo lang kami ngayon. Max backed out telling us that he's tired already. Same as Llyndon. Nea? I drove her home. It's none of her business.

"I'll order first. Usap muna kayo." Paalam ni Iris. Madi smiled at me, an apologetic one. "Leoel. I'm sorry for bitching out real bad before. Alam mo naman that I love Heart so much. She's like my little sister at ayokong nasasaktan sya."

"Ako dapat ang magsorry. I'm really really sorry for hurting her, and for ruining you and Iris." napatawa sya and wave her hand in dismissal.

"No, no. Yung samin ni Iris, I think it's not really your fault. OA lang talaga ako and actually nagkakalabuan na din kami non." I nodded, I don't know what to say next.

"Leoel, no offense but why did you decided to come back?"

"Huh?"

"What I mean is that, for a year and a half, you abandoned Heart. Then all of a sudden, you're here trying to enter her life again. I admit, I got irritated the first time I heard that you showed yourself to Heart again. I was like, what do you want this time? Ngayon na nakapagmove on na sya, babalik ka? What for? To ruin her again?"

I'm stunned but managed to answer her."To be honest, for a year and a half, I am actually contented on stalking her. You guys blocked us on social media pero gumawa ako ng paraan. Masaya na ako don but my sister came back. At wala na syang ibang bukam-bibig kung hindi si Heart, and her works. And by that time I feel the urge to meet her again, at natauhan ako. I will never be contented on just stalking her. That  won't never be enough." Si Renea talaga ang may kasalanan nito. Masyadong adik kay Heart at hinawaan nya ako hahaha.

"Pfft, yeah I heard avid fan nga ni Heart ang lil sis mo. She's really fond of her. Hmm sayang no? Sayang kayo." Napangiti lang ako ng mapait. Oo sayang kami, pero nangyari na ang nangyari, it is only the future that I can fix.

Dumating si Iris dala ang isang tray with frappes and cakes. "O eto na po ang order nyo mam, ser."

"Himala nanlibre ka." Biro ko sa kanya sabay kuha ng frappe ko.

"Anong libre? May bayad yan! Haha joke. O ano ng napagusapan nyo?" Madi tasted her cake before answering. "Wala naman, something about the past. Alam mo na yon."

"Ahh, okay."

I cleared my throat before talking. "Ehem, so tell me. What's really happening to Heart?"

Naging seryoso ang mukha ni Madisson. "She's gone. Kung ano yung sinabi ko sa phone call, hanggang dun pa lang din ang nalalaman ko. I can't reached her. Even her parents are ignoring my calls. Pumunta na ako sa bahay nila pero wala daw sya don. I just... I just don't know. Bigla na lang syang nawala."

I deeply sighed. This is frustrating."When did the last time you see her? At ano yung napag usapan nyo?"

"The last time we talked was the day after your interview with her about 'Heartless Heart.' That time I was annoyed when she told me that she let you guys know that she almost kill herself before. I was like, what's wrong with her? Pwede namang hindi nya isama yon e. Never in her previous interviews, she did mention it. Not even in her books, so why now? And then I realised, that maybe it's because of you Leoel. Maybe she thought that it's the perfect opportunity to tell you about everything. At para din tigilan mo na sya ulit."

"Honestly, at first tutol talaga ako sa pagpayag ni Heart na gawan nyo sya ng documentation film. Not because mauungkat yung past na nagpahirap sa kanya, but because it's you guys who's doing it. But she said it's fine with her, as long as hindi ka nya makikita." She looked straight to my soul. Akala ko ba hindi na sya galit?

"She wants me to stay away from her because, I'm a living reminder that she almost killed herself for a worthless man like me."

Madisson deeply sighed and lay her head in Iris' shoulder. Aw lovebirds.
"Yeah. That's right. But all of a sudden she confused me to death."

"What do you mean?" Kuno't noo kong tanong sa kanya.

"Monday before everything messed up, she told me that... she misses you so much and she wants to be with you again. It was the first time after she declared that she already moved on. She even cried that time. Para syang nababaliw."

Nasamid si Iris sa narinig nya. Even me almost choked on my own saliva.

Speechless. I am damn speechless. Ibigsabihin ba nito she still loves me?
May pag-asa pa kami?

Umayos ng upo si Madisson. "Muntik ko na syang sampalin non because she's acting really really weird. Pero bago ko pa magawa yon, nagpaalam na sya sakin. Saying something in between the lines of 'that will never happen and it's better this way.' After that, she's gone. That's why I decided to clear things up with you. Alam kong mahal mo pa si Heart and base on her statement the last time we talked, I believe she's still into you too."

My mind is failing me. I can't think straight. Hindi pa madigest ng utak ko ang mga narinig ko. Heart still loves me? Really? Fvck! But she's nowhere to be found. This is really frustrating.

"Hanapin natin sya Leoel. We need to find her by all means. Kung itinatago man sya ng parents nya, siguradong may malalim na dahilan. At dapat nating malaman yon."

I simply nodded. Still flabbergasted of everything. Can't really process what's happening.

"Hoo. Information overload! Pero saan naman natin hahanapin si Heart?" tanong ni Iris after exhaling deeply.

"I don't know. Wala sya sa mansion nila. I haven't tried to find her on their other houses, ang lalayo kasi and besides I can't travel there alone."
Tama. As far as I know, the Lacsamanas have three other houses excluding their mansion here in Manila. They have a house in Batanes, one in Palawan and the other one in Cebu.

"I'll book a flight to Batanes. Magpafile na lang ako ng leave of absence sa university. I'll find her no matter what happen."

Iris clapped in excitement. "Ayos! Sama ako jan!"

"Count me in!" Madi raised her hand. Napailing ako. Siguradong sasama din yung dalawang ugok haays. Iris punch in the air while shouting,

"Oplan-balik-ex version 2.0! Here we come!"

***

Thank you for reading my story! 💜