My First Love

Chapter 7: Kundiman

April, 2020

"Si mama, may bago ng ding asawa, and she's residing in Cebu na. I go there once a month. And si dad? Luckily, he totally recovered from his stroke, and now, I have a new brother. He just turned five." sagot niGelli nang tanungin siya ni Dylan about her family.

"Really? Wow! That's a lot of changes. I remember nung na-stroke ung dad mo. Sa iba pa namin nalaman, kasi you never told us, and we never knew na may pinagdadaanan ka, kase you smile and laugh the same. You never cried in front of us, you never told us how you wanna go to the States and be with him. You acted so strong, and so normal."

"Coz I had to. For my mom. Kahit kasi hiwalay na sila then, she still loved him. She was a wreck. Kailangan ko siyang alagaan. But you know what? I felt so alone. I wanted to cry too. Gusto kong ipakita na nasasaktan ako. And you saw that. You were there. You made me feel na okay lang na masaktan ako, that the pain is something that needed to be felt."

"Ikaw din naman. You never gave up on me. You stayed."

"And yet you pushed me away."

_______________________________________

December, 2009

"So..."pagsisimula ni Rica, pero hindi alam ang sasabihin. Nagpalipat lipat ang tingin niya mula kay Gelli at Dylan. They can feel this awkward tension na kaninang umaga pa nila nahahalata. Hindi nag-uusap ang mga ito. Nag-iiwasan ng tingin. Ngayon lang nilang nakitang ganito ang mga ito. Kapag nag-aaway kase ang mga ito, hindi nagtatagal. They fixed it immediately. Kaya nga hangang-hanga sila sa mga ito. But now, they don't know how to act, even though, parang normal lang umakto ang dalawa. Gelli is just reading one of her pocketbooks, while Dylan is on his phone.

"Okay, that's it! I can't take it anymore." Biglang sigaw ni Nell, na hindi na kaya ang tension. "What happened between you two?"

"Who?" Maang na tanong ni Dylan.

"You and Gelli. And don't tell me Wala kung ayaw niyong pagbubuluhin ko kayong dalawa. Can you just fixed your problem just like you always do?"

Nagpatango-tango lang ang mga kaibigan nila, senyas na sumasang-ayon sila kay Nell.

"We can't." Sagot ni Gelli, and paused for awhile. "We broke up." Parang-wala lang na sagot nito

"WHAT?!?!" Gulat na gulat na hiyaw nila.

"You heard her." He started to pack his bag, na naghahanda nang umalis. "Alis na muna ako. May aasikasuhin pa ako." Then umalis na

"Wa-wait!" They tried to stop him, Pero parang wala itong narinig, at nagpatuloy sa paglalakad. They all focus their attention to Gelli, na bumalik na sa pagbabasa ng libro.

"Give me that!" Sabay agaw ni Sunny sa libro. They expected her to get annoyed kase ganun palagi ang reaction nito kapag naiistorbo ito sa pagbabasa, but she just looked at them with a calm expression.

"So anong gusto niyong malaman?" Kalmadong sabi nito, sabay ngiti.

"Yes, what happened?" tanong ni Trina.



She shrugged.

"To tell you the truth, it happened so fast. But I understand him."

"Gelli..." bakas sa mga mukha ng mga kaibigan ang lungkot at ang pag-aalala.

 "But don't worry, kase hindi rin magtatagal, magkakabalikan din kami. Just you wait."

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Nagising si Dylan sa masarap na amoy ng bawang. Nagutom siya bigla kaya naisipan niyang bumangon na, pero nagulat siya nang makita si Gelli na nakaupo sa sofa sa kwarto niya, at sa harap nito ay ang naka-tray na pagkain.

"Good morning, love!" Masiglang bati nito sa kanya, at nilapitan siya at hinalikan sa labi. And then hinila siya nito papunta sa sofa, at tsaka pinaupo. "I made you breakfast. Tada! Tapsilog, favorite mo."

Naguguluhan siya kung anong nangyayari. What is her ex doing in his house, cooking breakfast for him? Nagka-amnesia ba ito at nakalimutan na nito ang nangyari sa kanila?

"Okay, marahil nagtataka ka kung bakit ako nandito." Sabi nito nang ilang minuto ay hindi pa siya gumalaw or nagsalita

"The break-up. You caught me off-guard kaya hindi agad ako umangal. I already gave you enough time para kumalma ka, that's why I'm here. Ako naman ang magsasalita. I can't break-up with you."

"I already told you the reason why. Mas mahihirapan lang tayo kung papatagalin pa natin to. Ayokong pahirapan ka. I can always make a promise na babalik ako, pero what if hindi na? Nasa Seoul ang company ni papa, and they need me. Ayokong paasahin ka sa wala. I can't be with you anymore. I'll just hurt you."

"That's too late for that, coz you're already hurting me. "nagbabadya na naman ang mga luha niya, pero pinilit niyang wag maiyak.

"Gelli..."

"Let me just ask you one thing. Hindi mo na ba ako mahal?"

"What? No, I still love you. Mahal na mahal. Kaya ko nga ginagawa to. I can't hurt you any more than this. Kung pwede lang na hindi ako pumunta. Kung pwedeng dito na lang ako sa tabi mo. Pero hindi pwede. My family need me there. My dad needs me."

"And I'm not stopping you. You have to go. Ang akin lang, habang nandito ka pa, stay with me. Gusto kong sagarin ung natitirang oras mo dito bilang girlfriend mo. Let's break-up before ka umalis. And I promise you, I will let you go."