COMPROMISE LOVE

Chapter 5 - The Contract

Jay’s POV (father of Jaylin)

Lahat ng family namin except for Jaylin is having a meeting with Valdez family. Pinatawag kami ng Mr. Frank Valdez, the head of all Valdez International Corporation. He is the founder of their company at siya na mismo ang nagpalago ng mismong negosyo niya. Si Mommy Patricia and Mr. Frank’s wife Ms. Elena are best friends. Kaya ngayon we’re here dahil daw sa isang importanting announcement ni Mr. Frank.

“Good Morning everyone. You may take your seats” offer ni Mr. Frank sa amin

“Thank you” sabay-sabay naman na sabi namin

“This meeting is very important and this won’t take too long. I’ll go straight on announcing why we are all here. It’s because a contract was made by the late Madam Patricia Yu Araño and my late wife Elena Garcia Valdez”

“Anong contrata?” curious kong tanong while my wife is holding my right hand

“A contract or shall I say a promise na yung apo namin at apo niyo ay dapat magkaisa” straightforward na sagot ni Mr. Frank

“What do you mean tito?” Rachelle added at naguguluhan

“Don’t worry Rachelle, hindi ikaw na apo kundi si Jaylin at ang apo kong susunod sa mga yakap namin ng ama niya which is Anthony Josh Valdez”

“What? Josh? As in Josh yung boyfriend ni Claire?” gulat na reaction ni Rachelle

“Yes”

“Pano po nangyari yun? I mean kailangan to nagawa?” tanong ng Misis ko

“2 years ago Tris died, then after a year yung asawa ko naman. Noong announcement na ng last will and testament ng asawa ko. Doon lang namin nalaman ang kasunduan” tumayo si Anton ang anak ni Mr. Frank

“Alam na ba to ni Josh?” kalmadong tanong ni Rachelle

“Oo at gulat na gulat kaming lahat dahil tinanggap niya agad at hindi siya nagdadalawang isip. Higit sa lahat hindi din kami nagulat dahil based on his reactions hindi siya nagulat parang all this time alam niya ang tungkol sa contrata” explain sa amin ng Misis ni Anton na si Gemma.

“Paano naman ang Jaylin namin? She’s been through a lot of challenges. Tapos after 2 years she’s very happy now. Tapos may bago na namang problema na darating sa buhay niya?” napatayo ako pero kalmado sa pagsasalita at nagpipigil lang sa emosyon ko

“Wala na tayong magagawa. We need to respect what is according to the will of our late loved-ones. Why not give it a try?” napatayo din si Anton at nag explain ng kalmado sa amin

“Bakit kayo? Payag ba kayo sa set-up nato? Do you trust that this contract will somehow work out?” tanong ni Rachelle sa kanila

“I don’t know, but I believe na hindi sila gagawa ng contrata kung walang dahilan and as they made this contract. I know that they believe on the possibilities that this time it might be the right thing to do for their grandchild” kalmadong explanation ni Mr. Frank

“Can we just somehow talk about this bago kami mag desisyon na pumayag?” tanong ni Rachelle

“No, you can’t” nagulat kami ng may biglang nagsalita sa may pinto ng conference room

Lumingon kami sa nagsasalita and eventually it’s Josh. All this time he was just listening at us and he just give us that confident smile while napa lean sa pintuan.

“Anong ibig mong sabihin?” litong tanong ni Rachelle

“Look, you have to trust Lola Patricia and Lola Elena. They’re doing this for us. Hindi niyo man makikita ang resulta ng contratang to ngayon pero I promise you pag dating sa takdang panahon maiiintindihan niyo at magpapasalamat kayo sa kanila. Also we should respect the late legends of our family sa kung anong ang mga nagawa nilang desisyon. And besides you know how much I love Claire so much and if nakaya kong mahalin si Claire, makaya ko ding alagaan si Jaylin just as what Claire asked me to”

“Pero Josh you’re doing this just because of the contract and because of what Claire asked you to. Kasi baka sa bandang huli maiwanan na naman si Jaylin and perhaps she’ll feel again the same pain she felt when we left her and disappoint her cause all the years of being not with her is the years we’re we are exactly spending a lot of time with Claire. Ayaw na kasi naming maramdaman pa niya ulit yun. Yung sakit, poot at galit’ nag simula ng umiyak ang mahal kong asawa na si Pinky sa mga sinabi niya kay Josh.

“Look tita don’t get me wrong. I knew Jaylin just before I met Claire. Believe me the first thing I thought kung bakit minahal ko agad si Claire cause I thought she’s Jaylin but all those years of being with her was a lie. Nalaman ko lang na hindi pala siya si Jaylin when she introduced us back in States and eventually nakapag kuwento si Ate Rachelle bigla sa twin sister ni Claire which is Jaylin. You still don’t know the whole story tita but I’ll tell you pumayag ako sa contratang to dahil kay din kay Jaylin and because of this contract and my promise to Claire na aalagaan ko si Jaylin. I made a firm decision to finally start to spend my life with the person I’ve been waiting for almost 12 years” bakas sa mata ni Josh ang pagsabi ng katotohanan.

“Okay. Sige Payag na ako” nagulat lahat ng narinig nila ang pagpayag ko

“What do you mean?” litong tanong ng lahat sa akin

“Payag na ako sa gusto niyo since ito din naman ang gusto ni Mom Patricia para kay Jaylin and I know she knows Jaylin more than us cause she’s been with Jaylin sa panahong wala kami. Eventually I wanted to give my trust to you Josh. Pagbigyan ka namin sa gusto mo just make sure you don’t hurt her the way we hurt her. Just give me the assurance that you won’t really hurt her and if time comes that you will learn to love her, then please do love her because of her and not because of any other person or reason” lumapit ako ni Josh and I offer a hand as a sign of agreeing on the contract and what Josh wants

Nakipag kamay naman si Josh in return to accept on what I asked of him. After agreeing pinag-usapan na namin ang tungkol sa contrata at mga gagawin namin. Pati na rin sa kung anong gagawin namin pag sinabi na namin ni Jaylin ang tungkol sa contrata. Sana nga tama lahat ng ito at sana tama si Mommy Patricia sa decision niya.

To everyone:

Na change na din ang setting ng chapter na ito. Sana magustuhan niyo pa rin kahit may malaking changes. Pasensiya if my typos pa din at errors. Feel free to suggests and comment. Thank you.