She smiled sheepishly and nodded. Ngumiti rin ito, hugged her again and kissed her and immediately ran upstairs. Pagkatapos niyang magluto ay umakyat rin siya, took a shower, wore her comfortable clothes, fixed herself and headed downstairs. Hindi pa rin ito tapos. Naghain na siya at hinintay ito.
“Mabango na ako,” bati nito sa kaniya. Napangiti naman siya. In front of her is her man. Gwapong gwapo ito dahil neat na ulit ito tingnan.
“Mukha ka na ulit tao, kanina mukha kang barbarian,”
“Sobra ka, tao rin naman ang barbarian,”
Ngumiti lang siya at naupo na. “Halika na, kumain na tayo.”
Magana itong kumain. She was so happy seeing him back on his feet once more. Panay ang puri nito sa niluto niya. Pagkakain ay nagprisinta na itong magligpit and asked her to relax.
Pumunta siya sa sala and examine again her pictures. Paano kaya ito nagkaroon ng mga pictures niya? Well, isa lang naman ang pwede maging dahilan—her dad.
“Lahat ng important events sa buhay mo pinapadalhan ako ni Tito Alfred ng picture,” namalayan na lang niyang nasa lukuran niya itong muli.
“Kaya pala lagi na lang si daddy may dalang camera, and there were times I saw him writing something,”
“Yup, yun yung request ko sa kaniya eh. Ang lakas lakas ko pa naman doon kay tito,”
“No wonder,”
“I begged mom and dad not to take me away. Ayoko sana sumama sa Amerika. Willing naman si Tito Alfred na alagaan ako habang nagpapagamot sa ibang bansa si mommy. But of course, they refused,” he narrated as they both examined her pictures.
“Kahit sino naman siguro hindi papayag,”
“Kaya nga, so ayun, ayoko kasi ikaw iwan. Ten pa lang ako noon ha? Tuwang tuwa ako noon pag inaalagaan kita. I feel like a big brother taking care of his little sister. But now it’s different,” iniharap siya nito. Their eyes met. He lifted her chin and slowly he crossed their distance and gently pressed her lips with his. Next thing she knows, she is responding to his kisses. His kisses spoke of love and hers of forever. Before they lost all the self-control they had, he gently pushed her away and kissed her on her forehead.
“I love you Aiah, I don’t know kung kalian pa. Kahit ako rin kasi hindi ko masabing mahal na talaga kita bata pa lang ako,” he again pressed a quick kiss on her lips. Iginiya siya nito sa sofa. “I’m so sorry, napatawad mo na ako di ba?”
“Bakit hindi ka na nagpakita? Hanggang kalian mo ba balak na ikulong ang sarili mo dito at uminom na lang ng alak? I was terribly worried what happened,” sumeryoso ang mukha nito at huminga ng malalim.
“Nang makita kitang umiiyak sa Anilao, I decided to punish myself. It pains me to see you crying and it pains me even more knowing I inflicted and caused that pain. Gusto kong saktan ang sarili ko. I never know I had the capacity to hurt you that much Aiah, all along I thought my prowess is just to make you happy and make it happen always,” ginagap nito ang kamay niya and kissed them. “I’m really really sorry,”
“Hindi na ako galit sa pagsisinungaling mo sa akin. I finally understood what you did and why you did that. Pero a month of punishment? Hindi lang sarili mo ang pinarusahan mo Kristoff,” she started to cry. “You even punish me of not seeing you and worrying about you all the time. There were times I really thought you no longer love me and you gave up of waiting for my forgiveness,”
“You should have not doubted my love for you Aiah. Di ba sabi ko sa’yo I’ll give you time to heal and accept things and forgive me. Wait.” Lumuhod ito sa harapan niya. “Let us start over again. I am Arhel Kristoff Fernando, pwede mo akong tawaging Arhel, Kristoff or babe o kaya love o kaya sweetheart, whatever you want Aiah,” inilahad nito ang kamay. Ngiting ngiti ito sa kaniya. She accepted his hand and squeeze it tightly.
“Funny you know me already, anyway I am Aiah short for Anaiah,” tumabi ito sa kaniya. “Why wouldn’t I know you if I have seen you a thousand times in my dreams, and you really are familiar,”
“Why?”
“Because you look like my future wife,”
“Corny mo!”
“Bakit totoo naman ‘yon. I don’t imagine myself growing old with someone except you. And besides, 23 years na ang engagement natin,” ngiting ngiti nitong sabi.
“Twenty three years?” she wondered.
“Before I went to US, I told your dad not to give you to anyone but me. I asked for your hand twenty three years ago. I told Tito Alfred that I’ll marry you when I came back,”
“Kaya siguro sinabi ni dad na ikaw ang hero ko, to save me from anyone and for me to save myself for you,”
“Yan din naisip ko, pero sana huwag ka na magalit sa daddy mo. If he didn’t tell you that, maybe you are now married,”
“At sino naman ang papakasalan ko?”
“Malay mo magkagusto ka kay Ross,”
“Sabagay,” kinurot siya nito sa tagiliran.
“Anong sabagay? Nagkagusto ka sa kaniya?” halos hindi maipinta ang hitsura nito sa selos.
“Joke lang,” they both laughed. Sumeryoso naman ito bigla.
“Napatawad mo na ba talaga ako?” he asked
“Medyo makulit ka rin ano?”
“Kasi buong buhay na ata ako naglahad ng pagmamahal ko sa’yo pero wala pa rin akong naririnig mula sa’yo”
“Buong buhay? Medyo exagg ka ng konti manong,” she laughed. Mataman siyang tinitigan nito.
“Yung totoo nga, mahal mo na ba ako?”
“Siguro,” she managed not to giggle and tried to suppress a smile.
“Hindi ka pa rin sigurado?” kumunoot na muli ang noo nito.
“Bakit ba kasi kailangan mo malaman?” she teased him.
“Bakit ba kasi ayaw mo pa sabihin?”
“Bakit hindi mo ba nararamdaman?”
“May nararamdaman ako pero ayokong magkamali sa pagiisip kung ano ba talagang meron tayo,”
“Eh paano nga kung mahal kita?”
“Ayoko marinig yang ‘paano’ at ‘kung’,”
“Ang arte mo Kristoff!”
“So, mahal mo ba ako?”
“Gusto mo ba talagang mapilitan akong sagutin yan?”
“E di wag kung ayaw mo!,” tumayo na ito at tinalikuran na siya. May pagkapikon talaga ito.
BINABASA MO ANG
Ideal Love
General FictionAccording to Greek mythology, men were originally created with two heads, four arms and four legs. Fearing their powers, Zeus split them into halves, condemning them to search for their other halves forever. Have you found yours? Kung kagaya kitang...
