𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 // 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚗 𝚍𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚘𝚜

iv. hacienda ajero

Baguio; Ajero's Hacienda

Kiera and I entered the hacienda with Saoirse napping in her arms and me trailing behind with our things, and Stell, who reached us first, wasn't even surprised to see us arrive together. They were all unsurprised. Is it something they intended, or is it just me? I've never really thought about it until now, but the way Josh urged me to pick up his cousin and the way they stare at us now tells me something, but I'm not complaining because I get to spend a car journey with Kiera again after two years.

“Mabuti naman at nakarating na kayo,” Stell stated as he assisted me with the bags, which he placed on the side first.

“You brought Saoirse too?” Ate Xi-Anne asked, obviously surprised that I would bring Saoirse on a workcation.

I shrugged as I looked over at Saoirse, then to the woman who was holding my beloved cat on her arm with so much love and care. “Yeah, Kuya Yani forgot to bring her back to our house.”

That's a lie. I brought Saoirse so Kiera can meet her, and it was the best decision I ever made. Kiera, who was brushing the cat's fur, was unaware that all of her friends were staring at her. We are all surprised to see Saoirse being a peaceful cat in her arm because that cat is known for scratching those who try to hold her, but as I noticed in the car earlier, Saoirse just let Kiera touch her, hold her, and even lean on her touch.

Even Saoirse wants to stay with her.

“Balak kaya ni Kiera mag-alaga ng dog, share ko lang baka gusto niyo malaman 'di ba,” Josh said.

“Oy, seryoso ba?” Stell asked, surprised. “Oo nga, para naman may kasama na si Gitmo kung sakali.”

Kiera merely grinned and kept silent as I waited for her response because if she wants a dog as a pet, it suggests she intends to stay in the Philippines since, knowing her, she wouldn't want to risk her pet traveling far with her.

I just want her back for our friendship to be the same as it was, and I hope it's not too late.

“Sige, kay Josh ko iiwan kapag umalis na ako,” she finally responded.

I was wrong. Syempre hindi na siya magii-stay dito sa Pilipinas.

“Huwag ka na raw kasi umalis, Kiera,” Charlotte said.

But instead of responding or considering it, Kiera simply laughed it off and took a step forward as she carefully examined the hall of the hacienda because Saoirse was still sleeping on her arm. And then she was followed by Stell, who was about to begin his speech and was ready to give a tour of his family's hacienda, and the others, except for me and Xi, who walked behind everyone on purpose.

“So, nakapag-usap na ba kayo?” Xi whispered to me once she's certain that everyone is busy listening to Stell and looking around the hacienda.

“Ah, plano niyo talaga 'yon 'no?” I confirmed with a shake of my head. “Oo, nakapag-usap naman kami na parang dati lang... Pero kung ang iniisip mo na napag-usapan ay 'yung nangyari sa practice room… No, we didn't talk about it, and neither of us bothered to brought it up.”

* * * *

Time passed, when we all decided to have a campfire at the top of Ajero's land, where we could all see the large hectare of land with numerous planted strawberries that hadn't grown yet. Even though it was almost dinner time, we tried to arrive at our location as quickly and as carefully as possible with our dinner food, guitar for jamming musics, cameras to capture such memories, and ourselves without thinking negative thoughts, so we could enjoy the night.