Fool Me Twice

Chapter 6

UNO

(Present)

"O ano na? No OTs allowed today bro. What time tayo aalis?" bungad ni Harvey na biglang pumasok sa office ko.

It was already 6:45 PM. I told myself na aalis dapat ako sa office by 6 PM sharp, pero hindi naman na natuloy yung plano kung yun.

I was still seated at my desk and writing a response to my last email for the day. To be honest, hindi ko na sigurado kung nasa mood pa ba akong lumabas at uminom ngayon. This day was just a rollercoaster.

Gusto ko nalang umuwi mag-isa sa condo at magmukmok, pero naisip ko that some kind of distraction is what I actually need.

"Maaga pa naman. Baka we can meet nalang mismo doon? I need to drop by my place first." sagot ko kay Harvey matapos isend ang email na tinatype ko.

"Swerte naman 'pag malapit lang ang condo! Okay man, let us know lang when you're on the way there. Baka mag pre-game na muna kami." sagot sakin ni Harvey bago tuluyang umalis ng office ko.

It was silent after he left. Umuwi na rin si Hannah kanina kaya wala na siya sa desk niya sa labas ng office ko. 

I was still feeling weird from today's events. It was overwhelming to see her again, and more so to see how much she's changed.

Tinignan ko ang lighter na nakalapag sa desk ko at pinaglaruan. So she smokes now huh? What a surprise. The goody-two-shoes Emmy that I knew would never have done that. 

She was so against it, kaya sinubukan ko na ring mag-quit para sa kanya even when she didn't ask me to.

Matagal kong tinignan ang lighter habang nagmumuni-muni, bago ito itago sa bulsa ko. Hindi naman ako sigurado kung ibinigay niya na ba ito sa akin o ipinahiram lang.

I opened my laptop and lazily scrolled through my Facebook to pass time. I kept on seeing several posts from my old friends and school mates. I laughed at myself and thought about what a weird stage I was in.

May mga kakilala ako na nagpopost ng travel pictures nila mag-isa, yung iba naman with their special someone, tapos yung iba kasama na ang asawa't anak nila. Some also shared lighthearted memes na para bang nakikisabay sa mga kabataan, tapos yung iba na sobrang seryoso at puro balita. 

It was weird. You'd think that the more you grow old, the more you'd know about where your life is headed. It turns out, there are still people like me na clueless sa kung ano na ba yung susunod na yugto sa buhay.

I stopped scrolling when I saw a picture of my old friend who posted about getting engaged. I liked the photo and commented my congratuations. Napaisip tuloy ako. 

Kung hindi kaya siya umalis, kami pa rin kaya ngayon?

If she stayed, would we have gotten married or at least engaged by now? 

Would she have said yes?

Walang pag-iisip tuloy akong napasearch ng pangalan niya sa Facebook para tignan ang profile niya.

Emmy Diaz. Just looking at her name still makes my heart beat faster and time feel slower.

Hindi ko siya friend kaya wala ako masyadong makitang post niya. I only see those shared by our common friends.

She's still private and recluse though. Maybe that's one thing na hindi nagbago sa kanya. Onti lang ang pictures niya with friends, at kadalasan ay special occasions lang.

I also saw some of her photos from when she was in the US. Nakita ko yung mga picture nung nag-aaral pa siya ng masters niya hanggang sa magtrabaho na siya doon.