Le Penchant

7| save yourself

"Bukas na yung bachelorette party mo girl?"

Tahimik akong napatango habang paulit-ulit kong hinahalo ang kape ko, we were in the firm's pantry, parehong break time namin ni Shirley kaya naman nagkita kami 'uli rito.

Tatlong pantry ang meron sa firm na 'to, one for each engineering field kaya naman araw-araw akong naguguluhan kung bakit nasa pantry ng Civil department si Shirley, dahilan niya mas marami raw gwapo dito.

"Shala! Kasama pala si sister in law,  ate Greta mo?"

Again, I nodded quietly. Narinig ko ang malalim na paghinga ni Shirley, she looked at me with sad eyes.

"Patay ba pupuntahan mo o kasal?"

"Sira ka talaga," I rolled my eyes before I finally decided to take a sip from my coffee.

"Napilitan um-oo si Sage sa pagka-best man niya 'a," nakapamewang siyang pumunta sa harap ko.

Tumikhim ako, hindi ko rin alam ang sasabihin ko.

"Lahat nalang ba sa kasal na 'to pilit talaga?" Usad ni Shirley na nasa harapan ko pa rin.

Sumakit puso ko bigla.

I nervously smiled. "Hindi 'a, nag-uumarte lang si Sage--" I tried to reason out but she cut me off.

"This is not about Sage, this is about you."

She looked at me pointedly, nawala agad ang ngiting kanina ko pa pinipilit. I quietly pushed the coffee cup at the pantry's counter-top, malakas niyang binagsak ang kamay niya rito kaya naman nabigla ako.

"Alam mo kaibigan kita, pero nagsisisi ako bakit may ganito akong katangang kaibigan." Sabi Pa niya.

I glared at her but her expression just got serious.

"Hershey? Never akong nangialam sa personal na buhay ng ibang tao pero, you do know that a wedding will be the most life changing moment in your life right? This is a life time commitment that we're talking about,"

"Ayusin mo sarili mo Hershey, if you're still undenial–stop it. Kasi kung ngayon palang malungkot ka na? Sana maisip mong nagcocommit ka sa life time na kalungkutan."

Daig ko pa ang sinabuyan ng mainit na kape, I watched as Shirley walk away.

Halos lahat nalang ng tao napapa-walk out ko, I bit my lip processing every word my friend said.

"She has a point, you know."

I looked at the man in front of me without any trace of emotion evident on my face.

Kailangan nalang ba talaga niya lumitaw kung saan-saan?

"But I guess that's your life and I believe that no one should have a say in it," he shruggs, making multiple clinking sounds with his spoon after he mixed his coffee.

"And that includes your fiancé."

Akmang aalis na dapat ako nang magsalita ulit si Calixto.

"A pressured bride will involve countless amounts of tragedy, that's your choice to make."

Lumingon ako 'uli sa direksyon niya.

"Do you enjoy torturing me with your words? Am I really that fun to mess with kaya pinapamuka mo sa'kin kung paano ako ka-sama maging asawa?"

He smirked and that made my eye twitch, tinaas niya mga kilay niya habang sumisipsip sa kape.

"I'm not saying you're going to be a bad wife, that's only going to happen if you're going to marry the wrong person," he was still smirking while he spoke up, tumingin siya sakin ng nakakaloko.