Tale as Old as Time (La Fortuna Series #1)

Kabanata 20

Kabanata 20

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Nanlalabo ang mga mata ko habang naglalakad patungong parking lot. I held my phone against my ear as it rang continuously. Nang sa wakas ay nasa kabilang linya na si Rowan, hindi ko na napigilan ang pag-hikbi.

"R-rowan..." I stammered.

"Tacia?" nagtatakang salubong niya. "Umiiyak ka ba? Where are you? Pupuntahan kita."

Napalunok ako. I nodded even though he couldn't see me.

"Nandito na ako sa parking lot... please hurry."

Nang maputol ang linya'y umupo ako sa bench malapit do'n. I felt like my soul has left my body after hearing those things from Ana, Perrie, and Monty earlier. Nanghihina ako at hindi na rin makapag-isip ng maayos. I didn't even bother attending the seminar at the Audi. Kinuha ko ang bag ko at nag-desisyong umuwi nalang. I needed time to take it all in. Everything happened so quickly and I was still catching my breath after all that had occurred to me up to this moment.

The bullying? I could handle that. Ana imitating me? I'd feel enraged but... I could still handle that. What I could never tolerate though, is when people who are hurting me, decide to hurt the people I cared about. I could never handle that. And Monty, being blackmailed because of me... was downright crossing the line.

For fuck's sake, he was almost begging! All because Ana and Perrie wanted me and Chamuel to break up! How messed up was that?! That, and also the fact that every bad thing I experienced so far was all caused by my relationship with Chamuel, were finally taking a toll on me. I would never blame him. But looking at it all, it was never hard for him to love me, neither was it an issue. But me, loving him, had been nothing but going through hell and high waters.

"How are you feeling?"

Nasa kotse na ako at kasalukuyang pauwi na sa mansiyon. I glanced at Rowan who looked so serious all of a sudden. Hindi naman na ako umiiyak pero bakas pa rin ang mga tumulong luha sa pisngi ko.

"I'm fine..."

"Hindi 'yan gagana sa 'kin. Tell me the truth. May nangyari ba?"

Umismid ako. I looked outside the window as I took a deep breath. "I'm being bullied."

Namilog ang mga mata ko nang bigla niyang naitigil ang sasakyan sa gilid ng kalsada. It wasn't even smooth! He abruptly did it like we were about to hit someone and needed to turn sideways!

"What was that?" I exclaimed, still not recovering from the screeching of the wheels against the road.

Nilingon niya ako, nandidilim sa galit ang mga mata. "What did you say?"

Bumuntong-hininga ako. I planned to tell him but I didn't expect it to be this hard! Lalo na't mukhang sasabak siya sa giyera sa mukha niyang 'yan!

"I said, I'm being bullied."

"I need you to elaborate that, Anastacia."

"Tss. What elaborate? Gusto mo pa yatang sagutin ko ang 5 W's at 1 H, e!"

"Yes." Umigting ang panga niya. "I need you to tell me everything... so that I'll be able to deal with the consequences of not being keen enough to notice."

Just like he requested, I told him everything. Medyo naluha ulit ako nang ikinuwento ko ang tungkol kay Monty sa kaniya. Monty's case was the main reason why I decided to speak now.

"I need you to do something about Perrie and Ana. Please, naaawa ako kay Monty. He doesn't deserve any of this," I begged.

"I'll see what I can do. Rest assured though, that the video will be deleted." He massaged his temples and leaned on the backrest of his chair. "Hindi ko lang maipapangakong agaran 'yon. And I can't also file a case. Mabubunyag sa korte ang mga video. Besides, Ana's under Ysaguirre's security service. And Perrie de Guzman's the Vice Governor's daughter. Mahirap silang kalabanin."