Leap (a Novelette)

SNEAK PEAK

"H-How could you..." she trailed off as she felt a lump on her throat.

"Lucy---"

"How could you do that?! Bakit? Pinsan mo siya!" She shouted in disbelief.

"Lucy..." he stepped forward.

Umiling si Lucy at humakbang palikod. "I can't believe you..."

He cornered her, locking her on his arms, locking his gaze on her.

"I am no Romeo, Lucy. I am Count Paris, and in this lifetime, I'll make sure to win my bride," he said. Romeo looked at her, bare emotions visible on his eyes.

"Can Count Paris be loved this time, Lady Juliet? Please? Kahit isang beses lang?"

● ● ●

Romeo and Juliet written by William Shakespeare has always been Lucy Heaven Montago's favorite story.

Tragic, yes, but she is really admiring the masterpiece because of its painful plot and hidden message...

"Love conquers all things"

Ang mama at papa niya ang patunay sa pinaniniwalaang mensahe sa Romeo and Juliet. Na kahit gaano pa kahirap at kadilim ang pinagdaanan ng mga magulang niya'y kinaya nila itong mapagtagunpayan, nang dahil sa pag-ibig.

Pag-ibig.

Kailan nga ba masasabing ang "pag-ibig" ay totoo at huwad?

Totoo ba ang pag-ibig na tintamasa kung pinasasaya ka nito, higit pa sa anong materyal na bagay?

Tunay ba ang pag-ibig kung ito'y nagpaparamdam sayo ng kalayaan?

Kung ganun, kailan nagiging huwad ang pag-ibig?

Lucy doesn't care about "fake love". Bakit naman niya bibigyang pansin ang pekeng pag-ibig kung ang tinatamasa niya'y tunay na pag-ibig?

Tunay na pag-ibig mula sa mga magulang, sa mga kapatid, at ang tunay at wagas na pag-ibig mula kay Romeo Capulet.

Funny how destiny works. In this life time, a Capulet and a Montago became a couple. Baliktad nga lang ang nga apelyedo.

"Nah~ I don't mind, Rose. Magiging Capulet rin naman ako kapag kinasal na kami ni Romeo," buong pagmamalaking sabi ni Lucy.

Romeo is her long time boyfriend. And Lucy is his first love. Ang Juliet ng buhay niya.

"Rose, what we have is perfect as of the moment," Lucy said with certainty.

Hanggang sa isang araw, ang paniniwala niya'y tila nagiba bigla.

"Romeo?" Pumiyok pa ang boses ni Lucy sa pagtawag kay Romeo who is kissing with her...cousin? Rosaline M. Perez.

"Love transcends all things."

Ngunit, kung tunay ang pag-ibig na namamagitan sa kanila ni Romeo, bakit kay dali nilang binitawan ang isa't isa?

Two years. Two long years in their relationship and Lucy never doubted Romeo's love.

But Romeo is the love of her life. Love conquer all things, and so she'll fight by waiting for the right time for their love.

"This bud of love, 
By summer's ripening breath, 
May prove a beauteous flower, 
when next we meet," says Juliet in Act ll, Scene 2.

Just like Juliet, Lucy wishes that may their young love be flourished by the time they meet again.

But fate is really tricky. Because, by the time she saw her Romeo wearing a white tux, waiting at the end of the aisle for his bride, Lucy realized that she will never be his Juliet.

"You didn't became his bride, huh?" Her kuya Marco was mocking her.

Yes. Rosaline, her cousin, became Romeo's bride.

Unlike the story written by William Shakespeare, where Rosaline and Romeo never ended with each other because the latter fell in love with Juliet and became his bride, in this lifetime, Rosaline, her cousin became Romeo's bride.

In William Shakespeare's story, Rosaline was Romeo's first love, but her cousin Juliet, came and they ended up with each other.

"Baliktad talaga ata.." Lucy smiled.

In this lifetime, I am Lucy, Romeo's first love but he ended up with my cousin, Rosaline.

I smiled. "Oh Romeo, Romeo. Life is really not a fairytale," then someone took her hand.

He smiled sideways. "Let's go, my Lady Juliet."

"Where to, my Count?"

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