Love In Progress

Chapter 21

Dinner

"Sinundo ka niya ulit? Sabay nanaman kayong pumasok?" Nanliliit na mga mata ni Ellie ang sumalubong sakin sa office.

"It's more like a carpool." Sagot ko. Tinitingnan si Flint at John na parehong nakatayo seryosong nag-uusap. I mentally noted how he looks more handsome seriously talking about business.

"Oh, come on Mish! You can't keep things from me." Sabi ni Ellie.

I smiled. Alam kong alam niya na things between Flint and I are getting better kahit na hindi namin publicly i-announce iyon. The whole week, sabay kaming pumasok at umuwi ni Flint. I am true to my words, tinupad ko ang promise kong papayag na mag sabay kami instead na tanggapin ang binili niyang designer bag.

The week passed by in a flash. Friday nanaman na. Things have been really hectic this week dahil last day na naming tatlo ni Ellie at John next Friday. We have lots of work to turnover sa new interns ng strategic department since the special project will still be in progress.

We spent the whole week organizing our notes and tasks at tinuruan na din ang mga bagong interns kung ano ang dapat nilang gawin.

It was lunch time ng nagkasama sama ulit kaming apat.

"Ok, so that would be 1 tray of spaghetti, 1 tray pancit, 1 tray chicken and 2 boxes of brownies." Sabi ni Ellie tinitingnan ang list niya sa phone.

We are currently planning to celebrate our last day. Naisipan naming magshare at magpakain sa lunch ng last day namin. It will be a simple celebration to treat our supervisors and teammates para sa warm welcome and guidance nila samin throughout our OJT experience. We have learned a lot of things from them that I'm sure we could apply on our next jobs.

"And drinks pa." Paalala ko.

"Right." She typed it quickly on her list "Sa tingin niyo sapat na yun?" she asked, not looking up from her phone.

"Of course! Sapat nanga atang magpa-fiesta dito sa company." Sagot ni Flint.

For the whole week, he has been lowkey whining about the 3 of us leaving. Dahil hindi pa tapos ang OJT niya, maiiwan siya dito for 3 more weeks, almost a month.

Binaba ni Ellie ang phone niya. Now, her whole attention is on him.

"Stop sulking Flint! Ako nga dapat ang nagwhiwhine kasi baka hindi na kami magkita ng madalas ni Mish. Unlike you na malapit lang naman ang school sa kanya."

"But... I will miss you two too." Sabi niya at tiningnan si John.

"Aww... I will miss you too, bro." Si John.

Natawa nalang ako at umiling iling naman si Ellie. I will definitely miss these moments of the four of us at ang dalawang makukulit na lalaki!

Saturday around 6PM ay tumulak na kami papunta sa restaurant kung saan magaganap ang family dinner. My dad is driving and my mother is in the passenger seat. Yani and I are occupying the middle row in the back seat at si Leon naman ay solo sa pinakalikod.

From Flint, 06:05PM

Alright, goodluck. Text me when you get home. ily.

Napatingin ako sa phone kong umilaw at binasa ang message. I have actually told him about this dinner with my grandmother already last week.

Sinigurado kong hindi magpahalata sa kanya na kinakabahan ako para dito. I don't want him to worry and overthink na baka may mangyaring hindi maganda pagkatapos ng pag uusap namin.

Well, if it was ealier-this-week-me, I would probably go straight to this dinner without my legs trembling. However, ngayong nasa daan na kami papunta ay hindi ko talaga mapigilang kabahan.

I realized that my grandmother isn't exactly a terror one, she doesn't get loud and hysterical; instead, she attacks you with her words. She has a sharp and blunt mouth that sometimes her words could pierce through your heart. At ang malala ay wala siyang paki sa emotions mo, she will say whatever is in her mind.

Maaga pa nang nakarating kami but as expected, my grandmother is already there. For someone in her 60s, she really is still so active travelling from country to country dealing with business matters.

My grandfather passed away when my dad is still a teen so my grandmother had to become the head of the family. She inherited my grandpa's business, she took care of it and grew it with the help of her sons.

We all walked toward her inside the private room reserved for us.

"Anthony, Helena." She acknowledged our parent's presence then her eyes went to us.

"Grandma..." the three of us chorused.

She smiled at us, then went to talk to our parents. Ilang saglit pa ay dumating na rin sila Ace.

"Tito Marco" bati ko sa uncle. My dad's only sibling.

"Hello" he said then pat my head. Bumaling ako kay Tita Angelica, his wife at nakipagbeso.

The room was filled with greetings from my cousins before we settled down and the food was served.

Hindi naman kalakihan ang private room. Sakto lang para sa dalawang round table na 8-seaters. Sa isang table ay naroon si grandma, dad and mom, Tito Marco, Tita Angelica and their last born, Lexi who is just 2 years old. Naroon din ang parents ng fiancée ni Ate Alaine, our eldest cousin.

Sa kabilang table naman ay kaming mag pipinsan. To my right is Leon na nakikipaglaro kay Xander and to my left is Yani and then Ace, then Ate Alaine and her fiancée, Kuya Damon.

"Really? That girl? Akala ko ay mabuti siya. She looked demure sa Insta posts niya." hindi makapaniwalang tanong ni Ate Alaine kay Yani na kinwento ang nangyari sa kanila ng boyfriend niya at sa 'snake-ex-bestfriend'.

If you think Yani is like me, a slow boomer in romatic relationships, you are wrong. She changes her boyfriend so often na kahit siya ay di na matandaan lahat.

"Well ate, she wasn't so demure when she climbed into my ex-boyfriend's lap, wasn't she?"

It was actually a good catch up session with my cousins. Our family isn't that big kasi dalawa lang namang magkapatid si dad at tito tapos si mom at Tita Ange ay pareho pang only child.

Kaya ito lang talaga ang mga pinsan namin at close talaga kami sa isa't isa. We may not see each other everyday dahil magkaiba ang school pero we often chat with each other at madalas din ang family dinners. We sometimes go to vacations together kapag holiday or may important occasion.

Nag paalam na kami sa isa't isa pagkatapos ng mahabang kwentuhan at kainan.

My grandmother's car was behind ours when we arrived at home. Nawala sa isipan ko kanina na pwede niyang i-bring up yung nangyari noong 10th Anniv party ng LCAI pero hindi nangyari. Now that she has decided to spend the night here at our house tsaka ko narealize na pwedeng dito niyang naisipan makipag usap.

As expected, pinadiretso ako sa study room ni dad. My heart started to pound as I wait for my grandma to come.