Love In Progress

Chapter 26

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Maaga palang nasa mall na kami, natagalan lang talaga sa pamimili ng ragalo kaya naabutan ng lunch time.

In the end, he decided to buy some vitamins, yung may herbs, ginseng at kung ano pa. Hindi ko masyadong maalala ang sinabi ng sales lady samin, basta maganda daw pampalakas ng resistensya sa mga matatanda.

Pagkatapos maglunch ng mabilisan ay handa na kaming umuwi ng bahay. Hinihintay ko lang ngayon si Flint na sinasagot ang isang tawag. Nasulyapan ko iyon bago niya nasagot kanina at nakitang si Cheska ang tumatawag.

Nanlaki agad ang mga mata niya sa narinig. "What did you say?" hindi makapaniwalang tanong niya sa kabilang linya.

Nakaramdam ako ng konting kaba, may masamang nangyari kaya?

"Ok, I'll be there send me the address." Sabi niya at binaba agad ang tawag.

Bumaling siya sakin, I saw him swallowed hard.

"I'm so sorry, Mischa. I really need to go this instant. Naaksidente sila Cheska, hindi ko pa sigurado ang buong details. I really need to go there now, I'm so sorry." Nilagay niya yung regalo sa kamay ko while I remained standing. Shocked too.

"Please send me a text when you get home." sabi niya at nagmadaling umalis. Halos tumatakbo na.

Hindi ko alam kung gaano ako katagal nakatayo roon tinitingnan ang corridor kung saan wala na si Flint. I'm too stunned to move.

Accident?

His Ex-girlfriend?

Worried?

I took a taxi home. Kalmado kong sinabi sa driver ang address namin. You wouldn't know that I was in the verge of breaking down by looking at my calm actions.

In reality though, my head is creating hundreds of possible scenarios every minute. Endless questions are being tossed inside my brain.

"Hindi ko nga alam kung saan ba ako nagkulang." Rinig kong sabi ng isang babae sa radyo sa sasakyan.

"I have loved him all my heart, I have given him my everything but in the end, it's still not enough for him. He needed more so he chose exploring..." she sobbed "... other women."

Hindi ko kilala kung sino yung nagshashare ng kwento sa radyo but her problem lingered on my mind. Bakit nga ba yung iba hindi nakokontento sa isa, gusto palaging may options? Eh kung ganun bakit pa sila pumasok sa isang relationship? Hindi ko maintindihan.

"Oh? Ikaw lang asan si Flint?" Si Yani ang naabutan ko sa sala pagkapasok sa bahay.

"He had an emergency, hindi siya makakapunta ngayon. Paki-sabi nalang kela mom. I'm not feeling well din aakyat na ako." I felt like a walking zombie. Wala sa sarili akong sumagot at umakyat na sa kwarto.

The moment I lay on my bed; my emotions took over; my tears wouldn't stop falling down. I was trying so hard to hold myself up kanina para lang hindi magbreak-down sa public place. Paulit-ulit kong sinabi sa sarili na bawal umiyak; like hypnotizing myself, I felt like it worked like magic.

My heart ached at the thought of him leaving me there alone. He left me for her. He was so worried of her that he could leave everything in the present to go back to to his past.

He always comes back to me at the end of the day.

Nag-echo sa ulo ko ang sinabi ni Cheska noon.

She is probably right.

He couldn't even properly explain to me kahit the small details lang para may idea ako kung anong nangyari. Is it a serious accident or not? Do I need to worry or not?

Don't get me wrong, I totally understand him. I understand that there is an accident and it is probably serious, I shouldn't be selfish and stop him from going. I understand that even though she is his ex, he still cares for her. I understand that he chose to leave me at that moment because he knows that I can take care of myself. I understand that it was an emergency.

However, despite understanding all these, I just can't help but to feel sad and hurt. Am I petty or what? Ang hindi ko maintindihan ay ang sarili ko. Hindi ko alam kung bakit naiisip ko na iniwan niya ako para balikan siya. All my insecurities are back in an instant.

Umaga na nang nagising ako. Hindi man lang ako nakapagdinner o nakapagpalit kagabi. I checked my phone immediately for Flint's message, pero wala.

Naligo ako at nag-ayos bago bumaba para kumain, I'm starving.

My heart felt hollow. Alam mo yung pagkatapos mong masaktan ng sobra, umiyak ng sobra, parang wala ka nalang nararamdaman bigla. You can't feel love, happiness, anger or even sadness. It feels like your emotions are shut down so that you won't feel overwhelmed anymore.

Sa umagahan ay nakasabay ko ang buong pamilya ko. I had to explain that there was an accident and Flint needed to be somewhere else. Leaving the detail that he left me and broke my heart, of course.

They nodded at what I said like they understand but my grandma didn't bother hiding her disappointment towards him.

Wala naman talaga akong plano para sa araw na to. I was planning to chill this weekend so that I have energy for my thesis next week.

Pero pagkatapos ng nangyari kahapon parang wala naman akong feel na gawin, gusto ko nalang humiga buong araw.

Nagsimula ako ng bagong kdrama para may mapagkaabalahan.

Habang nanonood ay panay ang sulyap ko sa phone pero ni isang message o tawag ay wala.

It was dinner time when I walked into our dining room.

Yani eyed me as I walk pass her.

"Why?" tanong ko.

"May problema kayo ng boyfriend mo?" sagot niya.

Nanliit ang mga mata ko. Did she hear me cry or what? Bakit niya naisipang itanong? At anong boyfriend? Hindi nga kami.

Hinarap niya ang screen ng phone niya para ipakita sakin.

Lumapit ako at nakitang account yun ni Cheska. Sa story niya ay picture ni Flint na mahimbing na natutulog sa sofa. Sa itsura ng background na puro puti lang ang walls ay malalaman mong sa ospital iyon.

Mayroon pang caption na 'Thanks for taking care of me ❤'

Sa sumunod na story ay update iyon na maayos naman siya, nothing serious happened to her. May short explanation din kung bakit sila naaksidente.

"It was another car who suddenly bumped into us. We were on our way to a resort for a vacation pero ngayon ay hindi na matutuloy dahil sa nangyari. We are just thankful now na walang malalang nangyari sa akin at sa mga kasama ko. Thank you all for your concerns."

Ibinalik ko ang phone sa kapatid ko pagkatapos basahin.

She continued eyeing me waiting for an explanation.

"Hindi pa kami nakakapagusap pa ulit simula nung umalis siya kahapon. I guess he is... busy."

"Wag ka muna mag-overthink. Give him until tonight to call you. Kung wala, tawagan mo na." she said like she knows I'm probably thinking about every negative scenario that could happen.

Sinunod ko ang sinabi niya. I called him that night when I still haven't heard from him.

Hindi nga lang makontact.

"The number you are calling cannot be reached. Please try again later."

Pinatay ko ang tawag pagkatapos marinig ang parehong sagot ng 10 beses.

Cheska said she's fine right? So what's stopping Flint from allotting even just a minute of his time to call me and update me?

Or has he finally realized that he needs Cheska in his life so he chose going back to her side, to take care of her for the rest of their lives?