Free From The Cage

Chapter 13

Nagstay pa ko hanggang lunch sa condo ni  Cris kaya hapon na ko nakarating sa bahay.

"Hija! Bakit ngayon ka lang? Kanina ka pa hinahanap ng mommy mo. "

"Di po namin namalayan ang oras. Nasan po pala si mommy?"

"Nasa office niya, puntahan mo na lang."

"Thanks nanay Cely."

"Mommy."

"Ice. Bakit ngayon ka lang?"

"Sorry my, di po namin namalayan ang oras."

"What happened to your eyes?"

"We watched a drama a while ago. Masyadong nakakaiyak kaya naging ganito." I tried to act normal and also smile a little to make it convincing.

"I know you. I'm not your mother if can't distinguish what is wrong with you."

"Don't worry about me mommy, I'm fine." I smile more so that she'll not ask me again.

"Are you sure you don't want to tell it to me?" Then
she closed her laptop and sit beside me.

I just giver her a reassuring smile.

"By the way my, what do you want to talk to me?"

"Ice," then she sighed, "Anak, sorry for hurting you, I know you don't want the arrangement,i'm sorry for not considering your feelings, maybe you like someone else right now, considering of your age maybe there is someone who capture my daughter's heart."  She told me regretfully at the same time hoping that i'm into someone,

"Mommy, I know that you want the best for me and everything that you do is for my sake."

"Thank you Ice for being understanding of mommy, don't worry, your tita Giselle and I talk about the arrangement, and we both agreed not to push it, but if you want to continue it, it's okay also, her son agreed to it as well." I sighed. I already made up my mind.

"Let's continue the arrangement mommy."

"But I thought you like someone else."  What?  I never told anything to her, how does she know?

" Ah... Mommy"

"Do you really think you can keep a secret from me? I saw you with him last December in the mall, I saw you two hang up, last time when I asked the guard if he saw you, he said that a guy picked you up and you leave your car under his care for a while. Anak, you don't need to think about me. I understand it."

"I still agree with the arrangement." Desidido kong sabi and looked away.

"But anak, follow your heart, your father will understand same as how mommy understands you. Start leaving away from the expectations of others. No matter who you are Ice, mommy is always proud of you. "

"Mom, how am I going to follow my heart if his heart beats for others? Mom how can I follow my heart if he didn't feel the same way."

"Ice." Niyakap niya ko nang mahigpit at di ko na napigilan pa ang mga luha kong nag uunahang bumagsak.

"Anak, there would be times that someone we love can't love us back, but remember that maybe this teaches us what is love and how to love a person. Never close your heart to other people because you are hurt, maybe, he's not the one who is fated to be with you. You're still young and someday you'll find the love just like how your daddy and I love each other."

"Thanks my," Then I hug my her tighter.

"So, don't worry about mommy, what you want is fine with me. "

Finally, now is the time that she open the cage for me to fly but why does I feel that I don't want to go out of my cage? Is it really true that i'm the only one who put myself inside the cage? Yes, I think I am. Even there is a lot of chance for me to fly away, i still choose to stay not because others don't want me out, but because I feel that this is my comfort zone, that I live to follow someone else's expectations.

"I still have nothing to loose my, so I will still go with it." Desidido ko paring sabi kay mommy and she replied me with a sigh.

"Anak, I don't want you to regret it in the future. Ahm how about this, this coming June, it's Archer's graduation, and you will be 4th year next sem. How about you live with him with your last year in college?"

"What?"

"Don't worry Archer is a nice guy, I met him for many times before and i can assure that you will be safe with him. Also, use that opportunity for the both of you to know each other. If you'll both click with each other , then good, we'll continue with the arrangement, then if not, both of you can go in separate ways. Is that okay with you?".

"Much better mom. Thank you for understanding me mom."

"He can help you also with your studies. If you don't know anak, Archer is a good business man, he's good in handling their family business. You can learn more to him."

"Yes mom. I will learn from him."

"Good to know anak. So go to your room and take a bath then we'll have our dinner later."

"Thanks mommy."

As I'm about to open the door, my mom called me.

"Ice, I love you so much"

"I love you too so much my, thank you for today."

As I reached my room, I opened my phone to talk to Cris about what happened today. Tatawagan ko na sana si Cris but suddenly my phone rang. It's Rav.

"Hello."

"God Ice bakit hindi kita matawagan kahapon pa."

"I'm sorry, I was with Cris yesterday until this afternoon. We hang up that's why we both agreed to turned off our phone. I'm sorry if you got worried."

"It's okay, I thought something happened to you."

"I'm sorry. "

"It's okay, no worries. I actually want to say thank you to you for being with me that day. You don't know how happy I am seeing both the woman I cherish is with me during that time. Thank you also for being good with Mandy." A bitter smile appear on my lips.

"W-well your welcome. Mandy is a good woman so there's no reason for me to not be good to her. I'm actually happy for the both of you. Seeing you happy with her is enough for me. I do hope she'll not hurt you like what Ally did to you."

"Thank you so much Ice. I hope you'll find someone who can also make you happy. Even though I have Mandy right now, please don't hesitate to call me whenever you needed a friend. Mandy can really understand it, okay?"

"Thank you, anyway, please say hi for me to Mandy."

"Sure, no problem. She really like you a lot."

"Well, it's good to hear. I like her also. Anyway, I need to prepare now, dinner will be ready anytime and i'm sorry again for making you worry. Bye."

I hang up the phone already without hearing his reply to what I said. I sighed.

'Ice, please don't cry. You can do it.'

I sighed and tried really hard to stop myself from crying.