Chapter Thirteen
Crazy
Avril picked up the bouquet from the backseat and handed it to me.
"These are yours, by the way. He badly wants to get here right away, but I do not want him empty-handed so I volunteered. I didn't know you owned the shop and that you're... there. I'm sorry."
I smiled at her. "Thank you for being supportive. You really shouldn't have bothered..."
Nauna syang maglakad papasok sa mansyon. I feel like walking on air, my knees are wobbling and my hands are shaking. I don't even know how I managed to climb the steps.
"Where are the flowers? I told you she just wanted to use the Wrangler!" narining kong sigaw ni Third mula sa loob.
"Shut up you asshole! Hey, Madrid! Look who I found!" maligayang sabi ni Avril.
Nang makapasok ako ay bumungad sa akin ang tatlong lalaking nakatayo sa aming living room. Unang nahanap ng mga mata ko si Rian.
My heart jumped when he looked at me.
Is this real?
Is this happening?
My chest drummed and a familiar feeling stayed in my gut. This is exactly the same feeling that I felt eight years ago.
Humapdi at nanlabo ang mata ko tanda ng nagbabadyang mga luha pero nakita ko pa rin ang bahagyang pag-awang labi nya. Nang napansin ang titig ko roon ay itinikom nya ito at marahas na lumunok.
I want to look away but my eyes won't leave him. There he is, the man I've been longing to see for seven years. Gusto kong takbuhin ang distansya naming dalawa at yakapin ito ng mahigpit pero hindi ko alam kung kaya kong lumapit man lamang sa kanya. O kung pwede ba.
Hindi ako makangiti o makapagreact dahil naestatwa na ako sa kinatatayuan ko. My heart is still racing when I heard Avril.
"Who is this guy?" Avril asked offensively. She pointed her index finger at Marcus.
Noon lang ako nagising at noon ko lang nabawi ang titig ko kay Rian.
I cleared my throat before I looked at Marcus's bored face. A white long-stemmed rose with a white ribbon is in his hand. Tumingin sya sa dala kong mga bulaklak at ngumisi. I suppressed a laugh when I saw his white rose. I was only able to give out a small smile.
"Avril, Third, this is Marcus. Marcus, this is Avril and Third, you've met Rian before, right?"
"Oh, yeah! It was you! I've been thinking where I saw you," ani Marcus, nakatingin kay Rian. When he turned to me, he winked and gave me a meaningful smile.
Isa pa palang ulupong itong si Marcus.
Hindi ko ibinalik ang ngiti nya bagkus ay kinagat ko ang pang-ibabang labi.
I didn't know why no one shook hands but that doesn't matter. I walked to the middle of the living room and looked at all of them.
"Please make yourselves comfortable, I'll just get you something to drink, Third, will you come with me?"
He pursed his lips before nodding.
Nilampasan ko ang magpipinsan at lumapit ako kay Marcus. "We'll talk later, Marc, for now I want you to shut up," bulong ko rito pero sa sobrang tahimik ay pakiramdam ko'y narinig iyon ng lahat.
He nodded and handed me the rose. He kissed my cheek before he let go of my hand.
Tinungo ko ang daan papuntang kitchen kung nasaan na si Third. Kinurot ko sya sa tagiliran at dinala sa kusina. Binitiwan ko lamang ito nang nakita at nilapitan ko si Ate Maricel para magpahanda ng meryenda ng mga bisita.
