Stolen Glances

Chapter 18

4 YEARS LATER

[Navy's POV]

After four years, everything about my life felt like it had expanded beyond the borders of what I once thought was possible.

I used to believe success would feel loud like applause that never ends, like power you can hold in your hands. Pero hindi pala gano'n. I learned that success is quieter. It comes in flashes: camera shutters, hotel rooms at 2 a.m., interviews where I smile even when I'm tired, and airplanes that make time and countries blur together.

I became a fomous model, not just in the Philippines anymore, but international.

That word still feels strange when I say it to myself...parang hindi ako 'yon.

New York, Milan, and Tokyo. I walked runways like they were normal streets. I wore clothes that looked like art, stood under lights that made everything feel unreal.

People learned my name. Magazine covers carried my face. They called it elegance, presence, global beauty.

But at the end of all of that...I was still Navy.

Still the girl who overthinks messages, still the girl who remembers voices too clearly and still the girl who smiles for cameras but stares at the crowd looking for someone she cannot explain.

Because no matter how far I went...

May isang parte pa rin sa akin na hindi umalis.

Pero kahit ganito ako ngayon subrang busy ang daming shoots hindi ko parin binabayaan ang pag-aaral ko, my study is more important.

****

Months later, I came back to the Philippines for my graduation day.

I almost didn't come. My schedule was packed photoshoots, interviews, flights, meetings. But I asked for one day, isa lang.

A day where I am not "international model Navy."Just Navy Celeste Sinclair.

I finally found myself standing on a stage I once only dreamed about. Graduation day, suot ko ang toga ko, maayos pero ramdam ko pa rin ang panginginig ng kamay ko habang hawak ko ang speech na ilang beses kong binasa kahit hindi ko na mabilang.

The venue was full people, lights, cameras...but inside me, everything felt quieter than I expected. Parang ang daming alaala na sabay-sabay bumalik sa akin.

From a girl who used to question if she was enough... to someone who became a model recognized not just in the Philippines, but across the world.

Runways, campaigns, interviews in different countries I lived a life I once thought was too far for me. Pero kahit ganoon, may parte pa rin sa akin na simpleng Navy lang, yung nangangarap lang noon na makatawid sa araw na 'to.

Habang naghihintay ako sa gilid ng stage, huminga ako nang malalim. I closed my eyes for a second and silently prayed. "Sana dumating siya..." I whispered in my mind.

I didn't even know if he would come. Years of silence, no clear updates, no certainty-but my heart still hoped.

"Lord... kahit ngayon lang, sana makita ko siya." That was all I asked.

Just one moment, when my name was called, I walked slowly toward the podium. Every step felt heavy with memories. I looked at the crowd before speaking.

"Good afternoon," I began softly, my voice steady but emotional. "I'm Navy Celeste Sinclair." I paused, swallowing the lump in my throat. "Four years ago, I was just someone trying to survive college... trying to understand where life was taking me."

I continued speaking, feeling my voice grow stronger. "Maraming beses akong nagduda sa sarili ko. There were nights I thought I wasn't enough, days I wanted to stop. But somehow... I kept going." I smiled faintly.

"And life surprised me. From being a student, I became a model-traveling, working, meeting people I never thought I would meet."

I took another breath. "But success is not just about being seen. It's about becoming.

About learning who you are even when everything around you changes." I looked at the crowd again.

"So today, I stand here not just as a graduate... but as someone still learning, still growing, still becoming."

When I finished, the applause felt loud, overwhelming, almost unreal. I bowed slightly and stepped down from the stage, my heart still racing.

Pero kahit gano'n...empty pa rin yung isang bahagi ng dibdib ko.

Because I still didn't see him.

Auri is not here.

Backstage, I exhale heavily.

My manager immediately approaches talking about interviews, press, schedules.

I nod without really hearing.

Everything after that became a blur-flowers, greetings, flashing cameras, voices calling my name. But even in the middle of all that, my eyes were searching for Auri but still nothing.

****

After the ceremony, everything is noise. Congratulations, photos, families crying, laughter but I stay near the side, holding my bouquet na binigay nila mom and dad, trying to breathe through everything.

Congrats, sweetheart" mom and dad said and they hugged me.

I'm so proud of you my baby," mom said.

Dad is so proud of your sweetheart" aniya ni dad.

Thank you mom ana dad," I said while my tears falling.

Congrats, Navy!" Aniya ni Solenne and hugged me.

Thank you sis," I answered and hugged her tightly.

Congrats sa atin" dagdag ni Narco

Congrats din Marco" aniya ko

Pictures tayo sabi ni Solenne, we took a lot of pictures at ang saya namin then....

I saw Jace standing a little distance away, holding flowers, waiting. His expression looked different-more serious, more nervous than I was used to seeing from her. I slowly walked toward her.

"Jace..." I said softly when I reached her.

"I almost didn't make it," he says.

"To what?" I ask softly.

He doesn't answer right away.

Then he pulls out a bouquet of flowers. He gave me the flowers, his hands slightly trembling. "Congratulations, Navy," she said quietly.

Thank you..." I replied, smiling a little. "Hindi mo naman kailangan pang mag-effort eh"

"Yeah," he interrupted gently. Then he took a breath like he had been holding it for a long time.

Picture muna tayo apat," sabi ni Solenne at nag picture na kami,

Pupunta muna kani sa parents namin," dagdag ni Marco

Oum sige, mag ingat kayo and congrats ulit. Aniya ko, and when I looked at him back nakatigtig na siya sa'kin.

He looks at me like the world is only this moment.

"I wanted to tell you something today. Before anything else." My heart started to beat faster. I didn't know why.

He looked straight at me. "Navy, I loved you in silence, where words were afraid to breathe. You were the ache I learned to live with, the light I never reached but always followed. Even in my becoming, you remained my almost, my always, my unspoken prayer that still lingers between goodbye and forever."

Everything around me felt like it slowed down. "I've loved you for years," he continued. "Kahit nung nagsisimula ka pa lang, kahit nung unti-unti kang nakikilala ng mundo... I was always here. Quietly watching you, quietly loving you."

I froze.

Hindi ko alam ang isasagot ko. My emotions were everywhere-surprise, confusion, something warm I couldn't explain.

The world becomes quiet as he steps closer to me.

"Hindi ko hinihingi lahat. Gusto ko lang malaman mo." Jace said softly:

"I love you Celeste." He gently hugs me, tight, warm and real.

The world becomes quiet as he steps closer to me."Hindi ko hinihingi lahat. Gusto ko lang malaman mo."Jace softly said.

"I love you." He gently hugs me, tight, warm and real.

For a moment, I don't move.

Hindi ko alam paano mag-react.

Then slowly, I lift my hands and return the hug.

Not as love, but as understanding.

When he pulls away, I see hope in his eyes.

I shake my head gently. "Jace..." I whisper. "Sorry."

His expression changes, not anger.

Just acceptance that hurts more.

"I'm not ready to enter a relationship right now at wala pa iyan sa isio ko," I continue. "I want to focus on my career right now for my future."

"I don't want to give you something incomplete."He nods slowly.

"I understand," he says and I believe him. Because Jace always understood me. He steps back, smiles faintly then walks away.

Later that evening, I stand alone outside the campus. The sky is orange, the air is soft.

I hold my phone, still no message, still no call and still no Auri.

My throat tightens."Auri..." I whisper.

Walang sagot.

I close my eyes."Why am I still waiting for you?" I ask quietly. "Bakit kahit ilang taon na..." I inhale shakily.

"Bakit iniisip parin parin, bakit parang ang kulang kapag wala ka?." The wind moves gently.

And for the first time today...I let myself break. Tahimik lang, walang audience, alang camera.

Just me.

And the memory of someone who never came back.

My graduation day wasn't just an ending.

It became the day my past, my present, and everything I never fully let go of... all met me at the same time.

And it became the day my heart had to face everything it had been holding onto for years-

the person who quietly loved me all along...

and the person I never fully let go of.