Love Behind The Spotlight

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The young and the most successful actor of the country, Henry Jung was said to be out of the country for 4-months, in preparation for his upcoming movie debut---together with his upcoming album: Moving Forward.

The actor left the country last night together with his manager Mrs. Williams, but according to the rumors circulating online, Jung is supposed to leave the country by Friday but due to a certain reason, the actor decided to leave prior to the original plan.

Some netizens also tweeted last night releasing some photos of the actor, showing that the actor was out of his condo unit at 10 pm last night, and went home looking so haggard and pained.

We tried to contact Jung's manager regarding this matter but they still haven't replied to our email.

This is Lara Valdemoso, your showbiz buddy.

"Naku! Iba nararamdaman ko dito, sis! Feeling ko na-broken hearted 'yang si Henry kaya agarang napalipad sa ibang bansa kagabi!"

Naalis sa telebisyon ang tingin ko at nalipat sa dalawang babaeng magkasama sa iisang table at kumakain.

"Ganyan din ang pakiramdam ko, mare! I mean, anong dahilan ng paglabas nya sa ganoon ka-late na oras diba? Isa lang 'yan! May dinadalaw syang babae at alam nyang wala ng magma-manman sa galaw nya dahil late na. Kaso nagkakamali sya. His fans never sleeps. Nakasunod lahat sa kanya!" Sagot naman ng kasama nito.

Based from my opinion, those two looked like at their late twenties. Mukhang matured na, at based sa mga suot ay nagta-trabaho na. Somewhat their talk made me feel anxious.

Their talk is on-point. Swak na swak. If they could even have that kind of idea, then hindi malabo na mas marami 'pang tao ang makakaisip ng ganyan. If an accidental meeting like last night resulted to this, mas lalo pa kung hahayaan ko siyang maging mas malapit 'pang muli sa akin.

Just like what the two have said, Henry's fans never sleep---nor the media. As long as theres a scope to cover, they will eventually hang unto it.

Because of what's happening, mas lalo pa akong nakumbinsi na tama lamang ang ginagawa ko. Tama lang na iwasan ko sya at palayuin sakin.

"Maureen, sa loob ka muna. Ako nang bahala dito."

Napalingon akong bigla ng marinig ang boses ni Mrs. Lee sa bandang likuran ko. Naabutan ko itong may pag-aalala sa mga mata habang nakatanaw sa akin. Agad naman akong umiling.

"Kaya ko na 'to, Mrs. Lee," wika ko.

But Mrs. Lee just shake her head before taking the tray where the dishes are placed. "Magpahinga ka muna sa loob. Wala pa namang tao, kaya ko na 'to." Ani Mrs. Lee.

"Pero Mrs. Lee---"

"Pumasok ka na sa loob kung hindi ay hindi kita sasahuran!" Dahil sa winikang iyon ni Mrs.Lee ay napilitan na lamang akong tumango at agad na tumalikod upang bumalik sa staff room. Naabutan ko naman duon si Sheena at Lucy na parehong nagre-retouch ng mukha. Napalingon ang mga ito pagpasok ko.

"Bat ganyan itsura mo? Di ako na-inform na byernes santo pala ngayon." May halong pang-aasar sa tono ni Sheena habang nag-a-apply ng liptint.

I just sighed before sitting down on one monoblock chair available."Si Mrs. Lee kasi, tinakot na naman akong di sasahuran pag di ko sinunod ang gusto." Wika ko na lang.

Lucy and Sheena respectively looked at each other before finishing their both work, then they immediately flocked infront of me. Nakasunod lang naman ang tingin ko sa kanilang dalawa.

"Ang totoo niyan kami ang nagsabi kay Mrs.Lee na papasukin ka muna dito sa Staff room at pagpahingahin." Ani Lucy.

Napa-kunot noo naman ako nuon. "Bakit naman? Hindi naman ako pagod, Lucy. I can work."

"We know that. Kaya lang kasi...alam namin ang issue ngayon about sa kanya, at dahil laman ng balita, tiyak na apektado ka na naman." Sagot naman nito, na ikina-buntong hininga ko.

"Ilang beses ko 'bang sasabihin na hindi ako apektado sa k---"

"You keep on telling us that but we saw how your emotions changed after watching that report about him." Sheena interfered, "And another thing, Sophie contacted me early this morning, telling me what happened between you and Janelle last night." dagdag na wika pa nito na siya namang ikinayuko ko na lang. So, they actually knew now.

"Wag nyo ng idagdag sa isipin nyo ang nangyari sa pagitan namin ni Janelle, kaya 'kong ayusin 'yon..."

"Alam namin, pero kailan nyo pa aayusin? Kapag malala na?" Lucy said.

I inhaled after that. "Balak ko naman ayusin agad,"

"Then if that's the case, talk to her. Pinapunta namin 'yung tatlo dito sa restaurant para makapag-usap kayo. Wag 'kang mag-alala, may basbas 'to ni Mrs. Lee." Sheena said.

"What?! Paano ang trabaho ko?"

*Don't worry, bayad pa din naman ang araw mo." Lucy smiled.

"Hey, its unfair! Magta-trabaho ako---"

"Come on, Mau! Kaya na namin ni Lucy ang trabaho ngayong araw, wala din naman masyadong tao kaya easy to handle lang. Ang mahalaga ngayon ay magka-ayos kayo ni Janelle. Lalo pa't magsisimula na pala ang OJT nyo next Monday. You need to fix your friendship. Sige na..." Ani Sheena bago agad umalis at iniwan akong mag-isa sa loob ng Staff room.

Wala akong nagawa kung hindi ang mapa-buntong hininga na lamang ng paulit-ulit. I tried to get my phone and type a message to Janelle asking where they are, but I stopped midway. I don't want to haste them. Mag-aantay ako kung kailan sila darating.

"Mau, andyan na sila. Free ang office ni Mrs. Lee kaya pwedeng duon kayo mag-usap," ani Lumi at ako'y mahinahong tinanguan bago umalis. I stayed there for several seconds before leaving the staff room and walked towards Mrs. Lee's office. Nakasarado ang pinto, ngunit malakas ang pakiramdam 'kong naroon na ang tatlo sa loob.

I slowly pushed the door open as my eyes immediately went inside to find my friends. Agad rin namang nagtama ang tingin namin nina Lumi at Sophie, habang nakita ko si Janelle na hindi man lang ako binigyan ng tingin.

I was hesitating to move in but when Sophie smiled and nod at me, it gave me courage.

"Pasok ka...Maui," Lumi's invite to me.

I just smiled a bit and nodded before the continuing to walk in. Marahan 'kong sinara ang pintuan bago sila hinarap. Lumi and Sophie's attention are on me while Janelle continued to look away.

"Hi guys," I started.

Lumi and Sophie walked towards me and tapped my arm. "Hey..."

I just nod at them before focusing at Janelle. Naramdaman ko ang panunuyo ng lalamunan ko, "Janelle..." I called her name but Janelle continued to ignore me. Wala tuloy akong magawa kung hindi ang lumapit ng tuluyan dito. "Hey..."

This time, Janelle looked at me but she's just having an emotionless face.

"I want us to have a direct talk," aniya bago mas tumiim ang titig sakin. "Gusto naming maintindihan ka, Maui." She then sighed heavily, "Pwede mo naman siguro kaming pagkatiwalaan, diba?"

I want to tell them the truth...to tell them everything, but I can't.

I bowed my head down as I released a heavy breath. "I'm sorry Janelle...pero hindi pwede,"

Janelle looked away after that and her face turned angry. "Hindi ka namin maintindihan, Maui. You think keeping secrets from us can help us too? Akala mo ba hindi kami apektado? No. If you think you're helping us this way then think again please," wika niya.

"Janelle..."

"Tell me. Why are you avoiding Henry? Is it because of your social status difference?" Tanong pa ni Janelle na ikinalunok ko. The way she asked, may diin iyon. Halatang sigurado siyang isa iyon sa dahilan. She's just trying to make me agree to it.

Hindi ako makasagot, because clearly I cannot feed them with lie. Eventhough I tried to keep secret from them, I don't wanna lie to them. Staying quiet is different from lying.

And I think my silence made the three of them worried. Lumi immediately leveled herself to me that caught my attention.

"Come on, Maui. We know that Henry will never look down on you! He loves you so much, even after all these years. Kung social status difference lang ang dahilan, then you and Henry doesn't deserve this kind of heartbreak." She said.

I turned to Lumi with a tear at the corner of my eyes. "Henry will never do that, but others will." I sighed after that, and took a heavy gulp. "You think I want to ignore and continue breaking Henry's heart? No. The more I ignore him, the more my heart aches," I told.

"Then tell us who is this person who made you think low of yourself?" Sophie asked.

"I can't. I don't wan---,"

"So there really is a person, ha? Pag nalaman ko lang talaga kung sino yan, I won't let him/her slide!" Janelle said in a furious manner before looking at me. "No one can break my bestfriend's heart like that!" She continued that made my tears fall.