His Dark Secrets ꨄ

Ang Pagtatagpo ꨄ

Yamot na umupo sa isang bakanteng mesa si Katie, mas pinili nyang sa labas ng restaurant pumwesto kesa sa loob na maraming customer at maingay masyado. Nilapag nyang inorder na breakfast, saka pinatong ang dalang bag sa katabing upuan, binuksan at inilabas ang laptop. Kaagad nakita nyang sss notification. Dali dali nyang chenek kung sinong nakaalala sa dalawa nyang b*tch buddies.

"Wow! Himala nagreply!" Pinasadahan nya ng tingin ang mahabang mensahe ni Kera sa kanya.

'Start your day off with a fresh new slate - a new you, a new train of mind, a new day. What took place at 11:59 pm yesterday has evaporated once the clock turned to midnight. Forgive yourself for whatever was done and learn from your mistakes. Today is a new day and in honor of this, everything is new. Do not think about yesterday. This is a new chance to make a change and to make a memory.'

Napasimangot sya ng maalalang nangyari kagabi.

'Hayup! ang Devon na yun! Antagal nya akong niloko, bwesit! Bakit hindi ko man lang nahalatang bakla ang gagong yun?'

Inis na napabaling ang kanyang tingin sa mga taong dumadaan sa kalsada. Tumigil ang kanyang mga mata sa isang lalaking tila wala sa sariling mabagal na naglalakad, may mga nababangga ito, pero ni hindi man lang pinapansin, ni hindi nga nag abalang humingi ng despensa, deretso lang ang lakad nito na parang walang pakialam sa paligid.

"Oh well! May mga tao talagang walang modo, hindi alam ang salitang 'SORRY'."

Iiling iling na sumubo sya ng pasta, ngumunguyang sumimsim ng mainit na kape, bago ibinalik ang pansin sa pagbabasa ng message ni Kera.

'While you are getting ready, eat confidence for breakfast. Fuel yourself up with reasons to love yourself - reasons that you cannot see physically, but reasons you find on the inside. Feed yourself with compliments that you can’t see in the mirror. Be confident in yourself with your eyes closed because what you see in your reflection is not the slightest of what you have on the inside. Be hungry to love yourself each morning. Compliment your strength, for as much as you didn’t want to wake up, you woke up anyways.'

"Hmm... may sense talagang ka chat itong babaetang 'to! Nakakagaan ng pakiramdam, feeling ko bumalik agad agad ang self confidence ko!"

'The minute you separate yourself from home, treat others as if you are treating yourself. Be gentle with their soft spots and rush to make their day, for despondency is common and you are the light they want to bathe in. Compliment someone by simply giving them your company, for solitude provides acrimony and you are the medicine to bitter feelings. If someone is grouchy, do not base their whole existence on their mood. Don’t judge somebody on their bad day as if it is their fault their 24 hours became sour. If they are having a bad day, be a reminder for all the good days to come. Everybody has a bad day but it is not sinful to try and make it good. Treat others as you’d want to be treated on your soiled day.

Be attentive to things you have never seen before and be available to the vicinity outside of your comfort zone. Do something spontaneous, something that will make tomorrow more exciting. Be careless with a careful heart and never back away from a new opportunity. Be foreign in your own home today and perform healthy actions that you are unfamiliar with. Being comfortable with where you are is safe but eventually it will grow tedious. Today, make boring an irrelevant word to your lifestyle. Do something that will make tomorrow brighter.'

Nangingiting lumingap ang kanyang tingin sa paligid.

"Haay... ang sarap sa pakiramdam, kapag may ganito kang kaibigan, hindi lang maganda, matalino pa!"

Naburang kanyang ngiti ng mahagip ng kanyang mga mata ang lalakeng walang modo, ika nga nya kanina. Nakasandal na ito ngayon sa gilid ng isang boutique at nakatingin sa pwesto nya.

'Bakit feeling ko, nakatingin sya sa'kin? Nyaayy!! Ang weird! Ayokong isipin!!' Tinampal tampal nyang ulo.. "Erase... isip, erase..!"

Ibinalik nyang attention sa pagbabasa, kahit na naiilang na sya't hindi mapalagay sa kanyang nararamdaman.

'Something may anger you today and once you are angry, halt yourself from making decisions. The future will most likely be ugly if you make choices while you are hostile. Breathe. Let the anger dwindle within you before you decide to take action. You are allowed to be angry, but you should also be smart. Make tomorrow a day with little regrets from today.

You will think of someone thoroughly today who has hurt you or you will think about someone who you miss. You may even see them radiating jubilance, as if their urge to leave you never took action. You will see them happy without you and your heart will shatter in dysphoria and you will wonder if your existence was ever enough for those who took pleasure in tearing you apart. You will try to ignore the feeling of betrayal and your eyes may water because they have seen disgust. You will miss the person who hurt you most and you will blame yourself.'

"Ay! Hindi! Ba't ko sisisihin ang sarili ko? Eh hindi naman ako ang nanloko? Oo, inaamin kong madalas ko syang nasasaktan dahil sa ugali ko, pero, hindi sapat yun para lokohin nya ako nuh!!" Naiinis na naman tuloy sya.

'Stop here and cry. b***h, cry yourself a river. You have made it this far and you are allowed to rest in tears. Feel your emotions and let them be drained out in your watery eyes and once your tears are wiped away, let your breakfast digest. You have unlimited potential and invisible value and even though you cannot physically see the greatness within you, remind yourself that believing will expose the invisible. Believe that your worth is beyond economy and I promise you,

Bitch, you will see it.'

Sa totoo lang umiyak naman talaga sya, iniyakan nyang bakla na yun! Minahal nya eh! mahal na mahal.. kasi, mabait, laging YES lang ang sagot sa kanya, eh! hindi nga yata marunong mag say NO si Devon, pagdating sa kanya. Kaya lab na lab nya yun, lab na lab, in denial lang sya.

'Work hard! People are always watching and you will be admired for your muscles when your mind told you that you were feeble. Working hard may not always get you an instant reward but working on your necessities with all of your might is a reward itself. Sooner or later, that relentless spirit you have to not give up will be recognized. No one can resist the sight of a good spirit.'

"Oh! na touch naman ako! Thanks, B*tch!" Napahawak sya sa kanyang dibdib ng guminhawang pakiramdam.

'You will mess up today and you may be embarrassed. Don’t be! Don’t be embarrassed because you are a human who made a silly mistake. Don’t be afraid to be human, to mess up frequently. Laugh about it! Humor always eradicates embarrassment. If you laugh about it, the mistake you made that was “so big” will dwindle. It’s okay if you mess up but if you hurt someone in the action, sincerely apologize. Let them know that you were in the wrong and in the deep depths of your heart, be apologetic. It is not your fault if they don’t forgive you. You forgive yourself and move on with the day. The day isn’t over yet.

You will always have time and it may not feel like it, but you will. If you are exhausted, reserve that time for yourself but if you are active, spend that time on the person you love. The person you love will never fail to provide good company and we should never avoid good company. Aloneness is a factor of despondency and to rid it in our lives, we need company who will only better our day. If that complacent company comes from your own presence, so be it. But don’t be afraid to be open for others.

At the end of the day, be proud of yourself. You did it. You truly and sincerely did it and you are to be proud of yourself. If today was a bad day, there’s a tomorrow. Bad days only remind you of the good. If your morning was spoiled and there was no way to recover, remind yourself that there is a tomorrow. There is hope. There are new chances. There are plenty of life lessons. Learn from your mistakes from today so tomorrow can be better. If you had a good day, keep doing what you’re doing and make sure that others are having good days as well.'

Ini off nyang laptop matapos basahin ang mensahe ni Kera Sa kanya. Kahit papanu gumaan ang pakiramdam ni Katie.

'Wagas akong magmahal. Pero ngayon alam ko na kahit ang pagmamahal na wagas, minsan meron din wakas.'

Inabot nyang kape, saka isinukbit sa balikat ang bag matapos maipasok dun ang kanyang laptop. Balak nyang maglakad lakad muna bago umuwi, hindi muna sya papasok sa trabaho, ayaw nyang ma stress sa kanyang mga empleyado. Pass muna sya sa pagiging b*tch boss sa sariling kompanya.

"Anong....?"

Napatigil sa paglalakad si Katie ng masulyapan sa kabilang kalsada ang lalaking walang modo. Hindi na ito nag iisa doon, dahil may dalawang babae na nakikipag usap dito.

"Teka!! kasama ba nyang mga babaeng 'yun?"

Tumayo muna sya sa gilid at nag obserba, iba kasing kutob nya ng makitang hinahaplos haplos ng mga ito ang katawan ng lalakeng wala man lang kaemo emosyon ang mukhang sa kanya pa rin nakatingin.

"Abaaa... sumusobra ng mga ito ah!"

Dali dali syang tumawid sa kalsada, ng makitang hinihila na paalis sa lugar na yun ng dalawang babae ang lalakeng walang imik na napapasunod na lang ng hakbang sa mga ito.

"Anuba naman yan, Zeke! bumili lang ako saglit ng kape, pagbalik ko, may mga higad na sa'yong tabi?"

Sinadya nyang lakasan ang boses para makuhang atensyon ng dalawang babae. Hindi naman nabigo si Katie dahil sabay pang lumingon yung dalawa sa kanya. Nakasimangot nyang hinawi ang babaeng nakahawak sa dibdib ng lalakeng nakatitig lang sa kanya mula pa kaninang nasa restaurant sya.

"Excuse me!! Anong ginagawa nyo sa boyfriend ko?"

"Boyfriend mo??" Sabay pang tanong ng mga ito.

"Oo, boyfriend ko!!" Nakataas ang kilay na sagot ni Katie. "Bakit may problema ba, kung boyfriend ko sya?"

"Um... Wala naman, kala kasi namin walang nagmamay ari sa kanya."

Sa narinig na sinabi ng babaeng kakapiranggot na tela lang ang suot na damit, napa abresyete kaagad ang braso ni Katie sa lalakeng katabi, na pinangalanan nyang Zeke., para ipakitang boyfriend nga nya ito.

"Sayang! taken na pala!" Sabi ng babaeng ngumunguya ng chewing gum. "Tara na Honey, hanap tayo ng iba!" Hinila na nito paalis ang kasamang baba taas ang pagkakatingin kila Katie.

'Haay... mga pokpok nga naman! Kahit sino na lang pinapatulan, tsk tsk!'

Iiling iling syang bumitaw sa katabi, humarap sya dito, maiging inobserbahan ang lalake.

'Anuba 'to maniken?' Hinipo nyang balat nitong maputla, ng dipa makontento, kinurot kurot nyang pisngi nito. "Hindi naman!"

Ikinaway kaway nyang kamay sa harap ng mukha nung lalake.

'Bakit ganun? Di man lang sya kumukurap! Bulag ba'to?'

Sinuri nyang mga mata nito. 'Naka contact lens ba sya?' Bahagya syang natawa sa kulay ng mga mata nito. 'Red, talaga? Haha.. ibang trip nito ah! Bampira lang... Ganun!!'

Iiling iling syang pumihit patalikod sa lalake. "Uwi na'ko! Ingat ka ha! Wag, tatanga tanga! Marami pa namang halang ang kaluluwa sa lugar na'to!"

Nakakaliang hakbang na si Katie, pero ang pakiramdam nya ay kaybigat, parang nakokonsensya syang basta basta na lang iiwang mag isa dun yung lalake.

'Kawawa naman! Parang wala pa naman sa sarili.'

Panay ang lingon nya, nandun lang ito nakatayo at nakatingin sa kanya.

'Balikan ko kaya! Baka kung mapanu sya dun! Baka mapag tripan... mukha pa namang mayaman, yun nga lang... parang may sakit!' Napapadyak pa sya, bago pumihit paharap sa kinaroroonan ng lalake. 'Hehh!!! Balikan ko na nga!!'

Sa naisip na maaring mangyari dito, patakbo nyang nilapitan ulit ang lalake, hinawakan nya ito sa kamay.

"Tara! Sama kana lang sa'kin!" Masuyo nya itong hinila patungo sa kinapaparadan ng kanyang sasakyan.

"Wag kang mag alala, tutulungan kitang makauwi sa inyo! Promise ko yan sa'yo!!" Nakangiti pa nyang sabi dito.

Sa pagmamalasakit na ginagawa ngayon ni Katie sa estrangherong lalake, mapapanindigan kaya nyang ipinangako dito, sa oras na matauhan at bumalik ang katinuan nito?

At ano naman kaya ang magiging reaksyon ni Zero Fossils Ablan??, sa oras na makita nya ang babaeng pinapangarap at nais abutin... ay ang babaeng kumopkop at nag aalaga sa kanya, ng mga panahong nalulunod sya sa kalungkutan, pagdadalamhati at pagsisisi. Dahil sa malagim na sinapit ng kaibigan nitong si Bogz, ng pasukin nilang Oasis Tower.

💃MahikaNiAyana