Lovesick

Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

RIEUKA

    Kinabukasan ay para akong lalagnatin sa sobrang kaba. Napatingin ako sa cellphone kong nakapatong sa lamesa nang mag-ring ito.

    Hindi ko na tinignan kung sino ang tumatawag, at sinagot ko na lang ito agad. “Good morning, Zy.”

    “Good morning Damien.” His voice was already living in my mind rent-free, which was why I instantly knew that it was him after hearing his voice.  

    “Are you still home?” he asked on the other line.

    “Yeah, I’m too lazy to get up.” That was what you called white lies. Well, I’m getting lazy to stand up, but it’s not just because it’s morning, but also because of my schedule for the day.

    He chuckled, “Do you want to eat breakfast with me? I can come over to your place.”

    I looked at the wall clock inside my room, and it was past nine already.

    “Can we just have a brunch at ten-thirty?” I asked.

    Tinatamad kasi talaga akong kumilos ngayong araw, and for sure, if I have breakfast this morning, I will not eat anything more for the whole day.

    “Okay, Zy. I’ll fetch you in ten thirty then.” I sensed the happiness in his voice.

    “Yeah, goodbye,” I said sadly.

    “Goodbye, and take care.”

    Binaba ko na ang telepono, at tumulala na lang ako ulit sa pader. I couldn’t believe how a single problem in your workplace could ruin your day and prevent you from going to a job that you loved in the first place.

    When the clock struck at quarter to ten, I lazily got up from bed.

    Halos hilahin ko na ang sarili ko papasok ng banyo. Para bang ang bigat bigat ng pakiramdam ko, at maging ng mga braso at binti ko.

    I was not yet done fixing myself when someone rang my doorbell.

    Dumiretso na ako sa pintuan at binuksan ito. “Good morning, Zy,” sabi ni Damien habang ngiting ngiti sa akin.

    “Yeah,” I simply said.

    Unti-unting nawala ang ngiti niya sa labi. “That’s it? Wala man lang good morning?” nakasimangot niyang sabi.

    Napabuntong hininga ako. “We already said good morning earlier on the call,” sabi ko habang inaabot ang braso niya.

    “That was different, Zy. That greeting was on the phone, and this is the face to face greeting,” sabi niya habang kunot na kunot ang noo niya.

    May papadyak padyak pa ang loko na akala mo ay bata siya.

    Hindi ko siya pinansin at hinawakan ko na lamang siya sa braso para hilahin sana papasok.

    Nanlalaki ang mata ko siyang tinignan ng hindi siya umaalis sa pwesto niya kahit anong hila ang gawin ko.

    “Damien!” pagbabanta ko. Napairap na lamang ako at napilitan, dahil mukhang wala siyang balak pumasok. “Fine, good morning. Happy?”

    He smiled again from ears to ears. “Yup, very,” he said before he reached me and gave me a peck on the cheek.

    Pumasok siya ng condo ko na parang walang nangyari, habang ako naman ay naiwang nakatulala sa may pintuan.

    “Where are your things, Zy?” Natauhan lang ako nang magtanong siya sa akin.

    Dali-dali akong tumakbo papunta sa may vanity mirror ko. “Wait, Damien. I’m not yet done fixing myself,” I said while trying to put the powder in my face.

    “You’re prettier in your bare faced, you don’t need any of these products anymore,” sabi niya habang tinitignan ang mga pangalan ng make up na nakakalat sa ibabaw ng lamesa ko.

    Inismiran ko siya. “Coming from someone who likes Barbie-looking girls,” I smirked.

    Being with Damien for a long time, I’ve already seen different girls with him, and I can say that he has this particular type. He liked those girls who take care of their looks, and of course, he wanted sexy women. Plus points na lang yung pagigigng magaling sa kama.

    “It’s them. You’re different,” he said thoughtfully.

    “How different?” I asked.

    “You’re different because you are you.” Nagkatinginan kaming dalawa sa repleksyon namin sa salaming nasa harapan ko.

    “Damien, shall we talk about---“ Hindi ko natapos ang sasabihin ko nang pigilan niya ako sa pagsasalita gamit ang hintuturo niya.

    “You don’t have to, Zy.” Ngumiti siya sa akin. Iyong ngiting hindi umaabot sa mata.

    I hold his hand that was shushing me from talking. “No, Damien. I want---“ Napatigil ako sa pagsasalita ng biglang tumunog ang telepono niya.

    Kinuha niya ito at sinagot ng hindi umaalis sa pwesto niya.

    Ipinagpatuloy ko na lamang ang mga ginagawa ko sa halip na makinig sa usapan nila ng kausap niya.

    “Yes, Dad?”

    “No, I’m with Zy.”

    “Yeah, we’ll come there later, Dad. We’ll be just having brunch before going to the office.”

    “Yeah, bye. Take care.”

    Hinarap akong muli ni Damien. “It’s Dad. He told me that our meeting was moved earlier than expected,” he said while texting someone on his phone. Maybe it’s his secretary or whoever he wanted to notify of his actions.

     “Damien.” I try to get his attention.

    “I’ll just wait for you in the car, Zy,” he said before going out of my condo.

    Napahingang malalim na lamang ako sa inis. Why didn’t he want to talk about this matter? Why did he always find a way to avoid it?

    No one was talking between the two of us after I got into the car.

    It took us a while before Damien talked. “Where do you want to eat?” he asked.

    “Kahit saan,” simple kong sabi habang nakatingin sa labas. Kung kanina ay ang bagong project ko lamang ang problema ko. Ngayon ay nadagdagan pa ito ng isa pa.

     Tinanguan lamang ako ni Damien at dinala niya ako sa isang Korean restaurant. For the whole time that we were eating, no one was talking.

    Hanggang sa makarating kami sa office ko ay tahimik kaming dalawa. Para ba kaming nagpapakiramdaman sa gagawin ng isa ’t isa.

    Napatingin ako sa pinto ng office ko ng biglang pumasok dito si Abby. “Ar., your meeting for this afternoon was moved earlier than expected,” sabi niya habang tuloy-tuloy siyang lumakad palapit sa akin.

    “I also called---“ Her sentence was cut off when she saw who was sitting on my sofa.

    “Good morning, Sir. I didn’t know that you were here,” she said to Damien while she slightly looked at me.

    Palipat-lipat ang tingin niya sa amin ni Damien. Nang walang magsalita sa aming dalawa ay tumawa siya na halata namang plastik para mabawasan ang awkwardeness sa office ko.

    “Any way Ma’am. I’ll go now,” sabi niya habang nagmamadaling lumabas ng office ko.

    Napatingin ako kay Damien at nahuli kong nakatingin din siya sa akin. Ibubuka ko sana ang bibig ko para makapagsimula ng pag-uusap. Kaso nang makita niyang magsasalita ako ay iniwas niya agad ang tingin sa akin.

    I couldn’t do anything but sigh while looking at him. Maybe he was not really ready to talk about it for today. No rush right, I could just talk to him about it the next day.

    Maya-maya pa ay pumunta na kami sa conference room para sa meeting namin for the new project with Akira.

    Pagpasok namin sa conference room ay para akong naestatwa sa kinatatayuan ko. Mula sa pintuan ay kitang-kita ko ang dalawang taong nag-uusap na tinakbuhan at tinataguan ko sa nakalipas na mga taon.

    I looked at Damien’s face, and he didn’t look shocked at all. Dahil ba hindi niya alam ang nangyari years ago? Or is it because he has already seen this coming.

    “Son, Ar. Collin you’re here,” sabi ni Tito Fidel habang papalapit sa aming dalawa. Pagkalapit niya ay bumeso siya sa akin at yumakap naman siya kay Damien habang pina-pat ang likuran nito.

    “How’s lunch?” tanong ni Tito.

    It looked like Damien was still not in the mood, so I was the one who answered Tito Fidel. “It’s great po Tito. How about you po, Tito, have you eaten already?” I smiled at Tito so that he wouldn’t feel that something was wrong.

    “Yes, Iha. I already ate with your team on the project.” He smiled at me. “Let’s go. I’ll introduce the two of you.”

    I simply nodded at Tito before he guided Damien and I to introduce us to the other members of our team.

    “This is Engr. Reign, the chief engineer of this project,” pakilala sa amin ni Tito Fidel sa lalaking kilalang kilala ko.

    “Roman Ayden Reign,” pakilala niya habang inaabot sa amin ang palad niya para makipagkamay.

    Dahil sa pagdadalawang isip ko kung tatanggapin ko ang kamay niya ay naunahan na ako ni Damien. “Damien Cody Hayes,” sabi niya matapos abutin ang kamay ni Roman.

    “Riueka Zyair Collin,” sabi ko bago abutin ang kamay niya.

    Halos manginig ang mga kamay ko dahil sa sobrang kaba. Maybe this was because of too much coffee, and I should lessen my caffeine intake in the following days. I knew that inside me, there was a voice telling me to run away. Runaway, just like how I ran years ago.

    But I won’t because I already decided that I would not be a coward anymore. I was the one who started this mess, so I should be the one who fixed it.

    The problem was no matter how hard I told myself to fix everything, the damage that I’ve done in the past years would never change. The pain that I’ve caused and felt, the anger, the sadness, as well as the happiness that I’ve thought for a short period all came back crashing to me like a giant wave.

    A huge wave that I didn’t know if I would be able to surf and just go with its flow.