Chapter 22

Guest

Natigilan ako sa pagkausap kay Kalyx nang makita ko ang pamilyar na kotse ni Mommy na nandoon na at tumigil pa sa tabi namin.

Sunod na nakita kong lumabas ng sasakyan si Mommy.

"Rina? What are you doing here?"

"Mommy..."

Pagkatapos ay tumingin din siya kay Kalyx.

"Uh, Mom, this is Kalyx..." I panicked.

Bumati rin si Kalyx sa kay Mommy. "Good afternoon, po."

"Oh. Bakit kayo nandito? Bakit hindi kayo sa bahay mag-usap? Rina, invite him to our house." Mommy said that widened my eyes.

Umiling naman ako kay Mommy. "Hindi na po, Mom. Kalyx is leaving, anyway..." I tried to say.

Pero tiningnan naman ako ni Mommy. "Don't be rude to your guest, Czarina. Hijo, pumunta muna tayo sa bahay namin at magpakilala ka nang maayos sa 'kin." She told Kalyx who also nodded at her.

And I just sighed nervously while I followed them back to our house. Sa kotse na rin ako ni Mommy sumakay and Kalyx was already granted entrance to our subdivision. At sumunod lang ang kotse niya sa amin.

Inside our car going back to the house Mommy was just quiet and didn't say anything yet. Kaya naman mas lalo lang din akong kinabahan.

At pagdating namin sa bahay ay agad kinausap ni Mommy ang mga kasambahay namin na maghanda ng dinner para sa amin at sa bisita...

"Nakapaghanda na ba kayo ng dinner? We have a visitor..." Mommy talked to the maids and told them to prepare more.

"Mommy," I called her after she finished talking to our house helpers. "Mommy, about Kalyx..."

"It's okay, Rina. Didn't I tell you that it's okay? Kaya bakit doon pa kayo nag-uusap sa labas ng subdivision? Bakit hindi mo na lang pinatuloy agad dito sa bahay natin." She said.

While I didn't know how to answer her...

"Anyway, magpapalit lang ako ng damit. Asikasuhin mo na muna ang bisita mo."

And then she went to talk to Kalyx na nakasunod na rin sa bahay namin. "Hijo, dito ka na rin mag-dinner sa amin. I'll just excuse myself for a bit. Rina is here." Mommy told Kalyx.

At tumango naman si Kalyx kay Mommy.

I sighed when Mom was already gone to her room for a while. Binalingan ko naman si Kalyx.

"Ano ba'ng ginagawa mo rito?" Hininaan ko lang ang boses ko at tumingin ako sa paligid na wala namang tao. We were left alone in our living room.

"I told you, Rina. I wanted to talk to you..."

"Can't you wait?" I feel frustrated now.

"I'm sorry, but you've been ignoring me for days..." He said.

Tumigil din kami sa pag-uusap nang may isang kasambahay ang dumating at may dala siyang juice para kay Kalyx.

"Thank you, Lira." I told our young helper.

Tumango naman ito at ngumiti sa akin bago bumalik na rin sa kusina.

"Umupo ka na lang muna..." Kumalma na rin ako bahagya at pinaupo ko na muna siya roon sa sofa namin. I didn't know what to do anymore in this situation...

At ilang sandali lang ay nakabalik na rin si Mommy. Umupo rin siya roon kasama namin sa living room. She smiled a bit a Kalyx.

"Are you Czarina's boyfriend?" She straightforwardly asked Kalyx.

"Mom,"

"Opo..."

Nagkatinginan kami ni Kalyx sa naging sagot niya kay Mommy.

And then we were already called to the dining room and dinner was ready.

And while we were having dinner, Mommy was asking Kalyx some questions.

"What's your name, hijo?"

"Kalyx Gavin Sevilla, Attorney..." sagot naman ni Kalyx kay Mommy.

At nakita ko na parang natigilan si Mommy. "Are you... somehow related to Kevin Sevilla?" She asked Kalyx.

And Kalyx answered. "Uh, opo. He's my Dad, po..."

Nakita ko naman na parang tuluyan nang natigilan si Mommy... But she continued eating with us...

Pagkatapos noon ay wala na rin naging dagdag pa na tanong si Mommy kay Kalyx. Until we finished eating. At nagpaalam na rin na aalis na si Kalyx. After also thanking my Mom for the dinner. Bahagya lang naman tumango si Mommy sa kaniya.

At nang ihatid ko na si Kalyx sa labas ng bahay namin at sa kotse niya, he still talked to me. "Rina, please talk to me." He almost begged me just to talk to him.

Tumango naman na ako sa kaniya. "We'll talk again tomorrow, Kalyx. Sa university na lang. Umuwi ka na muna ngayon." I told him.

And he nodded. At mukhang napanatag na rin siya na kakausapin ko na siya uli. And then he went home that evening.

When I went back inside our house, Mommy was still there. At mukhang hinintay din niya ako na makabalik sa loob ng bahay.

"Mommy,"

"Rina, do you still remember what happened to your Dad?"

I didn't expect that she would talk about Dad's accident now...

"He said that he's Kevin Sevilla's son..." She said.

"Yes, Mommy..." Parang hindi ko pa maintindihan si Mommy noong una sa sinasabi niya sa akin.

Pagkatapos ay tiningnan niya ako sa mga mata ko. And then she told me about Kalyx's Dad's involvement to Daddy's accident...

And I was shocked to know about it. Hindi ko na ito nalaman dati. Bahagya pa akong umiling kay Mommy at hindi ako makapaniwala...

Pagkatapos ay nalaman pa ni Mommy ang tungkol sa bumaba kong grades. And then she thought that Kalyx wasn't good for me...

Nagkita rin kami ni Kalyx kinabukasan sa university at nag-usap kagaya ng pinangako ko sa kaniya na mag-uusap na kami.

"Rina, please tell me about your thoughts... Tell me what you think..."

Tumingin ako kay Kalyx. "Hindi pa ba kayo nagkakabalikan ni Sarah?" I asked him.

Nagkatinginan naman kaming dalawa sa tanong ko.

"What?" He asked me.

I sighed. And then I looked away.

"Rina,"

Muli ko siyang tiningnan. "We're not really a couple, are we? Kalyx, I now understand na hindi naman talaga totoo iyong relasyon na sinabi lang natin. My reason was for my friends..." Ethan and Janine. "What about you? Hindi ba ginawa mo lang din na magkaroon ng isang pekeng relasyon sa akin para kay Sarah? Para pagselosin siya, at na para balikan ka niya?" Although he didn't really tell me this, but I just thought that it's like that. Nararamdaman ko na ang sakit sa dibdib ko. Napalunok ako nang isang beses habang tinitingnan ko siya.

He shook his head. "It's not like that, Rina... At hindi kami nagkabalikan ni Sarah. We only talked, because you also wanted me to talk to her, right?"

"At ano'ng pinag-usapan n'yo? Did you talk about you two?"

Umiling siya muli. "I told her that we're done... And I now like someone else." He looked at me in the eyes.

Nagkatinginan kaming dalawa.

At sa huli ay umiling lang din ako sa kaniya...

I didn't know what to do...