🌷

Two years later

"Oo. Kanina pa nakalapag yung eroplano. I'll just book a grab, Uno. Okay lang naman."

Hawak ang handle ng kanyang carry-on luggage, tinahak niya ang daan patungong main arrivals area.

It's been two years pero wala gaanong nagbago sa paligid. Maliban sa mga bagong condominiums here and there, Manila had always been the same.

After she confessed everything—especially Mr. Santillan's assault, doon halos natauhan ang kanyang ama. Niyakap naman siya ng kanyang tiyahin while calming her down. Ang Tito Alfie naman niya ay agad na tinawagan ang mga connections to de-board Mr. Santillan and sue him for blackmail and sexual assault as demanded by her grandfather—Alfonso Uychengco, Sr.

Galit na galit ito to the point na gusto pa ipapatay si Mr. Santillan. Nagalit din ito sa kanyang ama dahil hindi man lamang siya nito nagawang protektahan laban sa lalaki and instead, sinaktan pa't kung anu-anong paratang ang ibinato.

Sinisi din nito ang sarili dahil hindi raw siya nagawang ipagtanggol. Na kinailangan pang ibang tao—sa katauhan ni Jarvis, ang magudyok para mapaalis si Mr. Santillan habang sila ay walang alam sa mga nangyayari. And that led to his fatal attack.

Isang linggo namalagi ang kanyang Lolo Ponce sa ospital bago mapagpasyahan ng pamilyang ipadala ito sa Estados Unidos upang doon operahan. Dahil busy ang mga anak nito—Tito Alfie being head of the Museum, her dad of the company and Tita Cathy with the foundation, she volunteered to accompany her grandmother and grandfather abroad. Tutal eh tapos na din naman ang school year, she decided to be the responsible grandchild and help out on her grandpa's treatment and recovery.

Successful ang naging operasyon sa kanyang lolo ngunit kinailangan pa nito ng ilang buwan upang magpagaling. Then those few months turned into years when her lolo decided to retire and just stay abroad.

Two years went by like a blur. Habang nagpapagaling ang kanyang lolo, she took up her Master's in NYU. It's currently their break kaya't panandalian lamang siya dito to help her dad out. Medyo nahihirapan na daw kasi ito kaya kinumbinsi siya ng lolo't lola niya na tulungan ang ama.

"Malapit na din naman kami. Naipit lang ng konti sa traffic," ani ng babae sa kabilang linya. "Chill ka lang muna sa Starbucks or kung saan."

"Okay fine. Just call me if nasa parking ka na."

Napabuntong-hininga siya. Two whole years na malayo siya sa kanyang kapatid at mga kaibigan. She survived through occasional chats and video calls pero iba pa rin kapag nakakasama niya ang mga ito. The only silver lining was that she got enough time para maka-move on kay Jarvis.

Jarvis Montecillo. Kamusta na kaya siya ngayon? He probably hates her to the bone for breaking up with him for just some stupid reason. Binlock niya rin ito sa mga social networking sites para may madali niyang ma-overcome ang pangungulila dito. And it worked for her. Hindi na masakit kapag name-mention siya ng mga kaibigan. O ni Uno kapag nagkukwento ito tungkol sa mga Montecillo.

To: Uno
Here @ Tim Hortons. San ka na?

After ordering her cappuccino, she took a quick photo and uploaded it on her instagram. Kung dati ay hindi siya pala-post sa social media, ngayon eh naging form of therapy niya na ang paguupload ng pictures. Though madalang siya mag-upload ng mga selfies, puno naman ng pagkain, coffee art at landscapes ang feed niya. The only time she was able to post a picture of herself ay nang bumisita si Uno at Third last Christmas.

Then a notification popped up.

_0301vm: Good morning 🙂 Enjoy your cuppa ☕️

She can't help but smile and heart the comment. Frequent liker niya ang user at naka-chat na rin niya a couple of times. She tends to visit her feed at marami rin itong posts--mostly landscapes and art. Nakaka-relate din sila sa isa't isa dahil mukhang nagmu-move on din ito sa ex nito. Among all the landscape photos ay isang talaga ang tumatak sa kanya. It was a photo of a shadow—a man's, with a caption saying "Missing you every day but I need to be strong and live the rest of our forever alone 'til you find your way back." Ramdam niya ang pangungulila nito kaya't after days of contemplating, minessage niya ito and sent an inspirational quote. They were going through the same pain of longing. Nagkausap sila at kinalaunan, she felt better. Kahit hindi niya ito personally kilala, she felt really comfortable talking to her.

DM from _0301vm:
Had a safe flight home? ☺️

danayuuuuh:
Excruciating. But it's good to finally be able to visit. 🤗

_0301vm:
Just visiting? Not staying? 🤔

danayuuuuh:
I still have a semester left at NYU. Maybe after I'd stay for good. You? How's the weather in your place?

_0301vm:
Warm as always. 🥵 Planning on going somewhere cold for the holidays. Maybe visit a friend...

danayuuuuh:
A friend? 😏 or is it the ex?

_0301vm:
Ha ha! Might run away again though. 😔

_0301vm:
You? Going home means you might run into your ex.

danayuuuuh:
I'll be fine. ☺️ I already moved on so, it won't be a big deal anymore.

danayuuuuh:
Plus, I'll just be here for a month so running into him would be unlikely.

_0301vm:
oh

_0301vm:
I wish you all the luck then 🙂 gtg my friend's here. Nice chatting wu.

She closed her phone at napabuntong-hininga. Ano nga ba ang gagawin niya kapag makasalubong niya bigla si Jarvis? 'Unlikely' is very unlikely. Knowing that Arika's still dating River at close si Uno sa mga bunsong Montecillo, she'd definitely run into Jarvis.

Yes, she moved on pero... iba pa rin. It would be very awkward. At isang malaking parte sa kanya eh natatakot pa ring harapin ito pagkatapos ng ginawa niyang pag-iwan dito.

"Danaia!"

Napatingin agad siya sa tumawag.

"Yoon! Synn! Aki!"

Agad siyang napatayo sa kinauupan at agad na yinakap ang mga kaibigan.

"I missed you guys!"

"Na-miss ka din namin loka!" ani Yoon. "Bakit kasi may pa-disappearing act ka bago mag-graduation?Nakakaloka ka!"

"Naka-chat ko naman kayo—"

"Iba pa rin yung andito ka physically," putol agad sa kanya ni Synn. "But we understand. Na-miss ka lang talaga namin."

"Trulaloo," segunda ni Arika. Napansin niya agad ang singsing sa daliri nito. Particularly on her ring finger. Nanlaki agad ang kanyang mata.

"Oh my gosh, Aki!" hiyaw niya. Napansin agad nito na nakatingin siya sa daliri nito. She smiled shyly. "Since when?"

"Nung isang araw lang..." mahinang sagot nito sabay blush. She shrieked.

"OMG! I'm so happy for you!" hiyaw niya. "Kay River?"

Tumango ito. Lalo pang lumakas ang tili niya't niyakap ito.

"Kung napaaga-aga ka lang, Naia. Naku! Ang romantic nung proposal ni fafa River!" kwento ni Yoon. She almost swooned. "Straight out of a romantic movie ang peg!"

"I took notes," ani naman ni Synn. "Ilalagay ko siya sa isa sa mga novels ko. Kahit ako eh kinilig. Kasama na talaga sa pang-Hero material sa mga novels ko si River. Grabe. Ang haba ng buhok nitong si gaga."

"Ang sabi ko nga eh kung humindi 'tong si bakla eh ihuhulog ko siya 'don sa yate," dagdag naman ni Yoon. "Buti na lang talaga 'yes' yung sagot."

"Bakit naman kasi ako hihindi? I love the guy," saad ng babae. "I definitely picked the right Montecillo."

Bigla siyang nakaramdam ng kaunting kirot sa kanyang dibdib. Maybe she was fooling herself nang sinabi niyang nakapag-move on na siya. 'Coz the mere mention of 'Montecillo', bumabalik nanaman yung sakit. Yung guilt.

Kung hindi niya iniwan si Jarvis, would they also be engaged? Kung hindi niya ito sinukuan, would they be happy?

"Naia? Are you okay?" pukaw sa kanya ni Synn. Napatingin agad sa kanya sina Yoon at Arika.

"I'm sorry Naia. I wasn't thinking—"

Agad siyang umiling.

"Ano ka ba, Aki," she cut her off. "I'm fine. Nag-space out lang ako dahil sa pagod. More than 15 hours din kasing nasa biyahe. Jet lag lang."

"You sure?" Paniniguro nito. Tumango naman siya bilang tugon.

"Swear. Asan na ba si Uno? Kasama niyo siya right?"

Napatingin ang tatlo sa kinauupuan niya kanina. Nandoon si Uno, prenteng nakaupo while sipping her coffee.

"What?" tanong nito. "Ang haba ng shift ko sa ospital so I badly needed a cup of coffee. Seeing na mas inuna niyo pa magkamustahan kesa umorder, I did what every sleep-depriced person would do. Drink the nearest coffee in sight."

Natawa siya. She's definitely back. At na-miss niya ang mga ito.

And a little part of her—even though she denies it, misses him too.

Kamusta na kaya si Jarvis?

🌷

"The company's stocks are down at nagrereklamo na ang mga shareholders. They want to oust your father out from his position," kwento sa kanya ng kanyang Tito Alfie.

Kasalukuyan siyang nasa opisina nito sa museum. Dalawang araw na ang nakalipas mula ng kanyang pagdating and she spent those days with Yoon, Synn and Arika. She was able to briefly talk with River nang mag-video call ito sa kasintahan—este fiancee na pala. Two years did him good. Mas gumwapo pa ito.

Marami-rami silang napagusapan sa dalawang araw na iyon. Apparently, Ayra Lopez was the one behind the post noon sa UDSA which was tracked with the help of a certain Russ Conde. And out of the blue, Ayra stopped going to UDSA at nalaman ng lahat ang pagkaka-bankrupt ng Lopez Group.

Agad niyang inisip na baka may kinalaman ang pamilya niya sa nangyari. Pero sobrang abala sila ng mga oras na 'yon dahil sa nangyari sa kanyang lolo. kaya paano iyon magagawa ng Tito Alfie o Tita Cathy niya? Milagro na lang din kung ang ama niya ang may kagagawan 'non.

Aside from that, wala naman daw gaanong nagbago. Synn still hates men, Arika's in love and Yoon still hates Inno to the bone. Pero natotolerate naman daw ni Synn si River and surprisingly, si Inno din.

"He's pretty decent. Pinadalhan niya ako ng sandamakmak na donuts 'nong book signing ko. With flowers pa. He's also very straightforward which I like. Walang keme magsabi ng totoo. Only Yoon can't tolerate him. Gusto kasi nito eh yung mga gagong lalaki tulad ni Wes."

Wes is Yoon's boyfriend. Isang taon na ang dalawa't mukhang in love na in love ang gaga.

So contrary to what they claim na 'walang gaanong nagbago', marami-rami ang nagbago.

May ilang beses na na-tempt siyang magtanong tungkol kay Jarvis. But she stopped herself. Moved-on na siya so bakit pa, right? For sure naman eh masaya na ito sa buhay. Uno did tell her na diniretso nito ang doctorate at occasionally eh nagtuturo pa rin sa UDSA.

"Who started the oust talks, tito?" tanong niya. "I mean, sino sa mga board members particularly ang ayaw kay dad? Maybe we can convince them or something."

Napabuntong-hininga ito. He looked really hopeless.

"The board decided to hold an election next month," imporma nito sa kanya. "Kaya ka pinadala ni papa dito on his behalf. You'll vote in his place."

"Di wala naman palang problema. We own the major stocks," saad niya. "You, papa and tita Cathy owns 10 percent each. 21% naman ang kay lolo. That means we out-vote the other shareholders."

"I don't own that 10% anymore, Naia," mahinang sambit nito. "I sold my shares para i-buy out ang museum from San Agustin Group. The Museum is still Museo de Uychengco but with much more freedom. You know your father and he's a bit controlling. Even with the museum. Yung foundation lang ang hindi niya magalaw dahil ang Tita Cathy mo ang may hawak. I didn't know na mangyayari ito."

"So what do you want me to do, Tito?" tanong niya dito. It seems like hindi lang voting in place of her grandfather ang magiging papel niya sa magaganap na botohan.

"I need you to help me convince the people I sold my shares to not vote against your father," sagot nito. "We will be having a small dinner gathering with their family sa kanilang mansyon. Your father, Tita Cathy, me, Third and Uno are all invited."

"Why do you need my help, tito? Sa tingin ko naman eh mapapakiusapan mo 'yung taong pinagbentahan mo ng shares. You wouldn't have sold it to them if you didn't trust him."

"We're close friends, Naia. But hindi rin siya gaanong kumbinsido sa dad mo," paliwanag nito. "But I think you can change his mind. And besides, on your father's retirement, sa'yo din naman mapupunta ang kompanya. It would be good kung ikaw mismo ang haharap sa kanila being the new face of San Agustin Group. Isa pa, kilala ka na ng lahat ng shareholders except for this one."

Tumango siya. She very well knew her future role in the company kaya wala lang sa kanya ang humarap sa mga shareholders or attend business dinners with their investors.

"Wala pong problema, tito. Anything for the company," nakangiting sambit niya. "By the way, sinong kaibigan ba ang ime-meet natin?"

"A good friend from La Monte Group," sagot nito. "Juan Miguel Montecillo."

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