He's My Cousin!

[Ch.60] My Once Upon a Time

Epilogue will be updated in a bit. Maraming, maraming salamat sa pagbabasa! <3 after three years of writing HMC, finally, it's gonna end now :)

[Ch. 60] My Once Upon a Time (The Last Chapter)
// Ayanna's Point of View

"Akala ko ho ba may mga gamit na ho?" reklamo ni Paolo sa landlady ng kwartong kinuha niya. Pagpasok kasi namin ay walang kalaman-laman. It was an nothing but an empty room. Ang tanging mayroon lang ay isang table, isang upuan at mga kurtina.

"Ay naku. Binalikan no'ng dating nakatira r'yan, wala naman akong magagawa dahil kan'ya 'yon," sagot nito habang nililinis 'yong malaking kaldero sa tapat ng gripo.

"Pero ang usapan ho-"

"Edi maghanap kayo ng ibang matutuluyan! Wala namang problema sa'kin. Nagsipag-asawa kayo, panindigan ninyo!"

"Mananag naman..."

Halos manliit ako nang marinig ko iyon. It wasn't Paolo's style... settling terms. Hinatak ko na lang siya pabalik sa kwartong inuupahan namin.

"Okay lang, okay na 'to. At least malaki 'yung space," I tried consoling him. "Pupunta ako sa Bayan bukas ng umaga, nadaanan ng bus 'yun kanina. I'd buy what we need."

Napa-iling siya at para bang may sasabihin pa siya, but he stopped himself and nodded instead, "Yeah, we'd go together."

Nakatulog agad si Paolo. Pagod siguro sa byahe. I stared at him as he was lying on the floor. This was what we signed up for. Alam ko namang mahihirapan kami. Paolo graduated and was on his first sem for his MBA, but he never had a work. I was a semester away from graduating. It wouldn't be easy for sure.

Lumapit ako sa kaniya at kinumutan siya gamit ang dala kong jacket. He had been through so much. Pero ang importante ngayon, mahirapan man kami ngayon, at least magkasama kami. Napasulyap ako sa nakapatay kong telepono. I was sure they knew by then that Paolo and I run away together. But it didn't matter. Wala na rin naman silang magagawa.

Kinabukasan, nagising ako nang maaga dahil naramdaman ko ang pananakit ng likod ko. Dahan-dahan akong tumayo nang nakahawak sa bandang balakang ko.

"Aya?" Agad akong napaderetso ng tayo, ngunit hindi ko napigilan ang pagngiwi ko sa sakit.

I saw him divert his eyes to his bag as if he pretended not to see how I flinched. Napakagat ako sa labi ko. "Maliligo lang ako tapos punta na tayong Bayan?" I said, trying to sound cheerful.

He nodded.

"150 na lang ang tatlo," sabi no'ng Ale nang tinanong ko siya kung magkano 'yong platong naka-display.

"Bale 50 ang isa? 45 na lang po!"

"140, tatlo."

"135 na lang ho," isang hirit ko pa.

"140 na talaga, hija." Binili ko na rin, at leasty nakatipid ng sampung piso.

Halos nabili naman namin lahat ng kailangan sa bahay, medyo malaki rin ang gastos. Iyong mga pangunahing pangangailangan lang ang inuna namin tulad ng unan, kumot, pangsapin, kubyertos, baso, toiletries. Tska na iyong mga furniture. Kahit may ipon si Paolo, kailangan naming tipirin iyon.

"Aya, natanggap ako!" he excitedly said one afternoon when he got home. Home. Ang sarap sabihin, because now I know home meant right next to me.

"Really?" I jumped for a hug as I wrapped my arms around his neck.

He wrapped his arms around my waist and gave me a peck on my lips. "Really."

"Accounting staff sa isang establishment sa Bayan," he elaborated. "Nothing much, but still better than nothing at all."