When The Heart Beats (Completed)

Ch. 26

Ch. 026
Happy

One thing I hate about swimming is that I always get hungry afterwards, like, hungry couldn't even accurately describe how I feel.

I would normally have packed food for myself had I known beforehand that I will be exploring some cove with people I don't even know. At ang tanging taong kasama nila na kilala ko, ay mukhang hindi ko makakausap ng matino.

I decided to walk over to the vendors to look for something decent to eat. May wallet naman akong dala, fortunately.

Sadly though, there were very limited stuff to choose from and most of which are junk food.

Napasimangot ako.

"Why would you even go to war unprepared?"

Who was that?

Sinong nagsalita?

Charot. Kahit siguro tulog ako ay makikilala ko ang boses na iyan.

Tumalikod ako at kunwari ay medyo natigilan.

"I'm not unprepared." I shot back at him. Henry frowned.

"Pumunta ka ba dito para makipag-asaran? Makipaglaro?" Aniya.

Hala? Galit na galit?

"Excuse me? Mukha ba akong war freak? Oh my god, Henry."

"So what are you here for, then?"

"You, malamang?" Maagap kong sagot.

He was a bit taken aback, but he recovered and shook his head.

"Sabi ko na nga ba. You're here to mess with me." Aniya.

Wow. He's not taking me seriously. But I cannot blame him.

"Look, I'm here to say something important. Mag-usap tayo sa hindi mataong lugar, pwede?" Mungkahi ko.

"Fine." He agreed.

Papunta na sana kami sa likod ng napakaraming mga tents, doon sa mga walang gaanong nakakarinig sa amin, ngunit may tumawag kay Henry.

Isa ito sa mga kasamahan niya at ang sabi nito ay pinapatawag si Henry ng mga investors.

"Stay here and don't cause trouble." Utos ni Henry sa akin saka siya umalis.

Wow! He's actually expecting me to just stand here and wait for him?!

"Lugi naman ako!" I complained but he didn't look back. Grabe, ang ganda dito tapos mabubulok lang ako?

Umalis ako at inenjoy ang cove. Oo nga, nandito ako para sa kaniya. Pero hindi ibig sabihin nun ay hindi na ako gagalaw.

Ang dyahe lang dahil mabato ang ilalim ng tubig. Manipis ang balat ko kaya madali akong masugatan. Naglakad lakad nalang muna ako.

I never thought I'd follow a guy here. Seriously.

Kaso binabagabag din ako ng mga desisyon na ginawa ko noon. I stayed up late most of the nights thinking, what if I had stopped him from leaving? What if I had the courage to take the risk? Kami kaya ngayon? Would I have been happier?

Mga ganoon ba.

At sabi nga nila, twenty years from now you would be more disappointed by the things you did not do than by the ones you did do.

And I don't want to be an old lady who eats regrets for breakfast.

Nung bumalik ako sa locker area, nakita kong papalapit sa akin ang lalakeng tumawag kay Henry kanina. Isusuot ko sana ang floral dress ko ngunit bago ko pa man iyon magawa ay nakalapit na siya.

"You are Paige, right?" Aniya, ngunit napansin kong ang tingin niya ay nakatuon sa aking dibdib.

"Yeah. Anong kailangan mo?" Sagot ko habang kinukuha ko ang phone ko mula sa locker.

"Sumabay ka na sa amin sa bangka. Babalik na kami sa Red Sky."

Medyo naiilang na ako dahil pasulyap sulyap talaga siya sa dibdib ko.

"I can go back by myself." Sagot ko. "Thanks for the offer though."

At saka ako umalis.

Ako ang may gustong magsuot ng bikini pero ethical ba naman yung titigan mo ng lantaran ang dibdib ng kausap mo?

"Hey," someone spoke.

I turned around and saw Henry.

"Oh?"

"Stop acting up. Sumabay kana pabalik sa resort." Aniya.

"I'm not acting up!" Heto na naman siya sa pag tingin sa mga bagay subjectively. Napaka unfair.

"Then what's your problem?!"

"Your co-worker keeps on staring at my boobs. You happy? 'Cause I'm not. And I'm not going inside the same boat as him."

"He did what?" Aniya, nanlilisik na ang mata.

"Wala, wala 'yun..."

"You stay there." He said ever so seriously, and the look in his eyes were telling me that he was not gonna let this go.

Tinalikuran niya ako at kahit nakatalikod siya ay nararamdaman ko ang galit niya habang papunta siya sa kasama niya— yung lalakeng tingin ng tingin sa boobs ko.

Damn! He's going to cause a scene!

"Henry, wait!" I hollered as I followed him.

Bago pa man niya tuluyang makwelyuhan ang lalaki ay nahawakan ko ang kaniyang kamay.

"Don't." Mahinang sabi ko habang tinitignan siya sa mata. He looked very mad.

Nakipagtitigan siya sa akin habang siguro, I assume, na kinakalma niya ang kaniyang sarili.

And then slowly, his breathing went back to normal and he diverted his gaze somewhere else.

"Put your dress on." He said in gritted teeth before walking away toward the cottage.

I let out a deep sigh. Muntik na.

Sinamaan ko ng tingin ang lalaki bago ako umalis para isuot ang dress ko. Sinundan ko si Henry sa cottage at tahimik na naghintay habang inaayos nila ang kanilang mga gamit.

Hanggang sa bangka ay hindi niya ako kinakausap. Kung hindi ako kinausap ni Intsik, malamang ay naagnas na ako sa inip at ilang.

The silence was lethal, I tell you. Alam mo yun? Sa sobrang tahimik, mabibingi ka. At times, silence can be very loud, too.

We talked about Buenos Grande and I was glad that he seemed very interested. Ang sabi pa niya, babalik siya ng Pilipinas tatlong buwan mula ngayon para maghanap ng feasible location para sa pinaplanong bagong venture. He told me he thinks of Buenos as a good candidate and because of that, naubos ang oras ng byahe pabalik sa resort.

"Let's do the contract signing tomorrow at 7pm. I will personally drop by Paragon Hotel." Narinig kong wika ni Intsik kay Henry nung pababa kami ng bangka. Nauna kasi akong bumaba pero medyo mabagal ako kaya narinig ko sila sa likod.

Nagpaalam sa akin si Intsik at doon ko nalaman na aalis na pala sila, which means I can spend some time with Henry afterwards.

Naiwan kaming dalawa ni Henry noong umalis na ang mga investors. I looked at him and he looked... burdened?

"Why are you acting as if it's a mortal sin for me to be here?" Sabi ko sa kaniya.

"Because I'm here to work, Paige." Sagot niya.

"I know."

"Alam mo naman pala."

"Ano naman ang problema doon? Nadidistract ka ba? Hindi naman ako magulo ah?!"

"Oo."

"Ano?!"

"You distract me," tugon niya. "Happy?"

#WTHB