New Sound

Chapter 32: Foggy Cold Glass Window

Felice's PoV

"You know what, you're suprisingly kind" I stated.

Raid looked at me with furred eyebrow, seemingly confused.

Ayaw n'ya sigurong may sinasabing maganda sakanya.... Wai, but who won't?

"Telling such things out of nowhere" he said looking back to the list of the pianist auditionees.

That was the first time he talked in sentence length today.

"I just noticed and I thought, I should let you know"

Tinignan n'ya lang ako sandali, at bumalik sa ginagawa n'ya. "You're just disrupting our work"

Within a few days na sumasama s'ya saakin sa page-evaluate nitong mga auditoonees nila Nashry, I came to learn quite a few things about him.

He's a man with intense focus. Very goal oriented, and meticulous down to the finest details. Well, now that I said it, maybe then, he appreciates my compliment, because he fall out of focus for a couple of seconds. His reaction is a bit odd though. It was as if it was his first time to receive that kind of compliment.

I didn't expect na mahihirapan akong gawin 'tong mage-evaluate nang ako lang. Nitong mga nakaraang araw kase, natamabakan ako ng mga assignments, kaya ang hirap humanap ng time para rito. Tapos ayun, ewan ko ba, basta si Raid ang naisip kong lapitan para hingan ng tulong.

Perhaps... ever since he helped me, on our opening performance that time, I began to look up to him.

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I am... officially free from assignments today. No repertoire, and no theory quizzes. I might spare Raid on helping me today. Madami naman na kaming na-evaluate kahapon, and now, I'm confident na kaya ko nang tapusin 'yon mag-isa.

Maaga akong ginising ng kuya Nicolo ko, dahil malakas daw ang ulan, at magabang na daw ako sa TV kung masu-suspend ba ang klase ngayon. S'ya naman ay agad na bumalik sa paghilata n'ya matapos akong gisingin, dahil suspended daw ang klase sakanila.

"Felice, may gagawin ka ba mamaya? Magpapasama sana ako sa puntod ng papa mo," dinig kong boses ni mama habang pababa ako ng hagdan. "Death anniversary n'ya pa naman ngayon, at nataong masama ang panahon" tanong ni mama saakin mula sa kusina. Kabababa ko palang mula sa hagdan ay naaamoy ko na 'yung nilulutong almusal ni mama, at 'yung malakas na volume na boses ng nagbabalita sa TV tungkol sa bagyo.

"Hmm, wala naman po. Opo sasama ako," sagot ko kay mama. Naupo ako sa sofa at pinakinggang maigi ang mga ina-announce na class suspension sa TV. "Si kuya din po ba sasama?" pahabol kong tanong.

"Busy ang kuya mo ngayon. Gawaan nila ng thesis, kaya hindi daw s'ya sigurado, pero sabi n'ya hahabol daw s'ya," Sasagot pa sana ako ng 'Ahh' nang may idugtong pa si mama. "Ikaw ba, baka may band practice kayo ngayon, at malapit na ang battle of the bands n'yo"

"Hindi ko pa po sure, pero I'll prioritize papa today, so maybe I'll just skip kung maisipan nilang mag-aya ng practice" sagot ko naman.

They would understand. I know, especially Hiroi. We knew each other for so long. Close na nga din s'ya kay mama at kuya, so wala naman sigurong problema. Plus, I think we had just about right amount of practices on these past months, having today as a holiday is not a problem.

"Nga pala, bakit nitong linggong 'to lagi ka yatang may kausap ng alanganing oras sa phone ha?" tanong ni mama habang inihahain ang almusal. Lumapit naman ako sa dinning table at naupo sa isang pwesto.