Dagger Series #5: Unbowed

Chapter 33: Humor

Except I woke up today and everything is in chaos.

Nagkaroon ng problema sa shipping dahil hindi maipadala iyon dahil sa bagyo. When we received the all-clear and sent it out, ang courier naman ang nagkaroon ng problema. I was expecting it to arrive three weeks ago, but it's not the designer's fault that it got delayed, so I didn't stress much about it. It arrived in Luzon two days ago, and Trace and I went to Manila to directly get it from the hub.

Then we encountered another problem. A big one.

The gown was missing.

Hinanap ng management sa mga iba pang maaring napuntahan no'n ang gown pero hindi nila makita. We were all concerned that it was still in Visayas, but their system showed that it had been shipped out.

Yesterday, they told me that they found it. Aksidenteng napasama iyon sa mga ibinyahe papuntang norte. Handa na akong bumili na lang ng kahit na anong wedding gown na makita ko na available. It's not like I have a choice. But since they found it, the problem is solved.

It was expected to arrive at one in the morning. Enough time para makuha sa Manila iyon ni Cristiano na siyang nagpresinta at makabalik dito sa Cavite.

I was really hoping to open my eyes this morning with the wedding gown already here. I'm not the kind of person to cry over a dress, but I'm near tears right now.

Pinaypayan ng kapatid ko at siyang maid of honor ko ang mukha ko. Kasalukuyan niyang karga ang isa sa kambal ni Belaya. "Huwag kang iiyak. May makeup ka na. Madilim pa sa labas kaya may oras pa tayo."

I bit the inside of my lip, afraid to ruin the carefully applied color on my lips. Naayusan na ako kanina pa. My long hair falls on my back in natural curls. There's a pin holding my hair away from my face, where the veil will be attached.

"Cristiano won't make it," I whispered brokenly.

Parating pa lang sa hub ang gown. Kanina pang madaling-araw nandoon si Cristiano at iniintay iyon. Motorbike na nga ni Coal ang ginamit niya para mas mapadali ang byahe.

Hinapit ko ang suot ko na roba. We should have gone back to Ormoc to get it ourselves. Kung nagkataon man na abutan kami ng bagyo roon ay makakabalik pa rin kami na hindi hapit sa oras. We went there for the fitting, so I was confident that nothing wrong would happen.

"W-Wala na nga akong honeymoon, wala pa akong wedding gown," garalgal ang boses na sabi ko.

Isa pa iyon sa problema. The finals for the competition got moved to last month because the country where it was supposed to take place closed its borders for government-related issues. Then it got moved again, but I was relieved at that time because they decided to hold the competition in mid-January. I was training constantly, so it wasn't a problem. Ang kaso ay inagahan nila ang schedule.

Trace and I already accepted our fate, especially when we found out the final date of the competition. Hindi na namin pwedeng iusog ang kasal namin dahil naka-set na talaga ang lahat. We planned to marry on the day we first met. December 31.

Trace has no choice but to tell me his plans for the honeymoon as well. Sa Maldives kami dapat pupunta. Our flight was supposed to be late in the afternoon. Pero dahil sa competition ay mas mauuna akong umalis sa reception dahil mas maaga ang ibinigay na flight sa amin ni Stellan. I will be going to Moscow, and Trace will leave for Maldives and wait for me there.

He wanted to come with me, but I convinced him to stick with the original plan. It's not like we can have a decent honeymoon in Moscow where I will need to be focused on the competition.

"Do you want our gowns? Kung okay lang sa'yo pwede kang mamili sa gown namin," sabi ni Lia na nag-aalalang nakatingin sa akin. "Kahit iyong kay Lucienne. Siguradong papayag 'yon. Gusto mo bang tawagan ko siya?"