Taking Chances

11. My heart is beating down

But then he met Kristine and she was like a breath of freash air. She managed to break all the barriers he built around him kahit na hindi nito iyon sinasadya. Hindi rin naman niya naisip kahit kailan that he will fall for her but he did. Kahit na natatakot siya ay sinunod niya pa rin ang sigaw ng kanyang puso. He took his chance, he made it happen for the two of them at kung kailan naroon na siya sa puntong mahal na mahal na niya ito ay saka pa nangyari ang bagay na iyon.

He meant what he sai at the green house earlier. He really wanted to spend his lifetime with her. Mahal na mahal niya ito pero bakit ganoon? Who the fuck was that man?

He heard a knock on his door, pero hindi naman siya tumayo. Narinig niyang bumukas iyon. 

"Kristine?" He whispered.

"Pabi..." He was wrong... Dead wrong. He looked up and he saw Isabelle standing in front of him. 

"What are you doing here?" Tanong niya dito. "Leave." He said to her. Lumuhod ito sa kanyang harapan. Noon niya lang napansin na may hawak pala itong dyaryo at kung anu-anong magazines. 

"Pabi, listen first okay. I just couldn't see you like that..." Wika nito sabay hawak sa kanyang mukha. Kung naiba lang ang pagkakataon ay tatabigin niya ang kamay ni Isabelle but he just don't have the power to avod her - not now. MAsyado siya naksatan sa nakita niya kanina. 

He looked at her. 

"What do you want?" He smirked. 

"I want you to know the truth." Sabi nito. "That woman---"

"Shut up." Sabi niya. 

"No! I won't shut up." Kinuha nito ang dyaryong dala nito at iniladlad iyon sa kanyang harapan. There he saw Kristine's beautiful smiling face, napakaganda nito. Ibang-iba ang hitsura nito sa dyaryong iyon kaysa sa hitura nito ngayon. She looked so glamorous, so happy habang ang Kristine na kasama niya plain lamang. 

In that picture, Kristine was holding that man's hand - iyong lalaking humalik dito kanina. They looked so happy. 

"She was never yours, Pablo. She had always belonged to that man." May kinuha pa itong isang magzine, naroon muli si Kristine kasama ang lalaking iyon, they were walking down some street, holding hands. The next picture shows Kristine wiping something from that man's eye. 

Nakadama siya ng galit para sa babae. 

"Niloko ka lang niya, Pablo. Habang nandito siya sa hacienda, may naghihintay namang lalaki sa kanya sa UAE. She will still go back to UAE, Pablo." 

"How the hell would you know that?" Tanong niya kay Isabelle. 

"Dahil nandoon ang buhay niya. She had her whole life there, her modelling career, her fiance..." 

Fiance?

"Fiance?" He asked. Isabelle took a deep breathe. 

"I don't want to tell you this but you have to know, Pablo." Binuklat nito ang isang dyaryo pa. I was dated almost a year ago. Naroon ang picture ni Kristine kasama ang lalaking iyon, pero naka-focus ang kuha sa daliri ni Kristine na may suot na diamon ring. 

Naikuyom niya ang kanyang nga palad. 

So all along Kristine was just playing with him? Ang buong akala niya ay mahal siya nito. Napaniwala siya nitong mahal siya nito. All along he was honest with her, he had bared his soul to her tapos ito naman ay nakikipaglokohan lang sa kanya?

"Oh, Pablo..." Sabi ni Isabelle. Bigla na lang siyang niyakap nito. Isabelle's tears were flowing. Iyak ito nang iyak sa kanyang harapan. Marahil ay awang-awa ito sa kanya. "I'm sorry, Pablo. I know how much you love her. I am so sorry." Sabi nito. Bahagya itong lumayo sa kanya. She stared at her intently. 

"If I could only do something about your pain..." Pinahid nito ang mga luha nito.  He looked at Isabelle and suddenly, it was like he saw the Isabelle he once loved in front of him - the Isabelle that taught him how to feel, suddenly it was like she was there. He didn't know what came over him, but he touche her face... 

"P-pablo..." She whispered his name. 

"Kiss me." He said. Isabelle looked at him for a while tapos ay hinagkan nga siya nito. He closed his eyes trying to feel something, a spark maybe, a buch of electrons, but no matter how hard he tried, there was just nothing. 

He pushed Isabelle away. 

"Pablo...." 

Tumayo siya at saka lumabas ng silid. He sighed. What the hell was he thinking. Habang palabas siya ng mansyon ay noon niya nakita si Kristine. Nakatayo ito sa may pinto habang pilit na pinahapahid ang luha nito. If it were a different situation, he would've consoled her, pero dahil sa nalaman niya ay ni hindi niya ito kayang tingnan. 

Kristine looked back at him. Nakita niya sa kamay nito ang itim na pouch na pinaglagyan niya ng engagement ring na ibinigay sa kanya ng kanyang Mama noong buhay pa ito. He took a step towards her tapos ay basta na lang niya hinablot iyon. 

Galit na galit siya dito. He felt cheated, he felt betrayed. Ibinigay niya kay Kristine ang puso niya, ang lahat sa kanya pero pinaglalaruan lang siya nito. 

"You... you kissed her..." Umiiyak na wika ni Kristine sa kanya. He smirked. Ibig sabihin ay nakita siya nito at si Isabelle. He just didn' care at all. 

"Wala kang pakialam." He said. Umigkas ang kamay ni Kristine sa mukha niya. 

"I thought you were different." Sabi nito sa kanya. HE looked at her. 

"And I thought you were different too, pero mas masahol ka pa kay Isabelle. At least Isabelle had the guts to tell me that she was marrying my father." Tiningnan niya ito mula ulo hanggang paa. "Pero ikaw, you were brave enough to make me belive you were in love with me pero at the side you have that man, you were engage to him and yet when I asked you to marry me, you almost said yes." Halos hindi na bumubuka ang bibig niya habang nagsasalita. 

"You were nothing but a social climbing whore." Wika pa niya dito. "Maybe Isabelle was right all along."

"You don't get to say that!" Sigaw nito sa kanya. HE shook his head.

"You don't belong to my world." Wika niya pa. "Pinaalis na kita. Ayoko nang makita ka pa sa lupa ko." 

Matapos sabihin iyon ay tinalikuran niya ito. He ignored that agonizing pain he feels in his chest. Hindi siya dapat makadama ng ganoon. Niloko siya ni Kristine. Nagsinungaling ito sa kanya. Hindi na niya kailangan pang marinig ang paliwanag nito dahil sapat na para sa kanya ang mga litratong ipinakita ni Isabelle. Hindi siya tanga. 

He felt so hurt....