Love Next Door

16 - White Dress

My eyes were fixed on its beauty until someone called my name.

"Mika!"

Lumingon ako at nakita si Drei. He's known to be an apprentice of King Archer. Kaya isa rin siya sa mga konting taong nakakakilala rito. And ever since, siya ang assigned to attend to the viewers if they have questions. Alam niya ang mga kwento sa likod ng mga larawan.

I greeted him back with a smile.

"Ngayon lang kita nakita ah. Kaninang umaga pa kami open.", kwento niya.

"Ah, oo. May pinuntahan pa kasi ako eh. Uhm, Drei. Bakit may ganitong separate exhibit?", tanong ko.

"Ayan kasi, late. Inexplain ko na kaninang opening."

"Ehhh... Sige na...", pilit ko sa kanya.

"Pasalamat ka, crush kita.", he said cutely, making me laugh. We both know that our relationship will always resemble that of siblings.

"Anyway, this is the bonus part of the exhibit. Itong mga shots na 'to, kuha 'to ni King Archer before he became King Archer."

"You mean... When he was still a kid?", I asked incredulously.

"Hindi naman sobrang bata. Basta when he was younger. Kaya if you'll go over them, you'll see that most are properties of his family. And the one you're looking at right now, that's a photo of his grandmother's wedding dress worn on their golden wedding anniversary."

Wow. I ran my fingers over the canvass, admiring it once again.

"O sige na, ikot muna ako sa iba ah."

"Wait!", pigil ko sa kanya.

"Uhm... Alam mo ba kung... maraming nagpipitch sa photo na 'to?", I asked, referring to the white dress.

"Naku, wag mong sabihing yan ang gusto mong iuwi?"

"Oo sana eh. Bakit? May problem ba?"

"Ang dami niyong mag-aagawan mamaya. Kumalat kasi yung news na whoever gets the photo, siya ang papakasalan ni King Archer.", he answered with a laugh.

"ANO?!?!? Anong klaseng news yun! Where did that come from?"

"One of the fans kanina. And you know how crazy they can be. Sasabihin ng isa, tapos maniniwala naman yung iba. Kahit wala namang substance."

I sighed in frustration.

"Baka naman ikaw, gusto mo rin siyang mapangasawa? Pwede kitang i-reto.", pang-aasar niya.

"Baliw! I have other reasons 'no! Alis ka na nga!", pagtataboy ko sa kanya.

"Hahaha! But seriously, good luck later! It's the one with the highest number of buyers so far so... malamang huli yang ipapa-bid."

I nodded my head and thanked him.

Kung huli nga 'tong ipapa-bid, it's either I'll go big or go home with nothing.

Because in all his exhibits, photos have always been sold out.

It was only in the first na first come, first served ang rule kaya ko nakuha yung broken bike photo. Yung mga sumunod, nakukuha sa bidding which happens before the day ends.

Nakakaiyak naman oh.

Pero ito talaga yung gusto kong iuwi eh...

"Mika?", I heard another familiar voice in the middle of my deep thinking.