Sweetest Goodbye

SG.26 - Two thousand nine hundred twenty - nine

"Why do you keep on getting my French fries, Hya? Akin iyan! Bumili ka ng sa'yo!"

Pinanlalakihan ako ni Hyron ng mga mata habang pilit kinukuha ang French fries niya. Ayoko namang ibigay iyon kasi gutom talaga ako at maghapon akong walang kain dahil sa annual meeting ng Consunji Empires. Maghapon ay mukha lang ni Apollo, Achilles, Papa, Aunt Hera, Uncle Gab and the other board members ang nakikita ko. There was food but I'm too busy to eat. Kaya ngayon na may pagkain sa harapan ko, kukunin ko talaga iyon.

"Bakit hindi ka pumupunta sa annual meeting ng Consunji Empires? You're a first born too!" Hinatak ko ang earlobe niya. Napangiwi naman siya at saka lumayo sa akin. Gumapang ako papunta sa kanya dahil sa French fries na dala niya. I was on the Demitri Mansion. I needed a place to hang out and the pent house seemed to be a sad place to be in. Wala na kasi akong kasama. Milky died two years ago, it was sad kaya hindi na rin ako nanguha ng ibang aso.

"I have my own Empire to rule, Hya. Kung may annual meeting man, si Hyan ang tatanungin ko kung bakit hindi siya nagpupunta and I will have the same answer. She has her own empire to rule back in New York. And she's coming back home tomorrow. Something to do with Louis' health, I guess."

"Have you told her?" I asked. Kumuha ako ng French fries sa kanya. Tinabig naman ni Hyron ang kamay ko.

"I haven't because she keeps on cutting me off. Abelardo was like that too. Kanina sinusubukan kong sabihin sa kanya na uuwi na si Hyan but he dismissed me. Marami daw siyang ginagawa. I was like, what the fuck!"

Natawa ako sabay kuha sa French fries niya.

"Hyacinth! Para-paraan ka!" Pinanlakihan niya ako ng mga mata. I made a face.

"Kamusta ka naman sa Lualhati mo?"

"Sa'yo na iyang French fries. Busog na ako." Ibinigay niya sa akin iyon tapos ay tumayo na siya. I just shook my head. Ako, si Hyron at si Hyan – lahat kami ay may mga bagay na dinadala. Hyan's baggage was about the man named Abel. Na wala naman nang dapat komplikasyon kasi wala naman talaga, and then there's Hyron's Lualhati and I guess they have a lot more complications to face but both were scared to face it. And then, there's me. Although hindi naman complications iyon. Non-issue naman na kasi iyong nangyari sa amin ni Iggy. We didn't work out.

Well, he didn't think we'd work out so instead of meeting me the year after we had that talk, hindi siya nagpakita. Ang nakita ko ay iyong Kirstine na iyon. I was civil enough to talk to her at nalaman ko na sila pala ni Ignacio ang magkikita doon well because they were dating – surprise!

Hindi naman ako naniwala. But I left – I hid myself around the area and I waited. Naisip ko kasi na baka ginagawa niya lang iyon to spite me, na baka kapag umalis ako, aalis na rin siya. But then, Ignacio came and Kirstine hugged and kissed him. Hinawakan pa ni Ignacio ang baywang niya. That was something.

Inaamin kong nasaktan ako. Umiyak ako noon. Ilang araw din iyon pero nang magising ako sa katotohanan, inayos ko ang sarili ko. Hindi naman kasi ako dapat maging mahina para sa kanya. Kung hindi naman niya ako nahintay noon na maresolba ang issues sa sarili ko at nakahanap agad siya ng iba, then so be it. I have a lot of things in my plate now and mopping for him isn't one of them.

I could go all out bitch to him and that low life Kirstine but hell, hinddi ko pabababain ang sarili ko sa kanila.

And I survived the pain because of that thought alone. Huli kong nakasama si Ignacio noong namatay ang grandparents ko. Hindi na kami noon. We're just friends. It's even a miracle that we remained like that after what happened to us. Hindi ko naman siya pwedeng iwasan dahil may negosyo ang pamilya naming. I talk to him from time to time pero lahat iyon ay pure business lamang.