"Well, is she, Judas? It's been almost twenty years. Is she?"
Arruba and I were having coffee that morning in my kitchen. The kids have gone to school while Arielle was with one of our maids. Nagpunta sila sa grocery para mamili ng mga supplies namin para sa linggong iyon. Arruba was just visiting, she now, lives in New York with his husband and their three children. Dalawa lang naman kaming magkapatid kaya siguro palagi naming nami-miss ang isa't isa kahit na may edad na kami pareho.
I sipped my coffee and looked at her. Hindi naman ako sumagot. She was asking me about Samuelle and Arielle and why I married the later. Sinimulan niya ang pakikipag – usap sa akin sa pamamagitan ng pagsasabi na napanood daw niya iyong latest commercial ng isang sikat na fast food chain. It was about a story of two best friends – a guy and a girl. The girl as in love with the guy while the guy was in love with another girl. Right after hearing it, I decided that it was cliché – too cliché for me.
"Jude, you are forgetting that I am a psyche by profession. A mere silence has a million meanings for me."
"Don't be all psyche on me. You're my sister, can you be that for a while?"
She shook her head and gave me that smile. Iyong ngiting ang ibig sabihin ay hindi talaga niya ako titigilan.
"Jude, I wanna know. I love your wife and I hate to see her get hurt."
"Like what you said, we've been married for twenty – seven years, that must mean something."
"Yes, it may mean that you settled for her because you didn't want to end up alone and lonely with a hole in your heart left by your first love. I honestly don't like the fact that you named your first child after your ex – girlfriend and for Arielle to agree, she must be really in love with you."
Hindi ako nakasagot. I am not ready for this. I have no fixed thoughts on this...
"So, Jude, what is Arielle for you? Is she just a second choice? Did you just settle for her? Answer me..."
