The Captain's Possession

Prologue

I could hear it.

I could hear how everyone cheered loudly, screamed in joy and clapped happily as he got down on his knees and opened the red velvet box, revealing the gorgeous piece of jewelry that every woman not only dreamt of seeing but also dreamt of wearing as a symbol of love and commitment

Only thing is, I wasn't dreaming. It was really happening in front of me. Right here. Right now.

"Jash, will you marry me?" He questioned with tears welling up in his eyes.

Dom, my best friend of twelve years and my boyfriend of nine years finally popped the question in front of our families, friends and our old classmates the exact night of my twenty fourth birthday.

If it was any other day, malamang sa malamang nagtatatalon at nagi-iiyak na ako sa tuwa. Because finally, eto na. My dreams were really starting to come true and my life is turning the way I wanted it to. Masasabi kong, eto na talaga.

However, as I stared at the diamond ring he was holding in front of me, unti-unting bumabalik sa katotohanan na hindi na ito yung pangarap ko. Hindi na ito ang gusto kong mangyari at hindi na si Dom ang gusto kong makasama sa buhay.

Ito na yung reyalidad na, hindi ko masikmurang tingnan sya ng mata sa mata at halos wala na kong maramdam sa kanya.

I averted my eyes and looked at my family who were there encouraging me to say yes. Kasunod noon ang pagtingin ko sa parents at kapatid ni Dom na naroon din para suportahan kami. I pictured this scene to happen countless of times. Ito ang bagay na ipinagdasal kong mangyari matagal na. Ito yung bagay na masasabi kong pinagsikapan ko para lang matupad.

Until my eyes landed unto to Aaliyah, Dom's college best friend, she smiled brightly at me and even mouthed, Say yes!

My stomach churned, I felt so disgusted that it made me turn back to Dom who was slowly becoming uneasy dahil sa hindi ko pagsasalita. He looked at me expectantly. He was waiting for me to say that one word. Dahil sa oras na sabihin ko na iyon, we will be stepping further and everything would change.

Huminga ako ng malalim at kasabay ng paghinga kong iyon ang sagot na sigurado na akong sasabihin ko.

I then forced myself to smile at Dom, the man who has been with me through ups and downs. The man whom I thought I would be spending my life with. The man who struggled with me. And the man I fell in love with for years ngunit ngayon ay halos hindi ko na makilala.

What happened after that was the thing I knew they didn't expect because, I closed the small box and finally said,

"No, I won't."

I could hear the gasps and the shocked reactions of all the people around us. Of our family, our friends, former classmates.

I could hear the murmurs, the whispers.

I could hear the comments, the insults and the stifled laughs.

"Wh—what are you saying, Jash? P—please tell me you're joking. Mahilig ka sa jokes di ba? Di ba, Jash? Please, wag muna ngayon." Naiiyak ng sabi ni Dom sa akin at mariin akong tinitigan na para bang nagmamakaawa syang wag kong gawin iyon. Na wag ko syang ipahiya sa harap ng mga taong iyon.