"Come with me. My family's here, I want you to meet them..."
Nanlaki naman ang mga mata ko nang marinig ko iyon. "A-ano? I'm...going t-to meet your family?"
"Yup. Let's go" He smiled. Hindi na niya ako pinagsalita at hinawakan na niya yung pulsuhan ko and dragged me towards his family.
Like seryoso? Ipapakilala niya 'ko sa pamilya niya?
Nanlamig naman ang tiyan ko at bumilis ang pagkabog ng dibdib ko habang papunta kami sa pamilya niya and the nervousness that I had just a while ago is even 10x now when I saw his family from a far.
His Mom, Dad, Joe, Javi, Jordi, Jaime and Mara are waiting for Juan. And tangina, buong pamilya niya talaga. Meet the parents agad? Ohmygosh. Hindi ko inexpect 'to.
Juan let go of my wrist tapos ngayon, he has his arm on my shoulder and his family are now looking at us with smiles on their faces. Habang ako naman, mine's the opposite pero I'm trying talaga to smile and look calm at them.
"Hi Ma, Dad" Bati ni Juan nang makalapit na kami sa kanila and he hugged and kissed them on their cheeks.
His parents congratulated him, telling him that they're proud of him at pagkatapos sa magulang niya, ay iyong mga kapatid niya naman ang bumati.
And nahihiya ako sa mga younger siblings niya kasi it looked like parang ka-edad ko lamang sila in terms of height. The GDLs talaga are matatangkad with Jaime and Mara na halos kasingtangkad ko na.
I think they're at 5'5 or 5'6 kasi I stand at 5'7. Hindi ko na lang ime-mention si Jordi kung ano yung height niya kasi sa pamilya nila, Jordi's the tallest. Mas matangkad pa siya kay Javi. He's 6'5 ata, I'm not sure.
"Ma, Dad, this is Eva po pala." Pakilala ni Juan sakin sa magulang niya na muli naman akong akbayan. "...and Eva, this is my Mom and Dad"
"Oh, so you're Eva! Ikaw yung girl na kinukwento ni Juan sakin these past few days!" Juan's mom exclaimed in a surprised tone at nagulat din ako at what she said. Kinukwento pala ako ni Juan sa pamilya niya?
Lumapit na'ko para makipagbeso at makapagpakilala sa kanila kahit nanlalamig na talaga ako dito dahil sa nerbyos. "Um.. hello po, Ma'am, Sir...I'm Eva"
"...I'm Anna, Eva, nanay ni Juan. And please call me Tita Anna" Ngiti ng mom nila sakin after we make beso
"Hello po" I shyly smiled at her. Then their Dad naman yung nagpakilala.
"And I'm Bert, Juan's Dad. Call me Tito Bert na lang din" Ngiti rin ng Daddy ni Juan. And now I know where Juan's smile got from. Parehong pareho lang sila ng Tatay niya ngumiti.
"Is she your girlfriend Juan?" Asked Tita Anna at umiling si Juan. "No Ma, she's...... she's someone special.....special friend"
Tingin ni Juan sakin and tumahimik lamang ako. Kahit kinikilig na naman ako dito. And meanwhile, his brothers- Joe, Javi and Jordi are laughing at him but agad din naman sila tumigil when Juan glared at them. Hindi siguro sila sanay na nagga-ganito si Juan.
"Oh, it's nice to meet you Eva. You are such a lovely lady" Tita Anna smiles sweetly at me "..napakaganda mo palang bata sa personal"
"Thank you po and kayo rin naman po" I replied while I also smiled back. Grabe naman ng Nanay ni Juan. She's so kind just like Juan had told me about his Mom.
"Awww, thank you Eva.."
"Why don't you come with us Eva? Magdi-dinner kami sa labas" Tito Bert then asks me showing his smile again.
"Yeah, Eva, come with us" His wife agreed looking at me din.
"Um... hindi na po. Okay lang pero thank you po sa invite.." I politely declined to Tito kasi nakakahiya if sasama ako sa family dinner nila. Para sa kanila lang yun. Tapos I'm not also used with this kind of thing din, Ninenerbyos ako.
"You should come with us Eva, sigurado ako hindi ka pa nagdi-dinner" Pagi-imbita ni Tita Anna "....huwag kang mahiya sa'min, now that Juan introduced you to us, pamilya ka na rin namin"
"Have dinner with us" Sabi naman ni Juan while looking at me and ano ba, parang na pe-pressure ako dito.
"Salamat po pero okay lang po talaga ako. Kayo na lang po. Sa bahay na lang po ako magdidinner" Ulit kong tanggi sa kanila.
"I'm not going to take a no Eva. Come with us. Hindi pwedeng uuwi ka sa inyo na hindi nagdidinner" Tita Anna says and alam kong wala na'kong laban. She won't take a no raw.
Eventually, pumayag na rin ako kasi napaisip ako na nakakahiya rin naman pala na tumanggi sa kanila. Tumanggi sa mga Gomez de Liaño. Like ako pa talaga yung nagpapakipot pero it's not pakipot naman. Sadyang nakakahiya lang talaga.
Juan and Javi went inside in the dug out to have a quick shower daw and changed their clothes kaya naiwan ako dito kasama pamilya niya.
"Sa'n ka nakatira Eva? Para mahatid ka namin after" Tanong ni Tito Bert sakin while we were waiting outside.
"Nako, huwag na po. Magpapasundo na lang po ako or kaya magga-grab na lang po ako pauwi"
"Ikaw talaga Eva, ang hilig mong tumanggi. Huwag ka ng mahiya sa'min. Ihahatid ka na namin after dinner para mas safe" Salita ni Tita kaya wala na rin akong nagawa kundi pumayag na lang din ako. Hay nako nakakahiya na talaga.
Mayamaya, when Juan and Javi came out from the dug out na nakaligo at bihis na bihis na umalis na rin kami sa MOA kagad. Da exit area na kami dumaan kasi hindi raw marami yung tao doon and besides, nandoon din daw kasi nakapark yung sasakyan nila.
Pero just as we stepped outside, marami rin pala yung tao sa labas and many fans asked for a picture with the GDL, lalo na kay Juan. He gladly said yes to every request nila kaya I thought of offering na lang din to the fans na ako na kukuha ng pictures nila.
"Talagang okay lang po sa inyo? Nakakahiya naman po" A fan, asked me and I nodded my head. "Yup, okay lang naman" Ngiti ko.
She handed me her phone which is naka camera ready na.
"1,2,3 smile!" I say and they both smiled. I checked the picture, and I noticed Juan wasn't directly looking at the camera.
"Wait.. wait... again. Hindi kasi nakatingin si Juan sa camera" I told her when she tries na to leave Juan's side.
"Baka sa inyo po nakatingin, Ate Eva" The girl says at tumili naman ang mga fans dito sa sinabi niya. Napatawa lamang ako and shook my head telling them to have another picture.
"Juan, sa tingin ang camera" I repeated when I can see him on the phone's screen looking at me na talaga.
"Sorry, I just can't help it when the one taking the picture is so beautiful" He says while smiling at me.
The fans squealed again nang marinig nila iyon kay Juan and they were holding their phones out, probably taking a video of this.
"Yiee... and ganda naman po kasi ni Ate Eva" Someone says na naka pony tail at napangiti naman ako as I shyly thanked her.
"Yep. She truly is.... In and out" Juan then agrees to her while looking at me again.
