You Belong With Me

Twenty Eight.

"He went home?"

"Yes, po. Sabi niya hindi niya raw kaya ang lamig dito," humagikhik si Helen.

What a stupid alibi! At ang galing naman, hindi man lang nagpaalam sa akin!

"Hindi pala nagpaalam sa'yo, Miss?", si Sanya.

"H-hindi...", napayuko ako.

I wasn't in the mood the whole day. Peke ang mga ngiti ko at lagi akong tulala. I always think about Chandler. Is he that affected that he went home without me?

We arrived at the Philippines two days after. Agad akong pumunta sa Montano Group and I saw Iñigo.

"Portia, you're here!"

Nakasalubong ko siya sa lobby. He then kissed my cheek.

"Good morning, Iñigo. I'm here for Chandler."

"Oh, you didn't know? He left for Los Angeles yesterday. Ako sana ang pupunta but my girlfriend is pregnant."

Nagulat ako sa sinabi niya. Chandler's in LA and Iñigo's going to be a father!

"Wow, congratulations, Iñigo! And, uh, I didn't know, kakabalik ko lang kasi from New York."

"Yeah, you were with him, right? Kaya nga nagtaka ako kung bakit naunang umuwi si Chan," he furrowed his brows. "Anyways, I gotta go. Thanks, by the way."

I nodded and Iñigo left. Umuwi nalang ako sa aking penthouse.

He's in Los Angeles. When is he coming back? Kung kailan nakumpirma ko na sa aking sarili na mahal ko nga siya tsaka pa magkakaganito.

My phone rang and I picked it up. Unregistered number iyon.

"Good morning," I formally greeted.

"Good morning, Miss Portia. This is Mr. Vedano's secretary. We would like to inform you that the shoot is moved two days from now. Will that be okay?"

"May I know why?"

"Oh. The first campaign ad needs to be aired by Friday next next week. We apologize for the rush, Miss Portia."

"No. Its okay. I'll be there."

Iyon ang pinagkaabalahan ko habang nasa ibang bansa si Chandler. The shoot lasted for three straight days. I also met with Anicia, Jeorella and Anna to talk to them about me and Chandler. I just don't know what to do.

Naiinis nga ako sa aking sarili. I feel like I was very unreasonable for getting mad at Chandler when we were in NYC. He was hurt and I didn't understand him. I focused on myself and on my fears. Hindi ko man lang inisip na baka nahihirapan nga si Chandler sa akin. I depended too much on his promise... that he'd wait for me. I almost forgot that people get tired of waiting too.

"When did you realize you were in love?", excitedly, Anna clasped her hands, ready for the tea.

"I knew I was falling even before but I confirmed it when we fought in New York..."

"Kailangan ka pa talagang awayin para ma-realize mo? You're so bad!", Anicia jokingly rolled her eyes at me.

Napasinghap ako.

"I'm sorry, alright? You know I'm not used to these feelings!"

"Well, understandable. But you could have been nicer to him. He was beside you when you told the press you were just business partners!", ani Jeorella.

"True. If that was me, I'd be offended too. He was courting you for months already!", dugtong naman ni Anna.

I'm starting to think this is a bad idea. Pinagtutulungan ako ng tatlo. Anicia even tweeted '#TeamChandler'! Napailing nalang ako. But at the end of our talk, Anna gave me an advice worth listening to.