Our Sun Below The Horizon

The Date

CHAPTER 18

Hindi maitago ang ngiti sa mga labi ni ate Linda but I could not tell if she was surprised or horrified of what I look like. One thing is for sure she noticed at least, that I look different tonight.

"So how was my creations? Do you love it?" Nicole asked. Habang dahan dahan kaming bumababa ng hagdan. Medyo nahihirapan pa akong bumaba dahil di ako sanay sa heels na pinahiram sa akin ni Nicole. Bahala na to mamaya kapag di ko kinaya mapipilitan talaga akong hubarin to.

Lumapit ng bahagya si ate Linda at tiningnan ako mula ulo hanggang paa.

"You look beautiful Kathy!" Turan ng matanda. By the look of her eyes, I knew she really means it.

"Salamat po. Bagay po ba sa akin itong dress?" umikot pa ako para ipakita sa kanya yung buong looks ko. Sasabihan nalang din ako ng maganda, ipapakita ko na lahat. Bihira lang tayo mapuri.

"Bagay na bagay anak. Tiyak na matutuwa ang Mommy mo kapag nakita ka niya." Sabay ayos sa aking nakalugay na buhok. Tiningnan niya ako ng maigi for a long second and then she smiled parang naluluha pa nga ata siya.

"You know what? Let's take a photo of you next to that side." Nicole direct me to go to the window near the sofa.

"Anong gagawin ko?" Tanong ko. Hindi ko alam kung anong dapat kong pose dahil di naman ako sanay umarte o magpose gaya ng mga modelong kadalasan kong nakikita sa TV at magazines. Isang tipid na ngiti lamang ang aking binigay habang kumukha ng picture si Nicole sabay hawak sa bewang.

"Ano ginagawa mo? Mukha kang Nanay diyan. Smile, saka wag kang humawak sa bewang mo. We are not in a pageant."

I am posing awkwardly. I tried to tilt my head. Brush my hair back. Smiled up to my ears but I just could not make this work.

"We will not get a worthy picture if you're posing the same thing again and again." From her tone, I know she is annoyed and badly wants me to do well on this. I do not know why I am doing this but I guess I need memories to look back in the future. Right?

"Here hold my phone and watch pros do it!" Confident niyang sabi. At the moment she untied her hair, the magic started. "You have to shot a lot. The more selection, the better." Dagdag pa niya.

After taking a bunch of photos, we looked at each picture and there's only one word that came out of my mouth. IMPRESSIVE.

"Now you do everything I did."

I am a good follower so I did what she told me.

"Elongate your neck and tilt your chin just a bit honey. Lean slightly...Keep your tongue behind your teeth...Look away, look back to the camera...Now danced around and shake out your body and... that's a wrap, Kath. I am glad that you learn easily."

"Are those really me? I look great!" I hugged Nicole tightly and whispered thank you. For years my photo albums only got a smiling face, a bored face, and stolen shots where it's either I got my mouth open wide or a blast hair covering my whole face.

"I know. I know Kath. I'm an expert in these things" Sabay tawa ni Nicole.

We showed each picture to Ate Linda and ask her thoughts about it.

"Gorgeous as always Katherine. However, I want to tell you two, whether you are beautiful or not, you must have a good heart, courage, and strong faith in our God almighty. Men easily get attracted to women if they are pretty but they fall in love with women's character." Sabi ni ate Linda habang hawak ang aming mga braso. That last sentence is a new carving into my head.