Echoes of Secrecy [UNDER REVISION]

Chapter 17

It's been a month already since ako na ang naging C.E.O sa AYC, so far okay naman.

Magaling na si Dad pero hindi na siya pinagtrabaho ni Mommy sa takot na baka may mangyari na naman kay Daddy.

Hindi na talaga kami nakauwi sa Australia kasi sa akin na talaga ipinamahala ni Dad ang kompanya at obligasyon ko yun bilang isang anak. Dito na rin mag-aaral si Ayeasha sa Pilipinas kasi malapit na pala ang pasukan dito.

Napabuntong-hininga nalang ako.

Kasalukuyan akong naglalakad papasok sa isang restaurant with my secretary behind me. I have a lunch meeting with one of Dad's business partner. Kagagaling ko lang rin sa isa pang meeting tapos may kasunod na naman. This is a life of a businessman/woman. Masyadong busy.

At dahil sa sobrang busy, halos nawawalan na sila ng time sa mga pamilya nila. Pero may iba naman na sinisikap nilang makapag-spend ng time sa pamilya nila.

Like my Dad. He always find ways to have a quality time with us. Nung bata pa ako, wala siyang school activities ko na hindi na-attendan. Palagi siyang present. And I admire him for that.

That's what you called that no matter how busy you are, always have time for your family. Family should always comes first kasi they are always there for you. Pero yung business, mawawala rin yan. Marami ngang pera pero hindi naman masaya.

Some says 'Money can buy happiness.' But they're wrong. Sabihin na nga nating masaya ka kasi nabibili mo ang lahat ng gusto mo pero iyon ay panandaliang kasiyahan lamang kasi mawawala lang rin naman yun.

To be truly happy, you don't need money or material things. Happiness is the consequence of personal effort and living a life of purpose.

I remember years ago when I was still in High School. I saw a poor family. Like a very poor family. Halos wala na silang makain, walang saktong matutulugan. But I can still see the happiness in their eyes.

Kahit gaano sila kahirap, nakikita ko pa rin ang saya sa kanilang mga mata, ang kanilang mga ngiti. 'Yung ngiting walang halong kalungkutan.

That's when I realize that happiness is not about your status in life. Mayaman ka nga pero malungkot ka naman.

Noong umalis ako six years ago, na realize ko rin nun na ang tunay na kasiyahan ay wala sa ibang tao. I was so in love with Kent before that I depend my happiness on him. I thought that marrying him was the real happiness. But I was wrong. I ended up getting hurt again and again. I also forgot the love I have for myself.

So, when I left, I learned to never depend my happiness to anyone or other people again. I learned to love myself back. And I learned to live my life with a purpose. Because that's what I'm meant to be. Living my life with a purpose.

When you learned to live your life according to your purpose, that's when good things start to happen. That's the biggest lesson I learned as the years passed by. Know your purpose.

As the years passed and I grew matured, I realized that God removed Kent from my life because He knows that it can ruin me. He wants me to be who I should be. He has a better plan for me and I trust in Him.

And maybe Kent and I are really not meant to be. Maybe Kent was meant for someone else out there, same as me. We are destined to meet but not meant to be.

Maybe we just met to learned a greatest lesson in life so that when we found our meant to be, we will be much better than before.

Another lesson I learned, 'Don't take everything bad that happened to you as a mistake, take it as a lesson to be a better person.' and also when you love, make sure to leave the fifty percent to yourself so that you won't get hurt too much.

Ako kasi, sa sobrang pagmamahal ko kay Kent, nakalimutan ko na kung paano mahalin ang sarili ko. And I believe that leaving is one of God's plan because He wants me to be a better person and to love myself back.

Mahirap kasi kapag ibinigay mo ang buong pagmamahal mo sa ibang tao at nakalimutan mo na ang sarili mo, kasi papayag ka nalang na maging martir. Kahit ilang ulit ng nasaktan pilit pa ring lumalaban kasi mahal mo nga. But it should not be like that.

Our parents and God loved us unconditionally tapos hahayaan lang natin na masaktan tayo ng ibang tao? That's a no-no. Kasi kung kayo talaga ang para sa isa't-isa, then love is not supposed to hurt you. Love is to make you feel every positive emotions, not the other way around.

Napailing nalang ako sa naiisip. Kung saan-saan na napupunta ang isipan ko.

Heaving a sigh, I followed the waitress who ushered me towards the reserved table for the meeting. From here, I can see a man already sitting on the reserved table with his back facing me.

"Thank you," I smiled at the waitress.

She smiled back, "You're welcome, Ma'am. Please excuse me." She politely said and I nodded to dismissed her.

My secretary ushered me to seat and I thanked her also as she stands beside me.

"I'm sorry for making you wait, Mr-" Napatigil ako nang lingonin ang ka meeting ko. Don't tell me? Agad naman akong napalingon sa secretary ko and it seems that she knows what I meant by my looks.

"I'm sorry for not telling you earlier, Miss Andrada. Hindi kasi sinabi ng secretary na tumawag sa'kin kung sino sa business partners ni Mr. Andrada ang nag pa set ng meeting." Liara explained. I remembered, mag ka-business partner pala si Dad at Tito Kio.

And since Kent took over their business, siya na rin ang haharap sa mga business partners nila. But I am confused why he set this meeting. Wala naman kaming dapat pag-uusapan? And I am still not ready to face him after that incident at the hospital a month ago.

Napabuntong-hininga nalang ako as I try to calm myself before looking at the man sitting in front of me while staring shamelessly at me.

"What is this meeting for, Kent? As far as I remembered, wala naman tayomg dapat pag-usapan?" I questioned.

Kent cleared his throat as if he just came back from his reverie. "Ahm, nice to meet you again, Zane." Hindi ako sumagot. "Uh, I would like to talk about the upcoming project of your company."

Napakunot noo naman ako. What is he talking about? Dad never told me about it or maybe he forgot.

"What about it?" I asked using my serious tone.

"Tito Zig kind of mention to Dad that he's planning to build a resort and Dad wants to invest in that project." I'm glad that Dad didn't break his friendship with Tito Kio. Noong nalaman kasi niya ang nangyari between me and Kent, sobrang galit na galit siya to the point that he declared to cut ties with the Mendoza's. I remembered how I begged him not to do it dahil wala namang kasalanan ang pamilya ni Kent. I don't know what happened then, but now, I guessed they're fine.

Kent and I continued to talk about Dad's plan to build a resort. Since I took over the company, I'll be the one who'll handle that project.

I'm glad that I didn't stutter while talking with him. There's still this fear that he might found out about Ayeasha and he'll take her away from me but I set it aside. I won't think about that for now.

I'm also glad that he didn't talked about the incident a month ago and asked about Ayeasha and who she is because I don't know what I would answer. Maybe he already forgot about it.

However, he keeps staring at me the whole duration of the meeting.

After the meeting, agad akong umalis sa restaurant na yun pagkatapos kong magpaalam sa kanya.

Hindi ko na kasi makayanan ang mga titig niya. Pakiramdam ko malulunod ako. His stares shows like he missed me and wants nothing but to embrace me.

But I just shrugged it off. I shouldn't think about him.