Lawrence, The Hotelier (Published Under POP FICTION)

THIRTY ONE

Never

Napasinghap ako nang marinig ang boses ng pilotong nagsasabi na 15 minutes na lamang at lalapag na kami sa Davao International Airport.

Ang bilis nga ng pagdaan ng panahon. Parang kailan lang. Parang kailan lang noong andito rin ako at papuntang Maynila para mag process ng papers ko for abroad. I can still remember the time when I cried my heart out habang nakasakay sa eroplano. Halo-halo na kasi ang nararamdaman ko noon. Puro kalungkutan at sakit ang nangingibaw. Nalulungkot ako dahil kailangan kong iwan ang pamilya ko. But I have to. For my sake. For moving on.

I asked my brother to help me get out of this country the soonest possible time. The earlier I get out of here, the better. Hindi ko nga alam paano ko nairaos ang pag-aaral ko without breaking apart. Parang zombie lang ata ako noon. Sunod-sunuran sa agos. Natapos ko ng matiwasay ang training ko sa hotel pero hindi ko na pinatapos ang September at nauna akong umuwi sa kanila Marj. I graduated with flying colors. Sinubsob ko ang buong atensyon ko sa pag-aaral. Everyone noticed the changes on me but they never said a word. Even my mother and sister were just quiet about it. Surely, they heard me cried in the middle of night, almost every night.

At heto ako ngayon, babalik sa lugar na kinasusuklaman ko. I remembered the conversation my brother and I had last month.

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Pauwi na ako sa aking condo unit ng gabing iyon galing hotel. I was a receptionist at The Heritage Hotel kung saan nagtatrabaho si kuya bilang Food and Beverage manager. He was promoted just the time when I was finishing my college and we were so happy about it. One of the reasons why it was easy for me to get a job here was because of it. The management has faith in him.

Aside from that, he was already a citizen here in Hong Kong. He married a Hong Kong national. She was pretty and very kind too. We click easily.

Me and my brother are neighbours. This pad that I lived in was his wife's pad before but she transferred to my brother's pad when they got married. So I occupied the space alone.

I heard my brother knocking at my door just after I shut it.

"Sis....." he called.

"Wait up." I opened the door for him and was surprised to see Bianca too, his wife.

"Oh, you don't have work?" I asked referring to Bianca. She was also working at the same hotel. She's a Front Desk Supervisor. My supervisor sometimes when we have the same shift.

"Sweety, it's Sunday!" she exclaimed, rolling eyes at me.

I stop. Ofcourse! "I know right!" I laughed. I forgot the day, actually. I always spend my time working instead of having a day off. I prefer to keep myself busy. Yung gusto kong pagdating ng bahay maglilinis na lang ako ng katawan at hihiga na agad sa sobrang pagod. I don't even have time to surf the Internet. I don't have accounts for Facebook, Twitter, instagram or whatever apps the Internet is offering. I'm still normal, am I not?

Nagtinginan lamang ang aking kuya at ate.

"I have news for you. The admin chooses you to work in the Philippines before the year ends." he said without blinking.

And I was lost for a moment. I didn't catch what he said but when the idea sinks into me, my eyes widened.

"What? What's that supposed to mean? Kailangan kong umuwi ng Pinas? That's bullshit kuya. That's a load of crap. And how come the management comes up with that kind of stupid idea?" I was furious!