𝗜𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗼𝘀-𝗔𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗲𝘁𝗮
When I woke up, I went to the bathroom so I could take a bath. After I took a bath I went upstairs and saw Bonget talking to someone via phone call. His eyes widened when he saw my presence as he ended the call.
"May pupuntahan kayo?" I asked him.
"Yes ading, babalik kami sa Malacañang ngayon..." He replied plainly.
I nodded as I went to him and kissed his cheek as a morning greeting. We were casually talking when his phone vibrated, I gaze at his phone as he abruptly put it to his purse.
That's weird, may tinatago ba to.
Pinauna ko na silang kumain dahil hihintayin ko nalang si Belle, ayoko namang pakainin ng mag-isa yung bata at hindi pa naman ako gutom.
Katapos nilang kumain, umalis narin sila agad para hindi sila maabutan ng traffic, right after, Isabelle woke up already.
I greeted her a good morning hug & kiss, vice versa. I invited her to eat which she nodded but only ate a small amount of food, is she okay?
After we eat, she asked me if we could talk which I agreed, she told me she'll be just waiting for me upstairs as nodded, after a couple of minutes, I decided to go to her so we could talk already.
She's in my room so I head my way there, when I entered my room I saw her sitting in the sofa.
"Belle, darling?" I said softly.
"U-h tita.." She replied.
"What are we going to talk about?" I asked then I smiled, I sat beside her and I held her hands.
"Tita, ano kasi -" She whispered stuttering while head is bowed.
When started to say those words, I don't know but bigla nalang akong kinabahan.
She bowed her head and she held my hand tightly, I'm just looking at her.
"Tita.." She uttered again.
"May problema ba?" I asked her softly, I heard her sighed.
"Tita, I-I w-want t-to g-go b-back in I-Ilocos n-na po.." She told me, she looked at me, she's crying. My heart suddenly broke into pieces when she told me that. I didn't able to respond quickly. Nasanay na akong nandito siya sa tabi ko, what's life kung wala siya sa tabi ko? I know my life will be in full of darkness again. She became my ray of sunshine, my light in my darkest hours at napamahal na siya saakin.
My tears are starting to form in my eyes but I manage to smile.
"W-why?" That's the only words came from my mouth.
𝗜𝘀𝗮𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲
Tita Irene and I are currently talking in her room, my tears are already cascading in my cheeks so I bowed my head.
"Tita, I w-want t-to g-go b-back in I-Ilocos n-na po." I said, she didn't respond right away, she was silent.
"W-why?" She said, her voice broke.
"M-may problema ba? Isabelle please? Tell me, what happened? Okay pa naman tayo kagabi diba? Bakit?" She asked, I know she's already crying.
"Isabelle, don't leave me please? Isabelle look at me." She said and she hold my face and we made an eye to eye.
"Love, can you please tell me why? Don't make it hard for me to think why.." She uttered, It broke my heart when I saw her cry.
"Belle, you'll hurt me if you'll leave. I-I don't know if I could stand a life without you anak..." She said softly, she's already tearing-up.
I was shocked when she called me anak. Sorry tita, I need to be hard if its the only way. I wiped my tears and I looked at her with no emotion.
"Tita, gusto ko na pong umuwi ng Ilocos, ayoko na po dito! Please, let me?" I said loudly.
I know she was shock with my sudden behavior.
"Hindi ko na po tatapusin yung 2 weeks na pag-aaral ko dito. Tita, hindi po ako yung anak mo at hinding-hindi po ako magiging si Celestine. Don't assume that I'm your daughter po kasi hindi po ako yun, masasaktan kalang po. Tita, I'm so thankful for you kasi inalagaan mo ako, binigyan mo ako ng opportunity na pag-aralin dito, hindi mo ako trinatong iba sainyo and for that I'm so grateful. Hinding-hindi ko po kayo makakalimutan at lalong dadalhin ko yung pagpapasalamat nayun hanggang sa pagtanda ko." I said with no emotions.
I'm sorry if I'm hurting you now tita Irene, I need to do this for everyone's good especially you, masasaktan ka lang po kung malaman mong hindi ako yung anak mo. So I need to distant myself to you and to your family, madi-disappoint ko lang po kayo kung sakaling ituloy nila tito Bong yung investigation.
"Okay. If you really want to go back in Ilocos I'll let you, pero ako yung maghahatid sayo para masigurado kong ligtas ka." She told me coldly, and without glancing at me.
𝗜𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗼𝘀-𝗔𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗲𝘁𝗮
I admit I was really hurt sa mga sinabi ni Isabelle, pero hindi ko na siya pinilit to stay with me when she really wants to go back to Ilocos. I just hope this isn't the last time I'll see her again. Tinuring ko na siyang anak ko at alam kong masasaktan ako sa pag-alis niya but I need to be tough for her. I told her I'll let her go home pero ako yung maghahatid sa kanya.
"I'll leave you here, so you could pack your things, then we'll go back to Forbes para makuha mo lahat ng gamit mo." I told her not making an eye contact because if I will, I will just tear up.
I'm trying to hold back my tears but when I get out of the room, my tears are already forming so I head to the guest room and there I cried and sobbing so hard. The hurt that I'm feeling now is like the same hurt I felt when Celestine got lost.
"Why do you have to hurt me like this, Isabelle?"
"I thought you'll be saving me from misery and sadness." I whispered
"You just hurt me again."
𝗜𝘀𝗮𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲
When tita Irene left me in the room, I cried and started to pack my things. And when I finished packing, I decided to write her a letter.
𝑻𝒊𝒕𝒂 𝑰𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒆,
𝒀𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒐𝒇𝒕 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝑰'𝒗𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒆𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰'𝒎 𝒔𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒚 𝒊𝒇 𝑰 𝒉𝒖𝒓𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝒏𝒂𝒅𝒂𝒍𝒂 𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒐 𝒂𝒌𝒐 𝒔𝒂 𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒚𝒐𝒏 𝒌𝒐. 𝑳𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒕𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝑰'𝒎 𝒔𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒑𝒐 𝒔𝒂𝒚𝒐. 𝑵𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒎𝒅𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒌𝒐 𝒑𝒐 𝒌𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒂𝒂𝒏𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒌𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒏 𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒔𝒂𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒚𝒂 𝒔𝒂 𝒌𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒉𝒐𝒏 𝒏𝒂 𝒕𝒖𝒎𝒊𝒓𝒂 𝒑𝒐 𝒂𝒌𝒐 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒚𝒐. 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒑𝒐 𝒔𝒂 𝒑𝒂𝒈𝒃𝒊𝒈𝒂𝒚 𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒔𝒂𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏 𝒏𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒂𝒑𝒂𝒈-𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒍 𝒔𝒂 𝑷𝒀𝑺𝑩. 𝑯𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈-𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒊 𝒑𝒐 𝒌𝒊𝒕𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒂𝒌𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒎𝒖𝒕𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒂. 𝑰 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝑰 𝒉𝒖𝒓𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒎𝒚 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒑𝒕 𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒑𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒊𝒛𝒆. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒂. 𝑨𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉, 𝒃𝒂𝒌𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒌𝒂𝒔𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒕 𝒑𝒐 𝒌𝒂𝒚𝒐 𝒖𝒍𝒊𝒕. 𝑹𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒅𝒊𝒏 𝒑𝒐 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒌𝒂𝒚? 𝑰'𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒅𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝑪𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒆. 𝑰'𝒍𝒍 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒕𝒂 𝒏𝒊𝒚𝒐 𝒏𝒂 𝒑𝒐 𝒖𝒍𝒊𝒕 𝒔𝒊𝒚𝒂, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒔𝒐 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒉𝒖𝒓𝒕. 𝑰 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒂. 𝑮𝒐𝒐𝒅𝒃𝒚𝒆.
𝑰𝒔𝒂𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒆
I fold the paper and I put it in tita Irene's side table.
When I finished packing, I head downstairs and I saw mama Meldy there.
"Isabelle, where are you going?" She asked.
"Uh, mama Meldy. Uuwi na po ako ng Ilocos" I replied softly as I tried to flash a smile.
"W-what I thought you'll stay here for 2 weeks, why so sudden?" She asked me, she tapped the space beside her to tell me to sit. I put my bags down and I sat beside her.
"Uh opo, supposedly 2 weeks po. Pero kailangan ko na po kasing umuwi." I denied, I don't want her to think such things and causes kung bakit ako umalis ng maaga.
"But-" Mama Meldy didn't able to finish her words when tita Irene spoke.
"Are you ready?" Tita Irene asked me, her eyes are so puffy and she's dressed already.
"Let's go." She said coldly.
"Uh Abu, alis na po ako." I said and I kissed her cheeks.
"I-I hope this isn't the last time I'll see you." She told me then she hugged me tightly and kissed my cheeks.
I nodded and hugged her back.
"Thank you po for everything." I whispered.
She nodded and tapped my back. We head our way outside, hinatid kami hanggang sa airport. Akala ko we'll travel by land pero may private chopper pala sila tita Irene. Sumakay kami sa chopper, the whole ride was so quiet. Nahihiya na din kasi akong kausapin si tita after what I told her.
When we land in Laoag, may nagsundo na saamin at si kuya Matt yun.
"Isabelle." Kuya Matt uttered, I just smiled at him, he kissed my forehead.
"Always take care!" He told me, I nodded and we entered the car. We arrived in Bahay Kalinga right away. Lumabas ako sa kotse at tumakbo papunta sa loob, sumunod naman si Kuya Matt at tita Irene saakin.
"Sister!" I called Sister Theressa, she looked back.
"Isabelle!" She shouted and hugged me.
"Dios mio kang bata ka, napa aga ata yung uwi mo?" She said and looked at my behind
"Ms. Irene, Gov. magandang hapon po." Sister greeted, they nodded and smiled at Sister.
"Sister, pwede po ba akong makipag-usap kay tita Irene muna?" I asked whispering, I want to thank her for everything in person before they leave.
"Oo naman. Maiwan ko muna kayo." She replied as she left us to give us space.
"Uh, t-tita pwede po ba tayong mag-usap?" I asked tita Irene, when I looked at her eyes, I know she felt sadness. She just looked at me and she nodded.
"Ah sa may garden nalang po tayo?" I told her and I guided our way to the garden, when we reached the garden, tita Irene and I sat on the bench.
"Tita, sorry." I said, my voice broke.
"I know I hurt you with my words earlier and I'm sorry." I said and sobbed, she didn't respond but when I looked at her, she's already crying. I held her hands.
"Tita, I promise this isn't the last time we'll see each other. Bibisitahin ko po kayo sa Manila pag magkapera po ako. Thank you po talaga for everything you've done for me." I said while actually tearing up already, this is so hard.
"Its okay, thank you also for making me feel the feeling of being a mother again in a short period of time." Tita Irene said, she held my hands tightly. This woman is too soft and fragile and I feel so sorry for hurting her, knowing how vulnerable she is.
"You don't know how much I don't want to let you go." She said while sobbing, I hugged her tightly.
"I'll miss you my love." She whispered and kissed my forehead.
{Marupok, Indeed.}
"Mamimiss din po kita tita." I uttered pleasingly and soft.
"Tawagan mo lang po ako pag bumisita kayo dito sa Ilocos, pupuntahan ko po kayo sa bahay niyo." I told her, she smiled at me as she nodded.
"And always remember that I am just one call away when you need someone at your lowest especially when you want to call someone as your mama."
"Thank you so much tita, let's go, tita? Para po, makauwi nadin kayo. Don't work too much tita." I affirms and breathed-out.
"Yes my doctora." She said and smiled a little, we stood up and go back to where kuya Matt is.
"I think this is really a goodbye?" She whispered, I hugged tita, she hugged me back tightly and kissed my forehead for a minute.
"You take care always and call me when you need something, okay?" She articulated as I nodded and smiled at her.
"I love you.." She whispered as she tightens our hug, I really don't want to let go because her hug is so calming and I can feel the sense of warmth from her.
"I love you, tita. Thank you for everything, you'll always have this special space in my heart." I aforesaid gratefully.
"Sister, alis na po kami." Kuya Matthew bids goodbye to us.
"Mag-iingat kayo." Sister replied softly.
"Belle, una kana sa loob." Sister added, I obliged right away, I bid final goodbye to them. Kuya Matt hugged me and kissed my forehead same with tita Irene. I wave my hand and go inside.
𝗜𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗼𝘀-𝗔𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗲𝘁𝗮
I don't want to let her go but I need to, I'm trying so hard not to break down her.
"Ms. Irene, maraming salamat po sa pag-aaruga kay Isabelle." Sister Theressa said, I smiled and nodded at her. I hugged her and bid our goodbye's.
Inalalayan ako ni Matt papunta sa kotse, when we entered the car, I cried and sobbed there. Matthew is rubbing my back for comfort. When I calmed, we head to the airport right away.
"Tita, I'll accompany you papuntang Manila." Matthew said.
"No, I'm okay Matt. Thank you" I said and smiled lightly.
"Tita, I insist, tara na po." He said.
I nodded, hindi na ako nakipagtalo sa kanya. Sumakay na kami sa chopper and after an hour dumating na kami sa Manila.
To be continue...
Sorry for the wrong grammars and misspelled words.