This book is a work of fiction. Names,characters,some places, and incidents are products of the author's imagination and are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events,places,or persons,living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
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PROLOGUE
"Good Morning, Ma'am!"
I smiled at the employees while walking. Ang iba sakanila ay nakayuko pa na akala mo ay isang Royalty ang dumating at nalakad ngayon.
"Drop the formality. Let's have a meeting!" Natatawa kong bigkas habang pinagmamasdan silang lahat.
Halos sabay sabay silang nag-si alisan at mga natatarantang nagsipuntahan sa meeting room kaya mas lalo akong natawa. Muka ba akong masungit?
"Ma'am! Nandito na pala kayo. Di ako na inform." Sarkastikong bati saakin ng sekretarya ko bago kuhanin saakin ang dala-dala kong bag.
"Muka ba akong masungit?" Tanong ko rito. Nakasimangot naman siyang tumingin muli saakin bago ako tarayan.
"Ay hindi mo alam?" Tugon nito saakin bago ako talikuran at nauna ng maglakad.
"Hoy Winter! Boss mo ako pero mas boss pa asta mo saaking Gaga ka! Be professional!" Bulyaw ko dito ng sundan ko Siya papuntang opisina ko.
"Hoy din Mina Cassandra! Same position lang tayo dito! Nataon lang na suspended ako." Sigaw nito pabalik saakin. I rolled my eyes on her bago ko siya lagpasan at nauna ng pumasok sa opisina ko.
"You bitch! It's been almost 10 years, don't tell me galit ka pa rin saakin?" Biro ko dito ng pumasok siya sa opisina ko at padabog na inilapag ang bag ko sa couch na nasa gilid.
Lumapit ito saakin na may nakakalokong ngiti ngayon sa mga labi. I rolled my eyes again, I know what she's thinking.
"Woah Mina! You can now joke about what happened 10 years ago huh?" Kantyaw nito saakin at prenteng umupo sa couch habang nakataas pa ang mga paa sa Glass table.
I smiled a little. I didn't even realized that it's been 10 years since that. I tried to reminisce what happened before, but I still can't.
"Wag ka ng sumagot! I told you, don't let your mouth say what your heart doesn't feel." Aniya habang naka titig sa kabuuan ng Manila Mula sa malaking glass wall dito sa opisina ko.
"It's been 10 years, but the pain is still here until now." I said while I put my palm on my chest. "I went out of the country to forget, now i came back it's all useless." I looked at her and I gave her a painful smile.
"Mina Cassandra, I hated you before because the guy I like loves you. Everyone favors you, everyone is on your side." She said before she also plastered a painful smile at me. "But when I realized that all those bad things I did to you are useless, what did I do? I regretted it all. Hating you, hating your friends, hating those people defending you, and most importantly I regretted hating that girl who's now in a peaceful place. That's unfair right? We're still struggling here. How dare she go there and now living peacefully? She needs to take a revenge on me. How dare she leave? She's always do things on her own without considering our feelings." She took a deep breath and i watch how she quickly wipe a tears coming out from her eyes.
"That's her. But we should be thankful that she's safe and free from worries and problems now." Saad ko habang nakatitig sakanya. She looks at me once again before closing her eyes and nodded.
"You should go to the meeting room. The new employees and interns are waiting for you." She stood up from her seat before heading out of my office.
I took a deep breath before calming myself. One week ago I arrived here from Singapore. I appointed managed the branch of our hotel there for 5 years and now I'm back at my home country. I thought everything has changed. I thought I will be okay. I thought I already let go. I thought I already erased everything.
"Letting go is indeed hard. But Holding on is still harder." Ngumiti ako sa kawalan bago ko naisipang lumabas ng tuluyan sa aking opisina.
I greeted back some staffs who greeted me. Pagkapasok ko palang sa Meeting Room ay sabay sabay na nagsi tayuan Ang mga bagong staffs at Intern. Just like a classroom, I checked their attendance. This brings back the old days but I don't want to reminisce. This is actually my way to know their names.
"Quizon, Jenieva Lyle M." Bigkas ko sa pamilyar na pangalan. Lumpias na Ang Isang sigundo na walang nagsalita. "Quizon, Janieva Lyle M." Ulit kong muli pero Wala paring nagsalita.
Tiningala ko sila at lahat sila ay prenteng nakaupo habang palinga-linga sa paligid. "She's not here?" Saad ko. May Isa Ang nagtaas ng kamay at sinenyasan ko siyang magsalita.
"Ah ma'am I saw her at the Ladies comfort room earlier at the ground floor. She's the intern from Lyceum po diba?" She said then I nodded. "She looks so distracted. I thought she's okay so I didn't ask her." Sagot nito at tumango ako sakanya. I dialed Winter's number and told her to come here at agad agad din naman siyang pumunta.
"Orient them. May pupuntahan lang ako saglit." I didn't wait for her to answer me at dali dali akong lumabas ng meeting room.
I took the Elevator para mabilis na makapunta sa Ground floor. Ilang minuto lang ang tinigal ko at nakarating na ako sa pinaka baba ng building Kaya dali-dali akong tumakbo patungo sa Women's comfort room.
"Jenieva!" Sigaw ko ng makita ko siyang naka upo sa sahig sa pinaka sulok habang nakayuko at umiiyak. Agad ko siyang nilapitan at hinangkan. "Look at yourself, bakit ba?" I panicked.
"Ate! Why is it so hard? I fight for him. I did all to make him happy. Ginawa ko naman po lahat ng makakaya ko, sinuway ko magulang ko, pinaglaban ko siya kahit na ayaw sakanya ng mga taong malalapit sakin. Pero bakit sa huli hindi parin ako yung pinili niya?" Sunod sunod niyang bigkas saakin habang tuloy tuloy parin siya sa pag iyak. Hinagod ko ang likod niya. "I asked him what's wrong ate or kung may problema kami but he didn't respond, ate you're right. Dapat hindi nalang ako nagtiis." Dagdag pa nito.
"Jen, do you remember when I told you that if you have to ask the question of whether something is wrong or right, that's a sign that it's wrong." I said. I patted her back while watching her crying. I can see myself in her, my 21 years old self crying at the corner while no one's there to comfort me.
"I know ate. But i still can't accept the fact that sa 6 years naming relasyon, hindi parin ako iyong pinili niya when the other girl asked him if it's me or her." Aniya.
"You should be feeling good right now that you didn't end up. Because at the end of the day, he still didn't choose you and no one ever deserves to be an option." She looks at me with a puffy eyes. I wiped the tears on her cheeks. "Wag kang manghihinayang sa tagal ng relasyon niyo. Some couples there are together for 8 years or more but still didn't end up together." I added. "If involve na Ang cheating and third party. Wala ng reason para bumalik pa or manatili pa. If you are enough, bakit pa siya maghahanap ng iba? Don't simply trust words Jenieva, always believe in patterns and most importantly their actions. If he really loves you, he would've chosen you." She gave me a big smile as if she's assuring me that she's okay yet the sadness in her eyes is still visible. She stopped from crying and looks at me.
"Ate, i know you don't like it when someone's asking about your past relationship. But I'm really curious, I feel like you're so experienced because of your advices." I smiled. "What happened?" Jenieva asked.
I stopped from caressing her back, ngumiti ulit ako sakanya ng kaunti bago tuluyang umupo sa tabi niya.
"Let's just say that sometimes, life wouldn't end up the way we wanted. Hindi kasi lahat ng first love o true love ay happy ending, yung iba piniling maging happy pa din kahit magkaiba sila ng ending ng taong mahal niya." Saad ko bago ako ngumiti muli sa kanya.
"So it means he's now happy in his life right now with someone?" She asked then I nodded. "Eh ikaw din ate? May boyfriend ka na?!" Dagdag pa nito kaya natawa ako.
I looked at the ceiling before patting her head.
"A person like me has no energy to start a relationship with someone."