CHAPTER 75:TEN STEPS AHEAD

Liam’s P. O. V.

With all the stress and burdens that I had been dealing with these past few weeks, aminado akong hindi ko na naaasikaso pa si Diane and I was guilty for that. May kailangan lang talaga akong unahin pansamantala at iyon nga ang iba’t iba kong kumpanya.

I was damn too busy handling everything. Hindi ko alam kung anong nangyari—kung bakit bigla na lang nalugi ang isang branch ng L. A. Gadgets International sa Boston at sa lalong madaling panahon ay kinakailangan kong pumunta roon.

Sumabay pa ang unti-unting pagbagsak ng isa ring branch ng D’ Jewelries sa New Bedford which I could not afford to lose. It was only established January last year and it was named after Diane—the reason why it started with D. I named it after her when I got the chance to know her name from Steve.

Pero, bago ako pumunta sa America ay gusto kong makasal din kami ni Diane sa lalong madaling panahon. Kaya naman kinausap ko ang kapatid ni Ate Shey na si Ney, who also happened to be my first cousin. Siya ang madalas kong kausap sa telepono.

Ney was currently one of the best and competent wedding planners in Italy. Despite being young, she was already in-demand.

I didn’t have any ideas when it comes to wedding planning aside from my preferred tuxedo, so I trusted everything on her. With her, I wouldn’t have any worries at all. The wedding would surely be successful.

Kahapon, pumunta kami ni Ney sa Balesin just to make sure everything was in order. Beach wedding ang magiging setting ng kasal namin ni Diane na siya namang pinaghandaan ko sa loob ng isang buwan. I just really hoped that she would say yes to my wedding proposal.

Ngayong umaga, kahit wala pa akong tulog ay bumalik na ako rito sa Quego del Mar. Agad kong kinutsaba ang pamilya ni Diane at malalapit na kaibigan for her surprise birthday bash. Sa loob ng isang buwan ay sobrang ginugol ko ang oras kong pagsabayin ang wedding planning at managing ng EGC, kung kaya’t kailangan kong bumawi kay Diane.

Maging ang best friend niyang si Karen na nag-reside na pala sa Cebu ay pinapunta ko pa rito just to make sure na masu-surprise talaga ang mahal ko. I contacted her three weeks ago about my plan and aside from Ney, Karen had been helping me a lot too.

I was sure that she would be Diane’s maid of honor, so I asked her about which color motif Diane would prefer. She had been sending both Ney and I a bunch of photos.

Diane’s favorite color was red but contrary to that, Karen stated that Diane would choose light colors for the wedding. Ney decided that we should go with blush peach motif. As for the color palette that she gave, I chose teal blue for me.

The wedding would happen tomorrow at sunset if Diane would accept me. Hindi naman niya siguro ako tatanggihan and I was one hundred percent sure of that. We would be having an evening flight right after our dinner tonight, kasama ng mga taong nandito gamit ang private plane ko.

I guessed, everything was perfectly planned. Ang ‘oo’ na lang talaga ni Diane ang kulang.

Gano’n kabilis ang gusto kong mangyari sa’min. I didn’t want to rush everything, but if Leandro already planned something that would break Diane’s trust in me, I would make sure that my plan was ten steps ahead of him.

After the wedding, I knew that I would be able to tell her everything—all by bits and pieces. I was only hoping that she would never change the way she looked at me—that she would still love me despite what I did.

I immediately went out of the box as soon as she unwrapped it. Seeing her even in blindfolds made me shiver with excitement and I couldn’t help myself to resist the temptation of kissing her right away.

Hindi man siya gaanong nakapag-ayos ay sadyang napakaganda pa rin niya talaga ngayon wearing her simple off-shoulder black dress. I just hoped that I was the best gift she received today.

I loved her. God knew how much I loved Diane with all my heart.

Then, I kneeled in front of her while holding the diamond engagement ring that was handmade only for her just in time she removed her blindfold. I even asked David to secretly get her ring size and I hoped that this ring would fit well on her finger.

Oh, God! Please make her say yes. Please… please…