CHAPTER 11 - I'M THE FIRST TO MEET YOU

I woke up beside him, naked. It's sunday and wala kaming pasok. Agad na lang akong nagbihis, at nag iwan ng note. I was determined and I also realized it all last night.

“Pero pa'no na gagawin ko?! Haist ang tanga mo Lumina! Dapat hindi mo siya hinayaan na gawin 'yon! Magkakahiyaan pa kayo tuloy!” sigaw ko sa sarili ko, nang biglang..

“Oh, good morning Ms. Raven.” nasa tabi ko na pala si Clyde.

“S-Sir Clyde.”

“I told you right? Clyde na lang. By the way, ba't ka nasa harap ng bahay ng pinsan ko? And what's with your clothes bakit mukhang kakagising mo lang?”

“Ah.. Kasi..”

“Hmm?”

—

“What?! You had it with him?! Last night?!”

“Yeah.. Haist napakatanga ko talaga.”

“Hala, kaya pala hindi siya macontact kagabi, magkasama pala kayo.”

“Lasing siya kagabi, Dapat ihahatid ko lang siya. But..”

“He did it? And you let him?”

“Yeah.”

“You have feelings for him?”

“I'm gonna tell you a secret.”

“What?”

“You're right, I'm Lumina. Yung pinaglaruan ng pinsan mo.”

“I know.”

“Huh?”

“Alam kong ikaw yan.”

Clyde's POV

“What do you mean? P-Pa'no mo naman nalaman?” tanong niya sa'kin.

“I've seen you five years ago. At your hobbies of loving cats.”

“Yeah pero.. How can you know it when si Thyrone mismo na nakasama ko ng matagal dati ay hindi ako makilala?”

Hindi mo lang alam, pero nando'n ako. Nando'n ako sa araw-araw na magkasama kayo sa university. How can I not recognize the woman who made me fell for her?

—FLASHBACK—

Bago pa man mapunta si Thyrone sa Hope University, ando'n na 'ko. Ako ang unang nakausap ng university na 'yon na tutulungan namin sila. I met her first.

“Sir, dito po ang meeting hall.”

“Sure.”

Papunta kami ng first meeting, when I saw her walking. Umaga pa lang so papasok pa lang siguro siya ng school, hindi ko alam but my eyes just suddenly saw her presence. Nakatitig lang siya sa libro niya, nang bigla niya 'kong mabangga. Nalaglag ang libro niya pati na ang phone niya at agad ko itong pinulot.

“Here.”

“Thanks.” she just walked na at hindi tumingin sa'kin.

I became interested with her coldness. Karaniwan sa tao titignan ka sa mata pag nagkabangga kayo pero siya hindi talaga tumingin sa'kin at nagdire-diretso lang ng lakad. She's not that beautiful but she's not ugly. Pag nagpaganda siya I'm sure she can be the most pretty student of this university.

“Sir?”

“Yes?”

“Tara na po.”

“Oh sure.”

The second day, I met her again. On cafeteria. Do'n ko nalaman na she's center of attention here, but not the attention that you will want. She was bullied.

“Sir, balita ko po masarap daw sila magluto dito.”

“Oh really?” napangiti lang ako at umupo na lang, when my eyes saw her again.

She was sitting and alone. With a lunchbox na mukhang baon niya. I wonder why hindi siya bumili ng pagkain sa cafeteria. I was just looking at her, then suddenly, I saw them laughing at her at may lumapit sa kaniyang mga babae.

Nilagyan nila ng lupa ang pagkain niya, their words are very harsh.

“HAHA since sanay ka naman sa dumi, kainin mo na rin.” nagtawanan sila, I thought she will say something, pero inayos niya lang ang lunchbox at umalis. Binato siya ng mga pagkain, but she didn't said anything again.

Halos patayin na ko ng curiosity ko kaya nagtanong ako sa katrabaho ko.

“Hey, sino ba 'yon? At ba't siya nabubully?”

“Ah, sir balita ko po nakakuha lang din siya ng scholarship dito, kinaiinggitan po yata ng mga students dahil matalino daw po siya. Mahirap din, e syempre po mayayaman sila kaya binubully nila mas mahirap sa kanila.”

“What's her name?”

“Her name is Lumina Raven.” sabi ng studyante na nasa likod ko.

“Lumina Raven..”

Simula no'n hindi na siya matanggal sa isip ko, hindi kami gano'n kadalas magkita sa school at nanghihinayang ako do'n, hindi ko naman pwedeng puntahan sa room nila baka makagawa pa 'ko ng ikakasira niya rin at baka magkaro'n ng rumor about sa'min. E kilala na 'ko ng lahat dito. Besides, she will think of me as a weird person na bigla-bigla siya iaapproach. So hindi ko siya nakikita, but nung pauwi na 'ko, pasakay na ko sa kotse ko when I suddenly saw her sa tabi ng gate ng school. She's sitting at parang may ginagawa. So nilapitan ko siya.

“Miss, what are you doing?” nagulat siya bigla at napatingin sa likod niya, but nakafacemask ako no'n dahil may ubo ako. So hindi niya ko nakilala.

“Ah, pinapakain ko lang po itong pusa.”

“You like cats?”

“Yes, I love them.” naupo ako sa tabi niya, kahit madilim na, I can see her smile. Napakaganda niya magsmile, you can feel that she's a kind person.

“I love cats dahil, kaya nila ipaglaban sarili nila sa oras na may nananakit sa kanila. Their instinct knows when a person is bad or not.”

Kahit hindi direkta ang sinabi niya, I know what it means. Because she can't fight for herself. Maybe it's because kailangan niya makisama dahil siya lang ang mahirap dito, or hindi niya kaya dahil mayayaman sila.

While she's talking to the cat and touching it gently, my heart was beating so fast.

Kinabukasan dapat ay magpapakilala na 'ko sa kaniya, gusto ko mapalapit sa kaniya. But that was also the day, na biglang nagkaroon ng rumors, about her and Thyrone. I saw them on the stairs na naguusap. He was making moves with her.

Kung hindi lang sana ako napunta ng Australia para asikasuhin ang trabaho do'n, sana naligtas ko pa siya sa laro ni Thyrone.

—END OF FLASHBACK—

“I don't know, my instincts said so.”

“What kind of instincts do you have? Instincts of a cat? Grabe pa'no mo nalaman 'yon?”

“So, what are you going to do? Iiwasan mo ba siya? Or you will continue your revenge?”

“I will— wait.. How did you.. know about that?”

“It's automatic na syempre, why would the Lumina I know apply here to be his secretary? When ang daming mas malaki pang company sa mundo at bansa natin? Ang una kong naisip ay baka may gusto ka sa kaniya, but that doesn't match the story. Kasi pag balik ko ng Australia hinanap kita and—”

“Wait.. Hinanap mo 'ko? For what?”

“U-Uhh.. Secret, basta ayon nalaman ko na my cousin did a very harsh thing to you. Pinaglaruan ka niya and nadamay pamilya mo, so it's impossible na you came here because you have feelings for him. So naisip ko, maybe it's because you're mad at him.”

“Ba't kaya hindi ka nag apply na manghuhula? Baka alam mo din pati future ko?”

“HAHA hindi naman. So ano na nga gagawin mo?”

“Hindi ko pa alam. Minsan gusto ko na umiwas, but I like him so much and it'd impossible na takasan ang sitwasyong ginawa ko. So I guess, I'll endure this.”

“How funny, you were supposed to do a revenge or something that can harm his reputation, pero nafall ka pa.”

“I just realized, mas mahirap pala ang napagdaanan niya kesa sa'kin. He lost everyone. And now, his bestfriend Kierra also wants to be his wife.”

“What?! Kierra?!”

“Yeah, you know her right?”

“Yeah, kababata namin siya. I guess nagmove na siya.”

“You also know na may gusto siya kay Thyrone?”

“Of course, sa tagal naming magkasama? Simula bata? Syempre mapapansin ko 'yon sa kilos niya towards him.”

“Mukhang madami ka talagang alam ah?”

“Yeah.”

“By the way, uwi na 'ko. Gusto ko makapag isip-isip kaya maglalakad na lang ako.”

“Sige, see you later.”

To think that the girl that I had feelings, would just pop out like that with that beautiful face. Ang laki ng pinagbago niya, I prefer the old Lumina. So magusto din pala siya kay Thyrone, nahuli nanaman pala ako. Lagi na lang ako nauunahan ni Thyrone.

“Lumabas ka na d'yan, Wala na siya.” sabi ko, at agad naman siyang lumabas.

“How did you know that I'm here?”

“Hindi ako tanga para hindi marinig na gumagalaw yung halaman sa likod ko, Kierra.”

“I heard all of it.”

“So? Gagamitin mo ba 'yon? Para maalis siya sa landas mo?”

“I just also knew last night, na siya yung Lumina na pinaglaruan ni Thyrone.”

“How?”

“Connections? Nung una pa lang nacurious na 'ko sa katauhan niya. So I did background check on her. Nalaman kong sa Hope University pala siya nag aral, but she got scholarship nung 2nd year college na siya and do'n na nag aral sa Harvard. And lalo ko pang napatunayan 'yon when I heard you both talking.”

“Gagamitin mo yan as reason? Para magalit si Thyrone sa kaniya and fire her?”

“Hindi naman ako gano'n kasama, Clyde. I know naman na kahit anong gawin niya, Thyrone won't like her. You and I both know that Thyrone loves only one girl.”

“And that girl is dead. Alam mo din na hindi siya mapapasayo.”

“I can have him, kahit hindi na yung pagmamahal niya, as long as he's beside me, okay na ko. Unlike you, na nagpapanggap pang okay. I know you like her, my instinct said so.” agad akong tumayo at napatingin sa kaniya.

“Atleast I like her genuinely, unlike you being possessive.”

Iniwan ko lang siya.

Thyrone's POV

“Hmm, my head~” nagising akong masakit ang ulo at nakahubad.

“How.. Did I got home last night?” I checked my phone but it's low battery, so dumiretso na lang ako sa refrigerator, pero bago ko pa mabuksan, I saw a note on it.

I'll go ahead, Sir. There's a hang over soup on the table.

Lumina

“What?! She's here?!”

“Wait.. What.. happened last night?”

Nagflashback lahat sa utak ko ang mga pinaggagagawa ko.

“F*ck.. Lagot na. I did it.. with her.” napahawak na lang ako sa ulo ko.