MY EYEBROWS raised as I heard the name Gwen mentioned, "Johanna?"
"Yeah," she said, obviously not interested. Nilagyan niya kaagad ng ulam ang plato ko, "here. You should eat a lot. Hindi ba't mahaba ang binyahe mo?"
I stared at her for a while. Ilang saglit pa ay napatango ako. But I can't still process what's going on.
It's been four years. Gwen and I are in a relationship for four years. Despite our busy schedules for work, we still meet a lot. Marami narin kaming pinag-usapan tungkol sa pamilya
We'd shared a lot of problems together. Kahit nga si Mama na hindi siya gusto ay nakakausap niya parin. But . . . why did she keep this? Bakit hindi niya sinabing may kapatid siya?
And what makes this more frustrating is that I can't get that girl out of my head. That Johanna at the Howl's Cafe.
"So, kumusta naman ang biyahe mo, hijo?" Tito Rafael asked in the middle of eating.
Kahit na nasa kalagitnaan ng pagkalito, sinubukan ko paring ngumiti. "Okay naman po. Medyo natagalan dahil narin sa magagandang tanawin."
"Oh," Tita chuckled at my words, "I'm sure puno na iyang camera mo ng litrato?"
Napatawa ako ng mahina, "I'm actually saving space. Gusto ko po kasing libutin ang Hacienda."
"You should! Ako pa mismo ang magto-tour sa iyo! Sigurado akong malulula ka sa ganda dito!" Proud na sabi ni Tito. Wala akong ibang nagawa kundi ang mapangiti.
"Rafael, talagang ipinagmamalaki mo ang lugar, ano?" tanong ni Tita habang nakataas ang kilay. Tumango kaagad si Tito dito na para bang ito palagi ang natural niyang ginagawa.
Tita sighed and looked at me, "naku, hijo. I'm sure hindi lang ang lugar ang ipagmamalaki niyan. Napakaraming kalokohan ng Tito mo kaya huwag kang masyadong makinig sa mga sinasabi niya."
"Mahal naman!" Reklamo kaagad ni Tito rito. Halatang napahiya siya pero di ko mapigilang matawa doon, pati rin si Gwen. After hearing that, he turned at us. "Aba'y pinagtatawanan narin ako ng mga batang ito."
"Yeah, Mama's right, babe." Lumingon saakin si Gwen habang nakangisi, "napakaraming kalokohan ni Papa. Kaya mas better kung ako ang magto-tour sa'yo. I'll let you see every beautiful parts of this place, okay?"
I smiled at her, "okay. I trust you, babe."
"Naku, ikaw talagang bata ka. Nung wala dito si Theo wala kang oras na lumabas sa kwarto mo," sabi ni Tita.
"Ma, boring kayang gumala ng mag-isa." Sagot ni Gwen rito.
Ngunit ikinakunot ng noo ko ang narinig. What did Tita say? Halos hindi siya lumalabas? But everytime Gwen comes here, she always send me pictures of the view. Anong pinagsasabi nilang hindi siya gumagala ng husto?
"Didn't you send me a lot of pictures before?" I asked out of curiosity.
"Ah, yes." Tumango-tango si Gwen, "but I took that a long time ago. Yung iba galing sa katulong naming si Mae."
"A-ah," it took me a while to answer. Natahimik ako matapos iyun ngunit kaagad na tumingin saakin si Gwen sabay ngiti.
"Why? Is there a problem about those pictures?" she asked.
Umiling-iling ako. I tried to smile at her, "nothing. It's actually beautiful."
She nodded at me then turn at her food again. Tinitigan ko siyang mabuti. Ilang saglit pa ay palihim akong napabuntong-hininga at itinuon ang pansin sa pagkain ko.
I seriously thought she's the one who took that. She . . . she even said she took it herself.
Huminga ako ng malalim. Well, I can't have myself sulking. Knowing Gwen, siguro talagang busy lang siya sa trabaho kaya niya inutusan iyong si Mae. And now that I think about that person, maybe I should thank her for taking the pictures.
"Gwen doesn't really like to walk around here," sambit ni Tita dahilan para mapalingon ako dito. Kumakain siya habang nagsasalita, "ganiyan na siya simula pagkabata. Naku, ibang-iba talaga sila ng kapatid niya."
Napataas ang kilay ko nang mabanggit nito ang kapatid ni Gwen, "si Johanna?"
Tita glanced at me and smiled softly, "yes. Iyung batang iyun, talagang gustong-gustong gumala. Minsan nga nawawala nalang ng biglaan kasama si Mae. Sayang nga lang at hindi na iyun masyadong umuuwi dito. Kaya nga hindi sila masyadong nagkikita ni Gwen, eh. She's too busy with her work."
"At iyun lang ang pagkakapareha nila ni Gwen," sabad ni Tito sa kalagitnaan ng pagnguya.
Napasulyap ako kay Gwen. I thought she'll laugh at that, but surprisingly, she just sighed, "Pa, don't compare me with her. We're totally different. At isa pa sigurado akong kahit na magkita pa kami, libro lang ang aatupagin nun. Or maybe she'll go with Mae again. Sila naman talaga iyung mag-bestfriend."
"Still, you should spend time with her more. Sigurado akong matutuwa iyun," nakangiting sabi ni Tita.
Napairap kaagad si Gwen, halatang hindi sang-ayun sa sinabi ng Mama niya. And as I looked at her reaction while we're talking about her sister, I quite get the thing that she doesn't really like her.
But I can't think of any reason why. If I think about it, I'm quite close with my sister, Thea. Medyo close rin sila ni Gwen. And if I'm right thinking that she's not close with her sister, medyo weird iyun para saakin.
"Oh!" Tita suddenly exclaimed. Para bang may naisip ito bigla dahilan para ma-excite, "why don't you go around the Hacienda with her? Sigurado akong masaya iyun," napalingon kaagad siya kay Tito, "right Rafael?"
Tito, who's obviously happy with what he heard nodded, "of course! Sino bang hindi masisiyahan? Johanna is a nice girl. Sigurado rin akong magkakasundo kayo, Theo."
"Yeah, that's right. Considering the fact na journalist ang batang iyun at photographer ka, baka nga pwede kayong magkatrabaho." Ngiting-ngiti na sabi ni Tita.
"Really?" I asked, my eyebrows raising in surprised. Thinking how interesting that woman is, I talked again. "Well, if she's working exclusively, that's gonna be hard. Pero pwede rin naman," napatango-tango ako habang nakangiti.
That's right. Kahit na hindi ko pa ito gaano kakilala, pwede ko siyang makatrabaho as a journalist. But still. If I find out that she's the same person as the woman earlier in the Cafe, I want her to be my model more than the writer of my pictures. If, of course, siya nga iyung nakita ko sa Howl's Cafe.
But if not, that's quite . . . disappointing.
"Isn't it more possible for me and Theo to work together?" Singit bigla ni Gwen dahilan para mapatingin kami rito.
My eyebrows furrowed as I see her expression. She's looking at her own food, obviously annoyed. "Ma, model ako. Mas maganda kaming pares ni Theo, right?"
"Well," tumango si Tita. This time, she's not smiling anymore. Looks like she also noticed Gwen's sudden change of mood, "that's more possible. I'm just saying that they can also work together too, hijo."
Gwen rolled her eyes and looked at her Mama, "still. Can you stop talking about her in front of me? It's quite annoying. Ako na nga ang nandito, siya parin ang pinag-uusapan niyong lahat."
Natigilan kaagad ako. After saying that, she stand and walked away from us. Tinawag siya ni Tito, ngunit hindi siya tumigil sa paglalakad. Nagpatuloy siya at tuluyan na kaming iniwan sa hapagkainan.
Nagkatinginan kaming tatlo nila Tito. Tita, who doesn't look surprise sighed heavily. Napahigpit naman ang hawak ko sa kubyertos. Because of Gwen, the atmosphere obviously changed.
Halatang ikinalungkot nila Tita ang narinig mula kay Gwen.
"Pasensya ka na, hijo." Natigilan ako sa biglaang paghingi ng tawad ni Tita, "I shouldn't have talk too much."
"Gina, it's not your fault." Pag-alo ni Tito dito.
Huminga kaagad ako ng malalim. Seriously, Gwen. She's always hot-tempered. Wala namang ginawang masama ang mga magulang niya.
All they did is to talk about her sister.
"Okay lang, Tita." Sinubukan kong ngumiti. "Uhm, if you would excuse me, susundan ko lang po si Gwen."
Walang ibang isinagot si Tita kundi ang pagtango. Tumayo naman ako kaagad at sinundan si Gwen.
I sighed heavily. I don't really get Gwen. But seeing things right now, it looks like there's really an issue about her and Johanna.
Her parents just talked about her sister like how parents normally does, but she's already annoyed by that. Halatang may kung anong issue sa gitna ng magkapatid. Pero . . . bakit hindi niya sinabi?
If there's a problem, why won't she tell me? I may not be able to give her a solution, but I'll listen to her. Kahit na komplikado man iyun, susubukan kong intindihin.
All she needs to do is to talk. And I'll gladly listen.
Napailing-iling ako. I think I just need to wait for her. If it's really that deep, she'll talk about it eventually. Kaya hindi pwedeng pilitin ko siya. I don't want her getting mad at me.
Ipinagpatuloy ko nalang ang paglalakad. Medyo huli na nang sinundan ko si Gwen kaya hindi ko alam kung saan siya dumaan. As I walked by in front of the staircase, I stared at it. I think she didn't walk towards there. Huminga ako ng malalim at napagpasyahan na maglakad papunta sa labas. Maybe she's off somewhere out of the Mansion. Knowing her, she always likes to be far away from someone she's annoyed to.
Nakasara ang pintuan papunta sa labas. Thinking that I'll see Gwen after opening it, I tried to calm myself down. Ayaw kong mauwi ang pag-uusap namin sa away kaya naman mas mabuting kalmado ako.
But as I opened it, my whole body froze seeing the woman standing in front of me while talking to Mae—the one who took the pictures.
I blinked again and again. I already expected this to happen yet I'm still surprised. I can't even move. My heart feels like it stopped for a moment. Hindi ko rin maialis ang tingin sa kaniya.
As the seconds passed by, she turned her head on me when she finally noticed. And like what people normally does in this kind of situation, her eyebrows furrowed. Napatingin kaagad siya kay Mae.
"What is he doing here?" Johanna asked.