Diana has been awake for a while now but she’s still lying on her bed. It’s been 3 years since she graduated college. ‘Time flew up so fast,’ she sighed, not that she’s complaining or anything, but it’s been 3 years and she hasn’t done anything to improve their life yet, economically speaking. She scratched her head and seated on the edge of the bed. She stretched her body and finally stood up. She went to the closet to change and went out of her room.
She entered the kitchen. It was a small room, facing the abundant trees. It was one of her luxuries: seeing the fruit trees in their backyard. The other one was seeing the morning skies every single day, or at least she considered. She prepared their breakfast. It’s been so long since she prepared one, being busy at school and paper works… well, she can’t complain, can she? She’s a teacher by profession, after all, and since it is Saturday, she will play the best eldest sister for today.
After preparing breakfast, she checked her siblings: Anne was nowhere to be found, probably in her garden, tending to her vegetables; Grace, Mel, and Janwill are still sound asleep. She left them and started doing some cleaning. She was already busy when her phone chimed in. She got a text from Ynezmari, her best friend. She checked the message.
HEY, DIANA! WHERE ARE YOU? ARE YOU BUSY? COME AT MY HOUSE ASAP, I HAVE SOMETHING IMPORTANT TO TELL YOU.
Curious, she replied back.
I’M ACTUALLY BUSY AT THE MOMENT. CAN’T YOU JUST TEXT ME WHAT YOU’RE ABOUT TO SAY?
She was curious, but sometimes, Ynez would say it’s important but turns out, she’s just going to spill some gossip. She loved Ynez, she really do, and they were best of friends since kindergarten but her hand is full right now, she can’t entertain gossips, well, at least not today. She was just about to put down her phone again when she got another text from Ynez. She frowned. ‘What’s with her today?’ she asked herself. She opened the text message.
REMEMBER, FERDINAND ALTAMIRA JR. THE SEMINARIAN YOU HAVE A CRUSH ON UNTIL NOW?
Upon reading the text message, she froze. ‘Arjay? What about him? Did anything happen to him?’ How could she know? It’s been a while since he heard from him, besides, Arjay’s in the seminary… he will be a priest someday, so why would she bother to know about him anymore, right?
“Hey sis! Your phone’s ringing. It’s Nez, she’s calling. Tsk.” It’s Janwill, and he grabbed the phone from your hand to answer the call. ”Hey, Nez! Yeah, she’s here, and she’s actually zoning out. Yeah, where—“
She grabbed the phone back.
“Hey, Nez! You called.” she said, laughing nervously.
“Diana! Oh my God! It’s Arjay Altamira! He left the seminary! He’s back, Diana! Oh… My… Gosh! I am so happy for you!” Nez squealed on the other line.
She rolled her eyes but she was thrilled to hear the news. She cleared her throat.
“And where did you get that gossip, anyway? You know what, you’ve been here for what, 3 weeks and you got a lot of gossips on your plate already!” she said laughing.
But the thought crossed her mind again, ‘Arjay Altamira is back from the seminary.’ Should she feel happy? Now that finally, he is free and available? Does her prayers paid off? No, actually, she didn’t prayed for Arjay to leave the seminary, at all. ‘Oh my gosh!’ she squealed on her mind.
“I can feel you are really zoning out. Anyway, I didn’t just hear it through the grapevine, I saw him with my own two eyes, Diana! Imagine this, I’ve been here for 3 weeks and you’ve been here since forever and yet, you haven’t seen him??? Plus, this is what I heard, he’s going to manage their school here in the province! Oh God, Diana! He is so near… reachable! It’s good I went home from Canada, because if I didn’t, girl… you’re not going to hear the greatest news of all time!” Nez said.
Diana can sense the excitement, the thrills, and the happiness on Nez’s voice. She laughed because it’s true: she will not hear the greatest news of her life, if not for Nez. But, is it true that Arjay is back? She needs proof. She needs to see him with her own two eyes, not only because Nez told her so, because as far as she’s concerned, and as far as her heart is concerned, she needs to be certain, because she accepted it already! She knew that Arjay would become a priest someday, and it’s his calling, or so he was certain then when he told her. And he fits perfectly to be a priest! An intelligent, gentle, nice, good-looking person. Gosh, he is so perfect… to be a priest at least, not for her, or for any woman.
“Am I interrupting your daydreaming, sis?” Janwill asked, frowning at her. She looked at her younger brother.
“What?” she asked. Janwill shook his head and sighed.
“What did Nez say, anyway?” he asked again.
“Not that you should know of. Where’s Grace and Mel? They’re not up yet?” she asked, sweeping the rest of the dirt on the floor.
“They do. They’re talking about the book they read last night. Why would they even talk about it? They just read it!” he asked, confused.
“Because they loved it. Call them up now, let’s eat some breakfast. I can hear papa outside already.”
He went to the bedroom. Diana prepared the table. Her father and Anne went from the backdoor. Anne seated on her space at the table.
“Let’s eat breakfast, papa. Anne, wash your hands before taking your seat.” She said.
“Fine.” Anne rolled her eyes and went to the sink.
Janwill, Grace, and Mel entered the kitchen. They all took their seat and said their graces. They started eating.
“Diana, I saw Nez a while ago. She’s asking for you.” her father said.
“She just called me, papa. What time did you see her?” she asked.
“A little earlier. She’s on her jogging rounds. I was on my way to the farm.” He said.
“She and Nez has a secret, papa.” Janwill said.
“Hey, young man, the adults are talking. Shut your mouth.” She snapped at her brother.
“Fine. But, papa, if she’s going to introduce a guy, don’t be sur---“
She shoved some omelet on her younger brother’s mouth. He looked at him furiously.
“What the… sis!” he yelled.
“Eat some more, Jan. You’re too skinny.” She said.
“Says the skinniest.” Anne said.
“Yes, young lady, you were saying?” she rolled her eyes at her sister.
“Stop it, young people.” Their father said calmly.
They continued eating silently. After eating, Mel fixed the table and Grace did the dishes. Diana went to her room to continue her paper works. She was already busy checking her students’ outputs when she came across one of her students’ paper, it was named Jay-Ar. She remembered Arjay. Why did he leave the seminary? When did he leave? For what reason? Did he actually change his mind and realize he doesn’t belong there? What did his parents’ say? It’s his 4th year in Theology already next academic year. He is so close to finishing the second part. Only a few years left and he will become a priest already. Did he fight with his rector? No, that’s impossible to happen. He is not the rebel type. Did he fail one of his subjects? No, another impossible scenario. He is sharp and very articulate, academics is the least of his concerns. What exactly happened?
Diana reached out for her cellphone and opened her sms. She searched for her and Arjay’s conversation. She opened it and started typing.
HI, BROTHER! STILL REMEMBER ME? I JUST WANTED TO ASK…
‘Delete, delete, delete… what were you thinking, Diana?’ she shook her head and she put her phone down. She sighed and shove the idea to the back of her mind.
‘3 years, Diana. It’s been 3 years. You are still in love with him? My gosh! How pathetic! There are a lot of guys out there. Socialize! You don’t need a man like Arjay. Besides, maybe his absence in the seminary is just temporary. He’ll realize that he really wanted to be a priest, and then what? You’re going to be left alone again. Just forget him already! You accepted your fate with him, don’t you? There was no you and him, there is no you and him, and definitely, will never be you and him. You get it?' It was the other side of her brain, lecturing her about Arjay. Well, she’s quite right about everything.
“You just need to accept it. Because at the end of the day, you will just hurt yourself, thinking the improbability of you and him. What a hopeless romantic.” She said to herself and shook her head. She continued checking her students’ output.