One and Only IX

Sarah woke up the next morning to the sound of her phone ringing. Still tired she didn’t even check to see who it was before she picked up.

“Hello...” she says her head still resting on her pillow and her eyes closed.

“I love you too”

She smiles upon hearing his voice and slowly starts to get up. She lets out a yawn as she rubs her eyes and looks over at the clock, it’s still very early in the morning, the sun only starting to rise as they speak.

“Ang aga mo naman ngayon... may trabaho ka?”

“Oo eh, may shooting ako today kaya di ako makakadalaw ngayon. Sorry.”

“Ano ka ba alam ko naman na hindi ka makakadalaw everyday no, busy sched mo naiintindihan ko yun. Tsaka may trabaho din naman ako today eh so wala din ako sa bahay.” she says as she puts on her slippers and makes her way downstairs to have something to eat.

“Marami ka bang work today?”

“Recording lang tapos bukas may pictorial at commercial shoot ako. Ikaw?”

“Shooting ngayon tapos bukas may press conference at workshop ako for the new show.”

Both fall silent as if just realizing how hectic their schedules were.He’s thinking about when he’ll get the chance to see her again, when their schedules will work together but as of right now things weren’t looking good.

“Mukhang ayaw makisama nang trabaho natin no?” he finally says, unable to figure out when they’d see each other again.

“Alam naman nating pareho na it wouldn’t be like it was in London diba? Okay lang we’ll find a way through it...” she says trying to convince herself that it indeed was okay even though she was a little disappointed that it would be awhile before they’d see each other again.

“Mami-miss kita...” he softly whispers.

“Ako din kahit na alam ko na siguradong magkikita tayo sa Sunday parang ang layo pa nun.”

“Sana before Sunday makahanap ako nang time para makita ka, iniisip ko pa lang na 5 days tayong di magkikita na babad trip na ako eh. Pakiramdam ko this is going to be one of the worse weeks of my life...”

“Ang OA mo ha” she says laughing “Alam mo naka sama ata sa tin yung pagsasama natin sa London na spoil ka masyado...”

“Ako lang ang na spoil? Naku I’m sure hirap na hirap kang makatulog dahil wala ako? Aminin mo na miss mo akong makatabi.”

“Che” she answers laughing at him.

They talk for a good hour before he has to go and she had to start getting ready for the day. She loved that he thought of calling her first thing in the morning because it just helped set her mood. As Laida would say siguro ang galing niya sa puzzle kasi kasisimula palang nang araw nya eh nabuo na ni Lloydie agad. They’re both so busy at work they both completely forget about each other. They didn’t talk again for the rest of the day.

The next morning she wakes up to sound of her alarm still tired. It was already almost noon but she’s still so tired. At the studio she’s sitting in her chair as her hair is being fixed and everybody is getting ready for the photoshoot. She has her eyes closed trying to rest a little more. Suddenly it gets loud in the studio and she can hear everyone shuffling around the room. She opens her eyes and sees him standing at the door way. She raises her eyebrows at him wondering what he’s doing there.

“Diba may trabaho ka?” she finally asks him.

He nods his head as he walks closer to her, smiling at the everyone in the room whose eyes are all glued to him.

“Kakatapos lang nung press con and papunta na ako nang workshop pero may konting oras pa ako kaya naisipan kong dumaan muna nang sandali para lang makita ka.”

She bites her lip and smiles at the same time. She looks around at the people in the room who are just watching the two of them. She looks back at Lloydie trying to tell him this isn’t a good time. He get’s what she’s trying to say .

“Uhm, sige dumaan lang naman ako kasi on the way naman to eh, anyways I’ll talk to you later na lang... Bye” he says waving goodbye to everyone in the studio.

She nods her head at him and waves goodbye. As he is walking away he turns back again and winks at her. She blushes and covers her face with the magazine she was holding trying to hide her kilig. No one says anything at the studio they just all look at Sarah and whisper amongst themselves. She can hear them whispering and at first she feels a little uncomfortable hearing them talk about them like they know whats going on but then she realizes she’s not doing anything wrong so she just let’s them talk.

She’s home now, her body aching, sitting in the living room watching some T.V. by herself when her phone rings. She’s been waiting for his call all day long hoping that he’d find the time for her today.

“Hello” she says cheerfully.

“Hi. Na miss mo ba ako?” he asks promptly

She laughs at him “Na miss naman kahit papaano” she jokes “Tatanungin din sana kita kaya lang alam ko na yung sagot eh. Di naman halata na sobra mo na akong miss no pati sa photoshoot pinuntahan mo ko.”

“Bawal ba?”

“Hindi naman, kaya lang na sayang lang yung pagpunta mo ni hindi manlang tayo nakapagusap”

“Hindi nasayang yung oras ko kasi nakita kita, yun lang okay na ako.”

She’s at a loss for words all she can do is laugh.

He has his eyes closed trying to picture her laughing right now.

“Ano bang meron dyan sa tawa mo at pag naririnig ko eh naiinlove ako lalo sa yo?”

“Siguro the same thing na meron dyan sa boses mo kasi marinig ko lang buo na araw ko...”

They’re both silent for a second then at the same time they blurt out “Ang cheesy!”

They’re both laughing now enjoying the moment.

It’s never worked for him in the past, the whole never having time together but with her he never felt afraid that time would be a factor to work against them. Even if they couldn’t spend countless hours together these simple conversations over the phone meant more to him than any amount of time he spent with any of his ex-girlfriends in the past.

The week passes and they continue to just talk over the phone because of their busy schedules but neither of them is complaining. For her just knowing that he’s thinking of her was enough and for him hearing her voice over the phone could get him through even the longest weeks.

Finally it’s Sunday again.

She’s sitting in her dressing room with her friends giving everybody their pasalubong and sharing stories about her concert as well as her little vacation but she leaves Lloydie out of it because she felt it was nobody’s business. As she’s cheerfully making kwento he walks into the dressing room and stands behind Luis who is standing right next to her. She sees him walk in and her voice starts to drift as she smiles at him. Everyone looks at her confused as to why she just suddenly stopped speaking, they follow her gaze and they see him standing there. They’re just staring at each other and eveyone else is staring at the two of them.

Luis looks over his shoulder “Anong meron? Ba’t napatigil ka?” he asks as he looks back at Sarah.

Sarah shakes her head and says “Ha...? Ah wala, ano kasi, ah...naalala ko lang nakalimutan kong bumili nang pasalubong para kay Lloydie...tama, nakalimutan ko...Sorry.”

He tries stop to himself from laughing at her pathetic excuse and tries to make a pouting face.

“Okay lang naiintindihan ko...”

Billy then butts in “Oo nga okay lang yan wala naman syang hininging paslubong eh, maliban sa kin so akong bahal dyan. Mamaya date tayo”. He winks at John Lloyd and everyone starts laughing.

Everyone is heading out of the dressing room to go on stage but she stays behind for a little bit.

“Sige susunod na ako may kukunin lang ako sa bag ko...”

“Antayin ko na si Sarah, susunod na kami.” he says turning back to face her.

Once everybody is out of the dressing room she says “Masyado ka naman pahalata...”

He points to himself and asks jokingly “Ako? Masyado akong pahalata? Eh sino ba sa ting dalawa ang biglang napatigil habang nagsasalita...?”

She scrunches her face and asks him “You think nahalata nila?”

“Bakit tinatago ba natin?”

She shakes her head “Hindi naman pero until we figure everything out diba mas maganda kung ienjoy muna natin to na walang nakikialam?” she says making lambing to him as she wraps both her arms around him

He smiles as he puts his arms around her too. She has waited all week to feel him hold her in his arms and for a moment she lets herself surrender to his embrace. Before she lets go she looks up at him and asks “May lakad ka ba after this kasi may kailangan akong sabihin sa yo...”

“Meron eh...”

Saddend she steps back and says “Ah ganun ba sige sa susunod na lang...halika na inaantay na nila tayo dun”

“Aakyat ako nang ligaw ngayon eh...”

She looks at him as he puts his hand at the small of her back and leads her out of the dressing room.

“Ikaw ha...”

He’s standing in the sidelines watching her as she performs, smiling from ear to ear when he hears a voice coming from behind him.

“You look happy”

He glances over his shoulder and sees his ex-girlfriend standing behind him. He bows his head down and then nods before he looks over at her again.

“Masaya ako for you, for both of you...”

He raises one eyebrow and asks “Both of us...?”

She smiles at him then points to Sarah who is on stage performing.

“I guess I’ve always known. Noon pa man sya naman talaga yung laman nang puso mo eh. I’m happy things are working out for you two, you make each other better.”

He smiles at her thankful that their is no hard feelings between the two of them, maybe he wasn’t in love with her the way he was with Sarah but he did care for her dearly.

“Thank you.”

She just nods her head and softly smiles at him as she says “Sana one day I can be just as happy.”

"You will be, I'm sure of it. There's a guy out there for you who will love you whole heartedly, and when you find him, trust me you wont know what hit you"

As he is saying this he focuses his eyes back on Sarah who just finished performing and whispers to himself "I'm still trying to figure out how I got through without her in the past... I just can't even imagine myself without her anymore..."

After the show ended he joins her and her family at church and dinner before heading back to her house. They’re sitting outside on the swing, she has her legs crossed and is facing him.

“You think your family likes me?”

“Ba’t mo natanong pakiramdam mo ba ayaw nila sa yo?”

“Hindi naman, I mean magkasundo naman kami pero iniisip ko lang I’ve done some things in the past that could persuade them to dislike me...”

He’s looking down at his hands really worried that maybe they don’t like him or that they’ll never think he’s worthy of their trust. She sees him worrying so she puts her hands on his cheeks and turns his head to face her.

“Halika nga dito. Kung hindi ka nila gusto sa tingin mo ba papayag sila na sumama ka sa ‘min kanina? O na hahayaan nila na magkasama tayo ngayon ditong magisa? Lloydie, hindi ganun yung parents ko, they wont judge you based on your past... ang importante lang sa kanila is if I’m happy at kung nakikita nila na inaalagaan mo ako.” she pauses for a second waiting for the expression on his face to change. He doesn’t look as worried anymore but he still isn’t smiling like she hoped he would.

“And you want to know a secret...?” she continues “Sabi ni mommy sa kin na panatag ang loob nya sa yo...”

That did it. He’s smiling at her again.

He closes his eyes again, in triumph, and says out loud “Haay, Thank you, thank you, thank you”

She’s laughing at him as he continues to say thank you as if he just got life changing news. He finally settles down and just stares at her, his eyes so full of love.

“Tapos ka na? Kasi may kailangan pa akong sabihin...”

He nods his head “Meron pa?”

“Ito yung pinakaimportante... I know na my news probably wont change much between us kasi alam mo na namang mahal kita pero gusto ko lang na malinaw ang lahat sa ting dalawa. I don’t want to play games at ayokong may gray areas sa ting dalawa. Pagkatapos nung nangyari sa past ko naging mahirap para sa kin ang magmahal ulit, ang magtiwala ulit, pero with you it isn’t so hard to do. Sabi ko noon magiging handa lang akong pumasok sa isang relasyon pag handa na yung mga taong mahal ko at ngayon na handa na sila handa na din ako. Handa na ako to commit myself to you, handa na akong ibigay sa yo ang puso ko nang buong buo...”

He can hardly believe what he is hearing. He can’t believe how fast everything has been but he wouldn’t have it any other way. He takes her hand and puts it over his heart.

“Nararamdaman mo ba kung gaano ka bilis yung tibog nang puso ko? Dahil sa yo yan...” He takes a deep breath his heart so full of joy and then lifts her hands to his cheek. “Mahal na mahal kita at gagawin ko ang lahat to protect you and to make sure na laging kang masaya, na lagi tayong masaya."

She feels so free right now, she has never felt this free before in her entire life. It’s like the burdens of the past that she use to carry have all banished and her heart feels so light. She finally let go of the past and all the doubts that she had, she finally set her heart free, free to love unconditionally and she’s glad that he’s the one on the recieving end.

He's been in love before but never like this. She drove him crazy and made his heart race. She made him believe in things he's never believed in before and made him feel things he didn't know even existed. He doesn't know how he got so lucky or what he did right to deserve this but from this day forward he vows to treat her right and to make sure that she knows everyday that she is the best thing that has ever happened to him.

That night felt like magic and under that beautiful star covered sky sat two people who were so madly in love with each other. Somewhere up in that sky cupid must have been smiling because it was about time that these two realized that they were made for each other.

TBC