One and Only VIII

The next morning Sarah is sitting at the kitchen table with her phone eating breakfast. She’s anxiously waiting for him to text her to let her know he is on the way. She’s nervous about today, she doesn’t have the slightest clue as to how her parents are going to react. The waiting is killing her. She’s sitting there pushing her food around her plate, glancing at her phone, then glancing over her shoulder to her mom who is in the kitchen preparing breakfast for her siblings. Then the doorbell rings. Sarah looks up, her eyes wide open, her heart beating fast. She sits there glued to her seat and she watches as the maid walks over to the door to open it. She takes a deep breath.

“Hello po, nandyan po ba si Tita Divine?”

“Sandali lang.”

She can’t see who is at the door from where she is sitting and she can hardly hear the voice that is coming from outside. She’s sitting there in anticipation.

“Ma’am si John Lloyd po hinahanap kayo.”

It was him, she freezes in her seat. Confused her mom looks at the maid.

“Si John Lloyd?” she asks as she looks in Sarah’s direction.

She starts to walk over to the door. She sees him standing at the door way, she looks at him with this curious unknowing expression on her face.

“Oh iho ba’t ka naman napadaan dito?” she asks him

“May gusto sana akong ipagpaalam sa inyo, sa inyo po ni tito.”

“Ipagpaalam...?” she asks confused.

He just nods his head. His heart is racing, his hands shaking, and his mind running around in circles as he waits for her to say something.

“Sige, halika dito sa loob tawagin ko lang si Daddy.”

A sigh of relief, at least he got through the door. He’s never had to do this before, his palms are sweaty and he can feel his insides shaking. In his head he keeps telling himself to be calm and to just breathe but at this point it’s easier said than done.

He walks in behind her, his hands in his pocket. She continues to walk upstairs and he just stands by the doorway unsure of where he should sit down. He looks over to the kitchen and sees Sarah sitting at the breakfast nook. He smiles at her, his lips trembling, and she smiles back nervously.

They’re sitting in the living room. He has his head down taking a deep breath. He finally looks up and smiles at them. Her parents are staring at him curious as to what he has to say. Sarah is still sitting in the kitchen unsure of whether she should join them.

“Uhm, kasi...” he starts. He looks over at Sarah then back at her parents. He nervously laughs a little then closes his eyes briefly before he continues.

“Alam ko po kung gaano kayo ka halaga kay Sarah, at alam ko ho na pinahahalagahan nya yung opinion nyo kaya po ako nandito ngayon.”

They’re still sitting there quietly waiting for him to finish.

“Kasi po, uhm, mahal ko po si Sarah at gusto ko sana syang ligawan kung papayagan nyo po ako.” he finally says quickly, almost tripping over his words.

Once he is finished he just looks at them half smiling, anxiously waiting for them to speak up. Her parents both shocked at his revelation look over at Sarah. She timidly smiles at them, trying to hide her fear and nervousness, but you can see it in her eyes.

After a long chat with her parents he finally got their approval. They gave him permission to court their daughter but they made it very clear to him that he still has to prove his worth to them. They made their apprehensions clear to him and he understood where they were coming from he was just glad that they were giving him a chance to prove to them how much he loved their daughter.

Sarah is relieved that her parent’s gave him the go signal to court her and she was glad that he followed through with his promise. Slowly, with his help, she was conquering her fears one by one.

They invite him to stay for lunch and thankfully it was his day off so he gladly accepted. He’s sitting with Sarah on the patio in the backyard as her mother prepares lunch. She is relieved that her parents have accepted him into their home because truth is she was almost sure they were going to shut him down. Things are slowly falling into place and she was very thankful.

“Napansin mo ba nanginginig yung tuhod ko kanina, grabe ni hindi ko nga alam kung ano gagawin ko kung hindi sila pumayag eh” he says.

“Ako din naman eh hindi ako mapakali dun sa kusina. Alam mo pinagdasal ko to kagabi eh, humingi ako nang sign kay God, sabi ko sa kanya kung ikaw yung para sa kin papayag sila pero pag hindi sila pumayag hindi tayo para sa isa’t isa.”

Saddend by what she just said he says “So kung di sila pumayag susuko ka na? Ni hindi mo ako ipaglalaban...?”

She looks at him, his head bowed down.

“I’m not worth the fight...?”

She pouts at him, smiling a little bit and says “Kung hindi sila pumayag, I wouldn’t give up on you, I’d give up on believing in signs.”

And just like that he lifts he head back up, his eyes light up and he smiles at her. She laughs seeing the expression on his face change so quickly. She pinches his nose as she smiles, scrunching her nose a little. He kisses her nose just as her mom comes out to the backyard to call them in for lunch.

“Ahem”

They both look in her direction, Sarah blushes and he bows down his head trying to hold his laughter back.

“Mommy!” she says startled.

“Ready na ang lunch, kain na tayo.”

She walks back inside and before they follow her they both start laughing. She playfully slaps his shoulder as they stand up and walk back inside for lunch.

He felt at ease as he had lunch with her family, almost like he was having lunch with his own family. They share a pleasant conversation and he can sense that this is going to work. During lunch her parents were reminded of how great he was with Sarah when they were shooting their movies together, they remember how attentive and supporting he was of Sarah. And they can see how happy he makes her, its been a long time since they’ve seen her smile so sincerly. Although they didn’t say so, with just one lunch, he had already won them over.

He leaves after lunch thanking her parents for having him and tells them he’ll be back soon. She walks him to the door.

“Idan, salamat, this really means a lot to me.”

He nods his head, “Anything for you.”

She blushes as he stares at her lovingly “Sige na magiingat ka ha.”

“I will. Tawagan kita mamaya?”

“You better” she says.

He gives her a hug before he leaves and whispers “I love you” and then lets go.

She bites her lower lip and mouths “I love you too” before he leaves.

He drives off with a huge grin on his face, he is so overjoyed that things were working out perfectly. After she closes the gate she leans against the door, looks up and whispers “Thank you”

She’s sitting in her room on the balcony on the phone with him.

They’re sharing stories about each other again and she’s sitting there laughing as he tells her stories from his Koolits days. She starts poking fun at his age by telling him how she use to watch him on T.V. while she was growing up.

They both loved that they could be themselves with each other, they didn’t need to pretend to be anything they were not. When they were together it was just John Lloyd and Sarah – no fame, no spotlight. They just simply enjoyed each others company.

“May takot ka pa rin ba?” he asks her

“Hindi na siguro mawawala yun pero diba I told you I’m willing to face those fears basta’t kasama kita?

“Pinagdadasal ko na sana isang araw mawala na yung mga takot mo, na sana one day I can banish all your fears. Ayokong may nararamdaman kang takot, especially with us, I want you to feel safe with me. I want you to feel protected with me.”

It can’t be possible to be this in love, this cannot be real she thinks to herself.

“I do. Alam ko naman na nandyan ka lang for me, whatever fears I have they don’t stand a chance against us.”

They talk for hours sharing stories with each other, never running out of things to talk about. As they talked on the phone they were both falling even harder for each other.

Sarah is still awake sitting on her balcony just gazing at the stars when she hears a knock at her door. Her mom walks in and sits down beside her. Sarah’s mom is smiling at her daughter so thankful that she’s smiling again.

“Ang sarap na makita kang nakangiti nang ganyan ulit.”

She smiles thinking of him “I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy before...”

Her mom use to be so afraid of Sarah falling in love again but seeing her like this banished all her fears. She was never against Sarah falling in love she just wanted to be sure that it would be with the right guy at the right time and she can see that John Lloyd is the guy she has long been praying for her daughter.

“Masaya ako para sa ‘yo.”

Sarah feels so blessed for her family. After hurting her mom the way she did before she never wants to do that to her again. As she is sitting there with her mom listening to her share in her happiness she feels guilty about not telling her about London so she chooses to tell her.

“Mommy may kailangan akong sabihin sa yo. Pagkatapos po nung nangyari noon nangako ako sa sarili ko na hindi na ako maglilihim sa inyo kaya ayokong may tinatago ako sa inyo. Nung nasa London po ako sinundan ako ni Lloydie. Ma, bago mo isipin na pinlano namin to o na matagal na akong naglilihim sa inyo gusto kong malaman nyo na hindi namin sinadyang magtago. Basta na lang nangyari, sumunod sya sa London at pinagsamantalahan na namin yung pagkakataon namin para pagusapan lahat nang dapat naming pagusapan, para sagutin lahat nang mga tanong sa mga puso namin...”

He mom sits there silently for a moment, taking in everything that is happening. Sarah bows down her head afraid that her mom is disappointed in her, disappointed that she would do this again. But then he mom puts her hand onto Sarah's chin and lifts her head back up. She smiles at her daughter, tears starting to pool in her eyes.

“Anak, alam mo naman na wala akong ibang ginusto kundi yung maging masaya ka. Kung naging mahigpit man ako sa yo yun ay dahil ayokong masaktan ka. Ina mo ko, trabaho ko ang pangalagaan ka. Gusto ko lang naman makita na handa ka na para sa isang relasyon, gusto ko lang makita na kaya mo nang pangalagaan at ipaglaban yang sarili mo...” she pauses for a second a tear escaping from her eyes. “... ang bilis nang panahon no? Ang bilis ninyong lumaki. Isang araw magigising na lang ako at kasal ka na.”

Sarah, too, has tears running down her cheek, her heart filled with so much joy.

“Panatag ang loob ko kay John Lloyd, nakikita ko na mahal ka nya at na aalagaan ka nya.”

Sarah hugs her mom tightly so thrilled that she approves of John Lloyd and that she no longer has anything to hide from her mom.

She feels like she is on top of the world now that she has her parents’ blessing. She’s lying in bed trying to go to sleep but she’s too anxious to tell John Lloyd the good news. She wants to text him but she feels that it would be better if he heard it straight from her parents, when they were ready to tell him.

So instead she texts him “I love you”

She rests her head down on her pillow, a smile on her face, and says a prayer before dozing off.

Nothing could stop them now. This was the beginning of forever.

TBC