Natalie Trilogy Book 3: The Last Stand

Chapter 5: Urges

C H A P T E R 5:

U R G E S

“Here’s the thing, Natalie: you can’t just enter the venue as a random witness of their wedding nor a visitor to their wedding reception because the security is tight as hell, you know? You should be part of the guest list to go there. Bradley Cayne is a celebrity, have you forgotten about that?” ang bungad ni Ivanna pagkasakay na pagkasakay niya sa passenger’s side ng SUV nito.

The woman arrived fifteen minutes later after they had talked over the phone. Maraming posibilidad agad ang naglaro sa isip niya nang matapos ang tawag nilang iyon --- mga posibilidad kung paano siya makalalapit kay Prince. Kaya kahit parang nanginginig ang mga kamay niya na sinamahan pa ng paninigas ng kalamnan, mabilis siyang naligo, nagbihis. Sabik siyang makita ang anak, natural lang siguro na makaligtaan ang iba pang klase ng posibilidad --- posibilidad na imposibleng makalapit siya o makita si Prince kahit sa malayo man lang.

Naipiga na lamang niya sa kamay ang hawak na maliit na card envelope saka napayuko. Marahil, siya talaga ang tipo ng tao na sa bawat pagkakataon ay walang kaplano-plano at palagi ay bahala na, tapos ay mauunawaan na lamang niyang iginigisa na pala niya ang sarili sa sariling mantika.

Wala pa rin talaga siyang kadala-dala pagdating sa parteng iyon ng buhay niya. Siya pa rin iyong Natalie na palaging nawawala. At walang-wala kapag walang taong aagapay sa kanya. Before, it was Caleb, it was Lira, her sisters: Narea and Nadine who had been there for her, who had been helping her, even Bradley. Now, it was other people she didn’t know if she could trust --- except, of course, for Brian.

Pero kung wala naman siyang ibang choice kundi mag-take ng risk sa mga taong hindi niya lubos na kilala, kung kinakailangan niyang paandarin iyong “bahala na” attitude na mayroon siya, gagawin niya. Wala ring nakakaalam kung talaga nga bang tutulungan siya ni Andres Garza, o kung papatayin siya ng mga ito. Maraming mga pasabog ang nangyari sa buhay niya, at hindi na siya magugulat kung isang araw, malalaman na lamang niyang kakampi pala ni Andres si Marga. At least, kung mangyari man iyon, nagawa niyang makita si Prince, at nagawa niyang pabaliwin si Marga kahit paano.

That was why she had to go to the wedding no matter what.

“You’re also a mother, Ivanna.” Nilingunan niya ang babae. “If your child has been taken away from you---”

“Oh, please, Natalie, don’t go there.”

However, Natalie still continued talking, “you will do anything to see her or him. So, please, I’m begging you, help me see Prince, please.” Sumabog na naman ang luha niya sa puntong iyon. God! Nakailang pakiusap na siya sa mga tao mula pa kagabi. Kung iniisip ng mga ito na susuko siya nang ganoon kadali sa pagmamakaawa, they had to think twice.

Hinding-hindi siya mapapagod pagdating sa anak niya.

Mukhang naunawaan naman iyon ni Ivanna. Malakas na bumuga ito ng hangin, mataman lamang siyang tinitingnan. Her fingers were fidgeting on the stirring wheel. Nag-iisip ito. After a while, mula sa dashboard ay kinuha nito ang cellphone nito saka tumipa roon. As she put the phone to her ear, she murmured, “f**k! I hope Andrès wouldn't know about this.”

Nakagat na lamang ni Natalie ang ibabang labi. Mayamaya ay may kausap na ang babae sa kabilang linya. “Can you make me an appointment with Maya Fitzgerald? Tell her I want to meet her up today, I mean right now, at Sentoza Hotel . . . Yeah, I know, that’s why I’m going to meet her right this instant . . . Oh, c’mon, of course she will. Maya would never forget the TV network who made her who she is today . . . Just fuckin’ tell her that, okay!” Pagkaputol na pagkaputol nito sa tawag ay pinaharurot na ni Ivanna ang sasakyan.

Maya Fitzgerald was a famous Hollywood singer, and Natalie’s forehead continued creasing up until finally exited John’s property.

“What has Maya Fitzgerald got to do with---”

“Maya is the one who is going to sing for Bradley and Natalie’s wedding.”

~~**~~

“I never wanted to sing for the wedding. The girl has an attitude and I don’t like her. Plus, the song they wanted me to sing is not my original piece. Can you believe that? If it wasn’t because of Bradley, I won’t sing for them.”

Iyon ang katagang agad na sinabi ni Maya kay Ivanna nang daluhan niya ang dalawa sa mesa ng isang cafè sa loob ng naturang hitel. Well, lucky for Natalie, agad na tinawagan ni Maya ang wedding coordinator at si Bradley mismo saka uura-uradang sinabing hindi ito makakapag-perform dahil sa masakit na lalamunan. Wala raw dapat ipag-alala. May magpo-proxie naman daw rito at padating na sa venue kaya walang dapat ipag-alala --- inaanak daw sa binyag --- at siya iyon.

Luckily, again, Bradley said yes. Wala itong nagawa dahil nakarating na ito sa simbahan.

Mas laking pasalamat pa niya dahil binanggit ni Maya kay Bradley na hindi siya sanay makipag-usap sa ibang tao. The famous female singer also told him that she already told her what exactly to do so there was no need for anybody to remind her what to do.

Natalie was not aware of what Ivanna had told to Maya before she was invited to join in with their conversation and introduced her to the said singer. Hindi na rin mahalaga pa. Marahil ay sinabi ni Ivanna sa babae ang totoo. Marahil kilalang-kilala na nito si Maya para mapagkatiwalaan. Who knows?

Ang mahalaga, nagkaroon na siya ng pagkakataong makita si Prince. Maybe just a few minutes from now.

Lulan ng sasakyang ipinahiram ni Maya, itinigil ng driver kotse sa mismong harap ng simbahan. Ivanna was not there with her. Ang kasa-kasama niya sa loob ay iyong bodyguard ni Maya.

Wala pa man, sipat na niya agad si Bradley sa labas ng nakasaradong pinto ng simbahan. It was just a local catholic church. Hindi kalakihan. Iilan nga lamang ang baitang ng hagdan paakyat sa entrada kung saan nakatayo si Bradley. Mangilan-ngilan lamang din ang tao. Simple pero napaka-elegante ng iba’t ibang klase ng mga bulaklak na nakapalamuti sa hagdan at sa harap ng simbahan.

It was very private and intimate wedding. Halos lahat ng mga taong naroon na malamang sa malamang ay kasama sa entourage ay kilala niya: Bradley’s siblings, his father, his crew, even Natalie’s some relatives from Spain were there.

Natalie’s every nerve was at ease, actually. But the funny thing was, she was angry that she wanted to just get off of that car then show herself to everybody tell them: I am the real Natalie.

Kung sana lang ay ganoon kadali na paniwalaan ang isang tulad niya. Bukod sa ayaw niyang sirain ang effort ni Ivanna matakpan lang ang lahat ng sulok ng balat niya pati pagmumukha niya --- pinasuot ng balot-balot na black and white na pantsuit (loose women’s suit) na sa ilalim ay putting turtle neck saka pinarisan ng sunglasses at scarf na ibinalot sa ulo niya hanggang sa bibig niya --- no one could ever identify that she was Natalie by the face regardless if her face was covered at the moment. No one would. And nobody would believe her if she told to those people who she really was. Baka nga kapag ipinakita niya ang mukha niya ay magsitakbuhan pa ang mga ito.

So she kept her cool until Maya’s bodyguard got off the car and open the door for her. Papasalubong na noon sa kanya ang wedding coordinator, Bradley was looking in her direction.

Of course, he was expecting her arrival.

Natalie, on the other hand, was about to be checked by the two securities.

“Hey! No need to do that! Just let her in.” That husky, tone of voice . . . it was Bradley.

One year had past but his voice never changed; it still was giving her that punch in the chest.

Noon lang parang nanikip ang baga niya. Bradley didn’t go near her; he just stood where he was since Natalie came into the view. At ipinapapasalamat iyon ni Natalie.

“At least just remove your scarf, ma’am,” anang isa sa mga security.

“I said---”

“It’s okay, Mr. Cayne,” it was Natalie that cut Bradley off, “if they want to see my big incision scar from my head down to my face, I have no problem with that. I just came from a major brain surgery, I got used to people looking at me like I was Matt Cordel.” Mula sa pagkakatingin sa lalaki ay nagpalipat-lipat ang tingin niya sa dalawang guwardiya, bagaman ay nahagip pa ng paningin niya ang pagtaas ng kilay ni Bradley, lalo na iyong paglingon ng iba pang mga naroroon sa gawi niya.

Napalunok naman dalawang security. Lalo na ang babaeng wedding coordinator.

“You guys okay with that?” Si Bradley, nakatingin sa kanya bagaman ang mga security na kaharap niya ang kausap.

Napayuko ang dalawang guard. Kapagkuwan ay binigyang-daan na siya ng mga ito saka sinabi ng isa, “I’m sorry, ma’am.”

Nagtuloy-tuloy lang siya sa paglalakad na parang walang narinig, sinundan ang wedding coordinator papunta sa gilid na bahagi ng simbahan. It might not that obvious, kanina pa niya palihim na hinahanap si Prince, pero wala. The only thing she understood was, Bradley never cut his gaze away from her.

Given. Kasi nga naman balot na balot siya.

“Wow, Natalie, I didn’t know you can intimidate people that way.” Mula sa tactical earpiece na nakasuot sa tainga niya ay wika ni Ivanna mula sa kabilang linya. The woman could hear everything she was saying, and at the same time, the people that were near to her.

Hindi na lang siya umimik. Hindi siya umimik dahil abala ang utak niya sa pagdarasal,

God! Please, just let me see Prince. Kahit saglit lang, makita ko lang na nasa maayos ang anak ko . . . Please.

Ah, her prayers were not just answered, it immediately showed in front of her. Pagkalikong-likong nila papasok sa gilid na pintuan ng simbahan, dalawang babaeng naka-scrub suit ang papasalubong sa kanila --- may kanya-kanyang itinutulak na stroller. Dalawang bodyguard sa unahan, dalawa sa likuran.

Natalie froze in her tracks.

She was a mother, and she would know her son once she saw it. Sa isang stroller, tulog na tulog ang isang sanggol na naglalaro sa edad na isang taon. The baby had tanned skin and thick curly blonde hair.

It was definitely Prince. Sobrang lusog nito, tulad ng isa pang sanggol na sinlaki lamang din nito. Probably it was Nadine’s baby.

Matagal niyang pinakatitigan ang dalawa, ni hindi na nagawa pang ihakbang ang mga paa. She even slightly turned her head when the nannies walked past her. And that urge to walk near to her son and surround her arms to his tiny body, it was really a miracle to not hold onto it.

Ni hindi na nga niya sinundan pa ng tingin nang tuluyang mawala ang mga ito sa paningin niya. However, if she was able to do it, she would take Prince and Nadine’s baby away from that place.

Pero ang tanging nangawa lamang niya: mapayuko at pigilan iyong panginginit ng mga mata niya. Though her senses were still very alert with what the wedding coordinator was asking, hindi niya ito magawang sagutin.

Natalie just stood there, busy asking herself why the f**k she couldn't move her feet!

“Do you want to see him?”

Now she was more than alert, for it was not the wedding coordinator who just ask; it was Bradley.