Chapter 5 - Peeking Through the Cracks (Part 1)
1271 Words
Nang marating nila ang Hacienda Vescozar ay muling bumalik ang pag-aalangan ni Sabrina. It felt like the small tangent from earlier this afternoon faded and brought her back to reality. It was the reality that this huge and extravagant mansion filled with strangers was supposed to be her home for God knows how long. It was the reality that she just recently cut off any interaction from her last living family member just before being sent off to the dragon’s lair if wordplay be excused.
Napansin naman ni Diane ang bigalang paglamlam ng mga mata ng dalaga nang makapasok sila sa mansyon. Si Wine ay hindi na nag-aksya ng panahon at kinausap ang mga tauhan na siya namang abala sa paghahanda. Si Mitch ay magalang na nagpaalam sa kanila para hanapin ang asawa at si Mandy naman ay hindi na nag-abala pang lumingon sa kanila at diretsong umakyat sa kwarto nito pagkatapos mapag-utusan ang ilang kasambahay na iligpit ang mga pinamili nito.
“Samahan na kita sa papnta sa kwarto mo, Sab,” alok ni Diane.
Her room was on the far end of the west wing on the second floor. The whole room was huge with its very own on-suite bathroom and walk-in closet. Her things were carefully arranged with most of them still in boxes. Her box labeled box was sitting next to the spacious shelving unit, her box of toiletries was on the bathroom counter, her suitcases filled with clothes and shoes were placed next to the walk-in closet. The queen-sized canopy bed was already complete with covers and pillows artfully placed on top of it.
“Yalmar’s room is the last door at the end of the hall. If you need help unpacking or maybe you want anything, the phone on your bedside table connects to the intercom. Dial-up zero and it directs you to the staff room downstairs,” paliwanag ni Diane.
Namilog naman ang mata ni Sabrina sa narinig. What else could she expect? That the Vescozars would live in a huge house and not have luxuries like the ones in hotels?
“I’ll leave you to it then?”
Without a word, she just nodded and as the door closed, Sabrina was once again left with her own thoughts.
Marahas siyang napahiga sa kama at mariin na pinikit ang mga mata. Sinubukan niyang pigilan ang mahinang hikbi ngunit kumawala pa rin ito kasabay ng sunod-sunod na pagpatak ng mga luha niya. Halos ilang oras niya na ring pinigilan ang sariling maglupasay sa kakaiyak at isa-isang bumalik lahat ng iyon.
Images of her father’s face flooded her mind, followed by utter contempt all of this made her feel. Another image had crossed her mind was Diane’s face when she saw her in the fitting room. She never felt so exposed, so pitiful, so imperfect in her life.
She scolded herself for being a crying mess. It was something she came to terms with a long time ago. Sabrina made herself live by a code that crying is nothing but naivety and weakness, thus she would never let anyone see her shed a tear. But the events these past few days made it extremely difficult to live by that code.
Enough was enough. She figured crying would do her no good and it was about time to grab whatever feelings she had left, shove them deep down, and keep them buried. Sabrina took pride in her adaptability and being able to make most about any situation.
Ang kasal niya kay Yalmar ay isa lamang sa mga bagay na hindi niya kayang kontrolin kaya wala ring k'wenta kung magmumukmok siya dahil doon. Marahas niyang pinahid ang mga luha at huminga ng malalalim. She would dedicate herself on things that she could control and she would start with this dinner.
Pagkatapos mag-shower ng dalaga ay nanatili muna siya sa harap ng malaking vanity mirror sa kanyang kwarto. Marahan niyang binaba ang bathrobe at tiningan ang likod mula sa salamin. She ran her fingers on the scars on her upper back just to slightly flinch with the onslaught of memories. The scars were lightly faded through time but they ran deep and it wasn’t a single lash. There were multiple of them.
For years, she struggled to keep it to herself. She didn’t need anyone asking questions only to regret it when she gave the answers. She didn’t need to see their pity as she opened up her story to strangers. She didn’t need anyone to think that she was damaged goods hiding beneath her shiny and glossy lifestyle. Isolating herself to people did the trick. Sabrina could only wonder, how she could keep it up now that she was thrust into an arranged marriage and forced to live with this strange, strange family.
Mabilis namang nagbihis an dalaga at sinuot ang red lace dress na binili ni Mitch para sa kanya. Mag-uumpisa pa lang sana siyang maglagay ng kaunting make-up nang may kumatok sa pinto niya.
“Come in.”
“Hey gorgeous!” bungad sa kanya ni Mitch. “You look good. Want me to help you with your hair?”
Sabrina just smiled and nodded. “It’s actually good that you’re here. I have some questions.”
“Fire away, dear,” Mitch happily said as she grabbed the curling iron and started to fiddle with Sab’s hair.
“So, this dinner. Sino-sino ang kasama natin?”
“Well, it’s just us girls, Dad, all the brothers of course. Tita Clarissa will be there and Tito Mattias and his wife came here for the weekend to meet you.”
Mattias Vescozar, Marco’s younger brother who was handling the Visayan chapter for Northern Dragons will be joining them. Based on Sab’s research, the two brothers used to have a rocky relationship and there was some news of power struggle within the family but was then quickly sorted.
“Wow, full house pala tayo ngayong gabi,” she nervously jested.
“Don’t worry too much, dear. I’m sure you’ll enchant them tonight. So, go ahead and ask about Yalmar. Alam ko naman iyon talaga ang gusto mong malaman.”
“Ok, Mitch. You got me. Is there anything I have to look out for with Yalmar?”
“Well, he’ll be prickly as ever. But don’t take it personally. Ganyan lang talaga ‘yon on a daily basis,” pag-uumpisa ni Mitch. “He might try to rile you up, or maybe insult you. ‘Wag mo na lang pansinin.”
“Hmm… prince charming indeed.” She chuckled a little bit.
“Also, Yalmar and Yael have this ongoing sibling rivalry s**t. Each one will try desperately to embarrass the other. P’wedeng mauwi sa sigawan, murahan, kaunting suntukan. But I doubt Yalmar will pull off any of that tonight. Believe it or not, Yves might have swayed him to make a good impression tonight.”
It sounded like a lot of bullshit and Sabrina would be stupid enough to believe that her fiancé would even care about making a good impression. But she just smiled at Mitch who looked like she genuinely believed it.
“Sounds fun,” Sab muttered sarcastically. “Let’s get this over with.”
With some more finishing touches, she put on her pumps and made their way down to the formal dining room.
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- Writer
