Broken Bones and Scar Souvenirs

Chapter 4 - To be Perfectly Polished

Pagkapasok agad ni Sabrina sa limosine na naghihintay sa kanila sa harap ng lobby ay ang tatlong magagandang babae na ang sumalubong sa kanya. Maagap siyang inabutan ni Winona ng isang flute ng champagne at si Amanda naman ay nanatiling tahimik na umiinom.

Champagnes in limos, of course.

“Ugh, can we start the car now? Gutom na ako eh,” basag ni Diane ng katahimikan. Tumango naman si Wine at nagbigay ng direksyon sa driver at agad na sinarado ang privacy panel.

“I hope you like French cuisine, Sab. I got us a reservation at Le Boudoir,” baling sa kanya ni Wine.

“Wow, I heard that place is really high end and people have to wait at least a month for a reservation. We just met a few days ago.”

“Hmm, the Vescozar lastname has a few perks here and there.” Mitch smirked at her before taking a sip from her drink.

Sabrina was quite and timid around them. Hindi siya sanay sa pakikipagkaibigan at lalong wala rin siyang kaalam-alam paano makipagkahalubilo sa “extended family”. She never had to be put through that spot before so she was internally struggling where to put herself.

Judging from their smiles and their eyes, they all seemed kind and sophisticated. But she knew that in her world, the glossy façade is not all there is or maybe that was just her.

“Look, this might all be a bit of a shock to you.” Wine took her hand and placed it on her lap. “Gusto lang naman sana naming gawing mas magaan ang lahat ng ‘to para sayo. I want you to know that if you need anything, you can count on us.”

Ilang beses na napakurap ang dalaga at tila hindi alam kug paano gaganti sa sinabing iyon ni Wine. It was the first time someone offered her anything without her doing something in return. She wasn’t good with friends that much she knew. But having these women around her in a time such as this, it made her wish that maybe she could learn to like them, love them, let them become her family.

“Thank you, so much,” she managed to say while trying to choke back tears.

“Sab, this can be daunting. Trust me, we’ve been there at some point,” Daine said. “When I married Yael we were so young and it was overwhelming especially because I didn’t come from money. Hindi madali ang maging parte ng pamilyang ito, but you have us. We can try to make it a little easier.”

Sandali silang tumahimik at bahagyang napayuko si Sab bago nagsalita. “I used to think that I would marry for love or never marry at all. Pathetic, right. Now I happen to find myself about to marry into a family which I have good reason to think that they’re richer than God himself, I think I need all the help that I could get.” She chuckled through her sniffles, if that was even possible.

She exchanged looks with each of them until Wine took charge like she was truly born to be a leader. “We’ll if you’re going to marry into such a family, you need a team to get you a wedding you deserve. Yalmar is hardly a dream groom, really. But you, you’re going to have your dream wedding. Right girls?”

They all chuckled and clinked their glasses together. Mitch reached for her hand discrete and gently squeezed it. The doubt and uneasiness in Sabrina’s eyes started to faded and Mitch whispered to her, “We got you. Don’t worry.”

●●●●

As their lunch was served, Wine went about all the preparations they need before the wedding. She scrolled through her phone and asked a few questions.

“So for the organizer, I figured we go with the same one that did Mitch and Yves’ wedding. Ok lang ba iyong sa ‘yo?” she glanced at Sab.

Wala namang muwang ang dalaga sa pinagsasabi nito at tumango-tango na lang.

“Lauren, was great at handling at events like these. She’s also very well known in her industry. I’m sure she do a great job,” Mitch assured her.

“And for the bachelorette party? Anything you might like?” tanong ni Wine.

“Uhm… how about we go for no bachelorette party?”

Agad namang napatigil sa pagkain ang mga kasama niya at napatingin sa dalaga.

“Why?” Amanda placed down her fork to glance at her. Sab could’ve sworn that there was a bit of judgement in her eyes.

“W-well, I don’t really have many friends,” she confessed. “Isa pa, sa susunod na buwan ang kasal. Perhaps we could spend that time for the preparations. And, please, I don’t really want a big wedding; just a simple one would do the trick with friends and families only.”

Wine nodded a few times and jotted it down on her notes. “Alright. Simple it is but it’s not going to be a small wedding. Malaki ang pamilya Vescozar at marami silang mga kaibigan sa negosyo, those people would expect to be invited.”

“It’s fine. Just we can do without the unnecessary guests.” Sabrina sighed and Wine glanced at her with a little pity. Siguro nga ay tama lang na kaawan siya nito. After all, Sabrina would be marrying the Vescozar with the worst reputation.

“What is it, dear?”

“Nothing. I just find it funny that I’ve seen and spoken more to the four of you in a week than the man that would stand in front of the altar with me.”

Amanda scoffed at her and clearly a little tipsy for all the drinks she had. “Congratulations! That’s like the best thing Yalmar could ever do for you. Honestly, you don’t want to see him more than you should.”

“Mandy! Ano ka ba?” Dianne hushed her like a child. “That’s your last champagne. Gosh.”

Sabrina likes honesty but she didn’t appreciate it from Amanda. Clearly there was a hateful undertone to her statement. She just didn’t like it when people got out of their way to bad mouth other people behind their backs.

Matalim namang nilingon ni Wine si Amanda. “Yalmar is just— ”

“Just difficult.” Sabrina cut her off with a smirk. “Don’t worry, Wine. You don’t need to sugar coat anything. Alam ko kung ano ang pinasok ko.”

“I didn’t say difficult. He’s just not very good with strangers, that’s all.” Mabilis na pagda-damage control naman nito. “Yalmar is not ideal but he is not all bad. I knew him since he was a kid and there are a lot of layers to him. It will just take time to shed it.”

Muling tumikhim si Amanda pero hindi na siya hinayaan pa ni Mitch na magsalita. “Oh my, look at the time. We better get going so that we’d still have time to shop.”

“Shop for what?”

“We have a formal dinner tonight. We need to get you a new dress. Tignan lang natin kung hindi ka pa pansinin ni Yalmar.”

●●●●

Mitch insisted on the shopping part of their afternoon and brought them to a very high end boutique filled with various luxury brands. For their security, Wine paid a s**t load of money to have the shop close for the whole afternoon and only entertain the five of them.

Walang habas naman ang hatak ni Mitch ng mga nagustuhan niya saka iyon inabot kay Sabrina. Amanda on the other hand couldn’t be bothered to care about the rest of them and just did her own thing. She asked a few of the staff to line up and wear scaves and bags from the collection and walk around the shop like her personal show.

Sabrina tried with maximum effort not to roll her eyes. Yes, the girls are pleasant and kind to her but with sophistication came the vanity. Ang lahat ng karangyaang iyon ay parang isang simpleng bagay na lang sa kanila. Mitch and Wine acted like it was their natural habitat and Amanda just took every second to rub off her wealth to the common staff. Si Diane lang ata ang napansin niyang hindi nagpakalunod sa ganoong eksena.

She went into the fitting to try a few outfits that Mitch picked out for her. Sa totoo lang maganda naman ang taste ni Mitch ngunit alam ng dalaga na hindi ito ang taste niya. Sinubukan niya lang lahat ng iyon dahil mukhang tuwang-tuwa naman si Mitch sa ginagawa nito.

Sinukat ni Sab ang huling damit na pinili ni Mitch. Iyon na ata ang pinakagusto niya. It was a simple red dress with lace sleeves. Nothing extraordinary but it was a good fit and most of all it wasn’t backless which was the main reason she had to turn down the other dresses. Just when she started to unzip the dress to change back to her own clothes, Diane came barging into the fitting room.

“Sab, ok ka lang ang tagal mo diyan ah.” Dumungaw si Diane mula sa pinto. Sinubukan naman ni Sab na takpan ang sarili pero nakalimutan niya na may salamin pala sa kanyang likod na siya namang tinutukan ni Diane.

Diane was like a deer in the headlights with her eyes glued to the mirror. It made Sabrina sigh. She couldn’t read the expression on her face. It was either shock, pity, disgust. “Please…just, just don’t say anything…to anyone,” she pleaded in hushed tones.

Tumango naman si Diane. “I’m sorry. I’ll wait for you outside.”

Just as they were riding back to Hacienda Vescozar, Diane didn’t say anything about that incident in the fitting room. She just gave her a meek smile and that was it.

“Sab, I was thinking for the motif, how would you like rose gold and some lilac accents?” pukaw ni Wine sa kanya. Kumunot naman ang noo Sabrina sa suhestyon na iyon.

“Yup, so not rose gold then.” Mabilis na bawi naman ni Wine.

“Black. Black and red. I think that would be nice,” Sabrina said plainly. Medyo nag-alangan si Wine pero sumang-ayon pa rin ito. It was Sabrina’s wedding after all.

●●●●

Yalmar emptied another magazine and smiled to himself as he took off his earmuffs. Nang lumapit na ang target sa kanya ay mas lumapad pa ang ngiti ng binata nang makita na mas mataas ang puntos na nakuha niya kesa kay Yulric. Agad namang kinuha ng nakakatanda nitong kapatid ang wallet nito at binilang ang mga lilibuhing laman bago binigay sa kanya.

They all knew Yalmar was a far better shooter than any of his brothers but Yulric still took the challenge to humor him and well, he lost miserably. It was their little game eversince Yalmar was old enough to fire a gun. They would place bets on how accurate each shot was.

“Kulang ng isang libo. Tsk, ang buraot mo, Dos,” kantyaw niya sa kuya.

“’Yan lang ang cash ko. Ano tumatanggap ka ng card?” sarkastikong sagot naman sa kanya ni Yulric.

Lumapit naman ang dalawa sa kinauupuan ni Yohann na kani-kanina lang ay may kausap sa cellphone nito. Kumunot ang ulo ng pinakamatanda niyang kapatid at tiningnan taas baba si Yalmar.

“Shouldn’t you be getting ready?”

“For what?” maang niyang balik tanong bago sinindihan ang kanyang sigarilyo.

“For dinner. Wine just called saying that they’d be here in a couple of hours.”

“Uhm-kay.” Yalmar just went on to make smoke rings and didn’t even bother to face his brother.

“Yalmar! Don’t tell me you’re going to wear sweatpants to a formal dinner with your fiancé,” naiinis na sabi ni Yohann.

“Hey, mind you these are really expensive sweatpants.” He pointed to the thin strip from his waist to his ankle that says Balenciaga. “And what’s the fuzz? Even if I wear a potato sack tonight it’s not like she’s going to cancel the wedding.”

“Wala ka talagang pakialam sa kasalang ‘to, ano?”

Besides target practice, Yalmar also seemed to enjoy pissing off his eldest brother and watching the almost animated way his stoic face contorted to a scowl. Yohann was the righteous and dutiful son much to Yalmar’s displeasure.

Maagang namulat si Yohann sa katotohanan ng mundo simula nang mamatay ang nakakatandang kapatid nito na si Catherine. He took it upon himself to have things in a certain order and to live up to a certain standard. As they grew up, with their father being pretty much absent in raising the rest of his brothers, Yohann forcefully drilled his idea of perfection and control in their family. He wanted everything refined and pleasing on the surface even if beneath it hid the nasty cracks and gaping dents. Yalmar hated him for that.

“What else do you want from me, Uno? I agreed to this marriage even if it was the worst idea ever. I will be there on the wedding day and be all dolled up for the cameras. I will take Buenavista as my wife because I am a good and dutiful son that looks after the interest of this family.” He took a last hit from his cigarette before pressing it down to the ash try in front of him.

“This wedding will come through I promise you,” he finally faced his brother whch made Yohann ease up a little only to frown too soon. “If she’s alive after the wedding night, well, I can’t guarantee much about that.”

Mabilis namang kwinelyohan ni Yohann ang kapatid. “Hindi mo siya papatayin, Sinco! Naiintindihan mo?”

Tinabig naman ni Yalmar ang kamay ng kapatid nito. “Get off me!”

“Sinco, whether you like it or not you need to be involved in planning this wedding,” Yves chimed in with Yael tailing him. Kakarating lang ng dalawa base na rin sa suot nilang suit.

“I don’t need to do shit.” Tumiwid siya ng upo bago inayos ang ukot sa kanyang tshirt. “ The girls are handling it. Tuwang-tuwa nga iyong mga asawa niyo, lalo na si Mitch nang sinabi kong sila na ang bahala.”

“Stop acting like this is the worst thing in a world.” Tinabihan siya ni Yves sa lounge chair. “You’ve got to admit, she’s quite a catch.”

“Baka nga kasi talagang hindi babae ang tipo nitong kapatid natin kaya ganyan na lang makaasta,” kantyaw ni Yael. He really loved having tiny jabs like this whenever he can.

Yalmar didn’t say a word but just raised his middle finger to his brother.

“I was with her this morning. You should’ve seen how much bitterness she had for her father. She wouldn’t even look at him.” Yves tapped his younger brother’s shoulder. “ The way she said, ‘You sold me to save yourself.’ Now, don’t act so hostile about this arrangement. She had to uproot herself from her home, have half of their family fortune handed to us, and forced into a marriage. At least try to be cordial, Sinco. That’s the least you could do for her.”