Meeting Cinderella

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

“NATAKOT mo yata ‘yung babae dude!” Natatawang kantiyaw ni Tyler habang si Callix ay halos magpagulong-gulong na sa couch sa kakatawa. Si Jared naman ay nakangiti lang. Napakamot siya sa ulo.

The guys decided to invade his unit. Madalas silang tumatambay sa bahay niya dahil mas malapit ito sa university na pinapasukan nila—International Pilot School for the Arts. All of them were art majors—sa magkaka-ibang field nga lang. Halos sinundan nila ang yapak ng mga magulang.

Jared followed the footsteps of his dad, Gabryel, as he was also into music, though he was more into the upbeat music genre. Hindi man halata sa tahimik na personalidad nito pero madalas itong mag-DJ lalo na kapag may event sa Gizmo. His second cousin Tyler, on the other hand, was into visual arts just like his mom, Princess. But instead of painting, he was more into digital arts. Callix was a photography major but he was making waves more as a model. Siyempre siya, just like his dad, pursued culinary arts. They were all on their third year in college. After nito, dalawang taon silang magti-training para sa mga business ng kani-kanilang mga pamilya.

Napatingin siya sa puting sapatos na nakapatong ngayon sa center table ng living room niya. At ‘yun ang mas pinagtatawanan ng mga kaibigan niya. They all went his turf to tease him and to ask for his p*****t. Thirty thousand pesos. Tumataginting na Php. 30,000. Suddenly, he was reminded of what happened last night. Bakit ba naman kasi sa dami ng gagawin ng babae’y tatakbuhan pa siya nito at ang mas malala’y maiiwan pa nito ang sapatos? Maski man siya ay matatawa sa ganoong sitwasyon. Ang masaklap lang ay sa kanya pa nangyari iyon.

“You know what, I think you better look for her,” Callix suggested.

“What for?” kunot-noong tanong naman niya. Nababaliw na naman ang kaibigan.

“Para ibalik ang sapatos niya. Look for her and marry her afterwards. That’s the kind of romance you’ve been looking for, right, Prince Charming?” kantyaw pa ni Callix.

“And they live happily ever after,” tumatawang segunda pa ni Tyler. Maya-maya pa’y chorus na naman sa pagtawa sa kanya ang mga kaibigan.

“Mga baliw!” sigaw niya.

“Hanapin mo na kasi si Cinderella. Malay mo, siya na ang forever mo!” asar ulit ni Tyler.

Napapalatak nalang siya sa kantyaw ng mga kaibigan. Prince Charming. Cinderella. Ano bang akala sa kanya ng mga kaibigan? Five-year-old kid na naniniwala sa fairytales? Oo, sa kanilang lahat, aaminin niya na siya na siguro ang ‘romantic’. Because he believed that women should be well taken care of. Na dapat trinatrato sila ng parang prinsesa, na minamahal, at ‘di pinaglalaruan. That was what he learned from his dad and mom. His parents were best of friends. And it took them a while before they both trusted their feelings.

So, even at a young age, he knew in his heart that there’d be a right timing for love to fall on a person. Cheesy? Corny? He knew this was not a popular perspective of most guys. Just look at his friends. They were all not so used to showing their emotions. Si Callix, napakamaloko sa babae. SI Tyler at Jared naman ay tila walang pakialam sa mundo. But he was serious. He was serious when it was love they were talking about. They might call him a softie for having those thoughts in mind, but he believed it takes a real man to take the risk and take love seriously.

At isa iyon sa mga bagay na sa tingin niya ay hindi niya pa kayang harapin ng seryoso.

Aalis na sana siya sa sala dahil wala naman siyang napapala sa mga malokong kaibigan nang mag-ring ang telepono niya. He fished for it in his pocket and his forehead creased when it was an unregistered number he saw on the screen. Well, it wasn’t the first time that thing happened. Palaging may nakakaalam ng number niya, hindi niya malaman kung paano. And most of the time, mga babaeng nagtatapat ng pag-ibig sa kanya ang tumatawag. Seriously? Nevertheless, sinagot na’rin niya ang tawag, thinking that this time, it might be something important.

“Hello,” there was uneasiness in the voice from the other line. Babae ito, tulad ng inaasahan niya. “Is this Gideon’s number?”

“Yes speaking. How may I help you?” Sa pagsagot niya’y nag-iihit na naman sa tawa ang mga kaibigan.

“H-Hi.” Mas lalong nagtunog kabado ang babae. Hiniling tuloy ni Gideon na nawa’y hindi na naman ito pagtatapat ng damdamin. He would not like to change his number again. “Sorry to bother you. Ano lang kasi… ano…”

“Go on, Miss, I’m listening,” pasensyosong saad niya. Sa totoo lang, pwede naman niyang babaan nalang ng telepono ang babae. But he was a gentleman, at hindi iyon gawain ng mga mabubuting lalaki.

“Ako ‘yung nakasayaw mo kagabi sa bar. Well, I don’t know kung matatandaan mo pa’ko ‘coz you seemed like the type to dance a lot of women anyway. But in case you would remember, I was the girl you danced just before it hit midnight.”

There was a pause on Gideon’s end. Hindi siya makapaniwala sa naririnig.

“I was wearing…” The girl continued talking, describing how she looked the other night.

“Yeah, I remember you, pretty much,” sabi niya. “Tumawag ka ba dahil sa naiwan mong sapatos?”

He heard a gasp on the other line. Then, there was a pause. Akala nga niya’y binabaan siya ng dalaga. But he could still hear her breathing from the other line.

“Sorry ‘bout that,” sabi nito kapagkadaka. “Yeah, it’s about the shoe. Hiniram ko lang kasi ‘yun sa kapatid ko. At hindi ako nagpaalam na hiniram ko. I know she’d freak out once she knew. So…”

“So?”

“Can we meet?” diretsa nang saad ng babae.

He paused for a little while, thinking.

“Hmmm… Sure.”

“Talaga?” her voice was laced with hope as she said those words.

“Yup. Kita nalang tayo dito sa cafe malapit sa university. You know IPSA, right?”

“Yeah, I know the place,” sagot naman nito.

“7 pm, is that okay with you?”

“Sure…sure. Thank you. I’ll see you,” saad nito na tila naeexcite. And little did he know, there was a smile now carving his mouth.

“See you.” Then, she hung up.

Nang ibinaba niya ang cellphone niya, halos nakamulagat sa kanya ang mga kaibigan. Nginisian niya ang mga ito. 

“Guess there’d be no ‘looking for Cinderella.’ Palay na ang lumalapit sa bigas.”