Mabilis akong naligo at saka nagbihis. I ended up wearing a black skinny jeans and tuck my white shirt paired with flat beige sandals.
It's quarter to four at wala pa si Manong dahil pumunta pa ito sa centro. Nagpaalam na lang ako kay Manang at ibinilin na sunduin ako mamaya.
Halos 4:15 na ako nakarating sa BSU. I run towards Gab's office. Halos pagpawisan tuloy ako.
I knocked on his door. Hindi niya ata inaasahan na ako ang nandito at hindi ang class beadle namin.
"Good afternoon, Sir. Glenda called me that she won't be attending tonight's review and I'll be the class beadle next week." I formally told him.
Ni hindi niya man lang ako tiningnan. He just nodded and scribbled something on his laptop.
Nanatili lamang akong nakatayo roon at hinihintay ang utos niya. Ang sabi ni Glenda ay mayroong papagawa sa akin.
I coughed. "Sir, Glenda said that I need to do some errand of yours."
"Right. Can you arrange these papers alphabetically? The school need to file that for the board exam." Inilabas niya ang makapal na mga papel. If I'm not mistaken, that's our personal pieces of information.
Agad akong kinabahan doon. Nakalagay doon na may anak ako. I don't want him to know about my child...his child. I don't want Simon to feel that his father don't really want him.
"Give that one to the registrar's office once you're finish." Mabilis pa sa alas kwatro ang pagtango ko.
Seventy lang naman kami sa room kaya mabilis ko lang rin naman itong matatapos.
"Okay, Sir. I'll do this right now po." I said and walked out of his office.
Bago pa man ako makalabas ay narinig ko ang mga pagtayo niya sa kanyang upuan.
"Where are you going?" Nagtataka niyang tanong.
"I'm going to the library to arrange this-"
He cut me off. "You can do it here. The lab is huge enough."
Napahinga ako ng malalim bago tumango. Dito sa lab na to kami nagkasagutan noon. Mapait akong napangiti ng maalala iyon.
Umupo ako sa mesa sa pinakaunahan malapit sa may bintana. I plugged my earphones and started arranging the papers. I am very determine for Gab to not to know about Simon.
Ala singko magsasara ang registrar. Buti na lang at dalawang minuto bago ang ala singko ay tapos na ako. I can work really fast if I want to.
Nagmamadali ako sa pagtakbo papunta sa registrar's office. I greeted the persons in charge there and handed them the papers.
Nakahinga ako ng maluwag ng maibigay iyon agad sa kanila. Buti na lang at mukhang hindi naman iyon chineck ni Gab dahil nakaseal pa ng ibigay niya sa akin.
Kumain muna ako ng banana cue sa labas bago pumanhik na sa room namin.
I sat on my usual spot. I make sure that my notes are well-written. Nang magsimula nang magdiscuss si Gab ay nakinig talaga ako. I draw a line between us - the one I should have drawn before.
Nang matapos na ang pasok ay lumabas na ako sa room. The class ended ten minutes earlier at saktong alas diyes pa ang punta ni Manong dito. I can wait outside naman.
Tahimik akong tumayo sa isang tabi. Hindi na ako nag-abala pang mag text dahil alam naman ni Manong ang oras ng labas ko.
"Need a ride home?" Halos tumaas ang mga balahibo sa katawan ko ng marinig ang pamilyar na boses na iyon.
I shook my head. "May susundo naman po sa akin, Sir." I made sure to emphasized the word 'Sir' so that we would be both reminded about a certain line.
Anong we? Eh ikaw lang naman ang dapat magpaalala niyan sa sarili mo, Donna! Remember Simon! Remember how he ran away from you! Remember how he denied you to his new girl five years ago!
Magsasalita pa sana siya ng may marinig kaming boses na tumatawag sa kanya.
My heart, for the second time, was broken again. My hope for a complete family for my son vanished.
"Babe! Surprise!" The woman. She's the woman I saw five years ago.
Inalis ko na ang mga tingin ko sa kanila lalo na nang maglapat ang kanilang mga labi. I composed myself. I was right. They got married. He have his family now. Perhaps a lot of kids too.
Mabuti na lang at dumating din si Manong. Hindi ko na sila muling tinapunan pa ng tingin. I hurriedly went inside the car and cried my heart out.
Now I know that I don't need to have any hope about the image of complete family in my mind. I need to erase scenes of Gab cooking for us, Gab hugging us as we sleep, Gab being the best father of my child...and Gab...being my husband.
I kissed Simon's forehead. My son's right. We don't need his father. We have each other.
Hugging Simon made me forget about Gab and his family. Kinabukasan ay sabay kaming nagising ng anak ko. His bright smile brighten my mood.
"Good morning, Mommy!" He said giggling and kissed my nose.
"Good morning, handsome!" I whispered and started tickling him.
Halos hingalain kami sa kakatawa. God! The little things!
We both ate our breakfast. Pagkatapos ay pinaliguan ko na si Simon. We watched a science film because that's what he wants to.
Nang mag lunch na ay kumain ulit kami. Binihisan ko ito at saka hinayaan nang sumama sa tutor niya. Probably on his first grade I'll enrol him in a school in Manila. Doon ko kasi balak mag trabaho.
Alas kwatro natatapos ang pag tutor sa kanya. Nang pagpasok niya sa kwarto namin ay saka naman ang paglabas ko sa banyo.
"How was it?" He excitedly showed me his scores on his activities. Buti na lang at nagmana sa tatay niyang matalino.
"Mommy is so proud!" I giggled. "Mommy's going to change first, ha." He nodded and lied down on our bed.
I went to my walk-in closet. I've decided to wear a simple yellow dress and white doll shoes.
It was around five fifteen when I'm done fixing myself. Nagpaalam na ako kay Simon.
"Take care, Mommy!" He said and kissed me on my cheeks.
"You go ask Manang if you want anything ha?"
"I will play with kuya Andrew later! Basketball, Mommy!" He excitedly said.
"Go shoot the ball for, Mommy! I love you!" I kissed him on his cheek and went out of the house.