(La Mémoire #1) NOSTALGIA

XXXIII

XXXIII
angel

The next few days in my school were too different. Everywhere I walk through screamed Stav's absence. I remember him everywhere in everything.

"Wala yata ang boyfriend mo ngayon?"

Naistorbo ako sa pag-iisa sa Sunken nang tabihan ni Gio. He was the guy from Human Kinetics that I met before. Turns out, malawak ang social circle niya at kaibigan siya ng ilang mga kaklase ko. Mula noon, naging common friend na rin kami rito sa campus.

"Wala. Ikaw? Wala kang training?"

Umiling ito.

"Bakit? Busy si Stav?"

Tumango na lang ako. Mas madali iyon kaysa sabihing wala na kami.

"If you don't mind, I could keep you company."

"Sure."

Gio and I talked for a while. Masaya siyang kasama. He's a good conversationalist and that somehow filled the loneliness that I was feeling.

"Alam mo, it's a good thing na hindi alam rito sa campus ang family background mo. Baka mamaya, magkaroon sila ng bad impression e napakabait mo naman. You're clearly far from your family's reputation.." Komento ni Gio sa gitna ng pag-uusap namin.

My forehead creased at that.

"What do you mean, reputation?"

"You know, your family's reputation of corruption and all. And your Aunt being a rumored mistress.."

My brows completely shot up. Hindi ko alam ang tinutukoy niya.

"Sorry, I'm being too nosy. Alam mo naman, crush kita dati so I searched you up. Don't get me wrong. I'm not a stalker. But I found out you're from a famous family. Then from then on, I found out about your family...nagtuloy-tuloy na." Natawa pa si Gio ngunit malalim na ang iniisip ko.

I got lost in my own thoughts. This is my own family he's talking about but I know none of what he had just said.

"There's a lot of fake news in the internet, Gio. We're old money. Our wealth traces from generations back. Hindi nagnanakaw ng pera ang hacienda namin at mas lalong hindi kabit ang Tita ko. She's an independent woman."

Gio nodded consequently, suddenly looking guilty.

"Oh sorry, oo nga. Tama ka. I should hear it from you since you're an insider."

"Yes and you should stop stalking me." I chuckled.

"Hindi kita iniistalk." Tanggi pa nito.

Napailing na lang ako at hinintay na matapos ang vacant ko kasama si Gio. Pag-uwi ko kinagabihan, nakatanggap ako ng tawag mula sa manager ko. 

"Zhalia, your debut photos are out. You can check it out!"

Mama Tessa handles me and other rookie models from Elite. Tinawagan niya ako upang ibalita na narelease na ang debut photos namin sa official site at social media pages ng Elite.

"I've seen it Mama Tessa." Nangingiti kong tinignan ang litrato.

"Ano? Very pretty, right? Yours is the most liked. Nararamdaman ko, pagtapos nito, magsusunod sunod na ang offer sa'yo."

Mama Tessa was right. Nagsunod sunod na nga ang mga offer para sa akin para maging beauty at fashion model. I suddenly had this mountain of works to do. There were contract signings to attend to, projects to review, and a strict schedule to follow.

Mabuti iyon upang malibang ako't hindi na maisip ang mga bagay na nagpapalungkot sa akin. May isang linggo na rin nang makipaghiwalay ako kay Stav. We haven't talked since then. Lyon, on the other hand, has been weirdly out of reach.