Gerald and Liza looked at each other with questioning eyes. Then Liza figured it out and laughed.
“You’re thinking Kuya Gerald and I… Ha… ha… ha!” Liza said.
Now it was Sarah’s turn to give them a questioning look. “Kuya?”
Gerald smiled at Sarah and said, “Sa, Liza is my cousin… my bestfriend-cousin. She’s getting married but not to me.”
“Sorry. Hindi n’yo naman kasi sinabi agad. Tapos may tawagan pa kayo,” Sarah said feeling embarrassed.
“That’s okay Sarah. Ha… ha… ha! My fiancé will be joining us but as usual he’s late. He’ll be coming from the office kasi.”
Sarah was genuinely simling now and secretly feeling relieved that she assumed wrong. “Sandali, when is the wedding?”
“The wedding is on Dec. 7 this year. We were actually about to sign up with another coordinator but there was some conflict so we opted to just look for another one. Buti na lang when I visited Kuya Ge, Fred was also there. Nabanggit ko sa kanya about our little dilemma and Fred suggested you and your friends. Nung una ayaw pa nito pero pinilit ko lang. Feeling ko tuloy ay may past kayo at nagi-guilty kaya ayaw ka n’yang tawagan.”
“Alam mo Beb ang daldal mo. Sige na pag-usapan n’yo na ‘yung wedding,” Gerald said.
Sarah and Liza talked about the wedding until Marcus, her fiancé arrived. During the meeting, Gerald ordered dinner so they could eat while talking.
“Sarah, isa pa pala sa problems namin ay ‘yung caterer. The coordinators are from the same company as the caterers so may conflict din. I hope you can help us look for another caterer kahit late na,” Liza said.
“Your main problem will still be the conflict I schedule but there are a lot of caterers, siguro naman may makukuha pa rin kayo. Why don’t you visit the Intramuros area this Saturday kasi maraming caterers they do set ups there on weekends tapos they do food tasting for a minimal fee. You can go around and check them out. If you see something you like then you can try their food,” Sarah explained.
“That’s great! Let’s all go on Saturday!” Liza declared. “Beb, sama ka rin ha para may ka-date kunwari si Sarah.”
Sarah and Gerald’s eyes locked as they hear the word ‘kunwari’ – both thinking it is the past Liza was talking about earlier.
“Ah sige. I’ll go with you kung okay lang with Sa,” Gerald said while looking at Sarah.
“Ah… oo naman. Walang problema sa akin.”
When the meeting was finally done, Gerald offered to bring Sarah home.
“Ah Ge, bakit Be bang tawagan n’yo ni Liza?” Sarah asked while they were on the way home.
“As I’ve said she’s my bestfriend. We grew up together kaya we’re really close. Si Marcus he used to work overseas. When they got together ay binilin sa akin ni Marcus si Liza. ‘Wag ko daw papalapitin ang kahit sinong lalaki sa kanya. We made this plan na everytime that we would go out on gimmicks eh we would call each other ‘Beb’ so that the guys would not dare come near her anymore. Effective naman kaya lang pati ako nadamay. Ako naman ang nawalan ng chance to meet other people. Kaya hanggang ngayon ay loveless pa rin. Ha… ha… ha!”
“Ang cute n’yo naman. Ganun pala kayo ka-close.”
“Yeah. She’s the sister Ken and I never had kaya we overprotective kami when it comes to her.”
“Ang sweet n’yo naman ni Ken.”
“Sweet talaga ako. Hindi mo ba naaalala kung gaano ako ka-sweet nung pretend courtship ko?”
