Good Byes We Never Meant

Chapter 1

Chapter 1
Selene

The hallways were full of laughter as I ran together with my friends.

"Nakakahiya talaga kayo!"

I remember Jana having a crush on my cousin. Luis was a year older than us kaya naman pumupunta pa talaga kami sa kabilang building para samahan siyang sumilay.

"Weh? Kahit kinikilig ka naman!" si Perry

"Bobo ka!"

Kasing pula na ng kamatis and mukha ni Jana. Ewan ko ba naman sa isang yan, antagal tagal nang may gusto kay Luis hindi pa rin makaamin.

My young self was different. It was easy for me to write love letters and give them to my crushes personally. I always had the courage to talk to them and be friendly.

"Ang pogi niya!"

Right after we cross the hallway kilig na kilig agad si Jana. Ginulo niya ang buhok niya at nag padyakpadyak.

"Naiiyak ako!" napatingin ako sa kanya "Nakita niyo ba kung paano tumama ang sikat ng araw sa kaniya?"

She was hysterical as we went up to our room. Bago pa kasi kami pumasok at kailangan namin daanan ang crush niya.

"Bagay na bagay! Ang pogi!"

Dahil wala akong crush ngayon, hindi ko siya masabayan. Feeling ko masyado na siyang OA. Perry on the other hand, never understood us whenever we were in our 'crush phase'. She teases us but will never agree when we flock our crushes with good comments.

All I could really think about is kung kailan mawawalan ang pag ka crush ni Jana sa pinsan ko. Araw araw kina kailangan namin tumawid mula sa building nila papunta sa amin. Nakakapagod.

Dahil OA si Jana ngayong araw, na-late kami.

"It's not a very good impression that we still have late students...."

He was tall, neat, and very lean when we first met. Agad kumunot ang noo ko sa kanya. Hindi ko tipo.

"Miss Agincillo, care to explain why the three of you are late this time."

Mas lalong kumunot and muka ko. He looked at me mockingly. He's there standing in front of the class while I am just beside the door. Nilabanan ko ang tingin niya.

I saw his lips rose up before looking away. Huh! Feeling pogi. I turn to our teacher who's now very red.

"Sorry Ma'am. Naipit po sa traffic." I swear, I could have thought of a better excuse if not only for the presence of this guy.

"Tsk! Take your seats!" Halos mag kumahog kami nakaupo nang marinig ang sigaw ni ma'am.

Damn it! Nadapa pa si Jana.

"Since the three of you are late. You will introduce yourself to Mr. Castro."

"Ah!" Ginulo ko ang buhok at mabilis na umalis sa kama.

It's fine. Breathe, Selene. I took three deep breaths  bago lumabas sa kwarto.

I stared at our empty living room. Mama and Papa are now in Canada with Kuya Zoren and his family. Ate Fey has a stable career in Manila, and I'm back in our humble home.

I trace the picture frames on our cabinet. We were so young. My parents, my siblings, my friends. My smile dropped when I saw a familiar picture. It was me and Russell.

It was my 19th birthday. He was holding a bouquet and the other hand was on my waist. As much as I want to cringe and remove it from the cabinet, hindi ko iyon ginalaw. It's a memory, and what could a mere picture do? We've moved on.

Well, I don't know about his part, but I really did.

I never heard from him, since we broke up. May mga nasasabi nga lang si Jana, pero dati pa yon. The last thing that I heard about him is about his girlfriend. It was four years ago? I guess.

Oh! Enough of Russell.

I'm here for a new start. I already called Luis to help me plan the construction of my new business here. I want to have a resto-bar here. This is nowhere in the middle of the city yes, but I can see my target market.

Maraming lasinggero dito. No, not the bad ones. Pagkatapos mangisda ng mga katandaan dito, you can see them everywhere, drinking. Palagi rin ang salo-salo sa lugar na ito. People here love feasts. And I will offer them a place.

"This is a complicated project."

Luis, in his plain white t-shirt and pajamas. Kunot ang noo niya habang binabasa ang proposal ko.

"I mean this is easy, but in this place?"

"The reason why it's gonna stand out. It will be the only and the first. You're only seeing my initial designs. I haven't told you about how I plan to maneuver this. The costing and so on." I lean more so he can understand me clearly.

"Selene, this is a small project but are you sure you're not going to be pennyless if I follow what you want?"

Pennyless?

"I've been working my ass with a competent position for seven years, Luis. I know how to make a profit!"

"If you tone down this design, I can work with you-"

"You can't work with this design?!"

This is simple!

"Selene, hindi iyan ang tipo ng mga tao dito." He pushed the paper to me saka ininom and juice na hinanda ko.

"This will start a fad!"

"A fad for only a week!"

How did my cousin get so smart?

"You know what the people want here. This is very metropolitan." tuloy niya sa design ko "I suggest you go outside and observe. Baka nakakalimot kana."

"I want this as soon as possible, Luis."

It's my first time here after years. Dumating ako kahapon and I stayed in my room. I tried going out earlier for fresh air then went home again. This is not the life I was leading before.

Kung hindi ito masisimulan agad, I don't know what to do here!

"I can recommend you to someone who can help." He lower his voice.

Sino? I don't anyone here who's a designer or an architect or even an engineer. From my batchmates, as far as I know, almost all of them are in the city.

"Tss! Cut it Luis! I can revise this alone!" Kung hindi lang pulido gumawa ang pinasan kong ito! He's one of the highest paid engineers in the Philippines now. It's really a good timing that he's here on vacation until I arrived.

"You can work together. He's a refined artist."

Being recognized gives you more connections huh?

"I don't wanna go back in the city if it's from there. And I don't like online meetings!"

He bit his lip.

"Sakto lang. He's going here."

Going here?

"You can trust him on this one, Selene. He's the best in his job. The best in this place."

I am very confused, and my cousin here looks ridiculous!

And what? He?

Best in his job?

In this place?

Refined artist?