POSSESSIVE 11: Valerian Volkzki

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 6

Lakas-loob na tinagawan ni Grace si Tessmarie. Ito lang kasi ang tanging taong mapagtatanungan niya ng mga bagay-bagay na hindi niya alam at hindi siya huhusgahan. Nakailang ring lang ang cell phone nito bago ito sumagot.

"O, Grace?" Halatang nagulat si Tessmarie sa pagtawag niya. "Napatawag ka. May kailangan ka?"

Kinagat niya ang pang-ibabang labi bago nagsalita. "Ahm, kasi..." Naiilang siya. "May itatanong ako."

"Shoot," Tessmarie said a hint of smile on her voice. "Magtanong ka na."

"Ahm..." Humugot siya ng isang malalim na hininga. "Ano ang ibig sabihin kapag kinakabahan ka at ang bilis ng tibok ng puso mo?"

"Takot ka, malamang," agad nitong sagot.

Takot? No. She was not afraid of Valerian. She felt the opposite, actually.

"Ahm, what if my katabi kang lalaki, 'tapos naramdaman mo 'yon ng—"

Biglang tumili nang malakas si Tessmarie dahilan para maputol ang iba pa niyang sasabihin. "Oh, my God, Grace! Cupid hit you!" Tumili na naman ito. "Oh, em, gee! Girl!"

Napangiwi siya sa lakas ng tili nito. "Ahm, what do you mean by Cupid hit you? Give it to me straight, Tessmarie."

Mahina itong tumawa. "Oo nga pala. Literal kang mag-isip. Anyway, I won't give it to you straight. Gusto kong pag-isipan mo."

"Paano?" Nai-stress na siya.

Ilang segundo itong tumahimik, saka nagsalita. "Okay. Anong sabi ko sa 'yo about Cupid?"

"Ahm..." She frowned. "Cupid represents love."

"Ooo-kay, now, replace Cupid with love in my sentence 'Cupid hit you.'"

Grace did and she blinked rapidly as she replayed it in her mind over and over again. "No..." anas niya. "This can't be love, Tessmarie." Nakaramdam siya ng panic. "I mean, I don't know what love is, so paano ko masasabing mahal ko ang isang tao? I'm new to this. Pero alam ko naman na imposibleng mahalin ko siya sa ilang araw na nakilala at nakausap ko siya. You must be wrong, Tessmarie. There must be a scientific explanation to what I'm feeling for him. This can't be that four-letter word."

Tinawanan lang siya ng kausap. "Grace, even me, don't know what love is. No one knows. Basta nararamdaman mo na lang 'yon. Love is a mysterious thing that someone feels for no apparent reason at all. Walang scientific explanation 'yon. As in, wala."

Mas naguluhan siya lalo. "Is there a book that I can read about love?"

Tessmarie chuckled. "Mayroon pero pupunta ka pa sa bookstore at maghahanap. So, I suggest na buksan mo ang laptop mo, saka hintayin mo ako. I'm on my way to your clinic. Nandiyan ka ba?

"Oo."

"Good. We'll search Google about love and see if you're in love or not. Mas maraming info do'n."

Napangiti si Grace. "Thanks, Tessmarie. I can't do this alone. Gulong-gulo ako."

"Okay, I'll be right there in a minute."

Nang ibaba niya ang telepono, agad niyang binuhay ang laptop niya.

It took twenty-minutes for Tessmarie to arrive. And when she did, she instantly grabbed a sit, pulled it to her side, faced the laptop and typed, 'Signs of Falling in love' in the search box.

Pigil ni Grace ang hininga habang hinihintay na mabuksan ang isang site na napili ni Tessmarie—ang lovepanky.com.

Habang nakatingin sa screen ng laptop, pumasok sa isipan niya si Valerian. Tama ba talaga itong pinaggagagawa niya? Was searching for the signs of love on Google was really the answer to her question?