Steal thy heart (PUBLISHED BY BOOKWARE)

Chapter 4

Natalie

"You're kidding, Axel, right?" I nervously asked my boyfriend. We are both sitting face to face in a restaurant and he's nervously fiddling with his fingers. I reminded myself to breathe normally. Malay ko ba kung nagjojoke lang sya? No need to get myself all worked up.

"I'm sorry, Nana.."

My heart sank. So, siryoso talaga s'ya? Nakikipagbreak s'ya sa'kin? Why?

"It's just that.. We fell inlove.."

No.. No! No way he's gonna feed me that crap! Nagbakasyon lang s'ya sa Palawan, pagbalik niya inlove na s'ya sa iba? Natanggap ko nu'ng sinabi n'ya sa akin na one night stand lang.. Pero ito? Hindi ko yata kaya!

I glanced around the restaurant..

Puro mga lovers. Yung iba nagsusubuan pa. How could this be possible? Bakit ang saya saya nilang lahat samantalang ako, eto nagpipigil ng luha. How could they all be happy while I'm barely keeping myself together? This is just so unfair!

Hindi ko na napigilan ang pagtulo ng luha ko. Bumakas ang pagaalala sa mukha ni Axel. He reached out a hand to me. Hinawakan n'ya ng mahigpit ang kamay ko, and squeezed it. He always does that to calm me down, to tell me that everything's gonna be alright. Pero bakit parang wala 'yung epekto ngayon? Bakit parang nadudurog ang puso ko, to the point that I just wanna curl up and die? Here. Dito mismo sa restaurant na 'to. Coz I don't think aabot pa 'ko anywhere.

"Please don't cry, Nana.."

Hearing his petname for me just made it worse. I choked on my tears. Para kong bata na umiiyak dito, parang batang inagawan ng candy. I clenched my fists on my lap as I struggle to keep my sobs from escaping my lips.

"Nana.."

"What do you want me to do, Axel? Do you want me to beg?" iyak ko. "Gagawin ko ang lahat, h'wag mo lang akong iwan!"

"I.. There's nothing you can do, Nana.. I-I fell inlove with her, something happened to us and.. And she wants us to be together at para mangyari 'yon, kailangan kitang hiwalayan." nakikita ko ang helplessness sa mukha n'ya, pero kasabay nu'n ay nakita ko ring seryoso s'ya. He really loves her.

Who wouldn't anyway? She's a supermodel. She has long legs, a barbie doll face, a sexy body. And to top it all, she's from a very wealthy family. All the things that I'm not. Hindi ako matangkad, hindi ako maganda, hindi ako sexy at hindi ako mayaman. Ano'ng panama ko?

Is Axel really willing to throw away years of friendship and relationship para sa babaeng 'yun? Is she worth it, really? Well, magtataka pa ba 'ko? Pero hindi ko naman kase inakala na ganu'n s'yang klase ng lalaki. He had always been a nice guy, a gentleman. Paano nya nagawa 'to sa'kin? Hindi lang naman ako basta girlfriend lang n'ya, bestfriend n'ya 'ko!

Hindi ko na napigilan pa na mapaiyak at mapahagulgol. Wala akong pakialam kung pinagtitinginan ako ng mga tao at tila napapahiya si Axel. I just couldn't hold it in anymore.

Tumayo ako. Plano kong magwalk out, at sa totoo lang ay iniisip ko na sana habulin ako ni Axel.

Nakakahiya dahil pagtayo ko, sumabit pala ang table cloth sa zipper ng bag ko kaya nahila koi yon nang tumayo ako at nagtumbahan ang mga baso sa sahig at nabasag. Sa sobrang pagkapahiya ko ay nagtatakbo ako sa labas.

At syempre si Axel ay naiwan para bayaran ang mga nabasag. What a rotten luck! There goes my hope na sana habulin nya ko.

Nakakahiya. Gumawa nanaman ako ng eksena.