Romeo's Rosaline (COMPLETED)

Chapter 17

"Saan ka ba nagpunta kaninang umaga?" pag-iimbestiga sa kanya ni Greg. Nasa bar sila ni Hans at nagkayayaang magkainuman.

"Bumalik ako sa amin." maikling sagot niya.

"Sa Sta. Rita?" usisa din ni Hans. Tumango na lamang siya saka nilagok ang alak.

"What brought you there?" sabat ni Rage sa usapan. Napasulyap siya rito. Akala niya kasi di rin ito magtatanong dahil kanina pa ito walang imik. Well, most of the time naman.

"Some things to settle the past.,pero wala eh. Di ko siya nakita." aniya sabay bawi ng tingin mula kay Rage. Ramdam niya ang pagkunot noo ng mga ito at ang mga mata nilang nakatitig sa kanya. Matagal na nga niyang kaibigan ang mga ito pero ni minsan ay di niya nakwento ang tungkol kay Ciara. Tanging ang dahilan ng pagtatanan nila ni Selena ang nakwento which happens to be because of their long time political family rivalry.

"Who?" tanong ni Rage. He can feel that they really seem curious. Might as well tell a story.

"My girlfriend before I eloped with Selena." sagot niya na nakapagpagulat sa mga kaibigan. Marahas pang naibagsak ni Hans ang baso sa counter. Pinaalis pa nito ang babaeng kaakbay.

"Meaning., you had a secret affair with Selena while having a girlfriend?" Pag-aanalisa ni Rage na ikinatango lang niya.

"oh man..you're bad. Really bad!" iiling iling namang komento ni Hans. Sinamaan naman siya ng tingin ni Greg.

"Nagsalita ang Good boy..." puno ng sarkasmong ani Greg. Natawa lang si Hans.

"pero seryoso alam ba ni Selena?" tanong ni Hans at tumango naman si Zach."eh yung girlfriend mo? Alam niya?" pagpapatuloy nito.
Umiling naman ito.

"In short, nagloko ka?" tango naman ang sagot ni Zach sa tanong ni Greg.

"Goodness! Here I thought your a good boy eversince.." napapailing na ani Greg.

"Why did you cheat on her?  Maldita? Bungangera ba? Boring? Pangit O mas maganda si Selena?" may halong pang-aasar na tanong ni Hans na muli niyang ikinailing.

"Then how come you had the heart to hurt her? Is she not that important to you ? Or you didn't love her at all?" napatingin sila sa gawi ni Rage dahil sa mga tanong nito. Seryoso ito habang pinaglalaruan ang baso at matamang nakatitig kanya. Napayuko naman si Zach saka bumuntong hininga. Guilt rush through his veins, once more.

Ipinikit niya ang mata sabay inalala ang mga magagandang alaala ni Ciara.
"She's the sweetest girl I've ever known. She's loving and caring. She's so prim and proper. She's fun to be with. She's so jovial yet so innocent. She's naturally a goddess. Above all, she's my childhood bestfriend and my first love. Everytime I'm with her, I feel like more than complete so I promised to wait for her on the altar someday."

" She held into it until I met Selena. The moment I laid my eyes on her, I already sense danger. She seem so poisonous yet I became a willing victim as I knew how fun she's to be with. Then, I started to ignore the beauty and happiness I once found with my girlfriend."

" I eventually fell for Selena which lead us to our secret affair. I became cold towards my girlfriend to let her feel that my feelings for her isn't the same anymore...but she's so naive and dense to feel it." he heaved a deep sigh before continuing his story.

"I wanted to break up with her but everytime she talks about how much she loves me and how happy she is to have me as his lover, I always lost a heart to break her.My relationship with Selena took almost half a year before she discovered it on the night of her debut ." his friends were so focused on his story. Animo'y gusto pa nilang hukayin ang saloobin niya kaya itinuloy niya ang kwento.

"I even promised to be her escort and her last dance when she asked me.,but I totally forgot about her  when Selena called to met up with me. I even suggested her to met me to the place where me and my girlfriend built as our secret haven. That same night something happened between us. "

Ngumisi sina Hans at Greg. Alam na alam kung ano ang pinupunto niya.

"It's too late to conceal everything when I heard a loud cry outside that haven. It's her, still wearing her gown. She's so damn hurt and I even slapped her face." napamura naman sina Greg at Hans sa sinabi niya. Maging siya'y tila nabubulunan na sa sariling laway.

"I tried to explain even if I really don't know what to say but she didn't let me. She even bitterly smiled to us as she wished that we'll be happy. With that, she run away from me. I was so guilty but when I saw Selena crying I can't help but blame myself for hurting them."

"That same night both of our family learned about us and threatened to separate us if we continued with our realtionship. They will bring me to Spain. I didn't like the idea so when Selena told me to runaway with her, I didn't have any second thoughts and I eloped with her. Leaving my family behind and leaving her without even asking for her forgivenes..." he ended as he took another shot.

"Damn man! You're an asshole!" gigil na ani Hans. "Siguro karma mo na ang pag-iwan sa'yo ni Selena pati anak mo.." dagdag pa nito na nakapagpatawa sa kanya ng mapakla. And a statement from Ciara crossed his mind once more.

"Sana lang di niyo maranasan kung gaano kasakit ang pakiramdam ko ngayon..."

"I never thought that you sacrificed so much just to be with Selena..tapos natapos lang sa ganito. Iniwan ka din. Sinaktan mo pa yung babaeng yun. Sana makilala ko siya, akin na lang.." ani Greg na nakaani ng negatibong reaksyon.

"Do you have any idea where she is right now?" sabat ni Rage sa usapan. Tila nagsink in na sa kanya ang kwento ni Zach. Umiling naman ito.

"Bumalik nga ako sa Sta. Rita but the mansion that they're living before has already a new owner. Ang mas masaklap 10 years na din sila doon. Meaning, umalis din sila noong nagpakalayo layo kami ni Selena. Di ko naman alam kong bakit dahil wala akong makausap na matino sa mga tao doon. My parents can't even answer my simple queries about it." sagot niya.

"Maybe it's your parent's way of punishing you for hurting her. I think they liked the girl for you." muling ani Rage na ikinatango niya. Matalino talaga ito o sadyang manghuhula lang?

"yeah. She's a daughter they never had."
dagdag pa ni Zach.

"so haven't you found any trace mula sa dati nilang bahay? " usisa ni Greg.

"Just her diaries. Kinuha ko at nasa condo ko ngayon.." sagot niya.

"You know what Zach. I love reading. Can I read them. She seem so interesting." ngingisi ngisi pang ani Hans. Naibagsak naman ni Zach ang baso ng marahas.

"No." mariin niyong tanggi. Naalala niya kung gaano kabulgar at kahonest ang pagkakasulat ni Ciara sa mga pangyayari sa buhay niya. Lagi pang siya ang laman nito.

Tumawa lang si Hans ng malakas sabay fist bump kay Greg.

"How did you even hurt someone like her. Where could she be? hmmm" bulong ni Greg habang nakalagay ang hintuturo sa baba.

"do you have a plan to look for her?" bigla na namang tanong ni Rage. All eyes bore on him.

Tumango siya.