The Way To His Heart (The Starving Squad #3)

Chapter 30: Singles' Day

Since Mona insisted on not spending Valentine's Day with Felix for him to spend the day with his family, Felix asked her to spend the day before and after with him instead. They'd be going out of town but he insisted na kasama siya nito sa 13 at 15.

"Ano ka, kabit?!" mataray na tanong ni Brandi over the phone, February 11, two days before pre-Valentine's Day. Sa wakas ay kinakausap na rin siya nito matapos niyang magpadala rito ng dose-dosenang cupcakes. Nagpa-deliver siya sa trabaho nito ng isang dosenang cupcakes kada araw hanggang sa ito na mismo ang tumawag sa kanya para patigilin siya.

"Will you stop it? You're making my model friends fat!" was her friend's angry lament. When she threatened to send them her homemade paella and a whole death-by-chocolate cake, Brandi begrudgingly agreed to talk to her again.

And since kailangan niya ng masakit na sampal ng katotohanan, sa kaibigan siya komunsulta kahit alam na rin naman niyang ipamumukha lang nito sa kanya ang pagigi niyang tanga.

"Family day kasi 'yon, Beh," dahilan niya sa kaibigan.

"Family day na nila linggo-linggo. Why can't he spare you just this one day? Ramdam na ramdam mo na ba ang importansya mo sa kanya?" inis nitong tanong.

"Syempre request ni Angela. Alangan namang agawan ko pa 'yong bata."

"Kung feeling mo na lang palagi na inaagawan mo si Angela, hindi ba't parang may mali? You're still an intruder, Mona. When will go wake up?"

"Things will get better."

"Oh? When?"

Bumuntong-hininga siya. "Ewan ko," pag-amin niya sa kaibigan.

"Are you really willing to settle for less this Valentine's day? Are you happy with the scraps of his time knowing that that's all he can ever give you?"

She bit her lip. Ayaw niyang umiyak kapag si Brandi ang kausap. Mabi-beast mode lang ito lalo sa kanya.

"Huwag mo syang siputin, ha. Uminom na lang tayo."

"He's reserved two days for me."

"So? Then I'll reserve three days for you. Kahit maraming nag-aaya sa 'kin sa 14, I'll choose you over them. You know why? Because I have balls bigger than Felix."

She couldn't help but laugh. "Ang hard mo sa kanya, Beh."

"Ikaw lang naman ang malambot pagdating sa kanya, e. It's no wonder why he takes you for granted."

"Aray!"

"Whatever, Mona. But I'll tell you this, kapag pumayag ka sa gusto nya, kalimutan mo ng naging magkaibigan tayo."

"Hala, Beh..."

"I'm serious."

Mukha ngang seryoso ito. Never namang nanakot si Brandi na ii-F.O. sya kahit sobra-sobra silang mag-asaran. Maybe she's already this stupid kaya nasabi iyon ng kaibigan niya.

"Ano, Mona? Are you willing to throw away our years of friendship for a guy who can't fight for you?"

"Brandi naman..."

"I assure you, this will be worse than all your past breakups combined."

"Beh—"

"You know how I am as a friend. Kung hindi ka naman makikinig sa 'kin at patuloy mo lang sasaktan ang sarili mo, then ano pa ang silbi ko sa 'yo, di ba? So, if you want to continue being stupid, let me know so I can walk away first. I don't want to see you destroy yourself."

After that, Brandi hung up.

--

Mona didn't know what to do. Felix was already telling her about his plans, but she couldn't just ignore Brandi's threat. Ayaw niyang mawalan ng kaibigan. Kaya kinausap niya si Felix, at gumawa na lamang siya ng samu't saring dahilan para mapapayag itong hindi na muna sila mag-celebrate ng Valentine's. He can't even dedicate her the very day, anyway. Nangako na lamang siyang babawi rito. He didn't buy it, but maybe he's feeling guilty of the whole setup so he let her be.