THE GOOD SISTER

Chapter 31 - Apostrophe

Question: Just how far are you willing to go for your career? Were you ever forced into a predicament wherein you had to make a decision that might affect your personal life in favor of your career? 

When my hubby and I were still newlyweds, we were encouraged to get US Visas and try our luck in the US. This was why most of the ninongs and ninangs gave us money as gifts, we were then on a mindset of starting our life  in the US. But we got denied entry twice, and despite my mom's prodding, I decided against it. I saw it as a sign that maybe it was not for us. 

I am happy with my decision, our life here is great, we have careers that need not require us to be away from each other, and our sons were brought up in our culture of family bonding. But we did sacrifice too. I sacrificed time with my kids because my work involved traveling and working on weekends. I also took up and finished my Masters degree, which went on for three years and it ate up weekends and weeknights. 

What I'm driving at is that there will always be a trade-off for our dreams, and we just need to draw the line where we set our limits. And that's what it's all about here in this chapter. It's about compromising and trying to deal with realities. Dei saw an opportunity to fast track their road to success and wants to take advantage of it, but of course, had to agree to limits set by Richard. 

There's always a grey area, my friends, we can't always be black or white. And in choosing, we just need to stick to the shade we chose to make sure our compromises are worth it :)

It was just the four of them left in the function room and clearly, Richard was displeased. He merely listened to the plans Ciara shared for publicity and noticed how uncomfortable Kat was about the plan. They all committed to talk about it first before making a decision.

"Ok come on, let's discuss this and get it over with. Jay, I know you don't like this one bit but—"

"Damn right I don't. It's misleading, I don't like deceiving people."

"But we're not deceiving them, Jay," Kat said soothingly. "The most that will happen is that we'll be seen together and people will wonder what the real score is. That's all. You're not required to date me, God forbid. Alam ko namang ayaw mo gawin eh."

"Kat, I'm sorry. You're a good friend, I thank you for believing in my material to get it produced into a movie. But to play with the illusion na we're an item kahit hindi naman? Paano si Dei? How am I going to be with her? We won't be able to go out if and when we want to? Pano kayo ni Inggo?"

"Wait. Anong pano kami ni Inggo, we're not naman a couple......yet." She said the last world almost to herself and blushed. She stole a look at him and he was looking enigmatically at her.

She recalled the night he spent at her apartment, when they slept in her bed spooned together. She got to know him better that night, and felt drawn to him and his sensitivity. He was a diamond in the rough, he could be someone like Richard, who right now looked very angry. He was scary this way, it was a new side of him she saw for the first time.

"Look, we can go out together, all four of us," Dei reasoned. "We will be working together on this project for what, two or three months. It's normal for us four to be seen together."

"Oh yeah? Tapos ano, you and me together, then sila ni Kat ang magkatabi? Ayoko."

"Inggo naman you're not helping."

"Why should I help you, Dei? Ang usapan, this is an indie movie. Why is it getting so much attention? Ang dami naman nakikialam, pati who to be seen with kasama sa contract?"

"Guys, would it be so bad for us four to be seen together in public?" Kat reasoned. "Hindi naman araw-araw yan, they'll probably take a few behind-the-scene stills of us collaborating. Wala ring guestings yet while we're shooting."

"I'm not used to all this attention, Kat. When I make movies, ayokong may reporter na dumdalaw. Kaya ayokong maglocal release ng movies eh, it's precisely because of attention like this."

"So you want to back out, is that it?" Kat looked at him, as though offended. "Akala ko ba you want to work with me?"

"I'm in this still but I don't see the point of the PR thing. Indie movie ito bakit parang nagiging mainstream?"

"I'm sorry all of you, blame me for that. Nagiging mainstream siya because of my presence in it."

Dei felt she had to butt in. After all, it was she who started this.

"This is for all four of us. Lahat tayo magbebenefit dito. Don't you see that?"

She approached Richard and took both his hands.

"We 're just starting our careers, Jay. This is just a small sacrifice to start big. Once we both make a name for ourselves, tuloy-tuloy na lahat. I enjoyed publishing your book, I did not expect us to earn from it but see, we are. Other writers might be encouraged to work with me. And you......look at how they love you. Your book will be debuting here soon, as Alden Richards the international author. Won't it be a nice surprise for them na ikaw din pala yun?"

"Wala na tayong time together eh. I want time with you alone."

The way he said that made Dei forget Inigo and Kat were in the room. Richard was looking at her with such hunger that she forgot what she was about to say. She leaned over and kissed him, he captured her face with both hands.

Kat was looking at them with awe. Wow. It was like watching a movie. She felt Inigo taking her hand and leading her out of the room to give Dei and Richard some privacy.

Dei hugged him close, suddenly worried that she might be pushing him too hard.

"Jay, I'm sorry if I seem to be pushing you. I wanted to make a grand gesture of making up to you all the hardships you went through for me, by doing this. The book, the movie......they will impact on your next three books to be released, and your restaurant. Then hopefully, we can plan for the future. Masama ba yun?"

"You asked me to kiss Kat. I felt cornered."

"Parang ang awkward if di mo pagbigyan mga tao. I just meant kanina it was ok with me for you to kiss her. I'm sorry if you felt cornered, hindi na mauulit yon."

"Why did you have a change of heart? You were worried about me and Kat working together at the start of this. Bakit ngayon ikaw pa mas willing?"

"I just thought things over these past few days. I lost you before because I had so many hang ups, when I should have trusted you more. I want to change that. So I'm keeping the faith that what we have is strong. I also know whatever we decide on will impact on Kat and Inggo."

Reluctantly, Richard had to agree. "To ride the opposite direction might hurt Kat's career too, I realize that now. Dei, I may agree to this PR angle but with conditions."

"Sure."

"One, I will not star in that movie. Kahit i-clamor ng fans yan, the answer is no. Two, I will not kiss her or pretend to be courting her, no interviews about us and our pseudo-relationship must ever happen. Let the people guess what's going on, tama na yun. Three, the movie should finish in a month's time, at most six weeks. I don't want to keep up this pretense for too long. Four, you and Inggo will always be with us, never kami alone together. Five, you're mine during evenings. No compromise on that."

He was smiling by the time he said that, and so was Dei. Number five was pretty much a given.