Smile For Me, Ressler

SPECIAL CHAPTER PART TWO

SPECIAL CHAPTER PART TWO

Zild

I drove to the hospital, my vision blurry.

I could feel the heavy load on my chest, her words not leaving my ears.

"Zild? Everything alright?"

I broke out of my trance when I heard Mom calling my name. My eyes went to her. She's sitting on the hospital bed.

With a heavy sigh, I shook my head. "Tam and I broke up."

She didn't look surprised. A smile actually escaped her lips.

"That's better," she said.

Both my brows rose. "I thought you like her?"

"I love her," madiin na sabi niya kaya napatitig lang ako sa kanya. "I really do. But I don't want you to end up with someone whose heart already belongs to someone else."

Bakas ang gulat sa mukha ko.

"How did you know?"

"One time, Tam came to me. She was crying. I thought you had a fight with her. So, I asked her what happened. And she told me about her friend, Ressler, whose girlfriend died on a car accident. Tam said she could no longer bear watch him suffer that she want to take all his bad memories away."

There's a pause.

"And then I suddenly remembered when Ressler was in high school, he used to talk about a girl named Tam. Whenever he visits you at home, he always checks up on me on the kitchen just to brag how he much he admires her."

She let out a small laugh. "They love each other, always at the wrong time."

A small smile escaped my lips. I remembered when Tam used to rant about Ressler not taking her feelings seriously and ignoring her consistently. Little did she know, Ressler loved her too.

"And then you've been dragged to their love story," she said.

Slowly, I shook my head. "They didn't drag me to anything, Mom. Entering her life, getting to know her, it was my choice."

"Falling for her at first sight was never a choice, son. It was fate."

Gulat akong napatitig ulit sa kanya. Bakit parang . . . alam niya lahat?

"How did you know about me falling for her at first sight?"

"Do you remember when you went to Vera University to talk to Ressler for a new project?"

"Yeah. What about that?"

"You went home, smiling. I asked you why do you look so happy, and you said you finally talked to the girl you've fallen in love at first sight when you were still a kid. And then few weeks later, you introduced a girl to me."

I let out a small laugh. "You know everything."

"I'm your mom," she bragged. "And I don't want you to spend the rest of your life trying to win a girl's heart."

I stood up, marching towards her. As soon as I stopped in front of her, I gave her a warm hug.

"I love you, always," I said in a soft voice.

I pray that she can live forever.

* * *

The side walk cafes are all lively with Italians and a few curious tourists entering the cafes time to time.

I'm just sitting here at Cafe S. Petro, a cafe that's only a few walk away from the Vatican city.

After drinking all the coffee in my cup, I go to the Vatican city where people lives and main meals are served at the cafes from crispy thin pizza with very few toppings to tortillini.

This will be my last day in Italy and I'm flying back to the Philippines tomorrow to see her and congratulate her for passing the board exam. I think four years were long enough to move on. And when I say I have already moved on, doesn't mean I don't love her anymore. I still love her, I really do. But I've already accepted the fact that it will never be me.

I stand in the town square of the small village. Like any other normal day, people are going about their routine. A wooden bench beneath a large tree with old men sitting on it, chatting or reading newspaper. As for the women, they share town gossip as they shop for groceries.

I'm going to miss this place.

Napabalik ako sa reyalidad nang biglang may nakabangga sa 'kin na babae. She is in such a hurry she even spilled her coffee on my shirt. I can't see her face clearly because her hair is messy, covering most of her face.

"Sorry! I really am!" she says to me before turning around to chase the old man running from a distance.