Unwritten (Summer Of Taking Chances Sequel)

Hope

13
PRIS

"Pris? Is everything all right?" Narinig ni Pris ang boses ni Jessica. She called her bestfriend earlier after drinking half a bottle of red wine. "Kumain ka na ba?" Nasa himig nito ang pag-aalala.

"I'm not hungry. As you can see, I'm very busy..." Pris said and drained her wine glass. She poured more wine and drank all of it again. "...getting myself drunk." She was about to pour more but Jessica snatched the wine glass away from her. "That's rude."

"Ano bang problema?" Jessica was studying Pris.

"Nothing. Everything is all right. I just want to see you. Masama ba yun? Kailangan bang magkaproblema ako bago kita makita? Am I not worthy of your time?" Annoyed na sabi ni Pris.

Jessica rolled her eyes.

"Okay, spill!" It was Kristine, who just entered the balcony.

"Why are you here?" Pris glared.

"I called her," sagot ni Jessica.

"What's wrong?" Kristine demanded looking from the almost empty red wine bottle on the glass table to Pris' flushed face.

"Both of you are annoying," reklamo ni Pris. Napatingin na naman sya sa makulimlim na kalangitan. Her two friends were silently looking at her. Without her saying anything, they knew something was wrong. "She broke up with me."

Nagkatinginan sina Jessica at Kristine. Parehong nalungkot sa nalaman.

"Okay, we need more of this." Jessica indicated the red wine. "Or probably something stronger."

"Yeah, and we need to change venue," Kristine agreed. "Come with me." Hinila nito si Pris.

"Where are we going?" Pris suddenly asked suspiciously but let Kristine pull her.

"We are going down to the pool. Mahirap na at baka may mahulog pa sa balcony," sagot ni Kristine.

Naiiling na lang si Pris sa mga ito but she was glad they were both there. Kristine raided her ref and found Pris' newly stocked premium Korean beef and pork, kimchi, lettuce and bottles of soju. Nilabas nila ang mga iyon kasama ang table top grill sa gilid ng pool at doon sila nag-inuman.

"Dominique came to talk to me earlier and broke up with me. Gusto kong magalit sa kanya pero hindi ko magawa. It's not her fault that she forgot me," Pris said sadly. "Maybe I shouldn't have left her. Kung nandito lang sana ako, baka hindi nangyari yun."

"Hey, it's not your fault." Jessica held her hand. "Walang may gusto nun."

"Bakit ba nangyayari sa akin ito? Am I being punish because I'm a lesbian?" Pris said bitterly. "Wala bang karapatan ang isang katulad ko na maging masaya? But look at Ellen, she's happily married. Should I change career to hosting? May galit ba sa akin ang tadhana? I just want to be happy!" She angrily drank her soju.

Kristine and Jessica didn't know what to say to make her feel better. They just listened to her patiently.

"Kristine, you're a girl." Pris suddenly stared at Kristine.

"Thanks for noticing." Kristine glared.

"Ikaw na lang kaya ang gawin kong girlfriend? We know each other well. We could make each other happy."

"Eew." Kristine rolled her eyes. Jessica started laughing.

"Ang yabang mong unano ka. Porke may boyfriend kang Lee Min Ho look a like," Pris irritatingly said.

"Sinong tinawag mong unano?! Eto sayo!" Binato sya ni Krisine ng kimchi at tumama sa mukha ni Pris, na gumanting binato ang kaibigan ng lettuce.

"Guys, stop! Don't play with the food," tumatawang saway ni Jessica sa dalawa.

Kay Jessica naman bumaling si Pris. "Jess, why don't we get back together? Tayo na lang ulit."

Jessica laughed but Pris noticed it made her blushed. "Hindi ako ang babaing para sayo, Pris."

"Kung hindi ikaw, at hindi rin si Dominique, sino ang nararapat para sa akin? Patulan ko na lang kaya si Happy Foundation Day Liza Moretti?"

"Yuck! Just thinking of you kissing her face with its 5 layer thick foundation makes me puke." Kristine looked repulsed with the thought.

"You know what, I know exactly what you need," Jessica suddenly said. Pris got curious. "Come, stand up."

Pris humored her bestfriend and stood. Jessica was smiling slyly and the next thing she knew, her body hit the water. Tinulak sya ni Jessica sa pool. Pris heard Jessica and Kristine laughed. Sinamaan nya ang mga ito ng tingin na lalong ikinatawa ng dalawa. Basang-basa tuloy ang blouse at pants nya. Good thing she removed her boots earlier and changed to slippers.

"Ang saya nyo ah," naiiling na sabi ni Pris. Nawala bigla ang pagkalasing nya. Her wet clothes were weighing on her. She removed her blouse and pants then threw it at her friends. Kristine whistled with appreciation when she saw her sexy black under garments.

"Hindi nyo ba ako sasamahan dito?" Nakapameywang na sabi ni Pris.

Jessica discarded her yellow dress. She was wearing a white two piece bathing suit underneath. Pris shook her head with amusement when Kristine also had on her red two piece after removing her shorts and shirt.

"So, you didn't come here for me," Pris said pretending to be hurt.

Natatawang naghigh-five sina Jessica and Kristine. "We came for the pool," sabay na sabi ng mga ito at tumalon din sa pool to join Pris. Para silang mga batang nagsabuyan ng tubig hanggang sa mangibabaw sa gabi ang tawa nilang tatlo.

"Thanks for being here," maya-maya'y sabi ni Pris habang magkakatabi silang naka-float. Pare-pareho silang nakatingin sa kalangitan na noo'y nahawi ang mga ulap na tumatakip rito. Kita na ang mga nagkikislapang bituin.

"We'll always be here for you," Kristine said from her left and squeezed her hand.

"Don't lose hope. You'll find the love for you," Jessica, who was on Pris' right, assured her.

"Who said about me losing hope?" Pris said with a smile. "Dominique can't get rid of me that easily."

"What are you planning?" Kristine asked curiously.

"She wanted to start rebuilding her life. I'll let her be in the meantime. Let her think. Then we'll see." The beautiful night sky gave her hope. It seemed that the stars were twinkling at her, giving Pris assurance that everything would be alright. "I'm still hurting of course. I feel like I just died inside. But I'm not giving up on her. Maybe one day she'll realized, she loves me too."

"Baka isang araw, maalala ka na nya," Jessica said.

"Kung okay ka naman pala, bakit mo pa kami pinapunta?" Biro ni Kristine.

"Hindi naman kaya kita tinawagan," birong ganti ni Pris. Natawa si Jessica.

"Alam mo namang automatic akong tatawagan ni Jessica kapag tinawagan mo sya," Kristine pointed out.

"Aside from talking about my broken heart, we need to talk about something else. I think you already know what I'm referring to Kristine," Pris said seriously.

"What is it?" Jessica asked.

"We need to talk about Encina Corporation," Kristine answered.