Among The Stars

Chapter 38

Chapter 38
Away

"Alam niyo ba ang tungkol sa nangyari kay Isaac at kay Tito Kole?" tanong ko kay Mel at Kate nang magkasama-sama ulit kaming tatlo dito sa cottage pagkatapos akong kausapin ni Tito Kole.

Nagkatinginan naman silang dalawa at saka sabay na umiling. Naningkit naman ang aking mga mata.

"Seriously?"

Kate sighed. "We're friends with Cole, Lorraine but he's not that open to us." she said. "Pansin man namin na parang may mali sa kanilang mag-ama lalo na nung anniversary ng parents niya, pero hindi naman namin yun inungkat kay Cole."

"Alam mo namang sa'yo lang nag-oopen up iyon." dagdag pa ni Mel. "And when you left, he'd been keeping everything to himself."

It was a fun bonding moment with Mel and Kate pero habang nagpapakasaya'y hindi rin nawawala ang pagkagulo ng isipan ko. I'm hurting for Tito Kole. Alam kong naging hindi maganda ang tungo niya sa akin bago ako umalis ng bansa pero hindi maaalis sa akin na naramdaman ko rin siya as my second father noong mga bata pa kami ni Isaac.

"Had fun?" nakangiting bungad na tanong sa akin ni Angelo nang makapasok ako sa unit.

He's comfortably sitting while watching a movie. There's a bowl of popcorn and two cans of coke in the center table.

Guess, he's having a movie marathon. That's what he usually does when he's bored and when he has nothing to do.

"Yes."

Hinagis ko sa lapag ang aking travel bag saka ibinagsak ang sarili na sofa't isinandal ang aking ulo sa kaniyang dibdib.

"Oh... My Lorraine's tired." he sweetly said.

He embraced me close to him to make me more comfortable with my position and I smiled. I really like the warmth of his body.

"I'm dead tired..." I sighed, exhausted from everything that's been happening right now.

"Did something happen?" he asked me.

Bahagya akong napaangat ng tingin upang masulyapan si Angelo at nakitang concerned siyang nakatingin sa akin.

It looks like he can feel that I'm not completely okay. That there's something bothering me.

I took a deep breath and escaped from his embrace. Umayos ako ng upo at umayos rin siya upang matignan ako ng maayos.

"I met Isaac's father." pag-amin ko.

I saw Angelo's jaw clenched. Naikwento ko sa kaniya ang nangyari sa amin ni Tito Kole before. Nasaktan ako sa mga sinabi ni Tito Kole sa akin dati. Specially when he compared me to Lyrae and asked me to leave his son. Masakit para sa akin 'yon at iyon ang ikwinento ko kay Angelo.

"Oh... Isaac's dad." sabi nalang niya, trying to control his temper. "Did he say something rude to you again?"

Mabilis naman akong umiling. "No." I answered. "We just talked."

"What did you to talk about?" he asked and crossed his arms looking straight into my eyes, just like an investigator or detective looking for truthful answers.

"It's about Tito Kole and his relationship to Isaac." sagot ko't napabuntong hininga. "When I left... their relationship went downhill. Tito told me that Isaac's not treating him like a father but only as his boss. They only talk if it's about their business. He also told me that it's because of me."

"Why did it become your fault?" inis na tanong ni Angelo.

"Isaac got mad to Tito because of me; because Tito asked him to broke up with me to stick with their plan." sabi ko.