Chapter 8- Italy full of unexpected
"Yes dad?" I answered the phone call I received from my dad.
"back to your office, now. We need to talk." His tone says something.
"okay." I didn't know what I did for him to talk to me like that.
I'm here at the rooftop, plano ko lang sana mag pahangin. pero wala pang 5 minutes, pinapatawag na naman.
Umalis na lang ako, at sumakay ng elevator pababa sa office ko. For sure, nag hihintay na s'ya doon. pa
I just came home 2 days ago from a vacation, na akala ko ay smooth pero andaming naganap na plot twist.
Kaya in vacation coma pa ako right now.
There you go, malapit na ako bumaba. Good thing, sa harap ng elevator ko is office na agad.
Palabas na ako ng elevator, when I spot two men in my office. Naka glass wall ang office ko, and it is a frosted type. Hindi man clear ang sa loob, pero makikita mo kung may tao man.
I bet my dad brought another friend para ipakilala saakin.
"Hi dad!" I opened the door and greeted my dad with a smile. I hugged him.
I looked at the other guy in the room and it was... "Ryan?"
He just smiled.
Ano na naman kaya 'to?
I know he's my co-owner of this hospital, but I prohibited him for coming in to my office. If we have something to discuss, we must do it to the conference room. Para iwas na rin sa mga ma issue na tao.
"You two, come here.". Tinawag kami ni dad, para umupo sa couch.
"I want you both to go to Italy." He said directly, na para bang hindi na kailangan ng permission namin.
"What?!". I reacted furious.
"It is a potential investment opportunity with Mr. Suarez. And I want you both to discuss it further for him. Given his demanding schedule, he has proposed that the meeting take place in Italy. We can't miss this one, this is a huge opportunity for both of you."
"Dad, you know I have a busy schedule. I do not just own a hospital, I am running your company. Remember?"
"Zarya."
"You can do it alone, right Ryan?" I tried to ask Ryan for help. But I don't think he's willing to do so.
"You had 3days of vacation, and this trip would probably just take 2days, with 4-5hours of discussion. What's so hard?!" My dad argued with me.
"Tito, it's okay po. I can manage." Ryan joined in, thank God!
"There you go, he said it himself." I shrugged, and stood up para sana makaalis na.
"No, sit down Zarya!" dad raised his voice.
Which made me flinch. So I went back to the couch, tried my best not to fight back.
"This is an important meeting, this is not a joke, nor a game. Having both of you there would be much convincing."
Ryan and I were just silent. Letting him speak.
"Am I understood here?"
"y...yes tito." Ryan just agreed, of course.
"You're going tomorrow morning, I already booked a flight for both of you." There you go, may ticket na pala. No wonder why pinag pilitan n'ya na kaming dalawa talaga.
Actually, it's fine with me if ako lang mag isa e. Just not with him.
"I'll get going na po.". He stood up, at nagpaalam kay dad. "Zar." Then he smiled at me.
That smile na parang he feel bad for me. But he has nothing to do about it.
After all, kahit mag sumali pa ang dad n'ya. It won't matter. Dad ko ang almost gumagawa ng lahat para sa hospital, while his dad was having the chill in his life.
Pagka alis ni Ryan, tumayo na rin ako. Gusto ko na munang lumabas dito.
"Zarya.". He called me.
I stood frozen, inantay ko lang ang gusto n'yang sabihin.
"Enjoy your time with Ryan, come back and give me the good news. Make me proud, Zarya Eir." He said, and left.
Now I gotta deal with that man for 3days. This is the reason why I don't want to inherit the company, and enter the business world.
I feel like I'm in a cage, na kung kailan lang gustong paliparin. doon lang makakalabas.
But this is in return for letting me go back here in the Philippines. Aside from that, hindi ko rin naman mahihindi-an 'tong responsibilidad ko.
My sister will never take this place, and I can't let my parent's hardwork go to waste. Kahit na may sama ng loob ako sa kanila.
"Doc? lunch tayo." It was aisle na nag aaya sakin.
Kanina pa ata s'ya kumakatok sa pinto, pero masyado napalalim ang iniisip ko hindi ko namalayan.
"Sunod ako.". I responded, and ngumiti naman s'ya at umalis.
I calm myself first before ako bumaba para naman hindi na sila madamay sa pagkasira ng mood ko.
"Doc, dito ka." Aisle invited me to sit beside her.
"where's Xylla?" I asked, s'ya kasi ang wala dito.
They didn't respond a word.
Till now, hindi ko alam ano ang nangyare. Bakit sila nagkasagutan ni Ralph, may ibang rason pa siguro.
Ang tahimik nilang lahat. Alam kong tahimik din si Xylla, pero hindi ganito ka ang vibe kahit nandito s'ya.
Hindi ako sanay...
"I'll be out of the country tomorrow" I informed them, baka kasi hanapin nila ako.
"Saan punta, Doc?". Kiro asked.
"Babalik ako ng italy."
I immediately noticed their looks. Parang gulat na gulat sila, especially si Ralph.
"don't worry, babalik ako. Important business trip lang" I assured them.
"Dalhan mo daw ng Italian si Mica." biro ni Kiro.
Na side eye tuloy ni Mica.
"Joke lang doc mics". Nag piece sign pa talaga si Kiro.
"List everything you want, send it sa GC. ako bahala."
"Talaga Doc!?" Kiro asked excitedly.
"Oum.."
"You don't have to do that, Zar." Ralph said.
hindi ko s'ya pinansin. I'm still upset about what happened sa el nido. masama rin loob ko kay Xylla.
Not because of what they did, but because they didn't even told me the reason why. Worst is, they didn't even apologize.
They both just acted as if nothing happened.
After my shift, I plan to go home na agad para makapag impake pa ako. Morning ang flight namin tomorrow, so won't be able to pack up mamayang gabi.
I'm just going to bring some of my important belongings, few clothes, and my other necessities. If kulangin man, I'm just gonna buy some there.
"Zarya, ricorda tutto quello che ti ho detto" My dad said, as he dropped us to the airport.
("Zarya, remember everything I told you.")
I nodded. "lo terrò a mente, papà" .
(I'll keep that in mind, dad.")
"Ryan, Rendimi fiero" paalam n'ya kay Ryan.
(Ryan, make me proud.)
"of course, Tito." he responded with a smile.
I almost got confused paano n'ya na gets 'yon. Then I remember na pareho lang pala kami. We are son, and daughter of our business man fathers. We are obligated to study several languages.
"Bye dad" I hugged him tightly, as goodbye.
He get in to the car, while Ryan, and I are still standing outside, waiting for him to
drift away.
As soon as he drove away, I turned my back to Ryan. Iniwan ko na s'ya doon, at nauna na akong pumasok sa loob.
"Zar, wait for me!" He screamed, with two luggage. Iniwan ko rin kasi pati maleta ko sa kanya.
Early kami ng 2hours, and that's good thing because the flight will depart in 40 minutes.
After several Security screening, and baggage checks. We are finally boarding the plane.
Dad booked us in business class, so we didn't have to go through lots of chaos.
"Xy, do you want the window seat?" Ralph asked pagkasakay namin.
I didn't answer him, instead I sat down sa Aisle side.
I didn't want others to think that he's my boyfriend, so I chose to sit here kahit gustong gusto kong mag window seat.
This is going to be a long flight, about 20 hours before we reached italy.
we will also be having one layover, dahil walang available direct flight.
Good thing I brought my neck pillow, and some sleeping pill because I don't usually sleep that much during flights.
But this time, since I'm with this guy right here. I just wanna close my eyes.
"Zar, what would you like to eat?" He asked.
Jusko, wala pa ngang 10 minutes? Excited ba to?
"I'm not hungry." I responded, and bumalik na sa cozy position ko.
"For later, para hindi na kita gisingin pag dating ng attendant."
"Steak." I replied a short response, without looking at him.
"Copy that, gisingin na lang kita pag-"
"will you shut up and let me sleep?" I rolled my eyes at him, making him flinch.
Tumahimik na lang s'ya, at nagsuot ng headphone while watching a movie.
While I took the chance to take a nap.
Finally, we're here! after almost 24 hours.
Now we're just waiting for the passengers to get off the plane.
Though wala namang ganap during the flight, nakakapagod parin talaga. Lalo na kapag kasama ko tong lalakeng 'to.
Hindi naman s'ya naging makulit, pero nakakainis pa rin.
I slept the whole flight, he just woke me up when it's time to have a meal. Kahit nag layover kami sa Dubai for 2 hours, wala namang ganap talaga.
I just bought some perfumes there for my babies, and waited for 2hours.
"where are you? we're already here waiting for you" Ryan's on call.
Good thing we have a chauffeur, so whenever we travel, we don't have to book for a cab. Especially if mom and dad is in the Philippines.
I saw the black benz approaching, and I knew it was our driver.
"There he is." I informed Ryan.
The driver immediately went out of the car to help Ryan with our things.
Actually, nakakaawa nga naman talaga s'ya tignan. S'ya lahat ang tagadala ng mga gamit.
"Torniamo a casa, signora Zarya?" The chauffeur asked.
(Back to your home, ma'am zarya?)
"Sì" I replied.
Wala naman akong magagawa kahit ayaw kong mag stay ng 2nights sa bahay kasama 'to e.
This will only take about 20 minutes drive from the airport. I'm really starving, but doon na lang ako kakain sa bahay. Or I'll be out alone later.
"Aren't you hungry?" Ralph asked from the front seat.
"no."
He didn't bother to asked further, and that's good.
I checked my phone to check my messages.
And saw my mom's text, it was probably sent when we were at Dubai.
_________________________________________________________________
"Hi, po. Kamusta kayo dito?" I greeted them back.
"Na miss ka namin, ma'am." Ate sela hugged me.
"Grabe, it's been only 3months. Ganon n'yo ako ka miss?" I joked around.
"ay, boyfriend mo?" Ate wen asked when he saw Ryan coming.
"No no, he's just a friend." nako, over my rich hot dead body talaga.
"Akala ko naman. bagay pa sana kayo" ate sela commented.
"Hello po, good evening.". Ryan greeted them.
Plastic.
I just gave them an awkward smile, ang kukulit talaga.
"Ahm, ate Wen. Pa asikaso na lang po si Ryan, I'll be upstairs lang." Utos ko kay ate Wen, para makapag pahinga na rin ako.
"Hindi ba muna kayo kakain?" She asked.
"Nagutom kami d'yan." Ate sela added.
I looked at the table, and may mga na prepare nga sila.
"fine, na miss ko luto n'yo e." Since gutom naman na ako, kaya kakain na lang.
"Ikaw iho?" Ate Wen asked Ryan, jusko nakalimutan ko imbitahan.
"Yeah, sure po."
He took a seat, so do I. Good thing ate wen and ate sela was there to serve us. Dahil hindi ko talaga gustong pagsilbihan to kahit bahay namin mismo.
They cooked us some smoked brisket, pasta, and baked garlic breads. There also some fruits on the table, hindi naman nawawala 'yan sa italian household.
"Zar, do you want to go visit some places later?" Ryan asked.
"No, I need to rest. Even if I want to, I'd rather do it alone."
"oh, okay. That's fine."
He handed me the brisket, dahil malayo ito sakin. I didn't thank him, or anything.
"You cook so good, ate..."
"Wen po, and this is Sela" turo ni ate wen kay ate sela na nasa tabi ko.
Ryan smiled at them, and proceed to eat. He looks so starved as well.
I checked my phone, and yeah. I was not wrong. "Hi dad, we just got home."
"Good to know, where's Ryan?" Si Ryan talaga?
"He's here, we're eating."
"Oh, sorry for the disturbance. Anyway, Mr. Suarez's secretary informed me that she already sent the details for tomorrow through email. Check it later."
"Si, papa."
"Okay, have a good time."
"dad, by the way. Will you tell mom that we're already here, and we're doing fine." I asked a favor, para naman hindi na ako tumawag pa kay mommy.
"Yes sure." He responded.
"Okay, thank you. I love you both."
after the call, bumalik na ako sa pagkain para makapag pahinga na agad.
I just dropped my call, now Ryan's phone is ringing.
"oh, excuse me." He excused himself, at tumayo.
"Hi, love. We're already here." umalis pa talaga sa inuupuan, naririnig ko naman.
Ang hindi ko lang marinig, ay ang response ni Iris.
"Yes, Zarya and I are having dinner right now."
"No, it's fine."
"Okay, I'll let you know."
"Bye, I love you."
Kadiri naman.
He put his phone in his pocket, and was about to sit down again. So I looked away, acting fool as if I wasn't eavesdropping.
What the helly. Who's calling now?
I checked my phone, and was surprised.
It's Xylla....
I quickly answered the phone call.
"Hello, Xy?"
"Zar, can we meet?" she said, her voice was calm.
"I'm sorry, I'm in Italy right now." I informed her.
She's not that type of person who would randomly call. Ano kaya at napatawag 'to?
"Yeah, I know." she said. "I'm here as well."
I was surprised. She's here?? since when??
"Huh??" I'm so confused. " You're here?"
"Yes, I heard from aisle that you're here. So I called you." She explained.
"Since when?"
"2days now." so nauna pa s'ya sakin??
"What are you doing here?" I can't help but ask.
"can we just meet?"
"Yeah, of course. Send me the location."
"okay, see you." She ended the call.
Why would she be here? trip n'ya lang? at nauna pa talaga s'ya dito ha.
I received the notification.
Tumayo na ako at kinuha ang coat ko para puntahan si Xy.
"Are you done?" Ryan asked.
"Yes." I replied.
"oh, okay take a rest now." He said.
Again, I snobbed him.
"Ate Wen, please tell the driver to drive me sa Pantheon." I asked ate Wen.
"Where are you going?" Ryan asked.
"Xylla's here, going to meet her." I replied, while wearing my coat.
"She's here?" He looked surprise.
"Do I have to repeat it?" slow lang ba sya or bobo talaga?
I looked around, trying to find Xylla. Andami kasing tao ngayon dito, actually walang araw na hindi busy ang cafe na 'to.
I decided to just call her instead of looking for her, mas convenient pa.
"Zar." I heard my name.
I turned around, and saw Xylla sitting at the corner.
I immediately smiled as soon as I saw her, I may be upset, but the excitement in me won.
"Hi, how are you?" I hugged her, and she hugged me back.
"have you eaten?" she asked, looking at the menu.
"Yes, I had dinner with Ryan at home." I replied.
"oh, okay. How about coffee?"
Thank God she didn't ask why I'm with Ryan, 'cause I don't really want to talk about him.
"Yeah sure, americano for me and one croissant."
"Ikaw na pala mag order, hindi ako marunong mag Italian." she giggled, and handed me the menu 'cause the waitress is already waiting.
"Ano sa'yo?"
"Hindi ako nag c-coffee eh, hot choco na lang?"
"Per favore, un ordine di americano caldo, una cioccolata calda e 2 croissant"
(One iced americano, hot chocolate, and 2 croissant please.)
"Basta aspettare 15 minuti e i tuoi ordini saranno serviti." The waitress smiled, and left.
(About 15 minutes, and your orders will be served.)
"So, why are you here?" I started the conversation, dahil hindi n'ya nasagot kanina 'yon.
"I'm here to calm my mind." Her tone says it all.
"so your mind is in chaos right now, hmm?"
"it's just a phase" her gaslighting herself.
"saan ka nag stay? you should stay at my house na lang.". I insisted.
"I booked a hotel."
"I'll help you pack your things, after this."
"No, I'm fine Zar. I bet you came here for an important stuff, I don't want to bother you."
She refused my offer.
I know Xylla, once she said No. Then it's a no. So I tried something else.
"Xy, you still owe me one."
"what one?" she asked, nagtataka na siguro s'ya.
"with Ralph." I opened the topic about what happened that night.
"c'mon Zar, it's nothing."
"tell me that 'nothing'" I pressured her.
"okay fine. I'll stay at your place." She finally gave in.
Yes, para mabawasan ang inis ko doon kasama si Ryan.
But at the same time, I'm curious about it. Is it that deep that she would rather stay at my place than telling me the reason??
The more she refuse, the more I get curious.
And once I'm curious, I'm bothered.
and I won't let myself be bothered.