Chapter III

Stranger

Napansin ko na lang din ang suot niyang pantulog. It was a long white dress sleepwear at pinatungan niya lang din ng mukhang terno rin nito na puting robe that's make of silk.

While I was just wearing my pajama bottom and a plain white T-shirt bilang pantulog ko.

"Good evening," I greeted her before I went to the fridge to get myself some water.

"Did you... wake up in the middle of the night?" she slowly asked me.

Bumaling at tumango naman ako sa kaniya. At iyon lang din ang naging sagot ko...

MILLIE

I watched him as he drank the water from the glass...

He woke up in the middle of the night...

Habang ako naman ay hindi pa makatulog simula nang mapag-usapan namin siya kanina ni Don Antonio.

I still can't believe what he went through...

My parents passed away when I was very young. And I consider that the only sad part in my life, because when I came to the orphanage ay hindi rin naman kami napabayaan doon kasama ng iba pang mga bata din na kagaya ko. And that orphanage was long been supported by Donya Maria Delgado. She loves to do charity work. While her husband was busy with the family's businesses.

Pagkatapos ay inampon pa nila ako. They gave me a home and sent me to school until I finished my study. So I still grew up well with enough roof over my head, food, and clothing...

But what Anthony Delgado went through was just... painful...

And almost unimaginable.

Does he still think about what happened until now? It's been several years since then...

Pero kaya ba siya nagising ngayon kalagitnaan ng gabi, did he had some nightmare about the past?

Tinapos niya na rin ang pag-inom ng tubig. At nilapag ko na rin doon malapit sa sink ang baso ko. At kinuha niya pa iyon para hugasan kasabay ng ginamit niya rin na baso. And my eyes widened as I stopped him. "You don't really have to do it. Ako na," sabi ko sa kaniya.

Pero umiling lang naman siya sa akin at bahagya pang ngumiti. "Ayos lang. Sanay din naman ako sa mga gawaing bahay." sabi niya.

Bahagya na rin akong tumigil...

I just stood there and just waited for him to finish washing our glasses...

"Kami lang ni Mama habang lumalaki ako. She was working, so I had to learn the work at home, at least." he said.

I stayed looking at him while he was faced with the sink. He had to learn house chores to help his mother. Tipid na rin akong napangiti. Naisip ko lang that he was a good boy... a good son...

Bahagya akong lumunok bago nagsimulang magsalita. "I heard that your mother passed early..."

He turned to look at me. Pagkatatapos ay tumango naman siya. Pero iyon lang iyon at wala na rin siyang sinabi pa.

Then I realized that despite what he went through he's not that aloof type. Sa katunayan ay pwede rin siyang maging friendly kagaya ng pakikipag-usap niya sa akin ngayon na parang magaan lang din kaming nag-usap dito sa kusina...

But of course, there are still parts that he wasn't yet comfortable to talk about so he would stop saying anything...

Kapag may ayaw siyang pag-usapan o ayaw niyang sagutin ay tumatahimik lang siya...

He's one of Don Antonio's grandson. At napakayaman ng mga Delgado na may iba-iba rin na businesses. But it was still sad that Don Antonio's grandchildren had to go through something terrible and sad...

Alam ko na pinagsisisihan na rin ni Don Antonio ang mga kamalian niya noon. Kagaya na lang sa pagpapabaya niya sa kaniyang mga apo, kaya nga I think to somehow atone for himself, too, and his sins... he did all his best to find his grandsons...

Muli akong napalunok bago rin ako nagsalitang muli. I didn't want to cross any lines... but I just want to know about Anthony Wayne Delgado's thoughts...

"Are you okay with Don Antonio..." At nagdalawang-isip din ako sa una kong tanong.

Nagkatinginan naman kaming dalawa. He's done washing. At nakatayo na lang kaming dalawa roon sa kusina habang nag-uusap at kaharap ang isa't isa...

"Uh, I mean, he tried his best to find you..." Bahagya akong umiwas ng tingin.

And from my peripheral view I saw him nodding his head for a bit. "I appreciate it..." aniya lang.

Pagkatapos ay bumaling muli ako ng tingin sa kaniya at para ibahin na rin bahagya ang aming usapan. "What's your plan... I mean you can do anything that you would want now—you can also work in your grandfather's company..." I told him.

Nag-usap na rin kasi kami ni Don Antonio tungkol sa kung ano ang maaring sunod na gustong gawin ni Anthony ay susuportahan siya ng kaniyang lolo.

"Can I?" He asked me.

Maagap naman akong tumango sa kaniya. "Of course,"

"Uh, you used to work at a company before, too, right?" I said.

Nanatili lang naman ang tingin niya sa akin. And then he said, "My grandfather surely had me investigated,"

My eyes turned wide a bit. "No, I mean, he had to hire some investigators to find you, and also your two other cousins. But it was only that, it's not for anything..." I don't know but somehow I was almost stuttering with my words which doesn't really happen to me a lot. I just feel a bit nervous while talking to him...

I knew that I had to do something for him—kagaya sa napag-usapan namin ni Don Antonio, pero parang halos ngayon ko lang din pala na realize na mukhang hindi ko pa pala talagang napaghandaan ito at hindi ko halos alam ang mga sinasabi ko o ang sasabihin ko ngayon sa kaniya...

But I just knew that I had to do what was kindly asked of me...

And I will do it, no matter what.

I actually feel more determined now, despite being of course that I'm still having some kind of doubts...

Tumango naman siya. "I understand, so... you probably know, too, what kind of job I had before I came here..." Tumingin siya sa mga mata ko.

At hindi na rin ako nagkaroon pa ng pagkakataon na maiwas ko ang tingin ko sa kaniya dahil parang hawak na niya ang titig sa akin...

"Aren't you afraid of me?" He asked me next. At hindi niya pa binibitiwan ang tingin ko.

My lips parted a bit, before I slowly shook my head...

Nanatili ang mga mata namin pareho na nakatingin sa isa't isa.

At pagkatapos ay bahagya lang siyang tumango, and then nagpaalam na rin siya sa aking mauuna nang bumalik sa kwarto niya...

Nanatili naman akong nakatatayo pa roon. At pagbaling ko ay wala na siya sa kusina. Nanatili pa ako roon ng ilan pang sandali habang iniisip ko siya at ang mga pinagdaanan niya...

I think he's not also the type of person who would hide who he really was... At tingin ko rin na parang siya rin iyong tipo ng tao na wala na ring gaanong pakialam...

And it's because... he just doesn't have a care anymore...

At nanlaki ang mga mata ko sa realization. I just realized that what if he just doesn't care anymore, and it's because he actually doesn't have plans in his life anymore...

And my thoughts scared me. It scared me because I was tasked by Don Antonio to somehow help his grandson overcome his past, but now I just realized that it wasn't really simple. And it's not something that I can just do so easily...

Alam ko naman na hindi magiging madali, pero ngayon tingin ko ay talagang hindi madali ito...

After all, even though he's Anthony Wayne Delgado and Don Antonio's grandson, he was still a stranger to me...

Ngayon lang pa rin kami nagkakilalang dalawa, at hindi ko pa rin masasabi na marami na ang alam ko sa kaniya even after knowing about his past.

I still don't know him.

[Author's Note: Hello, readers! You can now read till Chapter XIV or Chapter 14 of this story it's available exclusively in Patreon or my Facebook VIP group! To join VIP, kindly message me directly on my Facebook account Rej Martinez or Facebook page Rej Martinez's Stories. Membership fee is 150 pesos for 1 month of membership in the private group for my VIP readers. And you can pay the membership fee with GCash. Thank you so much for your support!]