For the hundredth time, I took a deep breath and placed my fingers on top of the piano keys. I relaxed and tried to clear my mind from any kind of distraction. But as soon I started playing the piano, the noise that I've been hearing since I woke up this morning came running back through my ears. So much for a meditation weekend. 

It's been a while since I last played the piano and so, I was planning to learn some pieces I've chosen a while back but the on-going construction beside my house is keeping me away from doing what I love. 

Napabuntong-hininga na lang ulit ako at tumitig sa piano.

"I want to play you so badly," I said while fake crying. 

"Dani, kain ka muna!", sigaw ni Nay Fellie mula sa kusina. 

I got up and went to the kitchen to eat breakfast. Hinanda niya ang paborito kong daing na bangus. Ang sarap ikain ito sa kanin at suka habang nagkakamay. Medyo gumanda tuloy ang timpla ng aking mukha.

"Kuya Dan, kain na!" sigaw ko. Kaming tatlo lang ni Nay Fellie at Kuya Dan ang andito sa bahay. Si Zara ay nasa bahay ni daddy. May mga pagkakataong masyado akong nalalakihan sa bahay namin. Iilan lang naman kami dito. Kaya minsan, kapag mayroong may birthday sa amin o kaya naman tuwing pasko, pinapapunta ko dito ang pamilya ni Kuya Dan. Gusto ko ngang dito na rin sila tumira kaso tumatanggi sila sa aking alok. 

Kami'y nagdasal muna bago kumain. Maya't-maya pa ay biglang umalingawngaw ang lakas ng radyo sa kabilang lote.

"Kuya Dan, kailan pa nagsimula yung construction sa kabila?" tanong ko habang naglalagay ng pagkain sa aking plato. 

"Nung nasa America ka pa ma'am, naghuhukay na sila. Ngayon palang tinatayo yung bahay." Isang buwan na simula noong uwi ko sa Pinas galing ng New York pero hindi ko napansing may tinatayong bahay pala sa tabi namin. Corner lot kasi ang aking bahay. Ang gate na pinapasukan ko ay nasa kabilang parte. Yung isang gate namin na katabi ng construction ay ginawang storage ni Kuya Dan.

"Buong araw po ba sila nagpapatugtog? Maingay na nga yung mga kagamitan nila sa construction tapos dinadagdagan pa nila ng radyo. Masumbong ko nga ito sa office. Nakakabulabog sila ng kapitbahay," reklamo ko habang sinusubo ang aking pagkain. 

"Oo nga, ma'am. Hindi rin naman siguro alam yan ng may-ari dahil hindi naman palaging nakabantay. Pero ilang beses ko na nakita ang engineer diyan. Maigi sigurong siya muna ang kausapin mo para naman mapagsabihan yang mga trabahador niya," sabi ni Kuya Dan. 

"Ayaw ko nga magreklamo kasi mahirap maging kaaway ang kapitbahay," tugon naman ni Nay Fellie. 

"Eh, nay. Hindi naman tama yang ganyan. Ramdam ko yung pag-vibrate ng music nila sa pader natin eh. Nakailang construction na rin dito malapit sa atin pero hindi naman ganyan kalakas magpatugtog. Baguhan sila dito kaya kailangan nilang makisama." 

"Ikaw na magsabi, ma'am. Ikaw homeowner dito kaya tiyak, papakinggan ka nila," sambit ni Kuya Dan. Tinanguan ko siya at tinapos ko ang aking kinakain. 

I went up to my room to change into more decent clothes. I didn't want to go outside wearing a robe and nighties. I went out of our house and  and slowly walked towards the construction area beside our house when I saw someone familiar step out of the car in front of the lot.

 It was Jace. 

He is wearing a white short-sleeved polo and denim jeans. I saw him reach out for his hard hat that is inside his car. Lumapit ako sa kaniya nang kaunti.

"Jace!" tawag ko sa kaniya. Lumingon siya sa aking gawi at nagulat siya nang makita ako. 

"Dani! What's up?" He went near me and gave me a little side hug. "Kamusta ka?" He pointed at the house behind me. "This is where you live?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "Ikaw yung engineer sa bahay na toh?" I asked looking at the house beside ours.

"Yes. New project." He smiled widely at me. "It's nice to see you again. Parang kailan lang nung nagkasabay tayo sa eroplano ah."

"I know. We keep bumping into each other. Gusto mo bang mag breakfast muna? May pagkain pa kami sa loob," pag aalok ko.

"No need. I already ate before I left my house." At that moment, I heard a grumbling sound which I believe came from his stomach. He smiled awkwardly at me and I bursted out laughing. 

"Maybe a few spoons of food will do," he said. I led him inside my house. Nay Fellie was surprised to see this young man enter.

"Nay, pwede po bang pakiayos po uli yung lamesa? May bisita po tayo," sambit ko.

"Ay oo, nak. Siya yung engineer sa kabilang bahay na nakikita ko palagi diyan. Magkakilala pala kayo?"

"Opo, nay. Si Jace po ito. Kaklase ko po siya nung highschool. Nakasabay ko rin po siya sa eroplano nung pumunta ako ng Singapore."

"Tignan mo nga naman oh. Ang liit talaga ng mundo." 

"Nice to meet you po. Ako po si Jace," pakilala niya kay Nay Fellie. 

"Oh siya, umupo na kayo." Jace and I sat on the dining table when Nay Fellie finished preparing the plates. Sinabayan ko na rin ng kain si Jace kahit kumain na ako para hindi siya mahiya.

"Actually, I went outside a while ago to really talk to the engineer of the house beside me. Di naman ako na-inform na ikaw pala yun," I chuckled. 

Jace took a sip from his coffee before answering me. "Oh, really? What do you want to talk about?"

"Yung mga tauhan mo kasi...ang lakas magpatugtog." Medyo nahiya pa akong magsabi dahil hindi ko alam kung pwede ko bang sabihin iyon sa kaniya.

"Yun lang pala. Akala ko kung ano. Sure, I'll tell them to lower it down." He bit his lower lip and smiled a bit. "I just remembered something. Back in high school, I'd often see you get annoyed when the class is noisy and you're reviewing. Hanggang ngayon parin pala ayaw mo sa maingay," he said looking at me with amusement written on his eyes. 

"You remembered that?" I scoffed. "I thought you never cared about me? You were so self-centered and always on top of your game just to beat me." I smiled at that thought. 

"Why wouldn't I care? You were my high school crush, remember?" He chuckled. I laughed at him. Back then, I was too focused on my studies to even give a damn about him. I knew he liked me and there was even a point where he wanted to court me. I rejected him because I didn't like his arrogant attitude. I knew I wouldn't be able to put up with it for a long time. I believed we weren't compatible for each other so we just stayed as competitors. 

"Yeah, those were the days," I replied. 

"Mhmm, and until now, I still have my eyes laid on you," he said straightforwardly. I was kind of surprised with his sudden confession. He looked deeply through my eyes while I was left with my mouth hanging open until I heard Anais' voice from the entrance of the house.

"Dani! Did I leave my bracelet here last ni-" Anais was cut off when she saw me having a staring contest with someone out of nowhere in the kitchen table. I averted my gaze away from Jace and laughed awkwardly. 

Lumapit si Anais sa kinaroroonan ni Jace at tinitigan itong mabuti. 

"Jace Valmorida?", nagtatakang tanong niya. "What the fuck are you doing here?" Jace faced Anais and smiled at her. "It's nice to see you again, butt face," tugon niya.

"Ang tanda-tanda mo na, ganyan ka parin umasta? Dani, ano bang ginagawa ng hambog na ito dito ha?" galit na tanong ni Anais. The two hated each other back then. Ang lakas mang-asar ni Jace dati kay Anais kaya naman ganiyan nalang ang naging reaksyon niya nang makita itong muli. 

"He's the engineer of the house beside mine. I just so happened to see him a while ago when I went outside." Jace gave her a "sorry not sorry" look. 

"Wag kang mag-alala, Anais. Hindi na ako yung kilala mong Jace noon. I've changed and besides, that was just a phase of mine," he said. 

Anais sat on the chair beside me and crossed her arms. "Well, if you say so. By the way, what were you guys talking about? I saw you too staring the heck out of each other. Kulang nalang kaiinin niyo ang isa't isa." Natawa kami sa sinabi niya.

"Ah, wala yun. Pinag-uusapan lang namin yung mga panahong nasa high school pa tayo," sagot ko kay Anais. Jace looked at me with pursed lips to stop himself from laughing. Feeling ko natatawa siya dahil ayaw kong sabihin kay Anais ang biglaan niyang pagsabi na gusto pa niya ako. 

"Oh, yung mga panahong ni-reject mo siya?" Anais said while pointing at Jace. "Well, you made the right decision."

"Alam mo, wag ka sanang magka-jowa sa mga sinasabi mong ganiyan sa akin," ganti ni Jace.

"Shut the fuck up!" Anais shouted and knocked on our wooden table thrice. I looked at her weirdly because I know that she doesn't believe in superstitions. "What? I'm just making sure. I can't risk not having a jowa noh!" 

*ting*

Jace read the text message he received and looked at us. "Looks like I need to go now, ladies. I have to check the construction next door and I have a meeting to attend to after. It was nice seeing you again. Thank you for welcoming me to your home and for the breakfast. Pasabi nalang kay Nay Fellie."

I walked him to the door and just before he left, he gave me a glance from his shoulder and uttered these words, "What I said earlier, I mean it." 

He turned around so that he could face me. "If you ever find yourself in the right place and time to love again..." He took a deep breath before proceeding to what he has to say. "Fall in love with me." Pagkatapos niyang sabihin iyon ay umalis na siya habang ako naman ay napako sa kinatatayuan ko. It made me think. Gusto ko bang magkalove life muli? Oo naman. Matagal ko nang sinisisi ang sarili ko sa nangyari sa amin ni Dee. Matagal na akong puno ng panghihinayang at ngayon naman, gusto ko ulit maramdaman kung paano ka punuin ng pag-ibig ng isang tao. Pero kung tatanungin mo ako kung handa na ba akong magmahal muli? Sa tingin ko, hindi pa. 

Dahil andito pa siya. Sa puso ko. 

At ngayong nagkakatagpo ang landas namin, nabubuhayan ulit ako ng loob. Napupuno ako ng pag-asa na balang araw, magiging kami ulit. 

Sinara ko na ang pintuan at sinalubong ako ni Anais sa may sala namin. 

"So, what's the real deal?", tanong niya sa akin.

I looked at her confused. "What real deal?"

"Duh, I noticed the way Jace looked at you a while ago. May something." 

Bumuntong-hininga ako. "Yeah, he told me that he still hasn't gotten over me." Anais came closer becoming more and more curious. 

"He's really something, huh. So, what's the plan now? Will you allow him to enter your life?" 

"I honestly don't know, Anais. Like what I always do, I'll just go with the flow and wait for a sign." 

My phone suddenly rang. I quickly answered it when I saw that Faye was the one calling. 

"Yes, Faye. What's up?"

["Hello po, Miss Chanel. May problem po sa pinagawang gown ng isang client sa Greenbelt branch. Next week na po kasi yung event niya at need na pong ipa-rush ang alterations."]

"Sige sige. I'll be there in a few. Thank you." I ended the call and went straight to my room to take a bath without even excusing myself from Anais. 

When I got out of the shower, I did my daily skincare routine and dried my hair. I went to my closet and got my grey sleeveless turtle neck and tucked it in my white ankle pants. I paired the look with my beige Nine West handbag and nude Steve Madden heels. 

I went down the stairs and walked straight to the door when I heard Anais shouting and calling my name. 

"Hey, wait up! Pumunta ako dito to find my bracelet. May nakita ka ba dito?",she asked me while looking underneath the throw pillows on the sofa.

"I haven't noticed anything." I looked at her. "Knowing you, I'm pretty sure you can just buy a new one. Remember when you kept losing your airpods? You didn't even bother to find them. You just straight ass buy." 

"But this one's different. Bigay iyon ni-" she trailed off. 

"Bigay ni?" I said raising my brow at her.

"Ugh, nevermind! I'll just continue looking for it. I'm sure it's just here somewhere." 

"Ok, then. Good luck with that. I'll head off now." 

I drove my car off to Greenbelt to go to my store and check on the gown that needs to be repaired. The client came this morning for the fitting but then the gown didn't fit well. Good thing, my head seamstress was able to come up with a plan for it to be fixed right away. 

Since I do not have anything to do at home, I decided to stay at the store for a while and attend to the customers. As I was rearranging the clothes, I felt a woman stand beside me while browsing the clothes on the rack. 

"Good morning..." I turned slightly to the right to greet her but I was cut off when I realized who she was. "...ma'am." It was the girl who hugged Dee at the airport. 

She gave me a glance and smiled a bit then looked back at the rack of clothes in front of her. I gave her a run-on from head to toe. She was wearing shorts and a baggy shirt. She seems like the type of person to not dress up. 

I went back to putting some of the new stock of clothes in hangers when I heard her talking out of nowhere.

"Tanginang 3000 yan! Para lang sa bistidang toh? Pwede ko nang ipambili ng isang buwang stock ng pagkain namin ito eh tsk!" I looked around to see if she was talking to someone. Wala naman. I also saw her holding money on her left hand. 

"Ba't ba kasi dito pa nila ako pinapabili ng damit eh pwede namang sa ukay-ukay nalang. Tig-50 pesos pa." I heard her scoff. Ilang minuto pa bago siya umalis ng store. She didn't even try on the clothes so I guess ipapambili nalang talaga niya ng pagkain yung perang hawak niya.

After a few minutes, naramdaman kong kumalam na ang sikmura ko kaya naman, napag-desisyunan kong umalis na sa store at mag take-out sa mga restaurants dito. Hindi ako sanay kumain sa labas nang mag-isa kaya mag-uuwi nalang ako ng pagkain kila Zara at Dad. 

I went to Conti's and ordered their baked salmon, our family's favorite dish from this restaurant. While I was waiting for my order to come up, I saw Dee and the woman from a while ago sitting across the restaurant where I was at. I blinked my eyes to check if I wasn't tripping. They were sitting in front of each other. They were even laughing. I felt a pang of jealousy hit me. I wonder what they were talking about.

Maya-maya pa ay biglang natapon ang iniinom na iced tea nung babae sa kaniyang sarili. Napatayo si Dee sa kaniyang kinauupuan. Kinuha niya ang kaniyang handkerchief at pinunasan ang legs nung babae. 

I looked at the inside of my bag where Dee's handkerchief was. The one he offered me the day we first met. I never got the chance to return it to him. It was like a souvenir. A beautiful memory.   

Mapait akong napangiti. Seeing him right now with another girl like that pains me. It looks like he's fully moved on now. Is this a sign that I should give up already? A sign for me to open my heart to someone else? 

"Excuse me po, ma'am. Here's your order po." Naputol ang aking pag-iisip at iniabot sa akin nang waitress ang pinamili kong pagkain. 

I got up and went out of the resto. I gave Dee another glance before I left. 

I drove to Dad's house. Pagkarating ko ay sinalubong ako ni Zara sa may pintuan. 

"Hi, bye! I need to go!", she said hugging me then hurriedly walked towards the gate. 

"Sayang naman itong binili ko oh. Salmon pa," asar ko sa kaniya.

"What? Napaka-wrong timing mo! Kung kailan naman aalis na ako."

"Kasalanan ko bang aalis ka? Di ko nga alam na may pupuntahan ka eh," patawa-tawa kong sabi sa kaniya.

"Aish! Tirhan niyo ako ah. Pag yan wala sa ref pag-uwi ko."

"Sige na! Umalis ka na." I waited for her to get in her car before I headed inside. 

Pagkapasok ko ay nakita ko si dad na nakaupo sa sala. Nang makita niya ako ay tumayo siya at niyakap ako.

"Dani, what made you visit? Wala ka bang trabaho ngayon?", he asked.

"Wala po, dad. Kakagaling ko lang sa store kanina, may inasikaso lang. I just bought food for us because I didn't want to eat alone. And it's our favorite!" I went to the kitchen table and took out the salmon from the paper bag." Huwag na nating tirhan si Zara," I said to him while chuckling.

"Hoy! Narinig ko yun, ate ah!" Zara went back inside to get her phone from the table. Looks like she forgot to bring it a while ago that's why she came back here. She hurriedly went to us in her heels and almost tripped. She grabbed the fork I was holding and took a bite of the salmon I bought. 

"I'll go now," she mumbled while chewing the spoonful of food in her mouth. Napailing nalang si dad sa inasta ni Zara. We sat down and ate our lunch.

"Ay, ang kapatid mo talaga. Makulit yan dahil hindi ko siya madalas pansinin noon." He sat in front of me and gave a heavy sigh. "I'm just happy that despite how hard I was on her, she still grew up properly. Hindi siya nag-rebelde. Instead, she worked hard to prove herself to me." He looked at me dearly. 

"I'm sorry...for everything that I have caused you and your sister," he said apologetically. I reached out for his hand and held onto it. 

"Dad, you don't have to anymore. Ilang taon na rin ang nakalipas simula noong napatawad kita."

"I know, anak. Pero bilang isang magulang, habang buhay kong pasanin iyon. Yung kalinga na dapat naramdaman niyo sa akin noong mga maliliit pa kayo, ngayon niyo palang natatanggap."

I sighed. "Dad, it's never too late. Sapat na sa amin na bumabawi ka ngayon. Try not to dwell in the past anymore."

He smiled at me. "Thanks, anak but I think that advice of yours also applies to you." I did not get what he wanted to say at first but I realized that he was talking about me still not being able to move on from my ex.

"Yun na nga, dad eh. Madalas kaming nagkakasalubong lately. Paano naman gagana yung OPLAN Alisin Sa Puso't Isipan si Dior?" He chuckled at what I said. I moved closer to him. "Eh, dad. I know it's kind of too late to ask but for the past years, did you have any idea how Dee was doing?", I asked almost whispering. 

"I never thought you'd ask." He sighed before continuing. "DLS is still being handled by Dee together with Mr. Beltran, his uncle. I'm sure you know him since his wife and daughter are frequent clients of yours. Dee asked him to manage the company while he's gone but from what I know, Dee still has the biggest shares. Yun lang ang alam ko." 

"And he's been living in New York since then," I uttered with a bittersweet smile. 

Dad stood up from his seat and went near me to kiss my forehead. "Maiwan na muna kita diyan ah. I still have to prepare for my virtual meeting." I nodded my head and continued eating while dad went upstairs in his office. 

A notification suddenly popped on the screen of my phone. It was a text message from my new manager at Suarez Labels. 

Julie: Ma'am, inform ko lang po kayo na need na po magdagdag ng new stock sa inventory dito sa branch. Nasabi ko na rin po ito kay Ma'am Faye. 

I furrowed my brows with what I read. 

Chanel: Ha? Diba kaka-restock lang natin nung isang araw? Ganun na agad karami ang bumili?

Julie: Ma'am, may customer po dito kanina. Naabutan mo po yon eh. Yung naka t-shirt na maluwag. Umalis siya tapos nung wala ka na dito, bumalik siya na may kasamang lalaking matangkad na gwapo. Almost lahat ng mga nasa new catalogue, pinakyaw niya para dun sa babae. 

I felt my heart tighten. She was definitely talking about Dee dahil kasama niya ang babaeng iyon sa cafe kanina. 

Napahilamos ako sa mukha ko. I have no right to feel jealous but I just couldn't help it. This is probably a sign for me to open up myself and entertain other people. I no longer want to live in the past anymore.

Ilang minuto pa ang nakalipas nang makita kong nag-message si Jace sa IG ko.

jacevalmorida: Hey, I just finished work today. Want to go out for coffee? Libre ko na dahil pinakain mo ako kanina :))

Napangiti ako.

chaneldanica: suree! 

**End of chapter**