L I B E R T Y   K I N G S

The glorious sun is shining brighter than it did yesterday. The chirping of the birds made my irritation go away. Listening to the birds is making me cheer up from the phone call that has been ended. Pinasadahan ko ng aking kamay ang suot kong black Versace midi dress with neckline slash paired with red Saint Laurent opyum 110 patent leather sandals.

Talagang pinili kong magsuot ng black dress para naman iba ang mood na dalhin ko sa lunch date namin. I don't what Froy to think that I'm agreeing to our engagement. Wala man along lakas ng loob na sabihin sa kaniya na ayaw ko, ipaparamdam at ipapakita ko na lang. I won't be rude to him but I won't show any enthusiasm.

Wala na akong naabutang tao sa dinning na aking pinagtaka. Dapat ay nandito ang mag-ama, napatingin ako sa orasan at napakunot ang noo nang makitang six in the morning pa lang. Where are they? Bakit ako at ang mga katulong lang ang nandito?

With a confused expression on my face, I sat down slowly and asked Tessa about Valez's whereabouts. "Tessa, did they go to work already?" Sumubo ako ng sliced pancake habang hinihintay ang sagot n'ya.

"Ma'am, Ms. Olivia went to Batangas po today for business habang si Mr. Oliver ay may emergency."  magalang nitong sagot sa 'kin.

O, Olivia went to Batangas, and she didn't tell me? Same as Oliver? They usually update me on their whereabouts kahit hindi ko sila tanungin. That's how sweet they are. They don't want me to feel left out kay sinasabi nila ang ganoong bagay. This is the first time they left without saying anything.

With knitted eyebrows and a creased forehead, I fished out my cellphone and search on my contacts for Olivia and Oliver's name. My breakfast is interrupted by my concerns for the father and daughter's activity for today. I composed my message for them. 

"Good Morning Olivia, I heard that you're in Batangas? Take care." I hit send and compose another message, this time for Oliver.

"Daddy, where are you? You didn't tell me that you're going early? I miss you." Napatigil sa ere ang aking daliri sa pag-se-send nito. 

Why do I sound clingy girlfriend here? Baka ma-turn off sa 'kin si Oliver. With that thought, I decided to recompose my message. I was about to press the erase button when I got surprised by Chanel's bark making me press the send button instead. 

I gasped while looking at the sent plastered on the screen. Tinignan ko nang matalim si Chanel ngunit agad din itong nawala dahil ang nakadilang mukha nito ang bumungad sa 'kin. Who can get angry at this angel anyway? Our pets are angels sent from above to make our life better. Sometimes, animals are better than humans. I continue eating breakfast with a defeated look. 

I went to my condominium still have a defeated look on my face. Agad akong nainis nang bumungad sa 'kin ang nakangising mukha ni Atlas Mate. There this sudden urge inside me that wants to punch him hard by just seeing him. I bit my inner cheek trying to calm myself from being violent. 

"Ms. Kitt—" hindi ni Atlas natuloy ang sasabihin nang agad na sumaludo ang middle finger ko sa kaniya.

He chuckled heartily, "chill, just want to ask you why are you scrawling early in the morning?" 

Imbis na sagutin ay inismiran ko lamang siya at tinignan ang mga maayos ng parte sa 'king condo. Atlas doesn't need to be here actually. Hindi na ito parte ng trabaho n'ya but I guess he has a lot of time on his hands or Oliver asked him, perhaps?

"Why so hot-headed, Missy?" panungulit pa nito.

I sigh violently and turned around sharply, facing him with my bitch face. I arched my right eyebrow at him, "Can you shut the fuck up, Mr. Mate?"

I heard him whistle and whispered, "rawr, Oliver's kitten."

Akala ata nito ay hindi ko siya maririnig at teka nga? Bakit n'ya alam 'yon?! 

"What did you just said?" I said each word nang may diin.

He held up his hand, a sign that he's surrendering this building up argument. "Ops,"

He even has the guts to say 'Ops'?! Really? I can feel my blood boiling up, hot and fast. I fisted my hand and sigh slowly. This man is really eating up my patience. 

"So Oliver and you are talking about me?" 

He avoided my gaze and shrugged like he is innocent. He is far from being innocent! God, I cannot believe this. Masama ang loob ko habang nag-iikot sa condo dahil sa natuklasang bagay. Oliver can easily talk to his friends about me while I on the other can't say anything? That's unfair! No one would understand me from my group of friends. I wish I can also tell stories about me and Oliver to my friends.

Nakahalukipkip ako habang nasa loob ng elivator. Nakikita ko kung paano sumusulyap sa 'kin si Atlas sa mala salaming haligi ng elevator. Nagmamadali akong lumabas sa elevator ng makatungtong kami sa tamang palapag. Napahinto ako sa paglalakad kaya na bangga ako nang kaunti ni Atlas. Laking gulat ko nang makitang naghihintay si Froy sa 'kin sa loob ng condominium building na ito.

Seryoso siyang naglakad papalapit sa 'kin. Kinabahan naman ako bigla dahil nasa likod ko lamang si Atlas. He knew my relationship with Oliver and if he discovers what's going with me and Froy, I'm dead. My palms start getting sweaty and I can feel the cold on my stomach.

"Good morning Liberty, I'm here to pick you up." 

"Uh, yeah..."

I nervously look at Atlas who's just looking at us intently, like he was solving a puzzle. I bit my inner cheek and said, "Have a nice day, Mr. Mate, and thank you."

Tinalikuran ko na siya at ginabayan naman ako ni Froy patungo sa sasakyan n'ya. Bago pa man ako tuluyang makalayo ay narinig kong nagsalita si Atlas. "He didn't tell me. I jus discovered it on my own."

Akala ko ay ayon lang ang kaniyang sasabihin ngutin ang huling katagang sinabi n'ya ang nagpatigil sa 'kin sa paglalakad. "Does he knows?" 

Agad na kumalabog ang puso ko sa kaniyang sinabi. Hindi ko siya magawang lingunin at alam kong namumutla ngayon ang aking mukha na agad namang napansin ni Froy. 

"Hey, are you okay?" I nodded at his question kahit ang totooo ay hindi ako okay.

I know that this will look like I was cheating on Oliver. Hindi naman talaga, I'm still looking for a way to get out of this setup. I just hope that Atlas won't tell Oliver. Gusto kong ako ang magsasabi sa kaniya ng bagay na ito. Nagmamadali akong pumasok sa sasakyan ni Froy na akala mo ay may humahabol sa 'kin.

Froy started the engine and start driving. Hangang ngayon ay nanlalamig pa rin ang aking sikmura.  Nagulat naman ako nang hawakan ni Froy ang kamay kong nakapatong sa 'king binti at pinisil 'yon.

"Did that man do something bad to you?" Agad naman akong umiling sa tanong n'ya.

No Froy, he didn't do anything bad. It was me who did something bad and it scares the hell out of me. Gustong-gusto kong isatinig 'yon kaso alam kong hindi dapat. He would not understand me and if Froy knew what is my relationship with his uncle, I know that he will judge me. Worst, baka ipakalat n'ya pa. Everybody will find it disgusting. 

"How did you know my location?" pinili ko na lamang na ibahin ang usapan dahil hindi ko alam kung paano ko sasagutin ang mga tanong ni Froy.

"I asked Olivia, why?"

How did Olivia know where I was? And that question remains unanswered. Dumating kami sa restaurant kung saan may reservation si Froy. It's a Russian restaurant this time. When we settled in our sits, the waiter immediately gives us the menu. I ordered borscht for my appetizer and beef stroganoff for the man dish. After ordering, I opened a topic for us to talk about.

"Are you really agreeing to this engagement?" 

"Yeah, why?" He put down his arms on the table and look at me seriously.

"We are young, Froy." sabi ko na para bang iyon ang sagot sa problemang ito.

"You are too,"

Wala akong masabi sa kaniyang sagot sa 'kin dahil totoo naman. We are both young kaya bakit kami papayag sa ganito 'di ba?

"That's why I'm wondering Froy. A man like you at that age likes to explore the world."

"I like to explore the world better with you."

"Aren't you afraid of commitment? We can't undo this marriage if ever you change your mind." I look at him straight in the eye as I said that, trying to taunt him.

"I'm not afraid of that, Liberty." How could I forget that the man in front of me is a Valez?

Just remembering how Oliver took the responsibility and commitment to Odette and Olivia makes my heart weak and soft. I guess, nasa dugo talaga 'yon ng mga Valez. After eating lunch, we continued our talk about our engagement. I still can't convince Froy to disagree with this. Parang gusto ko na lang sabihin sa kaniya ang reason kung bakit ayaw ko kaso it would make a big scandal and I don't want that. Anyway, from the beginning my love for Oliver is scandalous. I should be ready for all the consequences of this scandalous love. But sadly, I'm not ready yet. I still can't stomach the idea of losing Oliver. 

"I talked with your father and he said that we should get married in three months."

Agad na nanglaki ang aking mga mata sa narinig. What in three months?! Bakit masyado naman atang maaga? Nagmamadali ba talaga sila? 

"Isn't that too fast?" nanghihina kong sabi,

"I figured that you will say that. I still didn't agree with your father, I want to know your opinion." He sipped on his wine glass after saying that.

"We still need to know each other." 

"Uh-huh," Froy fixed his necktie before talking again.

 "We can talk about this again with our parents' presence."

Parang lalo ata ako kinabahan dahil sa sinabi n'yang iyon. Getting our parents involved will be a big thing! Malalaman na talaga ito sa side n'ya and that means uuwi rin si Mom dito. That would be hell! Hindi ko ma-imagine na magtatabi at mag-uusap ang aking magulang. It will be chaotic for sure!

Our lunch date ended with me feeling like hell. Tulala akong naka upo ngayon at tinitignan ang mga dumataang tao at mga sasakyan. The buzzing sound and horns of the cars didn't bother me. Masyadong magulo ang utak ko ngayon para pansinin pa ang ibang bagay. Ang tunog at vibration ng aking cellphone ang nagpaging sa 'kin sa pag-iisip. 

Halos maihagis ko ang aking cellphone sa nabasang mensahe.

"Who are you?" Ipinikit ko ng ilang beses ang aking mata para lang masiguradong tama ang nababasa kong mensahe at kung kanino galing ito.

It clearly says 'daddy' and from the number, I received a text saying 'who are you?'. What the fuck?! Who are me? Hindi ba naka-register ang number ko sa cellphone ni Oliver? And who the fuck composed this text? I gritted my teeth from the anger I'm feeling right now and I gripped tighter on my phone. All I see is red right now.

Can this day get anymore better? Like fucking better?!

~TBC~

Oh no... Things are getting messier and messier! Can Liberty make it?

If I have free time tomorrow I'll be updating again. Anyway, thank you sa lahat ng nagbabasa and nag-comment last chapter! I appreciated it a lot. Love you all.

Feel free to share your thoughts and keep safe everyone.

Love lots :>>