Novels by Daiana

Lihim na pinagagalitan ni Felice ang sarili habang patuloy siyang nagbabasa ng second reading para sa Phil. History nila. Hindi niya natapos ang mga readings kagabi dahil na-distract siya sa pa-message ng prof niya kaya ang ending, nagka-cram tuloy siya ngayon.‘Ugh! Kasi naman, Felice, e! Kung nagbasa ka sana kagabi edi chill ka na sana ngayon!’Napaungot siya sa inis. Muli niyang binasa ang papel. Mas lalo pa siyang nainis nang pabalik-balik na lamang siya sa isang paragraph. Parang hangin na dumadaan lang ang mga concepts na binabasa niya at hindi ito nare-retain kaya ang ending binabasa niya na naman ulit. Mas lalo lang siyang napu-frustrate tuloy. Naipadyak niya pa ang kanyang mga paa sa sobrang inis.‘Gosh, Felice! Bakit ang distracted mo?!’Mabilis niyang tinapunan ng tingin ang kanyang wristwatch at napamura na lamang siya nang makitang halos limang minute na lang ang natitira bago magsimula ang klase nila. In

Halos mag-all nighter si Felice dahil sa dami ng basahin nila sa Philippine History. May tatlong papel pa siyang gagawin na para naman sa Communication subject niya at kasabay noon ay nagsasagot din siya ng mga queries ng Dean tungkol sa palapit nilang acquaintance.“Felice, hindi ka pa tulog?” Agad siyang napalingon nang marinig iyon. Bumungad sa kanya ang Mommy at Daddy niya na kapapasok lang ng bahay nila.Nasa sala kasi siya tumatambay. Nginitian niya ang mga magulang tapos ay tumayo siya."Good evening, mom, dad," bati niya sa mga ito at bumeso sa mga ito.“Bakit gising ka pa? Late na, a,” sabi pa ng Mommy niya. Bumuntong-hininga lang siya at nagkibit-balikat.“Marami pa po kasi akong gagawin, Mom. Don’t worry, matutulog na ako ng bago mang- 12,” sabi niya na lang dito. Sandali ap siyang tinitigan ng ina pero sa huli

Hindi naging komportable kay Felice na manatili pa sa student council room simula nang malaman niyang ang History Professor niya sa History ang kanilang substitute adviser. Ewan ba niya, kada nakikita niya kasi ito ay naaalala niya ang embarrassing moment niya pag nakikita niya ito. Mas nahihiya siya pag ganoon kaya mabuti nang wag na lang talagang mag-cross ang landas nilang dalawa dahil ewan na lang talaga niya.Gusto niya ngang pagalitan ang sarili niya sa pagiging OA niya sa moment na iyon. Napaungot na lamang siya habang inaayos niya ang mga papel na kailangan niyang pirmahan.Nasa kalagitnaan siya ng pagpipirma nang biglang may tumawag sa kanyang pangalan."Miss Lemuel."Muntik na siyang mapatalon sa kanyang kinauupuan nang marinig iyon. Madaling nag-angat siya ng tingin at saka sinundan ng tingin ang pinanggagalingan ng boses. Napalunok pa siya nang bumungad sa kanya ang mukha ng kanilang

"Hi, Felice!""Gosh, Felice is so nice!""True! Sis sana all, di ba! Sana maging ako siya! ""Ay talaga, no! Grabe siya na talaga! Siya na ang babaeng katinga-tingala!"Halos lumuwa na sa kanilang mga mata ang mga eyeballs ng mga babaeng nadadaanan ni Felice. Napabuntong-hininga na lamang siya sa mga naririnig. Kung ang mga ibang babae ay gustong gustong nakakarinig ng mga ganoon kompliment, siya hindi. She just find those annoying and not true. Para kasing pinaplastik lang siya ng mga ito.Obvious naman na hindi bukas sa mga kalooban ng mga ito ang mga sinasabi. Given her reputation and image sa school, sigurado siyang sinasabi lang iyon ng mga babae para mapansin niya. She's Miss Popular and most girls whose aim is to get to the top. Kaya ang way ng mga ito ay ang makipagkaibigan sa kanya para madala niya ito sa kasikatan niya.Napapairap na lan

"Morning sleepyhead." Napangiti si Rhiane nang bumungad sa kanya ang nakangising mukha ni Darryl.Sa halip na bumangon ay mas yumakap siya rito at pumikit."Inaantok pa ako," reklamo niya pa. Hinalikan nito ang buhok niya."C'mon, papatayin ako ni Tito pag di pa kita inuwi." Natawa siya sa sinabi nito.Last day ng bakasyon niya kahapon at nag bar sila nina Carise. Late na kaya sa condo siya ni Darryl nakatulog. Though naitext naman nito ang papa niya, still she's sure na galit na galit si John Ferguson ngayon."C'mon Rhi. First day mo," sabi pa nito. Dumilat siya at bumangon na rin.Yeah, fourth year na nga pala siya at ang boyfriend niya ay CEO lang naman ng Mongefalco Group of Companies."May damit ka pa naman yata diyan sa closet. Just take a bath and I'll drive you home. I'll just pick you up later. Hapon pa klase mo diba?" Tango lang ang isinagot niya

St. Ignacio University Graduation Day"Congratulations, graduates!" Samu't saring sigawan at hiyawan ang namayani sa buong Business Administration auditorium ng St. Ignacio University.Nakangiting pumapalakpak si Rhiane habang tinatanaq ang mga graduates na masayang masaya at inihahagis ang mga graduation cap sa ere."Ang bongga ni supremo!" tili ni Blake sa kanyang tabi. Mas lumapad ang ngisi niya at muling binalingan si Darryl na nasa harap at nagpapapicture kasama ang frat.Naiiyak siya sa nakikita niya at hindi niya alam kung bakit."Ang taray te! Teary eye ka na! Super proud nuh?!" sita pa ni Martina. Bahagya siyang natawa at hinampas ito. Inirapan lang siya nito.

All her life Darryl has always been supportive of her. Kahit na ayaw nitong nakikita siyang sumasayaw ng intimate dance lalo na at may partner, hindi na lang ito nagsasalita. He never nags her to quit or whatever. Sa tuwing may lakad sila ng barkada niya, ito palagi ang nag-aadjust kahit na gusto nitong magkasama sila. Kahit na gusto siya nitong sunduin at ihatid bawat klase niya ay hindi nito ginagawa dahil ayaw niya. Kahit na siya ang may kasalanan, ito pa rin ang gumagawa ng paraan na magkaayos sila.But with her, she always nags him, telling him what he should do just because ayaw niya ang ginagawa nito o ano. Ang selfish selfish niya.Pinunasan niya ang mga luha at tsaka tumayo at pumunta ng banyo. Hinubad niya ang dress pagkapasok at agad na ini-on ang shower. Hinayaan niyang bumagsak ang malamig na tubig sa kanyang katawan. She just wish those water could take

Sunday Morning.Matamlay na bumaba si Rhiane at nagtungo sa kanilang dining kung saan naghahanda na ang kanyang mama ng kanilang umagahan. Nandoon na rin ang mga kapatid niya."Morning Rhi!" nakangiting bati ng Ate Darlene niya na naghahanda ng mga plato Tinanguan niya lang ito at umupo na rin sa pwesto niya."Naga pakitawag ang papa mo sa garden nang makakain na tayo," ani ng mama niya bago inilapag ang kanin sa gitna ng mesa.Umupo na rin sa kani kanilang mga pwesto. Maya maya pa ay dumating na ang kuya at papa niya at nagsimula na silang kumain. As usual ay kadalasan business na naman ang pinag-uusapan ng mga kapatid at papa niya na hindi naman siya maka relate relate kaya tahimik na lang siya.

"Hey tulala ka na naman." Nilingon niya si Sean na pinapasadahan siya ng tingin."Tss. Palagi naman simula noong.." Agad na natigil si Hyron nang tingnan niya ito. Yumuko ito at tumango tango lang.Ayaw niyang pag-usapan. She wants to keep it. Cause it's her pain alone."Lalabas kami mamaya baka gusto mong sumama," sabi pa ni Sean at tumabi sa kanya. Umiling siya rito."May review kami ni Martina mamaya tsaka may fitting ako ng damit," sagot niya rito. Kumunot ang noo ni Sean at tiningnan siya."Para saan ang fitting?" Bumuntong hininga siya at nagkibit balikat."In-invite ako ni AJ sa isang dinner ng family niy

Hinang hina si Rhiane pagkalabas niya ng kwarto. Agad na tumingala ang kapatid niyang nakahalukipkip sa may dingding."Rhi, what happened?" tawag nito sa kanya at agad siyang dinaluhan.Hinawakan siya nito sa balikat at sinalubong ang tingin niya. Umiling iling siya. Kasabay noon ay ang pag-init ng kanyang mga pisngi at ang pagdaloy ng bagong masaganang luha. Mula sa tahimik na pag-iyak ay lumakas iyon hanggang sa napayakap na lang siya sa kapatid at doon humikbi nang humikbi.Agad na naalarma ang mga kaibigan niya at lumapit na rin sa kanila. Ramdam na ramdam niya ang ang paghagod ni Darlene sa kanyang likod habang pinapatahan siya. Halos hindi na niya maaninag ang paligid dahil natatakpan ng mga luha ang kanyang mga mata.Humigpit ang yakap ni Darle

All my life, I have been trained to be the best. I was trained to always follow the norm, the standard. I was little miss perfect. They turned me into one, and I had no choice but to be one. I didn’t have much freedom growing up because there were a lot of expectations from me. They were all watching me. I couldn’t move freely because every move that In make, they will always have a say about it. When college and Gregory came, that’s when I first got a taste of my freedom. It was forbidden, but every time we go out on our own, I just felt so free. I felt like I was spreading my wings and flying to wherever I want to go. I was out of the limelight. No one was giving a fuck about what I do and no one was judging me from head to toe. But then that freedom with Gregory has its perils. I was so much ready to fight for him, but it turned out that he was not worth to fight for. Greg is my first love and my first heartbreak. What he did to me and to my family was just so much that I couldn’t

“They will announce you already as the new CEO, hija, at the gala.” My mother said while we were in the living room. It has been days since that meeting with the family and currently, we are preparing for our departure two days from now. I just gave her a smile. “I know, Mom,” I answered before looking back at my laptop where I am reconnecting with my former boss and Flannel’s requirements for school next academic year. “Alright, you should bring Flannel to our designer, then. We need to look gorgeous in the gala, hija,” she said while smiling from ear to ear. I just rolled my eyes and nodded at her. I went back to making my Flannel’s requirements again. She didn’t bother me anyway. She just stood and went to my dad’s office. I shrugged and continued what I was doing. I want to finish everything before our flight to the US, so all I would think about once we get there will be just the house where my parents will be staying and how I will get back to work again. I was lucky enough b

I honestly don’t know if it is the right time to do this meeting with the family because of what is happening in the family, but then we have no choice as we were running out of time already. We need to do this now since we also need to go back to the US already. I don’t know but, I just felt like I needed to get away from this all ready for me to start over again. “Are you ready?” Mommy asked again when we were getting out of the car in front of the building. I looked around the lobby and saw that there were a lot of employees eyeing us. Mommy was walking with her head up. I was beside her and we were walking side by side as we went to the elevator. A lot of guards were with us. I didn’t even know why Mommy brought these guards with us. I mean, it's not as if we are going to war here, you know. Tsk. I shook my head and just walked with her though. When we reached the office, Atty. Lockheart was already there, waiting for us. Mom went immediately to our lawyer."How's your paper?"

Everything was chaotic. We were the talk of the business world for I think weeks. Yes, the issue was that long. Aside from the chaos outside, we also had inside fights of course, but then unlike before, Mommy and I didn't make Flannel available to any of our relatives. They can lash at us all they want but they are not touching my daughter.I've heard the worst things from them. They had their presscon and we just stayed silent because we didn't want this to grow like wildfire. May they want to? But then I won't give them their satisfaction. The important thing is that my daughter knows my truth and I have already explained to her what happened and why this is happening. It took me a lot of courage, but I was just so blessed that she was able to understand and that she didn't make it hard for me to explain. She understands why I needed to do it for her and she also understands why she cannot see her father yet. It's been four weeks and during those times, I did nothing but make sure

"Let's go, Felice!' I wasn't able to say anything and I just let my mother dragged me out of that cafe already. I was still so stunned because of what happened. My mom was ranting while we were on the way to the car. My daughter was asking me questions but I couldn't answer them because I was still so preoccupied with what happened. All the things that my mother was saying in the car were like air that passed by me. I couldn’t comprehend what they were saying and I felt like I was floating and everything around was just background noise. All the way to our house, I was just staring at outside blankly. I couldn’t believe what just happened earlier. Everything was chaotic when we got home! I was so shocked to see a lot of reporters outside our village and even outside our house. Shit. What the hell is happening?! “Get Flannel inside now! Secure everything inside and outside the village, am I clear?” I slumped my back on the couch. I saw Maia getting Flannel out of the living room, w

“Shall we talk about our setup, then?” I asked Greg as I watched him looking at Flannel who was enjoying her ice cream. He has been silent for the last few minutes that we were here. I sighed again and just looked at him. I saw him gulp and then he cleared his throat. "Uhh, yeah…" he said and looked away. I raised a brow on him. I don't know why he couldn't look at me, to be honest. I just didn't dwell on it and started talking. "We will be going back to the States," I started. That's when I got his attention. His eyes widened and looked at me confusingly. "What?" he asked unbelievably. I sighed. "You know that Flannel's school is in there and my decision in managing the company remotely is final, so we will really need to go home, Gregory. Plus, my parents are going with us, too."I saw how his lips parted when I said that. He gasped hard. "But what about me, Felice? How can I be with my daughter?"I let out a sigh again. "That is why we need to talk about it. We can have an a