Maeve’s POV“Maria!” sigaw ni Juago lalo na’t ang dami ng baril ang nakatutok sa akin. Humigpit lang lalo ang pagkakahawak ko nang makita si Maverick na nakatulala lang doon while still trembling from fear. Halos hindi makagalaw sa kinauupuan.“You are disgusting. How can you do something inhuman? You did this to my son?” galit na galit kong tanong. Tumawa siya roon. The laugh that she can already replace satan for being so evil. “Oh, you bitch, do you think I wanted too? That son of a bitch keeps on shouting. It almost ruined my ears. Now, let’s see if your son can still shout,” nakangisi niyang sambit kaya tila kumakalat ang apoy ng galit sa aking sistema. How can someone be this disgusting? Gustong-gusto kong paputukin ang baril na hawak subalit alam kong bago ko pa ‘yon magawa ay napatay na nila ako. “You slut really come into the hellhole, huh? Let’s see if you can still go outside. I’ll fucking torture you for being a slut. How dare you kiss Juago and flirt with him! You knew
Maeve’s POV“Are you sure you wanted to go home now?” tanong ko kay Maverick habang seryoso kaming nag-uusap dito sa sala. Unti-unti siyang tumango sa akin at tipid na ngumiti. “Yes po, Nanay… I wanted to go back. Our family is there. I also wanted to be with Tatay now,” Maverick can pronounce ‘r’ perfectly now. He mature so much for the past 2 years.Natapos ang session niya sa kaniyang therapist 4 months ago subalit hindi pa tapos ang klase niya and I can’t risk him going back to the philippines yet. But here we are now. We are already planning to go back. He wanted to go back in the Philippines. “I promise I’m already okay, Nanay. That’s our home. That’s where we belong…” he said before smiling at me, assuring me that he’ll be fine. Hindi ko mapigilan ang mapabuntonghininga bago tumango sa kaniya. I don’t know if Maverick just grow up the past year or what happened to him just really change him now. Hindi na kasing masiyahin noon. “Alright… We will go back home… Let’s go back,
Maeve’s POV“Tatay,” bati ni Maverick sa kaniyang ama bago tinanggap ang yakap nito.“How’s your flight, Big boy?” malambing na tanong ni Juago sa anak. “It’s comfortable, Tatay. I’m with Nanay and Auntie Olivia po,” sambit din ni Maverick na ngumiti sa kaniyang ama. Sumunod lang ako sa kanila roon habang hila-hila ang ilang gamit namin ni Maverick. “Grabe ba, Maeve, gwapo ng ex mo,” bulong sa akin ni Olivia. Kinurot ko lang siya sa tagiliran doon kaya napatawa siya nang mahina sa akin. Olivia is Maverick’s nanny now. Sinama namin noon. It was nice to have her around. Pero hinding-hindi ko ito pupuwedeng ikulong na lang sa buhay namin. Now that we are back in the Philippines, hindi na siya titira sa amin. They have home na rin ng kaniyang nobyo kaya hindi naman ako pupuwedeng magdemand sa kaniya na tumira muna sa amin. But there’s some guards din naman around us kaya ayos lang din. “Grabe, lalong gumwapo si Sir,” bulong-bulong pa sa akin ni Olivia. Bahagya tuloy akong napatingin
Maeve’s POV“Can I visit anytime?” Juago asked while we are here at our condo. Panandalian ko naman siyang nilingon doon bago nilingon ang anak ko na nakatingin lang sa may binatana kung saan kitang-kita ang city. He was just serious while standing there. Isang buntonghininga ang pinakawalan ko dahil minsan ay sumasakit ang dibdib kapag nakikita siyang ganiyan. When did he grow up so fast? Or did he? Deep down I know that he was just force to. Nilingon ko si Juago sa kaniyang tanong. I just really know that this will be the case kaya tumango ako roon. “Yes, just inform Maverick whenever you are going to visit,” sambit ko. Both of us look at Maverick’s side. Nang mapatingin sa isa’t isa tila sumikip nang bahagya ang dibdib ko. Nagsasalita pala talaga ang mata, ‘no? How can his eyes tell so much emotion? Juago looks like he was in pain. Mariin ko lang na kinagat ang aking labi bago ako nag-iwas ng tingin doon. “Thanks for dropping us here,” sambit ko kaya ramdam ko lang ang titig ni
Maeve’s POV“Ang gwapo-gwapo naman talaga ng aking apo,” nakangiting sambit ng Mommy ni Juago kay Maverick. Hawak-hawak na nito ang kamay ng kaniyang apo. Napangiti lang din si Ate Juliana habang nakatingin sa kaniyang pamangkin. Hindi ko alam kung paanong nangyaring nandito kaming lahat sa iisang lugar ngayon. We are at Maverick’s private island kasama ang pamilya ko at pamilya ni Juago. Through years our family get tangle with each other a lot. Sa business, dahil din sa kaso noon and of course the biggest tie is Maverick. They become more close because of him kahit wala na kami sa Pilipinas noon. Nagsabi rin sila sa akin na gusto nilang magbakasiyon and I don’t mind it. Mas makakabuti rin talaga kay Maverick ito. Ang dami namin dahil maski ang asawa ni Ate Juliana na si Riff at ang pamilya ni Kuya Mauricio ay narito rin ngayon. Ava and him will get married at the end of the year. They already have a son too. A 2 years old son. Ang Kuya ko’y nataguan din ng anak. Hindi mo maiwasa
Maeve’s POVJuago seems like he distance himself from me after that. He thinks that I’m disgusted at him. I don’t really know if he still think that I hate him. Baka nga masiyado nang tunatak sa kaniyang isipan ‘yon. Words is just really powerful. It can really bring so much pain from the other person. Mga salitang maaalala kahit na ilang taon ang lumipas. “Tulala ka. Here’s champagne,” bulong sa akin ni Ava. Napanguso ako bago ko tinanggap ‘yon. Napatitig lang ako sa pamilya ko at pamilya ni Juago, lahat halos sila’y nagkakasundo but never once they got between me and Juago. As if Juago and I are just someone who are in the same circle. Hindi magkaibigan o ano. Magkakilala lang na may pinagsamahan. Napailing na lang ako at napatingin sa swimming pool kung nasaan si Maverick.Si Daddy at Tito ay nasa swimming pool lang din. Ang pamangkin ko namang si Aven ay kinukulit si Kuya Mauricio habang nakikipag-inuman sa mga lalaki. Kainuman ni Juago ang mga kapatid ko at si Riff. They are ju
Maeve’s POV“Yes, Nanay. Tatay said that he’ll come with us when I enroll,” malapad ang ngiti sa akin ni Maverick nang lingunin ko siya. Napatango ako roon. I already expect it from Juago. Halos lahat ng kilos ng anak namin ay kasama siya ngayon. Hindi ko rin siya pinipigilan o ano dahil alam kong nag-aalala rin ito katulad ko even if it’s already weeks since we came back here in the Philippines. “Alright. Did you already told him when?” tanong ko. Tumango siya sa akin doon. “Opo, Nanay. He said that he’s always free for me,” sambit niya kaya sumang-ayon lang ako. Para ngang walang trabaho si Juago sa dalas niyang pagpunta rito. He's just always with his son. Well, same with me. Hindi nga lang maiiwasan na magtungo na ngayon sa trabaho dahil ang daming kailangang ayusin. But even if I’m going right now, ihahatid ko pa rin si Maverick sa kaniyang Lolo. Daddy always visit Maverick too. Well, almost everyone of them. Nililibang lang nila ito kaya talagang nag-eenjoy pa si Maverick sa p
Maeve’s POVThat morning, hindi ko alam kung paano ko nagawang magtagal kasama si Juago. “Good morning, Ms. Tolentino,” the employees greeted me. Hindi ko nga alam kung nakangiti pa ba ako nang maayos pabalik sa kanila dahil sa pagkawala sa sarili. Kung hindi pa ako kakausapin ng aking sekretarya ay baka hanggang ngayon nasa utak ko pa rin si Juago. “Yes. Please set up a meeting with the shareholders. Now that I’m here, I’ll be handling everything and be hands on with the project of the company,” sambit ko. Agad namang sumang-ayon sa akin ang aking sekretaryang si Rihanna.“By the way, Madame, Mr. Aldrin is already here for the meeting,” aniya kaya napatango ako. Aldrin is one of our model for our new collection. Aldrin is actually my teammate when I was still training for the olympics competition. He was younger than me for 5 years I think. And now, he was really famous for bringing a gold medal in our country. I was lucky too na pinahintulunan niya ang imbitasiyon ko sa kaniya p