TEASERTHIS IS A TRUE STORY.Breaking the heart and ruining the life of her one true love. It's definitely a nightmare for Annabelle but it happened anyway.Now that she is back, will she be able to gain forgiveness after a several years of being apart.
View More“LADIES and gentlemen, as we start our descent, please make sure your seat backs and tray tables are in their full upright position. Make sure your seat belt is securely fastened and all carry-on luggage is stowed underneath the seat in front of you or in the overhead bins. Thank you,” voiced over on the plane as it took off.
"Finally, I’m back." Annabelle whispered with a smile as she hides a little pain in her chest.
She looked outside her window and leaned on her arm rest. Watching from up above, she stared blankly at people who looked like ants and the buildings and houses that looked like toys. She fathomed, she’s home.
Seven years. It had been seven years since she left for the states and stayed with her aunt. With those long years she only went back home in the Philippines once – when her father passed away. It was even only for a week. As much as she wanted to stay longer, her mother forbidded it because Mrs. Cora did not want her to miss school. Though, she’d come and visit her abroad. Annabelle missed her mom and her siblings and was also very excited to play with her nieces and nephews.
‘I wonder how Jenny is doing?’ Lots of thoughts came to her mind. There are those moments that she could not just forget. May it be happy or sad memories, it always haunts her as she reminisced.
Nostalgia. While she was waiting for her plane to land, she remembered everything that had happened.
Year 2012
“ANNA!” a loud shout called. Annabelle stopped and followed a very familiar voice-it was Jenny. She was estatic when she saw her dear friend.
They were on their third year in college. They were very fond of each other because they knew each other ever since they were in highschool. Jenny is a daughter of one of the professors at Magsaysay State Colleges where the both of them goes. While Annabelle’s father, Mr. Tiofilo Reñedas, is the principal.
Annabelle is not only the youngest but is also the only girl in the family. She has two older brothers but because of work, the two had to live on the other side of town. Her mother, Mrs. Cora, is a housewife who always make sure that her children are well taken care of.
Jenny is a really bubbly girl. She would always chat and fool around but she is also very sweet. She likes to put make up on her face. At the young age of nineteen, she is already a maven on putting on lipstick and blush on her bare but still beautiful face. She has her hair on curly waives that falls right on her shoulders.
On the other hand, Annabelle, is demure and had always chose to look simple. She only had to put powder on her fair skinned face. She does not like the feel of those beauty poducts. She finds it heavy and she is really just not just used to it. She also sprays herself with baby cologne every morning and the smell lasts the whole day. Jenny has a glass-like skin with a brown complexion while she has a fair white clear skin tone. She got her looks from her mother who came from a Spanish descent. For her, she and Jenny are like perfect bestfriends complementing each other.
“You didn’t wait for me,” Jenny said pouting her mouth.
“Well, you were taking so long!” Annabelle shrugged with a laugh.
“Smarty pants, we both know I don’t have a good realitionship with math. My apologies madame, I’m not as keen as you.“ she said with a smile “I’m starving. What should we eat?”
They walked together towards the cafeteria. She bought a cheese sandwich and a zesto juice while Jenny had spaghetti, coke and an extra hotdog sandwich. Annabelle is always in awe how Jenny maintains her slim figure even with her huge appetite.
They found a seat on the left corner near the window.
“Hey, haven’t you heard?” Jenny continued. “There are soldiers in town. They arrived the other day. The word is they’re from manila and they were summoned by the government to come here beacause rebels are all over the mountains."
She also heard that the rebels are taking over the farm lands in the town of Bansalan. She was not pleased with this news. She did not expect that the situation would come to this.
Bansalan is located at the southern part of Davao. It has a small urbanized municipality that would only take up ¼ of the whole province. Magsaysay is the town’s center, where they are residing. Their place has complete necessary offices and instituitions; schools, hospitals, parks and markets. There are no huge shopping malls but there are establishments that sell clothes and other household needs.
“That news is scary, Jen.”
“True. Scary but….exciting!” she spoke with glee as she sipped on her coke, slurrped her spaghetti and munched her hotdog sandwich.
Annabelle raised her eyebrow “What is so exciting about that horrible news?”
“Well…those soldiers are from Manila right? I heard they’re good looking! ” She squirmed and explained. “Come to think of it. What if the man who would catch my looks and would sweep me off my feet is a Manilenyo?” Jenny said looking up like dreaming.
Annabelle rolled her eyes and warned her friend “Jen, FYI, rumor has it that Manilenyos are ought to be playboys. People in Manila are liberated and for sure men and women there are definitely more attractive. Do you think they would turn an eye on girls like us who lives in a prvince? Or okay maybe if they do, do you think they’d be in a serious relationship? Sis, it’s not that I’m discouraging you to admire those guys I’m just saying that you should keep your heart guarded. I don’t want to get your hopes high and get you hurt in the end. You know I care for you and love you.”
“Aww . . . Of course, I know you love me. I just don’t want my looks to get wasted. I’ve put so much effort to look pretty. This could be an opportunity, you know?” Jenny winked stroking her hair. Annabelle just closed her eyes in disbelief of her friend’s delusions. Sometimes Jenny can be naïve yet vulgar when it comes to love.
They bought two airline tickets to Chicago the next day after having their rather emotional encounter. Since their flight was scheduled for tomorrow, Annabelle was currently in the SSA, inside the young man's private room. Anton was with Miguel in the office. Both of them were busy doing some endorsements of the company's activities. Anton would temporarily manage the SSA, while Miguel was gone. She was having fun observing the room's interior. It was a total opposite of the SSA office. If the latter were sophisticated and very manly in style, the room was cozier. It didn't seem to be part of the office.
MIGUEL'S phone conversation was cut off,when he heard a dispute happened right outside his office. He was about to stood up to check the conflict when unexpectedly the front door opened.“Sir! You're not allowed to talk with Mr. Saavedra at the moment,” the security guard told the uninvited visitor, while trying to block its way. “This is very important. I need to talk to him right now!” the man reasoned out, rather impatiently. He could see it on his face, that it won't stop without having to face him.“It's okay, Jay,” he interrupted. “Let him in.” The guard freed the male's arm and allowed him in a
It was five in the morning that Fred awoke from a phone call. He answered the call rather groggily, obviously still half asleep.“Hello, Anna? Good morning.”“Fred . . .” the voice trembled on the other line, which completely dissolved his drowsiness.“What happened? Are you crying?”“Please, pick me up from here.”“Hey, Anna, what happened?”“I'll explain it to you later. Just
FLOATING on the shallow part of the water in a supine position, Annabelle fixated her eyes directly up at the night sky. After Jenny and her eventually got out from the place, they paced.The woman remembered her friend's word."I can't believe he did that!" Jenny growled out. "That song was supposed to be special. I've always believed he still had those feelings for you. But after what he did tonight? Argh! He's gonna get it!” She seethed with anger.“Jenny, please don't. Let's not force the person if they don't want it. Anyway, I already expected this would've happened before I even came back."'But I never knew it would hurt like this,' she inwardly added to herself.It was almost eleven in the evening when they departed. She wasn't sleepy so she decided to spend her time literally on the sea. There were not too many people in the area. She closed her eyes, trying to feel her surroundings. Only her lone breath and the movement
Morning came by, commencing their day two at the beach. Annabelle was already wide awakeat somewhere five in the morning. She went to bed barely three hours ago and despite of it,she woke up earlier than expected.To start the day, she stretched her body, brushed her teeth and cleaned her face. At thisparticular time of day, she was sure the sun had barely risen from its sleep. She went out.Annabelle was right. As soon as she opened the door, the morning breeze grazed against herskin, her hair flew freely in the fresh wind. The corners of her lips curled upwards seeing thesun peeking through the blue dawn sky. She rushed towards the shore.There weren't many people in the area, although she saw two people—probably a coupleenjoying themselves from afar.She took her slippers and went her way to the sea. She stopped near the shoreline, feeling thecold water dipping her feet. She was like a chi
"GOOD Afternoon, Ma'am. What item would you like?" Annabelle greeted cheerfully at the female customer. She had sent her mother home to get rest, so she took over the hardware for the time being.“So you’re Annabelle,” it mentioned, instead of answering the question.She furrowed her eyebrows, confused. “Yes, I am. And you are?”“I’m Nancy Alcantara, daughter of Counselor Alcantara,” the said woman arched a brow. Sheremembered Jenny's word. So, this was Nancy. She was beautiful, tall, and a bit of a Morena. Honestly, she was getting that one Barbie movie vibe. Was it Princess Charms school? A hint of bitchiness there though. Jenny had previously mentioned that.“How may I help you, Miss Alcantara?” she inquired dubiously.“Nothing, I just want to . . .” she paused, pondering her next choice of words, “check if you’refine n
“WHAT was that, Miguel?!” Rudy asked incredulously. "Are you out of your mind?"The said man remained indifferent, sitting on his swivel chair. His hair was a mess, but hehadn't given it a thought to fix it.“I can't believe you just did that!” Rudy continued. “For God’s sake, wake up, buddy. That wasAnnabelle! ANNABELLE of all people,” He repeated, emphasizing the name as if to put somesense into Miguel's head. In a way, he was. He could only hope it would bring epiphany to hisdear friend, who opted to stay quiet at the time. "She's not somebody you could just messaround, Bud. She's the love of your life.""Was," he corrected.Rudy sighed."I know you're still mad, and you have the right to be. But, bud —not like this. Don't foolishlymake something you'll eventually regret."“It’s none of your business.” Honest
IT WAS around late afternoon when the amount of people subsided. Piles of chair had been piled up, and remnants of the fun were evident, loitering down the ground. Jenny wasn't too preoccupied anymore."You okay, Anna? Sorry, sis, I wasn't able to accommodate you earlier." The woman approached her slumping figure, holding two glasses of wine."No worry, Sis. I'm great. I'll be going home--"She paused, squinting her eyes at her watch."--hmmm, a few minutes from now, though." She hadn't seen Miguel after their rather tense encounter. Only his friend was left here, chatting with Rudy.Shortly after, they sauntered towards their table. "Bud, I want you to formally meet Annabelle Reñedas, Jenny’s best friend. She just came from the States three weeks ago,” the husband introduced.“Anna, this is our friend Anton dela Cerna. He was with us in the battalion before, if you remember. He's also part in the SSA along with us,” said Anto
Miguel heaved a long sigh once he heard the door produced a soft click, signaling it was nowshut. He hadn't realized he held his breath until then. Only his ongoing thoughts and thedeafening silence were left alone in the room.Why was she here? Why did she come back? Just when he thought his life was getting better.When he really thought he was used to his new normal, yet all the attempts of disregarding it for years were now futile. Why did she decide to meet with him, after all this time? Had she gone here to ruin his life? To top it all, like it couldn't get any worse, she was already married. Did her husband even know the woman had paid him a visit, a few minutes ago?Similar to a movie drama, all the events that had happened for the past seven years played inhis mind for an instant. Memories were now freshly embedded in his head. The incident brought about a drastic change in his life.He was greatly affected by her sudden
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