R&M Chapter 20: Honesty

A/N: Finally… Ariel happened to me, chos! Haha! I’ve responded to all of your password requests and I hope you received it. Again, enjoy and happy reading! 🙂

PS. ‘Wag po kayong magagalit.

Love, Miles ❤

~~~~~

“Hi Tita! How are you?” Alyssa dropped by Leilani’s house and she brought snacks for Abigail.

Leilani was surprised to see her favourite niece. “Oh hey, sweetie! What’s up? Thanks for the snacks!”

Alyssa sat on a high back bar stool. “Well, I’m glad na nakuha ako for a modelling event two weeks from now. Where’s Abigail nga pala Tita? Is she in Tito Richard’s house?”

“Yes. She said that her Daddy is going to drop her off this afternoon.” Leilani replied as she poured three glasses of orange juice.

Alyssa raised her two eyebrows while slightly nodding. “Ah… I see. How long did she stay with her dad?”

Leilani casually said, “Three days. But Richard said na he’s going to take Abigail out on Saturday which is two days from now. He said that he’s going to do something important that is why Abigail has to stay here muna.”

Alyssa grabbed her phone. “Something important? Like what? Or should I say, like who? Like Maya Dela Rosa? I guess important nga ang date na pupuntahan nila.” She said sarcastically.

Leilani stopped for a moment. What? He’s dating already? Her eyes narrowed upon seeing the screenshot of the article that Alyssa took. “When was this published?”

Alyssa shrugged. “Yesterday, I guess. Sabi nung columnist sa article, mag-a-out of town daw si Tito Richard and Miss Maya. Pero wala namang confirmation, as usual, sabi-sabi lang…”

Leilani sighed. “Oh well, he didn’t tell me about that. Baka naman, rumours lang ‘yan. You know, promotion.” She dismissed the idea of Richard and Maya dating.

“Oh! There is one thing that I forgot to show you pa pala. This was published naman on a blogsite, but unfortunately it was taken down hours after it was posted.” Alyssa swiped her fingers to the left to show Leilani another screenshot of an article about Maya and Richard having a dinner date.

“Are you sure it was really Richard and Maya?” asked Leilani. This couldn’t be happening, she thought.

Alyssa narrated, “Based on the comments I read, sabi nila, it was really Tito Richard and Miss Maya. At first hindi ako naniwala, But hey, the moment after I read the article, I browsed on IG and guess what? I saw a picture of some random guy with Tito Richard. On the same account, a picture naman with his mom daw and Miss Maya. The caption said: ang saya namin ni Mom kasi nakita namin si Sir Chief and Maya.”

Leilani’s lips were pressed tightly together and she heavily blew out her cheeks. “I don’t know what to say.” She shook her head before continuing. “Thanks for letting me know—“

“Hi Mommy! Hello Ate Alyssa!” Abigail emerged from the door. “I missed you Ate!”

Alyssa hugged Abigail and twirled her around quickly. “I missed you too baby!”

Abigail turned on the TV and jumped on the sofa. “Home sweet home, finally!”

Leilani placed the snacks on the table for Abigail and then she sat with her. “Hi Baby! Pa-hug naman si Mommy, na-miss kita eh!”

Abigail hugged her very tight. “I had so much fun today Mommy. Tinuruan ako ni Tita Raffi at ni Tita Maya mag-swim.” After telling Leilani what she did, she remembered the scene she witnessed – when her Daddy kissed Tita Maya.

Alyssa’s eyes widened. “Tita Maya? Kasama niyo siya?”

Abigail was silent for a while. She pretended to be engrossed on the cooking show.  “Ah… Yes Ate Aly. Why po?”

“Tita, you see—” Alyssa stood up.

Leilani stopped Alyssa from going further. “Shush!”

Alyssa looked away while Leilani struggled to find words to speak. “Ah, baby, Nothing. We were just curious kung sino ang kasama niyo ni Daddy. Sige, eat ka na ng meryenda.” Leilani then looked at Alyssa and gave her a signal not to bring up the topic about Richard and Maya.

~~~~~

Richard followed Maya in Palawan the day after she left. The two decided not to leave together since they did not want to fuel the speculations about their real score. It was a good thing though that Genie, Raffi, Perry, and even Michael and Vivian came along. They planned to stay for 2 days and 1 night. However, Viv was complaining because the trip was too short.

“Don’t worry, Viv. Next time, mga two weeks tayo nandito.” said Richard.

Vivian suddenly felt her face turned warm. “Ah, eh, sir… Pasesnya na ha? Gusto ko kasi talaga kayo maka-bonding. Sobrang kinilig nga ako nung ikwento sa amin ni Maya na kayo na.”

“Hindi lang ikaw, Viv! Ako rin.” exclaimed Michael.

“Oh, kalma lang tayo ha? Alam naman natin ang situation ni Maya and Richard. But of course, that won’t stop us from having fun, right?” Raffi raised her glass to propose a toast. “Happy birthday, my dear cuzzo!”

“Cheers!” They said in unison.

“Parang talo nanaman ata ako ah.” said Perry. His face was flushing which was caused by the warm weather and the alcoholic drink.

Genie went towards Perry and assisted him. “Hay nako, Perry. Kahit kailan ka talaga. Tara na, hatid na kita sa room. Mamaya mag-iskandalo ka pa, ha?” They all laughed at Genie’s comment.

“Nako, oo nga, Sir Perry! Hatid ko na kayo.” Michael offered an helping hand.

“Kayo ha, pinag-kakaisahan niyo ako. Hik! Pero, Richard, thank you sa treat ha? Sa uulitin.” Perry was struggling to stand up.

Genie placed Perry’s left arms on his shoulders while Michael was carefully holding Perry. “Nako, nag-drama pa. Tara na…”

“How about you, Viv? Do you want to go upstairs na din?” asked Raffi.

Vivian’s eyes roamed around to look if there was something that interests her. She didn’t want to go to sleep yet. When she found a jacuzzi, she grabbed Raffi’s arm and said, ‘”Raf, dun tayo oh! Sa jacuzzi!”

“Ay, sige sige! Tara!” Raffi stopped upon realizing that Maya and Richard were staring at them. “Hey, you two. Hindi na namin kayo aayain kasi we know that you guys want to have some you and me time. Bye!” She and Viv ran towards the jacuzzi.

Richard placed his arms around Maya. “Ang ganda ng view…”

“Oo nga sweetheart, lalo na ‘yung sunset kanina, ano?” Maya was busy admiring the view, not noticing that Richard was alluringly looking at her.

“Ang sarap talaga tignan nito…” Richard brushed her fingers on Maya’s tanned arms.

Maya felt the heat coming from his fingers which sent shivers down her spine. She slapped his torso upon realizing that Richard was pertaining about her perfectly toned body. “Hoy, Mr. Lim, tumigil ka nga. Ikaw talaga.”

Richard chuckled. “Kilig ka naman. Seriously, ang ganda mo talaga… Hindi lang physical pero pati narin ang kaibuturan ng puso mo.”

Maya touched Richard’s cheeks. “Naks naman, ang lalim nu’n ha? Pero, thank you for showering me your love. Sobrang nalulunod ako.”

“Eh, madali ka lang naman kasing mahalin eh.” said Richard and kissed her temples.

Maya glanced straight at Richard’s eyes. “Sana, one day, Abigail would like me too.”

“Ayan ka nanaman sweetheart. Di ba, sabi ko sa’yo, one step at a time lang. Mabait si Abigail at alam kong maiintindhihan niya tayo.” Richard said softly.

“Sweetheat, okay lang ba kung, maging honest na tayo sa kanya? Kasi, ang hirap eh. Tignan mo, kung lalabas tayo, magtataka ‘yun kung bakit parati niyo akong kasama ni Raffi. Saka, mas maganda nang malaman niya from you kesa sa ibang tao.” Maya tried to prudently explain her side.

“If that is what you want, I’ll speak to her. I was just waiting for you to say that. I think, Abigail could handle this.” replied Richard.

“Are you sure?” asked Maya. There was a little hesitance inside her.

Richard pressed his lips against Maya’s. The two shared a passionate kiss under the sunset. He pulled back and said, “Trust me, sweetheart.”

~~~~~

When Richard arrived in Manila, he hurriedly went to Leilani’s house to pick up Abigail. The two went to their favourite restaurant to have a late lunch. While on their way, Richard was giving hints that there was something important that they really need to talk about.

“Daddy, what do you want to tell me?” Abigail was starting to become more curious.

Richard waited for the waiter to finish placing the foods on the table before speaking. “Baby, I know na, at you’re age, you’ve been through a lot and alam ko din na you’re smart enough to understand a certain situation. Pero, anak, ‘wag ka sana mabibigla ha. You know that, Tita Maya and I are friends, right? Baby, ngayon, hindi nalang kami friends ni Tita Maya. She is now my girlfriend.” Richard gulped after telling Abigail the truth.

Abigail’s jolly eyes were replaced by a serious and gloomy one. “Thank you for being honest Daddy. I felt that there was really something going on between the two of you nung nag-swimming tayo the other day. I like Tita Maya. She’s nice. Pero, Daddy, I’m sorry, ayaw ko siya na maging girlfriend mo. For me, hindi parin nawawala ang hope ko na one day, you and Mommy will be back together. Siguro naman Daddy, you’ll understand.”

Richard had a huge expectation that Abigail would approve of his relationship with Maya. Sadly, the opposite happened. “Ah, baby. Naintindihan naman kita. Kaya nga, I told you this because we want to be honest with you. I am sorry baby if you felt that way. Don’t worry, I am not rushing things. Pero sana, you’ll give Tita Maya a chance, ha?”

Abigail didn’t respond, instead, she continued eating. She remained quiet until they reached home. It was very unusual of her. Upon arriving at Richard’s home, she went straight to her room. This made Richard very worried. He was sitting on the sofa when his phone beeped. The message was from Leilani.

Good evening, Chard. Just to remind you, sa Wednesday na ‘yung recognition ceremony nila Abigail. Please bring her to me, preferably on Sunday afternoon pagkatapos ng mass, kasi may last practice daw sila ng Monday and Tuesday morning. Thank you.

It took Richard half an hour to respond “Ok” to Leilani’s text message. He was still worrying about Abigail and Maya. Why, oh why? He thought.