The Best Version of You
International Airport
New York
That was her last memory in this place. The warm
Manila
feels excited. This is the first time in two years
she’ll be seeing Miguel again. She was thoughtfully
going through the immigration counters, thinking of
how much she missed seeing Miguel. How different would
he be now? Sure he sends her regular weekly e-mails
and pictures but being the busy person that she had
always been, she didn’t get the time to chat with him
and buy a webcam.
She’s finally out. "Where is Miguel?" She wondered.
"Ah there!" she
exclaimed when she saw the silver gray Nissan Patrol
parked near the exit. TGW926. Yup, that’s Miguel
alright. Her heart was leaping ahead of her as the
driver got off.
"Hey! I missed you!" He said, as he hugged her.
"I missed you too. So much." She said, as she hugged
him back. It was warm. It felt good to be back. It
felt great to feel his hug.
"Let me get those." He said pointing at her luggage.
"Then we’ll have more time for hugging and chika."
"Okay."
Edsa, 4:30 am. Miguel’s cellphone rings. Mama, the
name flashes on the screen.
"You should really get that."
"No, you should get that. She’s been waiting for you.
She insist that we go straight to her after I pick you
up form the airport. She also insist that you spend
tomorrow with her." Miguel was talking about her
mother. Miguel was an only child and his mother wanted
a daughter. She would often tell Bea that since she
doesn’t have a mom anymore, she should let Tita Doris
be her second mom. She loved Bea as if she were her
own daughter.
"Hello? Yes, Tita. How are you nap po?… ah opo.
Miguel already told me. Sige po. Okay po. I’ll see you
later." She turns off the phone and looks out the
window. The phone rings again, this time the name
"Sugar" flashes on the screen. Hmmm, "Sugar." He was
quick. He got a hold of the phone and answered it.
"Hello. Yeah. Pauwi na. I’m with her na. Yeah.
Tomorrow, I will. Promise. We’ll see you tomorrow."
We? Is that supposed to mean me and him? See Sugar?
Who is Sugar,
anyway? "Who was that?" she couldn’t keep herself from
asking. "Sugar ha?"
"I’ll introduce her tomorrow. Uwi muna tayo sa bahay.
By the way,
kamusta na si Edward?" "Edward?"
"Oo, si Edward, naalala mo yung boyfriend na iniwan mo New York ?
sa
Anong klase ka ba namang girlfriend? Kaya hindi kita
niligawan eh.
Baka makalimutan mo rin ako."
"Ah si Edward. Hayun. Nasa
New York ." Miguel has met New York to give Bea a surprise visit. He
Edward when he
came to
seems a nice guy.
Not the geeky economist Miguel pictured Bea would end
up with. He is
actually a cool guy and loves Bea a lot.
"He called me up, a week ago, asking a lot of things
about you. Parang may balak ata…"
"Balak na?"
"Tell me, did he propose to you? He sounded like he
was going to
propose to you kasi."
"Ah look, here we are at Tita Doris."
At Tita Doris’, 4:45 am. A pleasantly plump woman
enters the living
room. She was in her mid-fifties, a familiar warm
smile and two open arms. She welcomed Bea, gave her a
big hug and kissed her on the cheek. "Hay anak,
kamusta ka na? Na-miss na kita. Pinakain ka ba nito si
Miguel?"
"Opo, Tita." She looked around. Not much has changed
in this house.
She remembers spending her college days in this house.
She remembers sinking into Tita Doris’ arms when her
mom died. She remembers only good things about this
woman. She can’t remember a time when she had been
unkind to her and yes, she loves her like her own
mother.
"Iha, sabihan mo nga yang si Miguel. Sabihin mo ‘wag
padalos-dalos magdesisyon."
"
"Mama naman. Let Bea rest. I’ll tell her everything
tomorrow." Miguel interrupted his mother before she
can spill the beans.
"Ha? What was that all about?" Bea was curious.
"Bukas na lang."
"Okay. Tita, if it’s okay I’ll go rest now." She
hugged her, and
proceeded to climb the stairs. Miguel followed her
carrying her
luggage.
"Alam mo I missed this house. Uy sino ba si Sugar?
Tsaka bakit parang worried nanay mo sa iyo?"
"Bukas na. Sugar is having lunch here."
"Hmmm, intriguing, pero sige. Bukas na." They were
both standing as
the door to the guest room. "Alam mo, it’s really good
to be back in
this house. I’ll see you tomorrow."
Tita Doris’ 10:00 am. She woke up, sunlight flooding
her bedroom. She was able to rest. She got up,
arranged the bed sheets and took a nice, cold shower.
Minutes later, she was down at the garden having
brunch with Tita Doris.
"Hi! Tita. Where is Miguel?"
"Sinundo si Sugar."
"Sino ba yang Sugar na yan? Nai-intriga na ako."
"Iha, I’ll let Miguel tell you who Sugar is. Promise
me something,
though. Whatever happens you’ll always be my daughter,
Bea?"
She felt scared. Why was Tita Doris suddenly serious?
"Opo naman."
"Anyway, iha. I heard from Miguel your boyfriend
sounded like he was going to propose a week ago. Did
he propose?"
Bea looked at her hands, bare of any engagement ring.
She looked at
Tita Doris and smiled. Before she could answer, Miguel
showed up. With him is a woman she had not seen
before. She was of medium frame, shoulder length hair
and looked very feminine.
"Sugar, the sister I never had, Bea. Bea, Sugar, my
fiancée`." It felt as if somebody had thrown cold
water on her. His what? Blood rushed to her head. She
blushed. Her cheeks felt very warm. She couldn’t
swallow. Her heart beating a hundred beats per minute.
"Your what?" She looked at Miguel, blushing then
suddenly white as
with shock. "I’m sorry, Sugar but this is quite a
surprise. Miguel has never mentioned you in any of his
e-mails," she said as she looked at Sugar with a
confused look. She looked at Tita Doris, she looked
back as if she was consoling her.
"Yeah, I got engaged. I’m keeping my promise. I’m
getting married on Saturday. O di ba you’re here so in
essence I’ve kept my promise."
She managed to smile faintly. She hugged Miguel and
congratulated him. She even managed to tell Sugar "You
got a catch here, girl. Take good care of him or else
I will snatch him under your nose." It sounded as if
she was just joking, turning over a very important
possession to it’s next owner. In the deepest recesses
of her person, she knew she meant it.
"He told me a lot of nice things about you." Sugar
said, smiling at
her as if they had been friends for the longest time.
"I’m sure he has."
Lunch was served. All of Bea’s favorite Filipino
dishes. She and Sugar spent time chatting the
afternoon away, looking at Bea’s and Miguel’s college
photos and yearbooks. She found out that Sugar likes
most of the things she does. They both came from the
same high school. As she tried to get to know Sugar
better during their afternoon chat, she realized that
not only was she perfect for Miguel, she also seemed
like the best gal pal Bea could find. They talked
about the wedding details, the dress, the ring, the
shoes, the tiara. They like almost the same places,
the same styles, the same shops. She told Sugar they
should do shopping marathon together. Had it been
another day, she would be telling herself that this is
really a great opportunity to find someone who
understands her shopping needs. Except that this is
not one of those days… Except that this woman, this
perfect, feminine girlfriend was Miguel’s fiancée`.
Bea’s phone rings. The name Boyfriend flashes.
"You should really get that" Sugar told Bea.
"Yeah, I guess I should. Hello? Yes? I’m good. I’m
here at Miguel’s. Oh I have in front of me Sugar,
Miguel’s fiancée`." The words almost got stuck in her
throat, but she still managed to give Sugar a smile.
"Listen, I’ll call you later. I have very good news
for you."
Miguel sat down beside Bea. Sugar was looking at them
and asked "So
tell me? Was there never a time the two of you were
more than
Platonic?" Bea and Miguel looked at each other then
looked at their
own hands. Miguel’s gaze turned to Sugar. He answered
"Of course not. Bea and I were never like that."
"As in?" Sugar inquired.
"LOL, oo naman. She was a handful. Too much to handle
for me. I can’t keep up with her. She never stands
still." Miguel looked at Bea and smiled, his eyes
turning into slits as his dimples gloriously show.
"I guess that’s the way it is for you. But not for
Edward." Bea replied, with a little hint of
disappointment.
"Well, Edward is tough enough." Miguel was still
smiling.
"Wait, speaking of Edward. I need to call him."
Bea left the garden and went up to her room to call
Edward. "Hello?
Edward. Here goes. Yes. The answer is Yes."
*********
The wedding went well. It was one of the most elegant
weddings she had seen. Sugar had everything covered
and she was a very beautiful, blushing bride.
"I, Miguel, take you, Sugar, as my friend and love,
beside me and
apart from me, in laughter and in tears, in conflict
and tranquility, asking that you be no other than
yourself, love what I know of you, trusting what I do
not know yet, in all the ways that life may find us."
Bea felt a stab of pain hitting her heart. She slowly
got up, walked away from the spectators. Tears
streaming down her flushed cheeks.
**********
Bea is once again on her way to the airport. Miguel is
driving for
her, this time with a wedding ring on his left finger.
"Hay, here we go again. I’m driving you to the
airport. Kailan na
naman kaya tao magkikita?"
"Ewan ko. Tell me something," her tone all too
serious. "What was it that you love about Sugar? How
did you know she was the one?"
Miguel just smiled. "Dali na ano? Malay mo I need to
decide in a couple of days di ba?"
"You know what I love about her? The same things I New York two
loved about you
before. The only difference is that she’s not as
ambitious as you are. When you left for
years ago, I knew I don’t have a place in the life
you’ve chosen. I don’t blame you for that. You’re good
in your field and I thought to myself that it’s your
right to move on without me. Moving away was a
decision you made for yourself. I know this sounds
silly and you might nag me about it but I found the
better version of you in Sugar. She’s so much like you
in so many ways but the only difference is she loves
me more than you do."
She wanted to cry the tears she had kept as he
witnessed him say his vows, but kept her composure.
She just chuckled a laugh. How could he move on
without her? Why was it easy for him and not for her?
As she got off the car, she gave Miguel one last hug.
This time she felt her heart heavy.
"I guess this is goodbye?" she told Miguel.
"Wait, I’m not letting you out until you answer
question. Did Edward propose?"
Bea showed Miguel her left hand. In it was a one carat
diamond
solitaire ring set in platinum. "Yes."
Miguel let out a sigh and congratulated her. As Miguel New York ."
turned his gaze from the steering wheel to Bea’s face,
he saw a single tear fall from her right eye and then
she said, "If it gives any consolation. Edward is the
best version of you that I can find in
