Scripted Relationship

CHAPTER 59

ERIK

The immigration officer stamped on my passport and gave it back to me.

"Have a safe journey, Mr. Dela Rosa," the immigration officer told me. I simply smiled in response.

I made it past the immigration. Hence, it would be a matter of minutes before I leave the Philippines for San Francisco. Lola will be there to meet me. Still, there was one thing that made me lonely as I walked to the waiting area.

I took out my mobile phone. I clicked on the YouTube App and went to the video I uploaded two days ago. It already reached 350,000+ views. Wow, I coldly thought to myself. Maybe, YouTube would pay me something in return for hitting such a great number of views.

I went to look on the comments. Though they were many, I searched each and every comment hoping for "the" comment that would come from the very girl to whom I dedicated the video. To my disappointment, I reached the end of the comments feed and found out that none of them belonged to Rose. Dismayed, I put back my phone inside my pocket and sat on one of the benches in the waiting area.

Of all the 350,000+ viewers of my video, I really hoped that one of them would be Rose. Considering how fast social media these days, it wouldn't be hard for the video to reach her. And then, I thought that if the video already reached her, she would have contacted me already. The video was already two days in YouTube and not a single call or text message came from her. I felt even more depressed. Maybe, it wasn't really meant to be. Maybe, it was really the end of our love story.

While minding all these sad thoughts, the public address system rang and announced:

"Attention, passengers of Philippine Airlines Flight PR 143 bound for San Francisco. Your scheduled flight has been delayed due to the arrival of a VIP. I repeat, passengers of Philippine Airlines Flight PR 143 bound for San Francisco. Your scheduled flight has been delayed due to the arrival of a VIP. Please wait for further advice as to the schedule of your flight. We apologize for this inconvenience."

"Damn it," I said to myself. This delayed flight only prolonged my agony of leaving the Philippines. I simply shook my head. I put my elbows on my legs and covered my face with hands in disappointment.

Suddenly, my phone rang. I took my phone from my pocket to look at the name of the person calling. In an instant, an electric current swiftly flowed all over my body. It almost made me drop my phone accidentally.

Rose

Calling...

I hesitated to pick up the call. That was when I thought how ironic I was. I wanted to get a call from her after my YouTube video. Now that she's calling, I was hesitant to answer her call. Ano ba talaga, Erik? I asked myself.

I took a deep breath as I accepted the call.

"Rose?"

"I'MGIVINGUSASECONDCHANCEERIK!"

I moved the phone away from my ear because of Rose's shout. I was not able to hear clearly what she said.

"Sorry, what did you say?"

"AY WALA! WALA AKONG SINABI!"

"Seriously, Rose," I said to her calmly. "I was not able to hear what you said."

"Ang sabi ko, I'M GIVING US A SECOND CHANCE! Sabihin mo pa kung hindi pa rin malinaw."

Suddenly, I felt a change in my mood because of what she said to me. I raised my head back and let a out a small smile.