Beyond the Boundary | ?

Chapter 04

Ano?

I suddenly felt the urge to pee, kaya napatayo ako. "Excuse me, guys. Comort Room lang ako," paalam ko. When they nodded, kaagad akong lumakad papuntang Comfort Room.

Noong papaliko na ako papuntang comfort room, bigla akong bumangga sa katawan ng isang tao. Napangiwi ako at napapikit nang mariin dahil tumama ang noo ko sa matigas na bagay.

"Aray!" I mumbled and massaged my forehead.

"Oh! I'm so sorry, Miss."

Napaangat kaagad ako ng tingin sa nagsalita. Napaawang kaagad ang mga labi ko, napasinghap ako at napaatras sa sobrang gulat.

H-he's that guy! The guy who owned all of the 100 grand ships! Who wouldn't know him? His face is found in any textbook of any grade level in school! And he appeared in the hologram earlier this morning for the 701st Grand Ships' anniversary!

Wow... I never expected that I'll meet him in this cheap restaurant. And, oh, the hard thing that hit my forehead was the large round pendant of his golden necklace.

He looked different in person. Sa hologram, hindi mo mahahalatang matanda na pala siya. In person, his wrinkles and other signs of aging were visible. And those white streaks in his ebony hair were one of those signs.

"I-I-I'm so sorry!" mabilis na sabi ko dahil sa sobrang pagkataranta at yumuko kaagad ako para manghingi ng paumanhin. "H-hindi ko po kayo nakita. Sorry!"

"It's okay, may kasalanan din ako kung bakit ka nabunggo sa 'kin." Hindi ako nagsalita kaya napatawa siya. "You can look at me."

Napakurap ako. "I-I can't look at the person who made the Grand Ships."

Bigla siyang humagalpak ng tawa kaya napaangat na ako ng tingin sa kaniya. When he stopped laughing, I tilted my head in confusion.

"You really believed those things they wrote on school textbooks, huh," aniya at umangat ang isang kilay.

Nagsalubong ang mga kilay ko. "What do you mean? Hindi ba ikaw ang may-ari ng mga barko?"

He smiled. "Ako lang ang namamahala sa mga barko pero hindi ako ang may-ari," sagot niya. "I would be over 500 years old if I was the owner of the Grand Ships."

Napakurap ako. Oo nga, 'no. Bakit hindi ko naisip 'yon?

"But I get it why you get confused sometimes. He's my great father and every first boy in our family is named after him. And coincidentally, I looked just like him, do I?"

I stared at his face. Oo nga, kamukhang-kamukha niya ang nasa textbooks na sinasabing ang gumawa sa Grand Ships. Though their only difference was he has a mole on his lower lip and the person in those textbooks has no mole in any part of his face.

"It would be nice if I could talk to you more, Miss, but I still have an appointment with your Mayor," aniya sabay tingin sa relo niya bago nag-angat ng tingin sa akin. "What's your name?"

I suddenly stiffened. He only asked me for my name but I felt like I was being interrogated for murder.

"A-Anzaria Trayel Fluxia..." I stammered.

Natigilan siya ng mga ilang segundo... o baka imahinasyon ko lang 'yon dahil masyado akong kinakabahan ngayon.

"Fluxia..." Tumango-tango siya bago ngumiti. "Well... It was nice meeting you, Miss Fluxia. But I need to go now. See you around!"

Napasunod na lang ako ng tingin sa kaniya nang lumakad na siya at lumabas ng restaurant. Those people who recognized him would stare at him whenever he pass by them pero hindi niya napapansin. He would just walk like he's not a big deal in this place.