by Hyacinth Hues

“Easy for you to say, maganda ka talaga!” ang madramang entrada ng kaibigan ni Karina Yu as soon as she stepped inside the quiet cafe kung saan nagsusulat ang well-known author ng kanyang bagong libro. Matapos kasi ang successful na release ng kanyang 4th and 5th book na Positive :: II Lines  and Manila (I know, promotion of my fics at its finest, lol) ay nagrequest na agad ng follow up book ang kanyang editor. Buti na lang at medyo inspired din siya to write something about self-help like this. 

Hyacinth Hues, her pen name, is known for writing realistic stories with a little bit of spice instead of the usual love story like her peers. She was grateful for having that diversity in that concept and not being stuck as fluff or angst writing because she’s very moody.

Anyway, she didn’t like what her friend insinuated with what she just wrote so tinitigan niya ito with lifted brows. Humalukipkip lang naman ito and put her bag and papers on the empty chair sa harap niya. She was unbothered by Karina’s annoyed gaze.

Ning Yizhuo. A 4th-year Fashion student sa Benilde and the only daughter of a business tycoon in the PH. No wonder walang talab sa kanya ang mataray na titig ni Karina na best friend niya. This woman is intimidating to most people but the writer would say otherwise. 

Or Ningning, as Karina would fondly call her.

Lagi naman talagang confident ito and walang pakialam kaya naman kahit ang lakas ng boses nito at lumingon ang iilang patron ng cafe ay parang wala lang dito. Si Karina pa nga ang nahiya kasi what she mentioned drew attention to them, bukod pa sa fact that her friend is drop-dead gorgeous.

Nahiya ang introvert ni Karina tuloy with the attention...and it showed with the way na unconsciously nagbrush si Karina ng mahaba at itim na itim niyang buhok. Madami ang humahanga sa long healthy hair niya dahil makapal ito at bagsak na bagsak.

“I’m not maganda.” the writer denied vehemently at inayos ang bluelight glasses niya sa mata. Hindi naman masyadong mataas ang grado ng mata ni Karina but since she’s experiencing dizziness matapos magsulat sa kanyang laptop months ago, she got her eye checked. She was recommended to get an anti-radiation glasses para di na lalo tumaas pa ang grado ng mata niya.

Anyway, she refused to be called maganda cause she was far from it. But she tries her best to look good. And that is why, her first advice on her new book is to be confidently beautiful even when the person doesn’t feel like they are.

Ironic diba? Cause at this moment, she doesn't look anything aesthetically pleasing by conventional standards. Right now, she looks so underdressed compared to her companion with her all-black hoodie and jogger pants. Even her shoes and bucket hat are black so mukha siyang emo nerd na naligaw dito. She doesn’t dress to impress others but to please herself and wants to be comfy as much as possible. 

Ganito naman talaga siya kapag nakatambay dito sa Star Cafe since nagsusulat lang naman siya and she wasn’t particularly trying to impress anyone. Meanwhile, Ningning looked fashionable with her off-shoulder white top partnered with loose pants. She had her hair down while being fixed with her manicured fingers. 

She looked so youthful and glowing.

It might be silly that a 23 year old woman like her is best friends with someone younger who's currently 21 but it is what it is. She wouldn’t trade her best friend for the world kahit na minsan ay nakakairita na din ang kakulitan nito. Her friends like to butter her up with compliments dahil alam nilang Karina can get very shy about her assets. Yun nga lang, minsan sobra na sila paghype sa kanya like Ning’s unwarranted comment na easy lang for her maging maganda.

“But what are you doing here? You’re so aga ah.” casual na comment niya sa kaibigan niya to change the topic. Nakikita niya na kasi na Ningning would argue with her response kaya naman pinaltan niya na kagad ang topic. She knew her friend had scheduled classes at this time dahil di naman to supposed na sumunod sa kanta sa tambayan nila. 

Star Cafe is a local coffee shop near her condo premises. She discovered this place when she was starting pa lang sa pagsusulat at parte ang lugar kung paano siya nakakalikha ng mga akda niya. The walls are painted with baby pink and blue paint that she particularly liked. The round glass tables were spread around the place and she opted to choose the corner table where she could see the view outside and near the bathroom. It was a relatively small cafe and it still looked as good as when she discovered the place. Nadagdagan lang to ng small makeshift library, small pool table, and a lot of board game collection sa other side. The place is half full with 5 out of 10 tables occupied.

“So ayun nga besh…” eksaheradang panimula ni Ningning sa kaibigan at nanguha pa ng blueberry cake ni Karina na kokonti pa lang ang bawas sa table. Nevermind na iisa lang yung tinidor so they exchanged salivas in a way. Hindi naman sila pareho maselan sa mga gantong bagay as long time friends.

“Si panot, parang tanga lang. Sabi niya kasi may gagawin daw today so todo pasok naman kami tapos biglang nagcancel last minute kasi busy daw siya. Kajirits diba!?” 

Inis na inis na kwento ng kaibigan niya sa kanya habang tumitilamsik pa ang daliri at maarteng namapak ng dessert ni Karina. Her friend is in her last year of college and supposedly busy na din ito mag-intern sa company nila. Pero kahit na dapat busy ito ay binisita pa din siya nito sa tambayan niya. 

“Yeah…that’s really irritating.” pagvalidate ni Karina sa inis nito pero di pa din tinatanggal ang tingin sa screen ng laptop habang sunod sunod ang tipa ng daliri niya sa keyboard. Sanay naman na si Ningning sa inasta ng kaibigan dahil ganto talaga si Karina kapag dala niya ang other best friend niya which is yung laptop niya. According to the writer, we cannot intervene with the "writing juices" or whatever the hell that means.

“Anyway, bahala siya sa buhay niyang panot siya.” gigil pa din na sabi ni Ningning at paubos na ang dessert ng kaibigan. Di pa halos nagagalaw ni Karina ang pagkain and drinks niya bago dumating ang kaibigan niya dahil punong puno ng ideya ang utak niya. Buti na lang Ning took the liberty to eat it all for her. “Anyway, what are you writing? New book?” curious na tanong nito sa kanya.

“Yeah…about some self help stuff, particularly with self love.” vague na sagot ni Karina at sandaling humigop ng slightly lumamig na kape. Dumerecho na ang bare nails niya into typing another paragraph para di niya na makalimutan yung concept niya. Naiinggit siya kay Ningning that she can paint her nails kaso since she types a lot, mabilis matuklap ang nail polish sa daliri niya so she opted not to hassle herself with the maintenance.

“I’m sure you’d ace that.” proud na sagot ni Ningning then she launched into another conversation pointer nang maalala yung title na naskim niya kanina. 

“Pero bakit naman How To Not Have a Jowa yung title? Grabe ka ah, pati kabitter-an mo sa mga exes mong douchebag at pangit, pinapakalat mo pa sa readers mo yung pagiging nega!” pang-aasar pa ng nakakabata kay Karina.

“Ssssshhh.” pagsaway ni Karina dahil umiingay na naman ang kaibigan niya at nadidistract na siya. Kulang na lang ibroadcast sa buong Star Cafe na siya si Hyacinth Hues and that she’s a single woman with commitment issues. They didn’t need to know that much details about her life, thank you very much.

Minsan ang sarap i-stapler ng bunganga ni Ningning sa daldal ang ingay!

“Kasi naman teh! Yang ganda mong yan, di dapat niloloko. Walang wala sa kalingkingan mo yung mga gago mong ex na feeling pogi porke model siya. Sino nga yun? Yeon-” napatigil sa pagsasalita si Ningning when Karina glared at her. Hindi naman siya bitter, ayaw niya lang maalala yung kupal. 

“Ning, bili ka na lang kaya ng drinks and cake again, my treat.” pagbribe ni Karina upang matigil na ito sa pagbrought up dun sa huli niyang ex na gago. It's funny na di naman si Ningning yung niloko pero siya pa yung mas galit. Karina put her card sa table na niloadan niya na kanina para walang palag ang kaibigan niya.

“Yes! The best ka talaga, Rina! Si Giselle ba yung barista today?” excited na tanong nito sa kanya. Dahil nga regular na sila dito ay halos kilala na nila yung mga staff sa cafe. Crush kasi ni Ningning si Giselle na half Japanese na cashier/barista ng Star Cafe pero dahil maganda daw yung best friend niya ay di daw siya magfifirst move. It’s funny na laging napagkakamalang straight si Ningning sa mga outfit niya pero bading na bading naman ito sa mga poganda daw, which is in this case, ay si Giselle.

“Yep. Giselle’s here.” pagconfirm niya at agad naman naglabas ng make up kit ang ,mas bata sabay ayos ng buhok at mukha niya. Natahimik na ito dahil nabusy na pagreretouch habang may pa side glance pa dun sa cashier at sinisilip yung walang kamuwang muwang na Haponesa. Napapangiti na lang si Karina sa effort ng kaibigan at nagfocus na ulit sa ginagawa. 

“Thanks sa libre, Rina!” grateful na saad nito at mabilis na nagpunta sa order station upang humarot at magpapansin sa crush niya. Napailing na lang si Karina sa inasal ng kaibigan niya since mahilig talaga ito sa libre kahit mas mayaman naman to sa kanya. 

Actually, she wouldn’t be the “Hyacinth Hues” she is now if it wasn’t for Ningning who found her blog during her university days. There was one underrated oneshot that Ningning liked so much that she literally haunted the author down and befriended her. One thing led to another and her best friend encouraged her to submit her manuscript sa isang publishing house. Wala naman expectation nun si Karina but naisip niya lang na it’ll be nice if she got chosen. Sobrang gulat niya lang when she got the call from the company about her publishing contracts. Ningning came with her at may bitbit pang lawyer so that she’d get the best deal she could get from them. So for Karina, siya talaga ang swerte when she met someone as grounded as her best friend kahit na nasa magkaibang social status sila when they met. 

Ngayon, kahit papano ay di na siya naasiwa na makipaghalubilo dito dahil kahit papano ay may ipagmamalaki na siya sa mga publishing rights and royalties ng libro niya. Sa laki ng utang na loob niya sa bestfriend niya for giving her the guts and right push, the coffee libre wasn’t enough. Kaya nga willing siya bilhan ito ng sandamakmak na kape eh.  

Ningning is her best girl.

–

Foundation, check.

Blush on, check.

Eyebrows trimmed, check.

Nose Line, check.

Red lipstick, check.

Ngiting ngiti naman si Karina sa harap ng salamin as she examined her transformation that Sunday morning. She was wearing a body-hugging dress and red high heels and Karina instantly thought that she rocked that look.

It’s her self-imposed dress-up day. 

Something is empowering with the way na if you are walking and pass by a glass mirror, you’d actually smile at your reflection cause you know you look good. 

That’s basically the goal of Karina’s new rule.

It actually started when she realized how her ex made her a trophy girlfriend and dictated what she could and couldn’t wear. Bawal siya magshorts, mag tight-fitting tops or anything na kita ang pusod. According to her misogynist ex, it invites guys to lust over her and her body, and that mamanyakin lang daw siya ng mga ito.

It took Karina so long to realize that it was her body, her rules. 

That of a man can go and himself if he can’t accept her wardrobe choices and she shouldn’t be responsible for how other people should perceive her. After that, she tried styles that she felt were interesting like crop tops, jogger pants, and plaids until she filled up her cabinet with a new wardrobe.

Growing up, she wasn’t really into fashion so nung nagkaroon na siya ng interest, she had to seek help and guidance from Ningning and her Ate Tiffany. Ate Tiffany is her cousin na sobrang kaclose niya when growing up as her mom was always busy so Tita Boa(Tiffany's mom) took care of her a lot. Sina Ate Tiffany and Ningning lang kasi ang kakilala niya na magaling pumorma.

And here she is, not quite as good as her mentors yet, but she tries hard.

Today, pupunta siya sa Star Cafe to get her coffee fix and read books. She’s naturally fond of coffee pero sobrang sarap kasi ng brew ng Star Cafe so she always preferred to go there. Besides, it’s like a good 10-15 minutes walk from her condo unit. Ahead pa naman siya sa sinusulat niya so she figured that she’d caught up with some of her reading list. Madami namang free and available books sa pupuntahan niya. Tatambay na din siya dun until 3pm before siya pumunta sa simbahan.

With that simple plan, she grabbed her small purse and went her way.

As usual, she was enthusiastically greeted by the lobby guards ng condo kung saan siya nakatira since kilala na sila ng mga ito dahil she received lots of packages. as Hyacinth Hues. Her company takes care of fan gifts at pinapadeliver na lang sa kanya. She gave the guards a timid smile and no