“Finally,”  Gerald thought, “I’m back.”  He got up as soon as the plane pulled to a complete stop.  He opened the overhead bin and got his hand-carried luggage.  Before making his way to the baggage claim area, he was stopped several times by people requesting for photo-ops, to which he obliged.

          He was already waiting for his luggage when he realized that he left the paper bag containing his mom’s favorite perfume in the overhead bin.  An attendant was kind enough to volunteer to go back and get it for him.  As he stood by the baggage claim area, his bags already in the cart, his phone rang.  It was Kim.  While he was talking to her, the attendant came with his paper bag.  Gerald moved toward the attendant when somebody bumped into him.  His other hand-carried paper bags dropped to the floor.  Before kneeling down to retrieve them, he muttered a quick apology, explained to Kim what happened and promised to call her a little later.  Unknown to Kim, Gerald was munching on a piece of candy when this all happened.  Apparently, his apology sounded more like “so-wee” than “sorry”.  And thus, the misunderstanding began.

          After almost an hour, he was finally seated beside Joven, and was on his way home to his mom’s house in Gensan.  He tried Kim’s number again, but it was either turned off, or the signal was weak.  He decided to call her later after he gets home.

          “RJ!  I missed you, son.  How was your flight?”  Mommy Vangie rushed to Ge’s side and embraced her son tightly, as if she hasn’t seen him for years.

          “Tiresome, as usual.  Mom, can I get some sleep first?  I still have to meet Matt and Rayver at the airport in 5 hours,” he replied after planting a kiss on his mom’s forehead.

          “Sige, I’ll just prepare your favorite tuna rolls so you could eat before you leave for the airport.  Are you sure you don’t want Joven to drive you there?”

          “Thanks, mom.  No, it’s ok.  I’ll just rest and I’ll be as good as new by the time Matt and Rayver arrive,”  Gerald declines.  He needs to talk with his friends. “Mom, It’s good to be back.”

          “It’s even better to have you back, son.”   Mommy Vangie followed her son’s fleeting figure with tearful eyes.

Gerald wearily put his things down as soon as he entered his room.  He sat on the bed, thinking what he should do first, call Matt and Rayver or call Kim.  Not able to make a decision, he laid his tired body on the bed and closed his eyes.

“I’m sorry, RJ.  You have an isolated case of aortic stenosis.  It seldom happens to people your age, but it’s not impossible.  We don’t have to do a surgery yet, but if you don’t slow down, you might end up going under the knife in 6 months maybe less,”  Zoe tried to be as non-chalant about the whole thing as possible.  Gerald knew that she didn’t want to alarm him.  Nevertheless, it doesn’t change a thing.  He’s still sick and he doesn’t know what to do about it.

“If I’m as sick as Zoe tells me, I might as well get on with my plan,” Gerald muttered to himself.  This time, his conviction was urgent.  He reached for his cellphone and dialed his architect’s number.

“Hello?  Yes, this is Gerald.  Can I ask you a favor?  Can you supervise another project for me?  This is highly confidential that’s why I decided that only you can handle this.  You see I have this property in Anilao, Batangas and I want to build a vacation house.  I want it to be an exact duplicate of the Big Brother house that Kim and I stayed in at Hundred Islands.  Can you finish this in a month?  I’m running out of time.  But make sure to ask ABS-CBN’s permission first.  By the way, please add two secret rooms, one in pink and the other in blue.  Keep the blue one bare.  No, don’t put any furnishings inside.  I’ll handle them myself.  As for the pink room, I will jot down the specific design that I want and email it to you in a few days.  Ok, thanks.  I’ll see you in a week.  Please keep me posted.”

Next he dialed Ate Portia’s number.

“Hello, Ate?  Yes, it’s really me.  I’m here at Gensan already.  Can I ask you a favor?  Can I have a copy of all the promotional posters Kim and I used in all our projects since the time we got out of the PBB house?  Uh-huh, the big ones?  It’s ok, I’ll have them framed myself.  By the way, please don’t tell Kim I asked for them.  Thanks, Ate.  See you soon.”

After putting down the phone, Gerald slept with a smile on his face.

He was awakened by the constant ringing of his cellphone.  Peeking at the LCD, he saw it was Matt calling.  He bolted up and looked at his watch to check the time.  “They couldn’t be here yet,” Gerald mused.

“Hello, pare.  Asan na kayo?”

“Dito na sa airport, magbo-board pa lang.” 

“Ah, ok.  Sige, ingat.  I’ll see you at the airport.”

“Sige, pare. Thanks!”

He tried Kim’s number again, but it was still unavailable.