Everyone is gathered on the table. Janna and Enzo are on
one side while Paco and Liz on the other. On opposite ends
of the "kabisera" are Don Ignacio and Consuelo. There are
empty chairs both on Enzo and Paco’s side.

The dinner is well on its way. Everyone is busy chatting.
Aling Minda, Tinay and two others are attending the guests’
needs.

LIZ
This is so delicious po, Lola!
I’ve never tasted seafood this fresh!

JANNA
Tama po si Lizzie, Lola. You can
never get this kind of freshness sa
Manila, delicious!

DONA CONSUELO
Really? I’m glad you liked it. Sige
Minda, bigyan mo pa sila.

Minda automatically served them more of her cooking. This
made the two girls groan inwardly, thinking how they could
down so much of it without it hurting their diets.

Enzo and Paco meanwhile are discussing school with Don Ignacio.

PACO
I tell you, Don Ignacio, Paco and I
make a great team. We actually
plan to partner up and set up our
own clinic someday.

ENZO
Pare, we still have a million pages
of medical books to read before we
can get there. I’m not even so
confident now as to how to get
through three more years of this.

DON IGNACIO
One year at a time, hijo. I know
patience is not one of your
strengths, pero I know you’ll find
a way...as long as you don't get distracted!

PACO
Si Enzo po ba Lolo, kahit nung bata
pa ba siya, does he always gets distracted
easily?

DON IGNACIO
Like most creative minds do...oo.
Kahit nung bata pa iyan, naglalaro
lang mag-isa yan. Lutang ang
utak all the time...he revels on his own
imaginations...may sariling mundo yan!

ENZO
Pare, growing up on an environment
na ganito, where it is the closest
thing to a PARADISE that you’ll
ever see, you really can’t help it
but be creative, pare.

DON IGNACIO
Si Enzo, at first, I thought would
never go into medicine.

PACO
Bakit naman po Lolo?

DON IGNACIO
I thought he would find the rigors
of Medicine, especially the training part of
it...parang, too restricting.

Paco looks at Enzo knowingly.

ENZO
Hindi naman po Lolo. I really like
medicine.

DON IGNACIO
I even told his Dad na to let him
find his own thing. Pero of course,
he geared him all his life to
follow his footsteps...

ENZO
And yeah, such big shoes to fill too.

Enzo lowers his head. A raw nerve was visibly touched by
the conversation. Lolo Ignacio saw this and he shifted the
conversation.

DON IGNACIO
Alam mo bang mahilig yang magpinta?
Katunayan, most of the oil
paintings you see are his!

PACO
Talaga? Even that?
(pointing to the one
nearest them)
Pare naman, hindi mo sinabi sa akin
na magaling ka palang mag paint?
After all these years, you never
even mentioned that to me!

The conversation between the three ladies had gone south
that they consciously decided to join in with that of the men.

JANNA
Sweetie, you didn’t tell me you
could paint?!

ENZO
They are not that good!

PACO
Not good? Pare naman! If I had
known, I would have recommended you
sa Tita kong merong art gallery.
We could have sold them for a whole
lotta cash!

LIZ
And then what? Knowing you,
darling, you’ll tempt Enzo to use
the proceeds to fuel your naughty
gimmicks, ano?!

ENZO
Busted ang ulterior motives mo, pare!

PACO
You can’t say I didn’t try!

DONA CONSUELO
Hindi lang yan. Enzo has really
been talented and creative talaga.
He is really good in writing too.

Dona Consuelo looked at Enzo with a sparkle in her eyes, the
kind given by a proud grandmother to a grandchild.

JANNA
That, I know. From the love
letters he writes. Yan ang
panglaban niya pag mainit ang ulo
ko sa kanya.

LIZ
Ganon din ba si Enzo sa iyo? I
swear Paco’s letters were, too...

JANNA
I have a feeling that there is a
connivance here somewhere...

PACO
Uy, walang ganyan ha. Darling naman,
all the letters I sent you were
sincere and they really came from
my heart!

LIZ
At bakit ka defensive? Enzo?! How
much did he give you to write all
those letters?

ENZO
Libreng inom for each one of them.
Guaranteed results daw iyon each time.

PACO
Pare naman! Traitor ka! Pero
darling, I really meant them...I
just asked him to verbalize it for
me. Alam mo naman ako, very
cynical akong tao.

LIZ
You‘re such a fraud.

Everyone enjoyed the couples' friendly banter with each other.

DON IGNACIO
Ah Tinay, nasaan na si Lena?
Tinawag mo ba siya para kumain?

TINAY
Sabi niya po susunod na law daw siya.

DON IGNACIO
Ha? Tawagin mo nga ulit....

LENA
Nandito na po ako, Lolo.

Everyone turned to see Lena heading down the stairs. She
was so etherial in her white dress, that the moment Enzo saw
her, his jaw dropped to the floor! He could not believe his
eyes. The very girl he thought he was only dreaming to see,
is now standing in front them, coming closer in such
regality that he was almost in a trance!

Lena sat beside Paco, who is almost as mesmerized as Enzo is.
Lena did her best not to look directly at Enzo. She would
momentarily pass a glance at him, but she knew she would
blush profusely if she did it any longer.

DONA CONSUELO
Everybody, eto pala si Lena!

LENA
Hello sa inyo!

DONA CONSUELO
Eto pala ang aming unico hijong apo,
si Enzo at ang mga kaibigan niyang
sina Paco at... ano nga pangalan mo
hija?

JANNA
Janna po!

DONA CONSUELO
Janna! Sorry, Iha... and Paco’s girlfriend,
Lizzie ba?

LIZ
Opo.

LENA
Nice to meet you...Sensya na’t
nahuli ako.

Lena smiled at both girls. The smiled they gave back were a
bit cold.

PACO
Hi Lena! It’s nice to finally meet
you.

Lena extended her hand for a shake. Paco took it but held
it a tad longer that made Enzo look sternly at him. Janna
meanwhile noticed Enzo’s reaction. This forced her to drop
her fork.

Janna was boiling up inside really fast.

JANNA
Where were we?

LIZ
Well, we were talking about the
TALENTED Mr. Ripley here, Enzo.

DONA CONSUELO
Sinong Mr. Ripley?

LIZ
Lola, pangalan po iyon ng isang
character sa movie. Isa siyang taong
magaling pong MAGPANGGAP...

It struck a chord on Lena. Nobody noticed it, however.

DONA CONSUELO
Ganun ba? Sorry, hindi ko pa ata
napapanood ang pelikulang iyan...

JANNA
We can download it online, Lola. Di
ba may internet coverage naman kayo dito.
Panoorin natin, magandang pelikula
ho iyon, Lola. Si Matt Damon dun
si....

DONA CONSUELO
Ay wala akong masyadong hilig sa
Hollywood films. Mas gusto sina
Bea at John Lloyd, Claudine at Juday...

Janna once again feels dejected by Lola Consuelo’s response.

She looks at Enzo then at Lena, feeling really vindictive.

DONA CONSUELO
Speaking of pelikula, alam niyo
bang pangarap naming mag-asawa na
mag-artista yang si Enzo!

ENZO
Oh my God, I can‘t believe you‘re
bringing this up!

DONA CONSUELO
Kasi nung maliit yan, magaling yang
umarte!

DON IGNACIO
Gusto nga naming mag-audition yan
sa commercial sa Maynila kaya lang
ayaw ng Daddy at Mommy niya. Nung
maliit pa iyan, mahilig pang mag-dress-
up yan.

DONA CONSUELO
Hahalukayin niyan ang mga luma kong
damit at gagawin niyang costumes.
Pati make-up ko noon pinakikialaman
niyan...

ENZO
Oh my God! I can’t believe this.
Can we stop talking about me for a
second...

PACO
Bro, my tinatago ka palang hilig!

ENZO
Shut up!

As the rest are laughing at Enzo, the camera focuses on Lena.
She remains quiet but is amusingly (and unknowingly)
watching Enzo’s animated reactions. Camera shifts and
focuses on Janna, who was keen on watching Lena’s reactions too.

JANNA
Ah Lena, sabi nina Lola, you're from
Manila raw?

LENA
Ha eh, oo.

JANNA
Saan sa Maynila?

LENA
Sa bandang Tondo.

JANNA
By Tondo, you mean, dun sa maraming
squatters?!

ENZO
Janna! Enough!

From the joyous atmosphere, the environment suddenly became really tense.

JANNA
I was just asking her...what's wrong with what I said?

LENA
Okay lang iyon. Oo, taga-Tondo ako.
Hindi naman kami mayaman, eh. Yun
naman ang totoo. Hindi naman ako,
na-offend ...Enzo.

Fire is on Enzo’s eyes. He is now glaring at Janna who is
almost on the verge of tears.

JANNA
Sweetie, I didn’t mean to....But doesn't Tondo really have lots of squatters, di ba? What's wrong....

ENZO
I said, enough!

DON IGNACIO
Enzo...hijo, calm down, you must let her explain.

ENZO
I just lost my appetite...excuse me.

Enzo leaves. Janna bursts into tears and left the table too.
The rest of them on the table remained tense and quiet after Enzo left.

Tinay,
not knowing what transpired came in with some desserts....

TINAY
Ice cream! Pampalamig ng ulo!

PACO
Nice timing!

Nobody was in the mood to eat, leaving Tinay apalled.

TINAY
Ay, ayaw niyo? Bakit?

Tinay looked for some sort of reassurance from Lena, which she
responded by warmly, smiling back at her. However, Tinay was
looking more confused than ever.