You Know Already
He let me go after that tea session.
It does not matter what he said. I am still writing the article. I have not seen anyone dispatched to take the story; therefore, I'll make it my duty to write it. As I walk away from the van, I can see the crowd already dispersing. Frankly, I think this is one of the most peaceful rallies I have ever seen. Usually, the oppressor would harass these workers to death, but Raphael did not. He let them speak and not ordered his guards nor the national police to silence them. I guess Raphael still has his humanity in him.
I pull out a notepad as I write the details of this rally. I may need to interview some workers along the way. I'm surprised Raphael does not even try to pay off all the news outlets like his daughter, Ysabel did.
"Rosanna?"
Strange. Someone called out to me. I look at the path I am walking to see who called to me. I recognize no one around here. Who called to me?
I turned my attention back to my notepad, and suddenly, someone tapped me on the shoulder. I feel myself jerking the tap to the point that I instinctively turned around to see who it is.
"It's ok. It's just me."
That's what she said when I saw her. I cannot believe it – Emma's sister. I do not even know what to say. We are not even the least bit close to talk to each other.
"Well, good morning," I reply back.
"Writing about father's problem?" she asks.
"Yes."
"Do you perhaps have the time to talk?"
That is an offer I cannot deny. I follow her as she beckons me to walk with her. As we walk through the streets of the rally field, I see the protesters cleaning up their mess.
"They are required by law to clean up," she says as she notices me pulling out my camera to take photos. "Rallies are not as bad as it seems. Even though my father can be an asshole, at least he did not hurt them."
"Did you –"
"No, Rosanna," she says instantly. "I did not set this rally up. I'm merely an observer, you see. Just because my father has no intentions of naming me as his heir does not mean that I don't care about his company."
"Why do you want to talk to me?"
"Honestly, I just want to talk to someone. God knows I have little friends. The ones that I do have turned against me. You know about Professor Diwa, right, Rosanna?"
"Yes, but I – "
"I think perhaps you know that we were friends until goodness knows what had gotten to him. Probably poison, but I don't know. I still cannot believe that he chose Romy over me. After he left me, I have nothing. And right now, the thing that I want the most is something my father does not want to give me. It's always my damned sister that gets her way in the world. Goodness knows what she had done before. A pity. A pity indeed."
I do not know what to do with her monologues. Does she expect me to act as her therapist? I don't even know why I'm humoring her at this moment. We share a common person that matters to us both. I think it would be rude to leave her now. In a field where it was noisy, the silence kills me. Most of the protesters had already left, and we are here talking in the open with no one around to disturb us.
"What did she do?"
"A very complicated matter, Rosanna. Something tells me that even though you claim to be each other's friends, you know so little about her. Let's just say she loved the wrong person at the most wrongful of circumstances. Does he ask about her?"
And that's when she has my attention. She knows something that I do not know. She knows something she expects me to know. I have just been humoring her for a while, but now that she is talking about someone I am finding for Emma, she has my attention.
"He? Who is he?"
"You don't know yet. You don't even know who the person was? But you do know she loved someone, right?"
"Yes."
"Good enough for her to leave her lovers for that person?"
"Yes."
"Rosanna, if it had been a snake, that snake would have bitten you already. You already know the person. You just need to pinpoint who it is."
"Jonathan Guevarra?" I ask, guessing.
"Think about it. But he does not ask for her? Odd. I'd thought he'd find her. In any case, it would not matter. He cannot claim my inheritance even if he married her."
That's when something rang twice. Marriage. She was not married. I know her! She is my friend. What is she talking about?
"Wait, are you saying?"
"Yes, he married her. They are married, but I don't think any of them can –"
"He married her! Who is he?" I ask frantically.
"Where's the fun if I tell you? You know already. Just figure it out for yourself."
"How do you know?"
"I am her sister. How should I not know? She tells me everything. She trusts me. It's just that after the marriage thing, she turned against me."
"She married someone? When? What? How?"
"I am not telling you this, Rosanna! The marriage was not valid even if they are married right now. You should know by now. You have the diary."
"Wait… how do you know I have it?"
"Diwa. Do you think we do not talk? Look, we are not at the best of terms, but we do talk. I keep threatening him with his pasts and that's just because I want to play him. It's fun to torment a person that left me for my ex. I thought he would side with me, but apparently, he thought I had a terrible attitude."
How can she be so aloof with all of these? Emma being married? Her playing with Professor Diwa's mind just because she wants to torment him? And I thought Raphael is the worst at manipulation. It turns out that if you raise a child in the same household as Raphael Concepcion, you get a carbon copy of him.
"Maybe you do," I reply coldly. "You said you want to talk to me and yet, you are handing me lies."
"I do want to talk to you, and I do not lie, but –"
"And I think those rumors were a lie, wasn't it?" I interrupt. "Professor Diwa did not impregnate two women and left them. Who spread those rumors? Was it you?"
"Rosanna, none of it is a lie, I assure you. David did have a child with one woman. Those two women are one person. You know the woman, Rosanna. Just ask the woman. That was not a false rumor. If there is a liar in your life, that's David. Do not trust him."
"So you are warning me against Professor Diwa?" I ask incredulously. "Is that why you want to talk to me? Who is the woman so I could her?"
"I was his friend. I know that you are with him a lot, but he lies, Rosanna. Why trust him?"
"Why should I trust you? I barely know you. How do I know that this is not a lie? Professor Diwa said that you had a terrible attitude. Why should I side with you?"
In our heated argument, all of it just dies down to silence. She has nothing to say regarding trust. Foolish. Utterly foolish.
"That's a fair question," she replies. "I leave that to you for debate but remember that I told you. Write the article. I saw father's men took you away. That's why I wanted to talk to you, but it turns out, you know so little of what you are doing. Thank you for the talk, Rosanna. I appreciated it."
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