Istoria Ni Maria

It was almost 15 years ago when he first saw this "sympatica" and very young barrio lass.

She couldn't have been more than 15 years old then. Even with only her usual threadbare dress, a "duster", one immediately noticed a naturally feminine beauty about her. Not quite tall, she impressed others as being so, probably more from her straight back and upturned chin than from anything else. Her olive skin glistened in the sun as she moved ever so gracefully from chore to chore. And she did so dutifully and without complaint. Almost as though she was content in doing the things she had to simply because it was for others. As she passed, her lustrous hair imparted a scent of ripening fruit on a warm summer day. The disarming smile in her eyes pledged an inner innocence and a pure heart whose only worldly intention was to serve and please others. Probably because she often had to care for her brothers and sisters by herself, she exuded a maturity in both her ways and her character far exceeding her tender years.

Maria, eldest of seven children, lived in a tiny barrio somewhere in Negros together with her parents and brothers and sisters. Her mother earned a few pesos doing the laundry of a well-to-do family who lived in a nearby "hacienda". Her father was a contractual farm worker who toiled long hours on lands that could never be his. On certain months of the year when there was no work, he spent his time in either one of the two cockfighting arenas in the nearby town. Of Maria's most recent acquaintances was a young fellow, possibly in his mid-twenties, who many years ago decided to forego his schooling in favor of operating a tricycle that plied the dusty provincial roads that traversed four towns and connected to the highway leading to the city. Whenever the fellow found time away from the drinking crowd at the barrio's favorite watering hole, he would spend a few hours communicating to Maria, in an oftentimes graphic and always crude manner, his interest in her.

As probably the most accomplished criminal lawyer in the country, he was currently at the top of his profession. He had made a fortune many many times in excess of not only his needs but also his expectations. He had been estranged from his second wife for many years now. All six children had already finished with college. Each had their own trust fund, and were off on their individual pursuits of fame, fortune and fulfillment. It slowly dawned on him that at this stage of his life, while he had a little more time to himself, he also had little to look forward to. For as long as he could remember, he had devoted much of his time and effort to the needs of others and hardly any for himself. He also realized that come December, he would turn 54 years old. And just like the last few Decembers, he would celebrate his birthday alone once again.

One day, during his annual pilgrimage to the ancestral home in Negros, he chanced upon Maria just as her mother and she were both delivering and fetching the day's load of laundry. And he took notice of Maria in a way totally unfamiliar to him. He was obviously no longer used to having a woman's image, least of all one as young as Maria's, linger in his mind for as long a time as it did. What surprised him even more was that, upon returning to his routine in Manila, recurring thoughts of how lonely and empty he felt at this stage in his life and how dim Maria's future would be continued to occupy his thoughts. More and more frequently, though, it was the image of Maria and how she smiled at him that mingled with thoughts of his loneliness.

The next time he saw Maria, she had turned sixteen. In a few more weeks, she would receive her diploma from the town's public high school.

Having known Maria's parents for the most part of their lives, he offered to them and they, in turn accepted, that she would join him in Manila. He would provide Maria with her own apartment beside a private and exclusive all-girls' College in Manila where she would be enrolled. He assured the parents that he would provide for all her living and educational requirements for as long as she needed them. Additionally, he would continue helping Maria's brothers and sisters through their schooling. As best he could, he tried to communicate to Maria's parents that, at this point in his life, he was also in need of companionship and relief from his loneliness which he would look for in Maria. On his flight back to Manila, he started to wonder whether the parents of Maria understood his intentions or whether they were simply too overwhelmed by his offer that they did not care to think about what his intentions were.

By the time school opened, his secretary had enrolled Maria in an exclusive private all-girls College. She had also executed a lease agreement on a two-bedroom apartment within walking distance from the College. Additionally, a three year-old mint condition Corrolla was provided in the apartment's garage.

He hardly saw Maria during her first year in college. It was at this time when he was retained by a prominent politician to defend a son accused of murder. At almost the same time, a multinational company in the South contracted for his services to defend them from charges that they coerced small landowners and tenants into signing long term leases on their lands at ominous and severely disadvantageous rates and terms. He also felt that she needed the time to settle into a new environment and an entirely new lifestyle. Over a year's time, Maria and he met only thrice at her apartment and once in his home in New Manila. He noted that in those infrequent moments they spent together, Maria showed exceptional warmth toward him and it seemed as though nothing else needed to be said about the roles each of them would play in each other's lives. During the brief visits, he enjoyed listening to the excitement in her voice whenever she described her school, her new friends and all the other new elements in her life. Most of all, he was gratified whenever Maria expressed her gratitude and he was very pleased whenever she complained that she saw him only infrequently and that she missed him.

On or about the second semester of Maria's second year in College, he dropped by her apartment more frequently and started to stay longer each time. It was also at this time that he started to take her out - mostly for dinner - to his favorite restaurants, the best ones in Manila. On weekends, he would bring her to his favorite bookstores in Padre Faura and Makati as he would add his reading list to that required her by her College. They would spend time going through his Berlitz tapes to jointly mangle the French language. He showed particular interest and took an active role in developing her mind as well as her personality. He exposed her to varied subjects by sharing his unique insights on particular areas of the physical, natural and social sciences, but most often, they would end up discussing their implications on the law, his first and foremost intellectual love and to which, Maria often admitted, she would always be only second.

It was also at about this time when their intimacy became complete. Without even having referred to it... not in any formal or informal conversation... it just seemed to be the natural extension of their relationship. On the first evening he stayed over in the apartment, he had just arrived from a trip from Florida. Very tired and somewhat depressed, he narrated to her how he lost a case he valued so highly not because of the fees he would collect for there was very little of that, but because he personally believed in the cause of the client he was defending. Through his monologue, she listened to him, attentively, sympathetically -- almost dotingly. It was almost 2:00 in the morning when she gently suggested he turn in for the night. She proceeded to unpack his overnight bag and prepared his shower and change of clothes. As she waited for him to join her in bed, she promised herself that this man whom she admired and trusted and whose caring she valued so much would awaken the following morning oblivious of his frustrations of the previous evening. She was determined that he would remember only the exquisite pleasures they shared the night before.

Having the wisdom and the maturity that came with men his age, due care was, of course, taken to avoid introducing complications into each other's life; like children. He also took extra precautions against engendering a sense of permanence to the relationship which each of them somehow accepted would never be.

The years passed. And under his tutelage, guidance and care, she developed and grew within ever widening intellectual limits and cultural boundaries. He honed her mind and sharpened her wit to an edge equal to his. Their playground encompassed the globe. Their activities were premised on imbibing the culture of the places and people of other continents. And more importantly, they had fun through it all.

He attended her College graduation ceremonies. After the formal graduation rites, they proceeded to the College gardens where they held their own private ceremony. She started with a ceremonial bow then handed her diploma to him. Nearly bursting with pride and glee, he accepted the diploma. He then dug into his pocket and fished out his surprise gift to her -- the keys to a shiny brand new Toyota Cressida. Breathless and in tears, she threw herself into his arms.

Barely a week had passed since Maria's graduation when he made a brief call to a close friend and former classmate in law school who was also the President of one of the largest banks in the Philippines. This quickly landed Maria a job in the bank's newly formed Human Resource Department which she settled into quite readily.

Maria and he continued to see each other even as she increasingly found less and less time to devote to him. It just seemed that there were not enough hours in the day not only due to the demands of her work but also because Maria started to develop a new set of friends at the bank. And with new friends came additional social commitments. Among her new friends at the bank was a young vice president in the accounts management group who manifested more than just a professional interest in Maria.

A few more years passed and Maria signed up as a part-time graduate student working for her MBA in one of the most prestigious Universities in the country. Which chipped away at the already little time he and Maria had to themselves. The only other times they shared were on his overseas trips when he would take her. And those were probably the most precious and the most memorable times they ever spent with each other. And the last trip they were to take together was that which he gave her as a graduation gift for earning her MBA.

One evening, Maria served his favourite gourmet dish. Toward the end of the dinner and over a cup of coffee, she tearfully began to relate her dilemma to him. She was increasingly finding it difficult to resist falling in love with this young vice president in the bank who had, as early as a year ago, already professed his love and willingness to marry her. By the time she was through talking, she was crying inconsolably. At which time, he simply took her into his arms and kept her there for the longest time. For he knew, at least for that evening, he could say or do nothing that would solve or relieve Maria of her dilemma.

Maria woke up the following morning with a headache that split her head right down the middle to her neck, eyes so puffy she could hardly see anything in front of her and eyebags that felt like they reached up to her knees. Taped to the mirror of her medicine cabinet, she read his crookedly scribbled note on a page from his personal notepad:

There was never a doubt in my mind that this time would one day come. But even that does not lessen the pain of my losing you forever. You have made my life full and you have taught me how it is to be truly happy. For this and all my memories of our life together, I thank you. Please keep the Townhouse. It is my wedding gift to you. Please be happy always.

And Maria never heard from him again. Never.

Maria now lives happily in her home somewhere in Paranaque where she and her husband raise their four children.