Graduation Gift

Deep down inside, I was hurt by both his words and his actions. I could not blame him. We had been both aware of the disparity of social standing. Despite that, Aaron had enough self-confidence not to be intimidated by wealth or power. For as long as one does not overstep his bottom line, to him, everyone was an equal. He could also be humble enough to acknowledge his faults and own limitations.

The next day, was a Monday. I had deliberated that I would skip classes for a whole week to avoid bumping into Aaron in school. I could still feel the hurt and embarrassment from yesterday afternoon's incident.

Since it was almost the last month before the school year ends, most of the teachers allowed the use of their class time for review for the final exams or for remedials. Hence, there really was no need for me to attend classes and just appear in school a week before the final exams.

When I told Grandma that I would be absent in school for five days, she had not even bothered to question me. Therefore, I took the opportunity to inform her that I would be going home to Jasmine Gardens in the suburbs to prepare the house for the arrival of Dad and Mom.

"Go." Was all she said with a wave of her hand. "But I can't let the driver bring you. I need him to drive me to the salon."

"Yes, Grandma." I answered her knowingly. In the many years I stayed with grandma, I could count in one hand the number of times grandma allowed me to be driven around the city.

With her dismissal I hurriedly left for the bus station with just a purse on me. I had plenty of clothes in the mansion anyway. At eight o'clock in the morning, the bus left for the suburbs. When I arrived at the bus station, I hailed a cab to bring me to our mansion at Jasmine Garden.

Jasmine Gardens was a very exclusive residential area with not less than five thousand square meters allocated for each property owner. The security there was very tight which made it hard for taxicabs to enter without permission from the security office. However, a resident riding a taxi could get in by showing their Jasmine Garden passcard. Since the passcard had the photo of the resident on it, it also served as an identification card and considered non-transferable.

When I got off the taxi infront of the mansion, I immediately noticed, through the picket fence, that the garden had beautiful flowers blooming already. And when I looked up, I saw that the pine trees had been trimmed. Entering the pedestrian gate, I leisurely walked towards the gazebo and noticed that the wood benches had been polished.

The hired housekeeper who had been gathering the bags of garbage in the garden had seen my arrival, therefore she immediately dropped everything she was doing and with a smile plastered on her face, rushed to meet me.

"Miss Julie, you're home." Anita welcomed me warmly and with enthusiasm.

Anita was twenty-two years old when the family hired her as an on-call housekeeper. Having been honest and trustworthy during her employment with us, Mom decided to hire her permanently. Hence, counting the years she had attended to us since then totalled to sixteen years. All those years, she had not only been a housekeeper but a part-time nanny as well.

"Yes. Indeed, I am home." I smiled back at her. Uttering the word 'home' made my heart quiver with joy. Anita had been my part-time nanny and she treated me really well as if I was her daughter so her connection with the family was more than that of an employer-employee relationship.

"And...I came to check on the preparations for the arrival of Dad and Mom on my graduation day." I added as I followed her towards the front door.

Anita opened the door for me and asked what I wanted for lunch so I told her my favorite dish.

Just before I tell her that I would be going upstairs to my room to rest first, she mentioned something which made me close shut my opened mouth.

"I received it yesterday, just in time for your arrival." Anita was already holding a package in her hand. The stamp on the package showed that it came from France. My brows raised in conjecture.

I took the package and thanked her then turned around to take the stairs.

As soon as I entered my room and placed the package on the bed, a feeling of nostalgia enveloped me. I scanned the four corners of my room and saw all the memorabilia from my childhood travels with my parents. My collection of international dolls, buttons, and baseball caps were all encased in a glass display cabinet. Pictures of my friends in grade school and high school were pinned on the corkboard above my study table.

I felt a touch of joy and tinge of regret in the innermost part of my being--joy of being alive and experiencing all the good things in life and regret for not having to spend more time with Dad and Mom.

I had been aware that what they were building up for me was for my future. However, they have only one child. What's the use in having so much money for? Why are they building a business empire from scratch which I have never sought after to begin with? I only agreed to take over the business to please them. My only desire was to be with them for a longer period of time. To be loved by them was only secondary. To love them back was a mission.

But what could I do? I could only obey and be a good child to them, study well and earn the privilege of taking over the company, of becoming an heiress.

In a few weeks I will be leaving high school and in a few months, I would enter university.

My parents' expectation of me, taking over of the company one day, had to be met. My promise to turn it into a multi-billion enterprise had to be kept. I didn't want to disappoint them.

After working hard for many years, I hoped that they could retire and enjoy each other's company for the rest of their lives. I would want to dote on my parents and pamper them like how they doted and pampered me.

I loved them so much that I would die if they disappear from the face of the earth. To me, there were only two persons I considered as family, Dad and Mom.

I had almost forgotten about the package which I casually tossed on the bed. As I sat on my bed, I took it from the spot it landed and slowly peeled away the wrapper. Soon after, a white shiny box with a logo of two Cs opposite-facing each other and interlocking was instantly revealed.

I opened the box with trembling hands feeling excited for having received a package from my parents all the way from France, speculating that they must have gone there on one of their business trips.

Inside the box was a card on top of the Chanel handbag.

I took the card first and read it:

"Dear Julie,"

"It has been three months since we last came home.

"Your graduation is just around the corner and your Mom and I are truly excited to see you go up the stage and receive you high school diploma.

"We are so proud of you for working so hard. Even when we have been away on business for so long you have never faltered in your steps towards your dreams.

"Dream on and fulfill it.

"Enclosed are some money as our gift on your graduation. Spend it however you like. You deserve it.

"However, the money from the envelope, you should deposit in the bank. You can only use it in case of emergency.

"We missed you and love you so much.

"See you soon.

"Hope you like the Chanel bag. It's the only one of that kind in the whole world."

"Love and kisses, Dad and Mom."

After I read the card, tears streamed down my face. As I kissed Dad and Mom's signature a teardrop caused the blank ink to blot and spread to the bottom of the card. I held the card close to my heart. When my sobbing had ended and my tears had dried, I placed the card inside the box.

With blurry eyes I took the bag from the box and lifted it up to the level of my eyes. Admiring its color I turned it over--back to front and front to back. Sensing there was something inside, I immediately unfastened the zipper. What appeared before me was unbelievable.

"Oh my!...Oh my...!" I exclaimed. With trembling hands, I took out the contents from the bag one by one and placed them side by side on the bed.

I had felt very wealthy at that moment as I stared at the two bundles of crisp 100 peso bills. I had never received such a huge amount of money in my young life.

Due to shock, I almost forgot about the sealed envelope. Immediately when I recovered, I carefully tore it open. There was another a bundle of money inside. This time the money was green--crisp 100 US dollars. So this was what Dad and Mom wrote about.

Initially, I had been overjoyed to receive such kind of gifts as graduation presents from my parents. However, I suddenly felt a chill down my spine as if an ominous feeling had swept over me. My heart began to beat rapidly as my mind turned topsy-turvy that I could hardly catch my breath.

By instinct I instantly closed my eyes and clasped my hands in a praying posture. 'O God, let my parents be safe!'

After what seemed like an eternity, I opened my eyes slowly. My heart beat went back to normal but the menacing feeling was still there.

"Julie!" I heard Anita's voice coming in from outside my room that I almost jumped in surprise. She had already climbed the stairs halfway up the second floor when she cried for me to come down for lunch.

"I'll be down in a minute." I hollered, controlling the tremor in my voice.

I put the bag and money back in the box and kept it inside my closet. Before turning to leave the room I made sure that everything was in order.

The dishes that Anita cooked were my favorites. She had learned how to cook well from Mom. Though my parents were mostly abroad for half of the year, Mom always had time to teach Anita and me different dishes she learned from her travels worldwide. Hence, aside from local dishes, we would have a taste of one international recipe in our daily meals.