The Incident (I)

06:45 A.M.

Kelly's Diner.

June 6th, the year 2018. Wednesday.

1 hour before Xian Santos's accident.

"I don't want to be back at you, Xian. I don't want to feel the pain again. Maybe, f you did that earlier, I will be in your arms again," she murmured.

"Not now, you have a loving girlfriend but you still want to take me back," she shook her head while saying it. Xian looked up and Carmela saw his sad eyes that she never saw before.

"You are good at crying, but you are also great at making a woman cry," Carmela gritted her teeth. She spun around and walked hastily towards the staff room, leaving Xian behind.

Xian's eyes were flowing with tears, and he couldn't help it. Carmela's words hit him straight up to his heart. He can't deny that Carmela had a great impact and influence on his life.

When he could not move, not hearing anything, someone called him.

"Sir," a staff member called out to him. He wiped the tears immediately and looked at the woman standing in front of him with his red and puffy eyes.

"Why? Can I do something for you?" Xian asked her. Instead of answering him, the woman brought out a handkerchief from her apron and gave it to him. That kind gesture took aback Xian, but he still received the handkerchief. He wiped it thoroughly through his now wet face.

"Thank you," he expressed and looked at the woman's name tag on her uniform.

"Michie," Xian read. 

Michie had red and short hair, straightened until the ends, and she had medium fair skin. She had round and enormous eyes, a pointed nose, and curved pink lips that lipstick had applied. She was standing about 5 foot 6 inches, a little shorter than Xian and Carmela.

Carmela was 5 feet and 8 inches while Xian was standing at 5 feet and 11 inches. Michie observed Xian's outfit. He was wearing a simple blue shirt, jeans, and rubber shoes. It looked like he was in a hasty way to get out of the house.

Michie smiled and assured, "It's okay, sir Xian."

Xian nodded and pursed his lips. He felt like every joy he would feel right at this moment will not resurface.

Michie looked down. She quarrelled with herself if she would say that she knew that Lori Ramirez was Carmela. Not because she heard it from their conversation, but Carmela said it to her when she first landed at the Diner.

"I know you are in pain with Carmela's words," Michie hesitated. He looked up and widened his eyes. He thought Carmela was hiding her identity from everyone here, yet Michie knew her real name.

She chuckled and said, "I knew from the very start that she is the only child of Torres. I knew she was Carmela Torres."

Xian said nothing, so Michie continued to talk about Carmela.

"She told everything when we first met here at the Diner," Michie added. Xian said nothing and thought. Carmela was a contained person, she didn't want to say anything about her life with strangers. She always wanted to be with her longtime friends. Xian was once part of their circle, but they have removed him from them because of his cheating. He regretted doing it, but he was still repenting of that mistake. 

"We're in the same boat, me and Carmela. We have the same sorrow. I know what it felt like to be in deep darkness, alone, without salvation," Michie began. She looked straight into Xian's eyes. She nodded towards the seat, and Xian looked at it, confused.

"Can we sit down?" Michie asked, nodding towards the seats and smiling. Xian nodded and sat down at his seat earlier while talking to Carmela. Michie sat down gracefully and put her tray down. She glanced towards the counter and saw that there were no new customers entering the diner.

"Can I ask what is that same boat you are talking about?" Xian asked her, waiting for the story to revolve.

"Don't worry, I will hold this conversation accountable to me if it reaches Carmela. I promise it won't," Xian pointed out. Michie sighed and looked at him, opening her mouth to tell everything.

"The first time she entered the diner, it's the year 2017 back then. Rax and I are the first ones employed in this diner. The exact time Rax is leaving the diner for good. They are moving to another city. That was the time Carmela arrived here," Michie went on. Xian didn't know where the story headed up to. He thought it was not a good idea to hear it from Michie. 

"I certainly knew from the first step she made towards the counter that she is Carmela Torres. Her face looks familiar, and it is the same as I saw in the lifestyle magazines. They're always featured in everything because of their success. That's when I asked myself, what is she doing here?" Michie told him. 

"Not that I belittle Kelly's Diner, but with the high profile you all have, even you, Sir Xian. You don't dine in this kind of place," Michie cackled. 

"When she reached the counter, she ordered some food. But I didn't expect that she would talk to me. She even asked me if they are hiring applicants for the diner," Michie disclosed. Xian's flabbergasted by that. He didn't know how to react to what Michie was saying about Carmela.

'Why does she have to end up in this small place to work? She is an honorable lady, a rich one,' Xian asked himself.

"I thought she was just joking about what she asked, but she retorted back, saying that she is serious. I don't have second thoughts to say it to her. We are open to hiring kitchen staff, because Rax is leaving that day, and we need someone," Michie continued. She glanced towards the counter again and was relieved to see that there were no new customers.

"When I guided her through the office to talk with the manager, she got hired immediately. But the manager didn't even know she was Torres. She is an ordinary person to the employer of the diner. The day after she got hired, she started. Rax left, and I am all alone with Carmela all afternoon," Michie explained. Xian listened attentively without moving an inch.

"We didn't talk to each other because we weren't that close. And I have a feeling that she is a contained and quiet person. I think she got triggered when I howled my eyes out. My mom died days after she came," Michie began her sad story and looked down. Xian tilted his head and furrowed his eyebrows, waiting for the story to finish.

"When my mom died, everything in my world collapsed. I don't know how to move, especially that I have a little sister with me. I don't know how to stand up. My father left us when I was a kid. And he died because of lung cancer years ago," Michie murmured. Tears were brimming in her eyes, in danger of falling anytime.

"What can I do as the heir of the Alestre company if it has fallen?" Michie said while still looking down and made Xian gasp. Alestre Company produced the most well-known ammunition and international weapons. If it has fallen, how about the guns inside it?

"You... you are Michie Alestre?" Xian inquired, widening his eyes. 

"I am. But here I am, wearing an apron, serving meals here in this small place called Kelly's Diner. Telling the dreadful story of Michie Alestre. The life that Carmela Torres is battling in herself with the famous painter of all time, Xian Santos."

Michie confessed. Xian felt the pity rising and he couldn't help to look sad. He didn't experience all of that.

"When I cried and wept my eyes out, she couldn't contain herself. She said everything about her miserable life. Or so that's what she called it. She said their dairy products company Torres Productions is falling into pieces. Her aunt Martha, the sister of her dad. She can't manage the businesses that her parents once handled." Michie muttered, looking out of the window after.

The cars zoomed in and out of sight through Bella's Main Highway. Xian also stared at the highway. The sun rose from the east, making the buildings shine with the reflection on the glass.

Michie continued to tell the story while observing the cars. The trees also swayed through the parking lot of the diner. 

"Carmela also can't contain the exhaustion she felt. Caring for her child was never an easy task," Michie drawled. Xian looked at her fast and sharply. He felt the furrowing of his eyebrows as he got puzzled by what Michie said.

'Carmela has a child?' Xian asked himself.

"Wait up. The one with Carmela having a child, are you kidding?" Xian asked her so abruptly that Michie shot up her eyebrows and opened her mouth slightly. 

"I'm not lying, sir Xian. It comes from her. She said it to me," Michie noted. Xian knew she was not joking. Not even a single glimpse of a smile crosses her face. 

'How can it happen? We didn't sleep together when we were in a relationship. How could that be?' Xian's baffled about the child of Carmela that Michie talks about right now.

"Did she... did she mention something about the father of her child?" Xian asked, scared by Michie's answer.

"She didn't say it to me. I felt like it was really a personal thing," Michie responded without a doubt, and locked her gaze to Xian. He darted his eyes and looked outside while his clenched jaw emerged.

'Who is the father of that child?' Xian asked himself, while tilting his head to one side and thinking as deeply as he could.