Chapter 05

"Mommy, when is Daddy coming home?" She asked her Mom who was too focused on her laptop.

It's only yesterday she noticed that it has been more than two months since her father left and according to her mother, her father is currently in Belgium for a business conference.

"He'll be home soon" was its reply while the attention was still on the laptop.

She looked at her mother intently before sitting down in the chair in front of her.

"Isn't it unusual that Daddy spent almost three months at that conference?"

Surprisingly to her, it took more than two months just for a conference, her father often coming home only a week or three later.

She still felt displeasure with her father because the few times she called him he's always talking to important people.

She tried to wait for him to call back but she just got herself disappointed.

It's almost eight when her Mom arrived followed by her brother who seems off.

Thinking that it's usual for her brother for weeks she shrugged it off. She happily hopped in their direction and clung to her Mom's arm.

"Mommy, I've got good news for you and Clarenz," she mumbled that immediately caught their attention.

"Hmm? What's that news then, baby?" Her Mom glanced at her.

"I passed the exam," she said in a sing-song voice.

"Wow ..." She heard her brother mumbled.

She turned around proudly and smiled sweetly.

"We should celebrate this achievement of yours, baby," muttered her Mom, traces of joy in her voice and eyes.

"Maybe when Daddy comes home we'll celebrate," then their smiles faded.

"Yeah. Daddy's going home, isn't he, Mom?" Her brother muttered full of sarcasm.

"Ah. Yes, the celebration can wait," with that, they both bade goodbye to her leaving her confused with their reactions.

They're supposed to be celebration gets postponed and postponed. In almost three months, they always set a date for a dinner to celebrate but in the end, they're canceling the reservations, how come his father's conference has been repeatedly adjusted. Her heart always aches every time they were told that her father's conference is extended, among them, except for her father who she was not been able to tell the result because even on her call, it's his secretary who's answering.

Sometimes, she's doubting her father's conference. She couldn't help but wonder what her father was doing, dark thoughts started to invade her mind but she kept telling herself that her father couldn't do that.

Her father loves and adored them so much.

She just couldn't avoid sulking because his cousins were able to take her out the next day when they found out that she had passed the exam.

She missed her doting father treating her like a diamond and his baby.

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"You're spacing out" she blinked her eyes a couple of times.

"Sorry, I did not mean to."

"Yeah? You said that before" her classmate said full of sarcasm.

"Where are we now?" She asked just to stop the discussion but it seems that her companion was deliberately exhausting her patience.

"We're at the cafeteria."

She gazed at the man sitting just across her whose grinning like a Cheshire cat.

"What I mean is, what are we talking about again?" She asked again while controlling her patience.

It just tilted its head while there was a teasing smile on its lips.

"See it for yourself" he whispered before pinning his bag on his shoulder and walking out of the canteen.

Instead of wasting more time calling him, she chose to just read the book left behind by the latter.

She continued reading but nothing entered her mind.

"A bar of chocolate may calm your disturbed and unfocused mind"

When she looked up she saw a bar of chocolate laid out in front of her, she looked up again to see the guy whom her brother told her to stay away from.

"Alexxa !!" He turned to the brother who was chasing him.

"Hmmm?"

"If ever, some guy approached you whose family name is Castro, please avoid him. He's dangerous," he continued, which he nodded immediately.

Her brother knows what's best for her and if he said avoid this person, she should, to avoid getting herself into trouble.

"Uhh, thanks but I'm not into chocolates," she said even though her mouth was already watering when she saw the chocolate.

"Really? Whatever, I'll just leave it here, it's up to you what you want to do here" he whispered and left the chocolate on her table and left.

She went back to reading but her attention was divided between the book, she was reading and the chocolate served in front of her.

"Please avoid him. He's dangerous."

Her brother's reminder reverberated inside her head but she just shut it off without hesitation when she took the chocolate and ate it.

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"You look like a stalker standing here" he turned to hear the voice of the former best friend of the latter.

"You still have class, don't you?"

He just nodded and looked at the woman again whose eating the chocolate like a child.

"I miss her" from the speaker, his attention returned to the woman who was currently closing her eyes and seemed to be enjoying what she was eating.

"Is it just you? I miss her so much"

He moaned while his hands were tightly clasped, he's trying to control himself because he might forget that he's just a mere stranger to her after the accident involving the woman.

"It's too hard to predict the plan of destiny for us, but, I know that you care for each other" whispered the interlocutor while still looking at the woman whose unaware that two people were watching her from afar.

"Come on. Let's talk about the two of you,"

She quickly saw how her smiles faded and the momentary passing of sadness in its eyes.

"He wanted to court her" she whispered just enough for him to hear.

"Let's just let destiny act first, we shouldn't force ourselves to each other because we will only be hurt more. I'll let go of her for a while and hopefully, you'll be the same with him so you won't be hurt too much" he tapped her on her shoulder and smiled.

She tried her best to smile like it doesn't affect her and it was just nothing for her.

"Easy to say but hard to do, isn't it?" It signified its meaning and left her stunned.

Yeah. Easy said than done.

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"Ms. Bella !!" She blinked her eyes repeatedly and only then did she see that everyone was already staring at her and even her teacher was furiously staring at her.

"Get out of my class if you can sit here but your brain is not in my class"

She just bowed her head and bit her lower lip, everything's taking a toll on her system.

"What's the problem? I'm sorry if I'm about to pry but it's not you, it's not you" she tried hard to stifle her sobs and to stop her tears from falling but she just found herself crying at Holly's chest.

Holly was just silent as she gently stroked her hair and back in turn.

"You're better than this, if there's a problem, you can tell me. I'm not that talkative" she whispered.

A few minutes passed before she finally stopped crying. She was about to look for her hanky inside her bag but Holly just raised her chin and wiped her tears.

A sweet smile was posted on her lips as she gently wiped away her tears.

Once again her tears welled up in her memory of the times her brother Clarenz and her father had to wipe away her tears.

"You are crying again"

"S-sorry"

She just smiled at her before grabbing her hand and pulling her towards nowhere.

"W-wait" she whispered to her.

"Just come. Let's just wait, I'll just take you to the place where you can take out everything that makes you sad, makes you cry, hurts you, and makes you lose yourself"

She first looked at the watch she was wearing and finally let Holly pull her when she saw that she still had more than an hour before the next class.

She just kept on dragging her until they stopped in the middle of a road just behind the library.

"Here?" She inquired as she looked around.

"No"

"Hey, why are we here?" She muttered before observing the place curiously.

"Just don't make any noise, this way," she whispered to her.

They continued walking until the voices from the students occupying the gazebos couldn't be heard anymore, only the sound of their footsteps and the sound of the leaves they were stepping on and the cold gust of wind she could hear and feel.

Holly looked at her then smiled, "Surprise !!" She said happily before pushing her towards in front of her and she gasped in awe upon seeing the wonder in front of her eyes.

"Welcome to my secret haven and sanctuary," Holly muttered as she entangled their arms.