Chapter 19

Dad, I can't visit your grave today …I need to get ready to go to the bank. I need to talk to anyone for that extension request.

Say was in her simple, no make-up look when she decided to visit the bank. She was wearing only her typical blue jeans and white t-shirt and was about to go out when she heard the loud rattle of the gate.

“Who will visit at this time? I'm not waiting for any visitors. ”

From the third floor of the mansion, Say lowered the blinds in her room window to check who was outside.

"What was the doorbell for if a visitor won't use it?" She thought.

Then, she remembered that their doorbell had no longer been working since last month. Someone from outside continues to slam the gate, so she doesn't have a choice but to go down quickly from her room to the gate which was about a hundred steps more from the outside. This is the only time she thought their house wasn't that big.

"Wait! I'm coming!"

And when opened the gate, Say saw a guy in his suit, must be in his 50s, looking at her.

“Good afternoon Ms. De Plaza. Your doorbell doesn't work anymore so I just slammed the gate. I was here for more than 15 minutes. I hope you don't mind. ”

“It’s fine. How can I help you?”

“Oh I forgot my manners...my name is Attorney David Serrano and I have an offer to give you. Do you have a couple of minutes for me to discuss this?”

***

Say pushed the paper in front of her back into the lawyer's hand then shook her head.

“I’m sorry, Attorney but I cannot accept it. My house is not for sale –“

“Ms. De Plaza, my client is offering you 8.3 Million dollars or about 400 million pesos. That is almost double the price of this mansion when the bank acquires it within two months. ”

“I am going to the bank to talk to the board of directors or anyone to extend the payment before the acquisition, Atty Serrano. I can pay for this ancestral house; I will do everything to pay for the house ... ”

“Be realistic, Ms. De Plaza. We researched your ability to pay before going here and before making this offer. You don’t have anything else, hija. You no longer have land, no business but a small dancing studio you own - with almost no students."

Say was calculating all the amount she can get or borrow if she talks to the bank and sells the rest of the stuff she owns, while the lawyer continued to talk.

"If you sell that studio, any amount as big as 3 million pesos is more than what you can ask for. Your family's last car has also been sold - where will you get the other 222 Million to pay for the 225 Million pesos you owe to the bank? The amount my client offers is 400 million pesos, you can sell the mansion now and pay the bank and still gets 175 Million left for you to do whatever you want.

“Attorney Serrano, I told you, I will not sell this place. This is the last thing that will remind me of my family, of who I am. I will live and die here. I will do anything I can do to keep it and --"

“I’ll give you two days to decide, Ms. De Plaza -"

“I made my decision already and it won’t change. Have a good day, Attorney.”

****

“So you are really going...I can’t stop you anymore? “

“I’ll be back in 2 or 3 weeks, Brooke. Don’t be scared like I won’t return. My businesses are here in Seattle and in Florida, so that means I’ll come back.”

“I still have the time to prepare my luggage if you want me to come with you.” Brooke prodded.

Nick held Brooke's hand. “No one will take care of the company. And why would you do that, I thought you said I had to do it myself? You prepared everything for this plan all by yourself, surely you don’t want to change plans at the last minute. That’s not you...”

Brooke sighed in acceptance. “Fine. So I’ll just see you here back in Seattle - a changed man, no longer the cynic and Philophobic. Get her...bed her...do whatever you want to do with her and then leave her - that’s the ultimate plan, Nicholas Marciano."

“I’ve had it all tabbed. Alright, it’s time for me to board the plane.”

****

Nick was already inside the plane waiting to depart when his cellphone rang and his lawyer on the line. He quickly accepted it.

“What? She declined the offer?”

He was furious as he listened to what his lawyer, who was in the Philippines today, had to say. The lawyer continued to explain when a flight stewardess asked him to end the call as the plane is about to board.

“Then make an offer that she can’t refuse, Attorney. Double it, triple it. I don’t care. “ Nick just cut off the conversation, put his phone back in his pocket, and closed his eyes. But when he closed his eyes, he only had one face on his mind - the face of the girl who made a fool of him.

And all the painful memories come back haunting him.

“Hi Nick, you’re Nick right? Don't forget to claim the party giveaways. Here!

“Back off...”

“Here’s a cellphone with the free video of Drex and Say. Enjoy watching it! Bye!” A guy from the party handed him a 2008 version of a video phone. Nick can’t help but just hold it as the guy left in a hurry, perhaps returning to the debut party he hated.

“Video? What kind of video is he talking about and --” His eyes glared with impotent hostility and his heart throbbed with so much hurt when he saw what was in it. It’s Say with her arms on Drex’s neck as he carries her to a room. The sly smile of Drex as he started to lower his head to his girlfriend’s face about to kiss her.

Fucking shit…

He almost crushed the phone in his hands as he continued to walk out of the mansion from the debut party of Say. He couldn’t bear to think that the woman he first loved would make him a fool and a laughingstock for all of her friends to see. And then he remembers how Say held into the arms of Drex sweetly while they get inside the room.

“Fuck! Fuck!” Nick muttered in his breath only to realize it was too loud the passing flight attendant overheard him.

“Sorry sir, is there anything I can do for you to make yourself comfortable in your seat?”

“No, nothing. Sorry about that. I mean, yeah I think I need a glass of scotch. Dry.”

Nick forced himself to sleep. When he closed his eyes again, he no longer saw the face of the woman he loved but his mother's body, her lifeless body in the hospital.

"What are you talking about? Nay Sabina can't die, do you hear me? My mother is not dead!"

“Nick... I’m sorry... We were looking for you earlier when we took Sabina to the hospital, but you were not around... "It was Aling Maring, his mother’s best friend beside him now trying to hold him as he slouched on the floor of the hospital, unable to accept the fact that his mother died without him on her side.

“I left you, Nay...I left you because of what Say did...You could still be revived if I was there to bring you a nearby hospital fast. I could’ve had you still if...if...”

“Nick...Sabina’s gone and it’s not your fault. This is nobody’s fault. It was a heart attack.”

But Nick knew who should be to blame for what happened.

Say De Plaza…

Nick didn't realize that his tears were already dripping in his expensive tailored suit. All the money in the world he has now and still he can't help but feel how empty his life is. And as sleep gets into him, his tears just dried on their own - just like the love he once felt for the governor’s daughter ...