Chapter 3

Cela woke up effortlessly despite a very few hours of sleep. Old habits die hard but the early morning sky is worth waking up for.

"Good morning, Ms. Cela," Hyun excitedly greeted her while looking at himself in the mirror. He hates that he fell asleep without putting his facial mask on. "I'm sorry, I only saw your message this morning," he explained.

"Good morning, Hyun," Cela greeted him too. "I'm the one who should be sorry for bugging you.

"It's okay. By the way, the team went clubbing last night and we had so much fun. You should join us next time," Hyun said.

"You deserve to have fun," Cela said.

"By the way, what is it?" Hyun asked.

"Oh, actually I have a favor to ask," she said.

"Is it about the third book?" he asked excitedly.

"What's with the third book? Did Ivy go through about it already even without me?" she asked.

"Oh no, Ms. Cela. It's not like that. However, she told us to be ready for anything that you might need that is connected to the third book," Hyun explained.

"There's no third book yet," Cela said firmly. "I haven't agreed to write another one. And why do you sound so excited about it? Weren't you the one who strongly swore that he would go on a long break without interruption once the second book was out?" she asked.

"Well, the truth is Ms. Ivy already converted to cash our supposed vacation," Hyun said shyly. He knows it won't sit well with her.

Cela is speechless. She couldn't believe Ivy would go as far as monetizing the vacation of the employees for the sake of another book that she believes will be best for the company.

"Ms. Cela, are you still there?" Hyun asked to check.

"Yeah, I'm still here," Cela answered.

"May I know what is the favor that you want to ask from me," he asked to change the topic.

"Actually, I need your help in finding a person," Cela started.

Hyun got curious instantly. "Is someone missing, Ms. Cela?" he asked.

"Oh no. No one is missing. I just want to reach out to someone I knew from way back," she replied.

"You mean to reconnect?" he clarified.

"More likely," she said. "I'll send you the name and other possible names he might be using on social media. I tried last night but couldn't find a match and I am not really into social media so I definitely need your expertise," she explained.

Hyun understood the instruction. "I'll let you know right away once I find even a close match. Can I ask my friends to help me out too?" he asked.

"That'll be helpful. Thanks, Hyun" she said before hanging up.

Cela takes a moment to look at the beautiful sky outside her window. It's so calming in her eyes and it seems to promise her that nothing will ever go wrong today.

"Did you really design your team's uniform?" Cela asked Nate. She tried to keep it casual with him by limiting the topics of their conversation to things and activities around them.

Nate took his portfolio from his bag and proudly showed to her all his designs.

"Wow! These are amazing. You sketched all these?" she asked.

Nate smiled.

"You're so talented. You play basketball, you draw, and you are a scholar on top of everything. You sure have a great future ahead of you," Cela said sincerely.

"Nothing compared to yours. You sure have a greater life ahead," Nate said.

"What do you want to do after high school? What course are you going to take up in college?" Cela asked.

"Well, I really want to study graphics designs but Mrs. Serrano wants me to study architecture," Nate shared.

"Does she have to choose that for you too? What will happen if you don't?" she asked.

"She will continue my scholarship up to college only if I take up architecture," Nate said.

Cela felt bad for him. Her mother's controlling nature knows no borders. She wanted to console him but she noticed that some students were looking at them.

"You okay?" Nate asked.

"Yeah, I am. Something just came across my mind," Cela said.

"Are you always like that?" Nate asked.

"What do you mean? Cela asked.

"Pardon my asking but I noticed that you're always thinking," Nate clarified.

Cela didn't know how to react upon knowing that there's someone who actually noticed what she's doing.

"You are right. My mind always wanders. I have a thing for writing and sometimes scenarios play in my head naturally," she explained.

"That's amazing! Will I be able to read anything that you wrote?" Nate asked.

Cela was flattered. Her sweet smile came out naturally. "Believe it or not, I haven't written anything yet. It's all here," she said while pointing to her head.

The phone rings bringing her back to the present. It's her brother.

"Hi. I'm sorry I forgot to reply last night. I got home safe and sound," Cela said.

"Glad to hear that," Rolan said. "Can we visit you this week? I heard from Nanny Rita that you are finally on a break."

Cela thought for a moment. "Sure but not this week. I need to do a lot of arranging and organizing here first before I can welcome any visitors," she said.

"We're not visitors. Nanny Rita would love to help. Can she come over to help you?" he asked.

"I want to do everything on my own here in my own place and enjoy it alone for now," she said firmly.

Rolan understands that her sister wants to enjoy her new found life and privacy.

"Alright. Let us know when we can come to visit. We'll have a nice housewarming. I'll look forward to that, sis," he said.

The clock shows 12nn. Time does fly and she feels unproductive because she hasn't done anything yet. However, she can't help but love the break from all the deadlines and wishes it stays this way for a longer period.

Hyun calls in the middle of the afternoon. Cela can't explain the feeling while thinking what he will tell her.

"Ms. Cela!" Hyun seems excited. "We found him!"

There's a moment of silence that brings a lot of thoughts.

"Ms. Cela?" Hyun asked.

"Yes, yes," Cela answered. She's excited and it is clear in her voice. "How did you find him?" she asked.

"I told you I would ask some of my friends to help out and someone found him," Hyun replied.

"But..but how? That's fast. That's amazing!" she said in a mix of nervous and happy voice.

Hyun sent a screenshot of the profile picture of a graphics shop's social media account. It only shows an artwork and a little caption that says, "honored to have this design from the master @etanromero".

The artwork looks familiar and the backward spelling of Nate's name to "etan" now makes sense why she could not find him through different searches she did the night before.

"Well, please thank your friend for me. Let's arrange lunch with him or her soon," Cela said.

"It's nothing, Ms. Cela. We are all happy to help…" Hyun said but suddenly realized that he had to be careful with his words. Ivy strongly instructed him to refrain from mentioning or implying anything about the third book at least for now.

"The account is private. You should send a friend request or a private message to connect. If you want, I can send the request and probe some more," he asked.

Cela could not answer right away. She gets more excited by the minute like a young girl who just learned new information about her crush on campus. The graphics design is certainly Nate's and she's just a friend request away to finally reconnect with him after so many years without a single word from each other.

"The account owner who I assume also owns the shop knows him for sure. Actually, they could be business partners," Hyun said.

Cela remains silent. Hyun sensed that she's thinking again.

"Ms. Cela, just send me message if you need me to help you," he said.

"Can we come to that shop tomorrow?" Cela asked.

"Oh, I think they're closed on Sundays. Most shops in that area don't open on Sundays," Hyun said sadly. He didn't expect her to be that excited.

"Monday then?" she asked.

"Monday it is. Let's go meet him!" he said.

"Okay, let's do this. Who knows, that third book is already on its way," Cela said.