Chapter 19

Nanny Rita has never looked so beautiful than she looks today. The happiness in her eyes are overflowing and so are the tears.

"Aww...don't cry. You're ruining your make-up!" Joyce said.

"Believe me, I'm trying my hardest not to. It's just that I never imagined this would still happen to me at my age now. Who would have thought?" Nanny Rita said.

"There you go again. Need I tell you a hundred times that you are not old? You're not even 50 yet," Rolan said.

Cela gave a bouquet of flowers to her beloved nanny. "I'm so happy for you and you deserve it," she said to her.

"I feel like I am going to get married in church but I'll save that for you," Nanny Rita said.

"Okay, I have a decade to wait for that so please continue praying," Cela joked.

"I love, guys. I want everyday to be like this," Rolan said.

"Stop it, Rolan. We'll be late," Cela said to prevent everyone from turning emotional.

The ceremony and everything else that followed the ceremony took only less than an hour. Nanny Rita is finally a married woman. She who never seemed interested in love has been in love all this time.

Rolan hosts the brunch reception for the immediate family and close friends of the newly wedded couple. The restaurant is just walking distance from the municipal hall where the civil ceremony took place.

"I'll go to the reception now. I'll meet you all there," Cela told them who are still busy with picture taking.

On their way out, someone called Doc Rio.

"It's really you!" Doc Martha said.

"Oh, Doc Martha! What are the odds?" Doc Rio said after recognizing her.

"Don't tell me you…," Doc Martha hesitated to finish her question.

"Yes, I got married today but only a few friends know for now. By the way, here's my beautiful bride," Doc Rio introduced Nanny Rita.

"Oh, congratulations to both of you! I'm so surprised and happy for you at the same time. I didn't know Doc Rio could keep a secret like this," Doc Martha said.

"Thank you," Nanny Rita said shyly. She knows she's going to meet more of her husband's colleagues from now on.

"You're a beautiful bride, my dear. Look at you two. You are perfect together," Doc Martha showered them with compliments.

"We'll have a proper reception next month. We'll sure to invite you," Doc Rio said.

"Thank you. Anyway, I won't hold you two for too long. I myself have to be here today for my niece's civil wedding. They're scheduled to be married in church next month but to my surprise, they called me late last night saying they'd be wedded first in civil, and that's today. Imagine that?" she said.

"The niece that you used to bring to the hospital's events? Ahh...young people in love surely couldn't wait for the church wedding," Doc Rio said.

In the restaurant, Cela is the busiest person making sure that the immediate family and closest friends of the groom are well received.

Everyone in the small group of guests still can't get over the fact that the well loved Doc Rio had kept his relationship under their noses for a long time but they are happy that he finally found the love of his life in someone who herself is successful in her field. Nanny Rita practically helped raise one successful insurance consultant and one budding novel writer.

"I would love to tell your story to others who have given up on love. This one's for the books," one of the guests said.

"Well, with a lot of dating scams these days, I wouldn't blame those who gave up already. These two are blessed to have found each other," another guest commented.

"I would see Rita a few times in the hospital but I never suspected something was brewing. I guess no one ever did." More guests agreed.

"We're just experts in keeping everything low key and less dramatic. Oh, by the way, we happened to run into Doc Martha on our way here. I panicked because I hadn't told her yet and she might feel I left out of it but I told her we'd invite her to the proper wedding reception next month," Doc Rio said.

"She attended the conference in Singapore last week. I heard she returned last Saturday. What was she doing in the municipal hall herself?" one of the guests said.

"She told us that she had a short notice call from her niece late last night telling her that they'd have a civil ceremony this morning," Doc Rio mentioned.

"A lot of couples I know have been marrying in a hurry lately," another guest commented.

The brunch finished in a couple of hours. Cela has to go back to her place to resume writing her latest novel.

The effect of being around her family for a happy occasion lingers. She's more inspired to complete her writing even as soon as she arrived home but she can't help but take her time looking at the pictures she took during the reception. She then realized that she didn't have photos from last night due to very low battery of her cellphone.

She's about to call her brother for those pictures when she saw the missed calls from an unknown number. Accidentally, she clicked on the missed call record and that prompted her phone to automatically dial the unknown number. It's late when she realized this because the person on the other line already picked up.

"Cela," Nate picked up the phone.

A long dark silent moment follows.

Cela woke up to a very hot morning with a headache. She realized that she forgot to cover her window with curtains so the sun freely entered her room. Time shows it's already 10AM.

Her phone shows a couple of messages from Hyun. She called him to reply.

"Ms. Cela!!!!" Hyun screamed from the other line.

"Oh, that's loud. I am really awake now!" Cela said.

"My gosh, the story is so cute but a little sad towards the end. Nevertheless, I love it!" Hyun said with pure excitement.

"You do? Thanks, dear," she said.

"Of course, I am even there! I think that's the most wonderful thing about the story," he said.

"I made sure of that," she said.

"How did you manage to come up with that story within a very limited period? It took us long time to complete the first two books," Hyun asked.

"Well, for this book, I have to say that it's really business driven. They wanted me to come up with another book very quickly. I figured that the best way to do that was to get inspirations from different people's experiences and work on whatever I got from them. A little twist on this, some exaggeration on that. That's how I did the story. But of course, every adjustment had to make sense and that's were the harder part was," Cela explained.

"So you mean, this novel is purely fictional?" he asked.

"Loosely based on real events, I'd say. But there are some that's real," she said.

"You're such a great writer. I adore you," he said.

"Oh, c'mon. I'm not. I still can't even consider myself a real writer. To me, I'm just someone who puts her ideas in writing and who also happens to be blessed to have people appreciating her work," she said.

"But you still have to tell me which ones are real and which ones are made up. I can't wait to see you again. Let's meet soon," he said.

"Of course. I anticipate more questions from you and the others. But before I forget, please make sure to change the names of the characters. Decide on that then we'll submit the final version to Ivy," she said.

"Alright. I'm happy to take care of that but for sure, I will leave my character's name as is!" he said in excitement. "I wonder what Ms. Ivy's reaction was when she read the story. For sure, she recognized some familiar events," he added.

"I am sure she did but as of this morning, she hasn't called me yet to change anything. Guess, she liked it that way," she said.

"I just have one last question for now," he said.

"Sure, go ahead," she said.

"You are the writer. You are like the god of the story you're writing but why did you have to make it sad with an ending like that?" he asked.

Cela didn't answer immediately.

"I mean, you could have made your character the happiest in the end but you preferred not to," he added.

"Hyun, it's because that's what made the story realistic. It's not for dramatic reasons. There's really no happy ending," she finally gave her answer.

Cela closed her laptop right after the call with Hyun. It's been two months since she was asked to write another book that would complete a trilogy and would be eventually made into a three-part special on TV. It all began there. She thought it was a sign to look for Nate because finally, there was a logical reason to do so. The search for him in the last couple of months made her complete the last book by creating fictional events that had references to real events and combining them altogether.

They say that if you want something to materialize, keep on mentioning, thinking, and writing them down. Despite everything, there's still not a single update about him except for a very few old information that she received from people who had contact with him way back.

Hyun made an accurate observation. She could've written a love story with a happy ending – the one that sells to many but chose not to. Sad ending in a story is not new but she has many reasons for using it. Readers and viewers must be reminded that it is also possible that they don't get what they want even in fiction.

Rolan sent a text reminding her to be ready in an hour.

She closed her eyes for a moment. She's been preparing herself for this day. It's the day when she finally allows herself to step foot once again in her old high school. She knows that she may not be totally healed from her trauma but she feels she's more ready now to move forward and she can do it.

Before leaving her room, she opened the drawer where she placed her old diary and the once crumpled paper that had been inserted there for many years until she saw it recently. They are silent reminders of the past that if only she had the power, she would have written differently.

She looks outside the window. The surrounding is bright and quiet. Everything has been taken care of. It should be a great day.