Destination XYZ

Birthday Special

Third Person

Irene and Rhaine just got home from the hospital, they just finished their 8-hour surgery with Rhaine scrubbing in.

Rhaine went inside the house as Irene searched for the documents she needed to study for another surgery tomorrow. She had already gone to the backseat and still couldn't find it.

"Rhaine!" She shouted, "Ma? Bakit?" Her daughter rushed to the door. "Kita mo ba yung mga papeles dito? May transparent slider tapos brown envelopes." She looked at her daughter.

She shook her head, "Wala namang papeles diyan, Ma..." She frowned. Irene the nodded, "Sige... I'll go back na lang, nakalimutan ko siguro sa clinic." She went to the drivers seat again.

"Ma, ano daw iluluto sabi ni chef." Rhaine asked before Irene could close the car door. "Kayo na bahala. I may not eat dinner with you na... Rush hour na eh, pakisabi na lang sa kapatid at Daddy mo."

Rhaine only nodded, "Ma, ingat ka. Nag drive thru ka na lang." She shouted.

"Yes, yes..." Irene then went inside the car, buckled her seat belt, and drove out of their porch and out of their gates.

She checked the time, 5:28. She then sighed and turned the radio on again.

"-to 103.7, just the right rock. You'll now be listening to Three of a Kind. Three songs from the same artist. Top hits and record breakers." The host's voice rang inside her car.

"Here's Billy Joel."

The notes of Just The Way You Are lingered in her ears til he sang the words that were too familiar to her.

She pulled the hand brake and put the car on neutral as the light was red with a timer of 160. She rested her right foot and took out her phone, tapped on it, and looked at the date.

Oh.. She blinked, smiled to herself, and placed her phone back. It's your Tito Regy's birthday pala Xabby...

The sound of trumpets filled her car from the music. She watched the timer count downwards until it got to 20 seconds more. She then pulled the hand break and placed it down and put the car into drive.

And then, a car collided with her bumper. "Shit." She cursed and beeped her car. She saw the driver from the other car open the door, so she parked her car, unbuckled her seatbelt, and went out.

She looked up to see a familiar face.

"Regy?" She gasped. "Ah... I... I mean Greggy..." She stuttered and looked at their bumper. "Oh... Ikaw pala..." Greggy bit his lip and looked at the traffic they caused.

"Irene... I'm sorry... Pero can we talk na lang about what we could do sa sasakyan sa nearest uhm... café or whatever sa side... Nag ca-cause tayo ng traffic eh..." He scratched the back of his head and Irene could only nod.

"Ah... Sige... Uhm... Anong nearest dito?" She looked around and saw the HeBREW sign. She gulped and pointed at it, "Ano... Uhm... HeBREW..."

"Sige... I'll see you there..." He smiled and nodded once before they went to their own cars. Driving off to the parking lot of the café. Irene took a deep breath before turning of the engine of her car.

She climbed out and went inside the cafe, her eyes looking for him as the café began to lose some customers since it was getting darker.

"Hi..." She greeted the cashier. "Can I pay for someone's order?" She asked.

The cashier tilted his head but smiled, "Sure, Ma'am... Ano po yung name?"

"Regy. Regy or Greggy." She smiled. "He'll order a cup of black coffee and a slice of dulce de leche cheesecake." The order made her feel nostalgic.