Losing Her

Chapter 41: Complete?

IRENE'S POV

I woke up without anyone beside me. I checked my digital clock and it's already 8:00 AM na.

Lorreine din not wake me up?

Dumiretso na ako sa CR to do my morning routine and drink my vitamins then dumiretso na ko sa baba to have breakfast dahil nagugutom na ako. Si Celestine ang naabutan ko sa kitchen.

"Good morning Ellie!" I greeted her.

"Good morning po. There's pancake po dyan sa table if you want breakfast then yung milk po is nasa ref." She smiled. I nodded.

I missed her smile. It makes me feel fine.

I finished eating breakfast at kanina pa rin padaan daan ang mga tao dito pero wala pa rin akong nakikitang Lorreine. Where is she na ba?

"Manang!" I called Manang Imee nung napadaan siya sa kitchen. Papunta sya ng sala.

"Yes Ading ko?" Lumapit sya sakin.

"Have you seen Lorreine? Hindi nya ako ginising and kanina ko pa sya hindi nakikita?" I asked her.

"Oh hindi nagpaalam sayo? Nagpaalam sya kanina na uuwi na daw sya. Ibinilin niya na rin yung gagawin to stabilize your breathing and heart rate kung sakaling hingalin ka nanaman then ni-note niya na rin yung para sa panic attacks mo. Such a responsible child." She answered.

"Ah s-sige thank you." I smiled at her.

"No need to worry. Magm-message daw sya sayo pag nakauwi na sya." She assured.

Nagland travel lang kami papunta dito kaya sigurado akong land travel lang din sya pauwi. I hope makauwi sya kaagad. Nakakapagod pa naman mag-drive.

"Nagkausap na kayo ni Ellie? I talked to her na last night." Manang spoke again.

"Not yet, but she greeted me na kanina." I smiled.

"Talk to her na sa garden. She's alone there, nasa sala silang lahat." She said before she exited the kitchen.

Bumalik muna ako sa room to check sa laptop kung meron akong mga emails and most of it naman ay mga reply lang na noted from Clai. Natapos na ni Lorreine lahat ng upcomings. Pagclose ko ng chrome tab nakita ko naman yung sticky notes sa homescreen.

"Tita you stay muna po dyan sa Ilocos. Wala ka pong makakasama sa bahay kasi umuwi sila Nanay Sonya at Kuya Alec sa province remember? Next week pa daw ang balik nila. Ako naman po may kailangan lang asikasuhin pero real quick lang po. I will make sundo po sayo dyan. I'll be back soonest Miss Ma'am" - Reine

I smiled when I read that. Complacent naman ako na gagawin nya kung anong sinabi nya sa notes. She never failed pa naman on being true to her words. That is why pag sya ang nagsalita, hindi na ako nagd-doubt kung matutupad nya ba or hindi.

Almost 8 hours ang byahe from here to Manila kaya naman I expect na mamayang hapon pa magt-text si Lorreine so I decided na makipag bonding na lang dito sa mga kasama ko sa bahay.

Bumaba naman na din ako kaagad para puntahan si Celestine sa garden.

"Hi Ellie." I sat down and directed my gaze to the flowers.

"Hello po." She greeted back.

"So how was London? It has been a while. I really missed you." I looked at her.

"It has been good po." She answered shortly.

"You still feel awkward towards me?" I asked.

"I'm sorry po. I just really don't know how to talk to you again. It has been so long po and I'm expecting that you are mad at me." She apologized.

"You know I'll never get mad at you anak. Sobrang love ka ni mommy and hind magbabago yun." Umakbay naman ako sa kanya.

"Did you not get tired of loving me? Of waiting for me?" She asked.

"I almost did." I admitted.

"But your Ate Lorreine kept on reminding me na babalik ka so I should not get tired of waiting. And true enough, you did." I smiled at her.

"Thank you Mommy for always understanding and sorry for all the pains I have caused you. Hindi na po ako aalis ulit. Pangako." She hugged me.

"I love you anak. I will always do. Kaya I will always try my best to understand your decisions." I hugged her back.

Nagkwentuhan pa kami of our experiences throughout that 4 years hanggang it's almost lunch na. I'm just so happy right now dahil okay na kaming dalawa. I feel almost complete again. Si Greggy na lang ang wala. I hope he is fine wherever he is.

"Irene?" Kuya Bonget called my name.

"What is it Kuya?" I let go of Celestine's hug.

"I have someone for you." He called someone from the inside.

"Love..." I uttered when I saw Greggy. He's with a child about 5 years of age I guess.

Celestine and I walked to him and hugged him tight.

"I'm sorry for being gone too long Love." He is tearing up.

"Would you like to explain first?" Mommy asked Greggy. He took a deep breath.

"Pauwi na po dapat ako ng Pilipinas after my 2 months lockdown project kaso po biglang tumawag yung pinsan ko that Ate Elvie is sick and walang mag-aalaga sa anak nyang 1 year-old. She fought cancer for 4 years and wala syang ibang makakasama kundi ako lang. I lost my phone of contacts naman dahil kakamadali kong magboard ulit ng another flight eh naiwan ko na yung phone ko somewhere I don't know. I tried to look for Celestine's social media accounts pero naka private lahat so I really cannot contact anyone. After 4 years of battle, Ate Elvie gave up and here I was left with Luis, ate Elvie's only son." Mahaba niyang paliwanag.

"I'm sorry again Love. It was really hard managing my time sa business and kay Ate tapos sa bata pa and for 4 years hindi ko alam why I was not able to find time to reach out on you. I'm really really sorry." He hugged me again.

"It's okay Love, I understand." I smiled at him.

Mahabang paliwanagan at kwentuhan pa ng mga nangyari ang naganap dahil hindi pa kumbinsido sila Manang at Bonget sa explanation ni Greggy hanggang inabot na kami ng dinner. Pagkatapos naman ay naupo muna kami sa sala para manood ng movies. My phone then vibrated. I checked the caller and it's Lorreine.

I forgot na that she'll message me nga pala kung nakauwi na sya. Bat naman ngayon lang tumawag to? I wondered.

"Hello Reine? Have you gotten home." I answered the phone.

"Hello po, relative po ba kayo ng may-ari ng phone?" A girl asked from the other line.