Habang Buhay

9-A

Michelle doesn't even know if she fell asleep or if she just laid with closed eyes in the darkness of her bedroom. Alone. She woke up earlier that morning hoping for a message from Anntonia but there was none. In her current state of denial that there was something wrong, she still texts Anntonia in hope.

Good morning, baby!

Full day today, on my way to set

Pick you up later after my shoot?

Now, the day was almost over and still no text from Anntonia. Michelle decides to call Rhian during one of her breaks, because maybe her friend can give her some sense of peace and also to ask a favor.

"Rhi, can you try texting Anntonia, maybe she'll reply to you."

"Wifey, I don't know..."

"Please, Rhi, I just wanna know if she's okay," she begs.

"Have you tried going to her place? Don't you have keys?"

Michelle closes her eyes shut tightly, trying to forget the feeling that came over her earlier that morning when she found out the hard truth that Anntonia really left left when she saw the missing key card. "She took it with her, I had them on my bedside drawer and it's not there anymore."

"Really?"

"Yeah," she sighs as she presses on her eyes with her fingers. "I don't know where she is, Rhi. What if something happened? Should I contact her Aunt or something?"

"Fine, I'll text her, okay?" Rhian finally gives in. "Just let me put you on speaker so I can text her."

"Thank you, thank you," she says in appreciation as she opens her eyes again.

"Can you really not think of anything that happened?"

"No, I really can't," she shakes her head. "Which scares me more."

"Okay, I texted her, I'll let you know if she replies."

"I'll go to her condo later after work," she informs Rhian of her plans for later, after her regrets of not doing it last night or this morning even. Her assistant calls her name from behind her. "I gotta go, we're shooting our next scene."

"Are you okay though?"

"No, not really," she sighs. "But work's work, commitment's a commitment, I have no other choice right now."

It took an hour before Michelle is able to look at her phone again, there was a message from Rhian with a screenshot of Anntonia's reply. 

Hey, Ann, just wanted to check up on you. Michelle's worried sick.

I'm okay, Rhian. Please tell Michelle I'm okay. 

Thank you.

Michelle doesn't know if she should be relieved, angry, or hurt. Relieved that at least she knew now that Anntonia was still alive somewhere... Angry because she has completely ignored Michelle's texts... Or hurt because the evidence that Anntonia really was avoiding her and really left her was slowly building up and Michelle didn't want to accept that reality. 

She decides to leave Anntonia alone for now, trying to make sense of her thoughts and feelings first.

-

Michelle arrives at Dr. Santos' clinic early next morning at 9:05 AM, Anntonia's schedule was at 9AM and though Michelle wanted to see her immediately, she didn't want to speak with her until after the appointment. She didn't want to ambush Anntonia and have her not get to her doctor's appointment. No matter what, Anntonia's well being came first.