Happiness

Chapter 1

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"Goodbye, mom."

I let the tears stream down my face. Here I am, standing in front of my mom's grave. Sofia Maria Rodriquez, I mentally read. Throughout my whole life, she had been the most amazing and loving mom anyone could ask for. And knowing that I'm never going to see her ever again, made me so sad that I could not feel the pain anymore. I felt like a rock. I felt empty.

"Everything is going to be okay, Melissa," my auntie, Emilia, hugged me and rubbed my back soothingly. "Come on now, we don't want to be late for our flight."

I knew I couldn't do anything else to get my mom back. So I stood up and obeyed Emilia. It has been a week since the death of my mom and I'm still trying to recover. Since I have no one to live with, my auntie decided it would be best to live with her and her family. And if you are wondering where my father is, the honest answer is, I don't know. All I know is that the minute my father knew that my mom was pregnant, he left and flew away. I don't even know his name. I grew up without a father to lean on. But it's okay, it has been seventeen years. Seventeen years of just me and my mom.

My auntie and I entered the taxi that would take us to the airport. After twenty minutes, we were already putting our luggages away and quickly went into the airplane with our carry-ons.

~After 6 hours~

I opened my eyes to see everyone standing up, ready to take turn in getting their carry-ons from the overhead compartments. As I did what everyone was doing my auntie called me out and mouthed that she already got everything. I smiled at her and took my carry-on shoulder bag underneath the seat.

"Well, good morning to you!" said my auntie. I always adored her positivity towards everything. Even with situations like this, she never fails to make me smile.

"That was a long plane ride," I exaggerated, dropping my shoulders and pouting.

"Yeah, I agree," said auntie. "Let's go get our luggages, now." And so we walked for about five minutes towards the baggage claim area. I carried my big black luggage away from the machine and put it beside me, ready to take my second one. Once we got all our things, we waited for my uncle, who was going to pick us up. He arrived later than he was supposed to arrive because of the traffic jam.

"Alright! That's all, let's go!" yelled my uncle while putting the last luggage in the trunk. I chuckled and shook my head. He always yells, even when you talk to him and you're only three feet away from him. He will yell at you, it's normal. "So... how are you?"

And suddenly, everything fell down. I faked a smile, not really knowing what to say. I could see Emilia nudging my uncle to stop talking. But I didn't care, I looked out the window and started to think how my life would be like if my mom was still here. What would I be doing now? I let my weak side take over me again and cried silently until I ran out of tears.

Throughout the whole ride, I was looking out the window with a sad face, mirroring my emotions. With a blink, we arrived at my uncle and auntie's house. While I was getting out the car, I heard my auntie and uncle arguing about something that seems serious.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Ugh, this is all your fault!" Emilia pointed at uncle and looked at me, "I am so sorry, Melissa! I didn't even know that your uncle would do this!"

I was still confused as to what she was talking about.

"Basically," my uncle started talking. "A family friend of ours is staying here for about four months since they decided to move right beside our house."

"So, what's the problem with that?" I asked, "They're over there, right?" I pointed to the house beside, it was painted beige with a hint of cream.

"Um, yeah..." said Emilia, "But the thing is, their house is under renovation. So that's why they're staying with us for four months."

I didn't see a problem with that, especially because this is not even my house. And so I shrugged and helped them carry my luggages.

"We're home!" exclaimed my uncle, "We are home!"

"Fernando! Tone it down a little bit, the baby is sleeping!" whispered-shouted a man that stood tall, lean, and looked like he's in his fifties. He was carrying a baby girl, my heart melted when I saw her in a cute panda jumper.

"Oh! I'm sorry." my uncle whispered and motioned himself zipping his lips.

"Hello young lady," smiled politely by the man carrying the baby. "You must be Melissa. My name is Benjamin, but you can call me Ben!" He smiled brightly at me and I swear, his teeth could possibly make me blind.

"Nice to meet you." I said quietly, observant of the baby sleeping. Just a few minutes later, the baby was taken away from Ben and was now in Emilia's arms.

"Come with me," Emilia whispered. "I'll show you your room." We walked past a short hallway that was designed with pictures and that lead to the stairs. She lead the way, walking past three doors and turned to me. "This is your room."

I smiled and opened up the door to see a blank white room with some touch of gold. I looked down at my feet, remembering that this was how my room was like back in Boston.

"I figured that you aren't ready to let go yet," Emilia smiled sadly at me. "So I decided to design your room similar to your old room. But, feel free to change it around however you like it!"

"I, um thank you," I was in the verge of tears. I didn't know what to say, so all I said was, "Thank you so much."

~

Two hours had passed by and it was almost lunch now. Emilia knocked on my door just a few minutes ago, telling me to freshen up and have lunch downstairs with the Hastings family. I decided to go to the bathroom to change to some comfortable leggings and a simple white shirt. I washed my face, brushed my teeth, and did everything to make myself look presentable. When I was all ready, I opened the door and was suddenly hit by a very hard wall.

"Woah there," smirked an attractive tall and lean guy with brown eyes and brown hair. I realized that he was shirtless and had a towel hanging on his shoulder. "Who are you?" The way those three words came out of his mouth, made me dislike him.

"Excuse me?" And just when I thought I would be making friends, I ignored his presence and quickly got my things and went into my room.

When everything was all settled, I went downstairs to meet the rest of the Hastings family and have lunch with them. I realized that it was only Ben, Fernando, Emilia, the baby, and a woman standing beside Ben were the only people in the dining room.

Huh, then who was that rude ass bitch? I thought.

"Melissa, come join us!" Emilia smiled at me and let me sit down next to the woman. I assumed she was Ben's wife.

"Hi, my name is Valeria." She flashed a smile at me, "It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise." I didn't really like socializing with people so I just sat down quietly while everyone was getting the food ready. When they settled everything, we were all ready to eat.

"Let's eat!"

And just when I was about to take my first bite, the jerk appeared.

"Sorry, I was doing something really important." he said while taking a seat across from me.

Yeah, right.

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