Richard
Richard sat at the backyard porch of their old house in Laguna. It has been a long while since he visited his father and sister here, but for the past week, he had stayed with them, and every morning, he had coffee with his father here.
He remembered coming here that one night, all drunk. His father and sister helped him to his old room which he used to share with his older brother. The last time he saw his father was during the wedding, but he was only there because Julianne invited him and made him his Best Man. She knew they weren't talking, but she said it would look bad to the press if his family wasn't there. His father only said one thing to him that day, and it was precisely what he needed to hear to stop him from making another mistake.
The days that he was here, all they did was talk, trying to catch up on years and years of events that they missed. Yesterday, his father finally got Richard to come visit her mother with them. It was the first time that he would from the day that she was buried.
His sister cleaned the vase that had last week's wilted flowers, filled it with fresh water and hande it to her father who then put a bouqet of white roses in it. He knelt down and softly said, "Mahal ko, may bisita ka."
Richard's sister handed him a candle and a lighter. He lighted it and the moment he bent his knees to put it down, his tears fell. His father held his shoulder, "Umuwi na si Tisoy mo, Mahal."
Richard wiped his cheeks and spoke to his mother for the first time in years, "Nay... nay sorry po nadisappoint ko kayo. Sorry I failed you," his body trembled in violent sobs.
"Anak, kahit kailan hinding hindi kayo magiging failure para sa amin ng Nanay, mahal na mahal namin kayong magkakapatid. Kahit masaktan nyo man kami, o magkamali man kayo, narito lang kami para sa inyo. Ako, nandito, ang nanay, nasa taas ginagabayan kayo." he pulled both his children in for a tight hug. "Lagi nyong tataandaan, kaming mga magulang, ang importante lang sa amin yung maging masaya kayo. Yun lang. Kahit anong mangyari, mamahalin at mamahalin namin kayo."
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Maine
She dove into writing her first draft right away. She had always wanted this, and she would do anything to make sure she wouldn't screw it up.
She saw Jerrick regularly to check in with the progress of her story. He became more than just an agent and editor, he became her friend and confidante.
She also started talking to Richard, but only through phone calls. She never had the chance to see him after that fight they had in his office, but it was nice to be talking to him again. She was happy that he's in a very good place right now. She heard about his last bar closing just a week ago and she called to check in on him, but he seemed to not be bothered much by it. Sure, he was sad, that was the first one he put up, it meant alot to him. But he finally realized that there are more important things than that. His old life changed him into someone he couldn't recognize so he welcomed the end of it and was looking forward to start again from scratch.
She kept a close watch on Julianne's case. It was good research and material for her book which was a crime mystery-thriller. The case was still open and the killer was still out there, but she was glad Richard was cleared and is actually an active participant in helping with solving the case. The San Juans were after all like a family to him and he was done pushing family away, he said.
Half way through a chapter she was writing while having lunch at a mall, someone tapped her shoulder.
"Hi," the dimple on his cheek deepened.
"Hello stranger, how have you been?" She stood up and gave him a hug. He looked better than she remembered.
"What are you doing here?" she gestured for him to sit.
